Hazleton Area’s Matt Buchman tries to slip away from Wilkes-Barre Area linebacker Anthony Nguyen to score the game’s first touchdown at Harman-Geist Memorial Field on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback Javant McClary runs the ball in the second quarter as Hazleton Area’s Trayvon Corchado moves in.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area running back Howie Shiner carries the ball as Hazleton defenders Raimon Abreu (54), Qay’von Minor (back) and Mitchell Masten (2) close in for the tackle during the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hazleton Area’s Matt Buchman crosses the goal line for a two-point try after he scored the first touchdown on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Mekhi Nelson carries the ball for Wilkes-Barre Area in the second quarter as Hazleton Area’s Connor Shamany closes in on Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
HAZLETON — Down two points and struggling to move the football against the Wilkes-Barre Area defense, Hazleton Area quarterback Tyler Wolfe did what has worked so often for him and the Cougars this year.
Throw it up to Connor Shamany.
The senior wide receiver hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass on a perfect throw from Wolfe to spark Hazleton Area to 21 unanswered points in the second half, beating Wilkes-Barre 29-10 on senior night at Harman-Geist Memorial Field.
“Tyler Wolfe has stepped up every game these last few weeks,” Shamany said after the game, and after celebrating with the Hazleton Area student section, which came rushing onto the field after final whistle. “Everyone really stepped up today.”
Shamany finished with 75 yards on three catches, and Wolfe added a rushing touchdown to go with his 141 yards passing.
The Cougars were without star receiver and defensive back Matt Cusatis on Friday night, and it showed early.
A Matt Buchman touchdown run put Hazleton Area ahead early, but the story of the first half was the Wolfpack’s control of the game flow.
Wilkes-Barre Area didn’t rip off any huge chunk plays, but rather kept the ball moving steadily on the ground with Mekhi Nelson and Howie Shriner, with some passing sprinkled in by Wolfpack quarterback Javant McClary.
After a second quarter in which the Wolfpack dominated the time of possession and the line of scrimmage, Wilkes-Barre Area hit the locker room with a 10-8 lead.
But the Cougars that came out of the locker room were a different team: more focused and more energized.
“We made some key errors in the first half, we felt like we left a lot on the field,” Hazleton Area head coach Dennis Buchman said. “I just told the guys that we pride ourselves on being a second-half football team, and that we had to lock in.”
Right from the kickoff, the Cougars were on the gas pedal. Matt Buchman had what would’ve been a kick-return touchdown wiped out by a penalty, but Hazleton Area wasn’t fazed.
A few plays later, Wolfe found Shamany streaking down the right sideline, and the Cougars were out in front.
“They were playing man coverage, so we knew we had the shots deep,” Wolfe said. “We worked tremendously hard in the offseason, we were out here running routes in the spring, and it’s paid off.”
Hazleton Area would go on to recover a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, a squib kick that the Wolfpack upback had no chance of catching clean.
A Buchman touchdown run, a two-point conversion via a fake field goal pass from Shamany to Ryan Matyas, and a halftime deficit had turned into a two-score Hazleton Area lead before the third quarter had even ended.
The Cougars were able to lean on their defense the rest of the way, and Wolfe ran in a touchdown of his own to make it a 29-10 score in the fourth quarter and put the game to bed, sending his senior teammates off with a win in their last regular-season home game at Harman-Geist in front of a raucous crowd.
“It’s incredible…one of our number one goals was to ensure that the community realized that these players are second to none,” Buchman said. “We haven’t had home crowds like this in quite some time…that’s a testament to our coaches, our players and our program.”
Hazleton Area (5-3) will head to Spartan Stadium next Friday to take on Wyoming Valley West. Wilkes-Barre Area (4-4) will also be at Spartan Stadium, hosting Williamsport on Saturday afternoon.
Hazleton Area 29, Wilkes-Barre Area 10
Wilkes-Barre Area`0`10`0`0 — 10
Hazleton Area`8`0`14`7 — 29
First quarter
HAZ — Matt Buchman 26 run (Buchman run) 5:51
Second quarter
WBA — Javon Goodwin 17 pass from Javant McClary (Evan Corcoran kick) 11:13
WBA — Corcoran 21 field goal, 20.8
Third quarter
HAZ — Connor Shamany 46 pass from Tyler Wolfe (conversion failed) 7:42
HAZ — Buchman 1 run (Ryan Matyas pass from Shamany) 3:45
Fourth quarter
HAZ — Wolfe 2 run (Luke Russo kick) 5:47
Team statistics`WBA`HAZ
First downs`14`11
Rushes-yards`35-139`29-140
Passing yards`67`141
Total yards`206`281
Passing`6-21-0`7-16-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`2-15
Punts-avg.`4-36`3-40
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`3-30`3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WBA, Howie Shiner 17-55, Mekhi Nelson 11-60, McClary 6-22, Steve Simko 1-2. HA, Treyvon Corchado 1-0, Matyas 5-32, Buchman 15-81, Wolfe 6-25, Jose Rodriguez 1-1, Patrick Petrosky 1-1.
PASSING — WBA, McClary 6-21-0-67/. HA, Wolfe 7-16-0-141.
RECEIVING — WBA, Goodwin 2-26, Michael Andrzejewski 2-30, Nelson 1-2, Ni Geel Davis 1-10. HA, Matyas 2-22, Shamany 3-75, Christian Price 1-21, Buchman 1-23.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
