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PLAINS TWP. — The goal, of course, is to be running “north and south” as soon as possible.
Davon Underwood got to that point by going many other directions in a short period of time.
Underwood used his shiftiness to score three first-half touchdowns, including two long ones, Friday night to help Wilkes-Barre Area break a three-game football losing streak with a 35-2 romp over visiting West Scranton.
“I try to find a hole and get north and south,” said Underwood, who carried 14 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns, turned his only reception into a 65-yard touchdown and also ran for a two-pointer.
Underwood opened the scoring on a 2-yard run before the midway point in the first quarter.
The junior running back put the Wolfpack in control in the second quarter by sandwiching a 72-yard touchdown run and his receiving touchdown around Logan Sincavage’s 41-yard pick-6.
Underwood used his quick cuts to turn a counter play off left tackle into the 72-yard touchdown on the first play of a possession. He took a screen to the left and headed down the sideline, bouncing off an attempt to push him out of bounds, then winning a footrace to the end zone.
“I couldn’t let them catch me,” Underwood said. “I was getting too close to the end zone to let them catch me.”
Following the second long Underwood touchdown, the lead remained at 27-0 from 4:51 left in the second quarter until the first play of the fourth quarter.
Jake Howe, who threw for 164 yards and the touchdown to Underwood, scored from the 1 and Underwood’s two-pointer got the game to the running clock of the mercy rule.
“I thought we left way too many points out there,” Wolfpack coach Ciro Cinti said. “There were too many chances that we left out there.
“That’s what we will work on this week. … That’s the only thing I’m not satisfied with. Everything else was a good all-around experience.”
The defensive effort made sure the Wolfpack was not threatened after the first quarter.
The only points for winless West Scranton came on a safety and the Invaders managed only six first downs and 100 yards.
“Our defense responded,” Cinti said. “That’s what we really wanted after the last couple weeks.”
Sincavage and Treyvon Gembitski had interceptions. Sincavage also had a sack and a fumble recovery while Christian Gayle had a sack and a forced fumble.
“The last few weeks have been a little rough, but we came back tonight and got us a win,” said Gembitski, who also caught a game-high five passes.
Wilkes-Barre Area 35, West Scranton 2
West Scranton`0`0`0`2 — 2
Wilkes-Barre Area`7`20`0`8 — 35
First quarter
WBA – Davon Underwood 2 run (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 7:12
Second quarter
WBA – Underwood 72 run (kick blocked), 10:17
WBA – Logan Sincavage 41 interception return (Sanchez kick), 8:33
WBA – Underwood 65 pass from Jake Howe (Sanchez kick), 4:51
Fourth quarter
WBA – Howe 1 run (Underwood run), 11:58
WS – Safety (Shamier Lyons tackled Underwood in end zone), 8:50
Team Statistics`WS`WBA
First downs`6`16
Rushes-yards`33-69`33-224
Passing yards`31`164
Total yards`100`388
Passing`7-20-2`11-26-1
Sacked-yards lost`2-7`1-1
Punts-avg.`6-34.0`1-37.0
Fumbles-lost`2-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`4-21`5-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WS, Lyons 9-41, Dayron Groves 14-25, Caiden Berardi 2-7, Jonyae Sostre 6-3, Jake DeLuca 2-minus 7. WBA, Underwood 14-157, Brody Reh 7-25, Ethan Hooper 1-19, Treyvon Gembitski 1-11, Khalil Smith 3-11, Howe 3-1, Kymani Hubbard-Jones 4-0.
PASSING — WS, DeLuca 7-18-2-31; Berardi 0-2-0-0. WBA, Howe 11-25-0-164; Underwood 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING – WS, Cayden Farr 3-14, Sostre 2-8, Quincy Mosley 1-9, Groves 1-0. WBA, Gembitski 5-48, Rajon Watson 4-44, Underwood 1-65, Jordan Kieselovsky 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS — WS, Cameron Cole 1-45. WBA, Sincavage 1-41, Gembitski 1-2.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.