The Wolfpack’s Treyvon Gembitski (4) raises his arms just before teammate Achilles Fuentes (19) scampers into the endzone for a Wilkes-Barre Area touchdown.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Sincere Carter (6) intercepts a Crestwood pass at midfield, bringing it back 20 yards.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
A miscue and a bad snap resulted in a Crestwood turnover in the 2nd quarter.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Colin Lazo (14) runs an end around before being swallowed up by the Wolfpack’s Sincere Carter (6) in the backfield Friday night at Wilkes-Barre Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Nate Walsh (17) eludes one last one last Wolfpack tackle before reaching the end zone for a Comet score.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — With Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback Jake Howe playing through a leg injury, and the Wolfpack run game not making much headway against Crestwood’s defense, someone needed to step up and make some plays.
That somebody was Achilles Fuentes — not even listed on the team roster at the start of the year but a game-changer for the Wolfpack on Friday.
Fuentes caught two touchdown passes from Howe, the second one coming late in the third quarter and holding up as the game-winner in a 21-14 Wilkes-Barre Area win over Crestwood.
Both touchdowns were similar: Howe found Fuentes along the right sideline, and Fuentes fought his way through traffic to hit paydirt.
“A young guy stepped up, he had big shoes to fill,” Wilkes-Barre Area coach Ciro Cinti said of Fuentes. “He played so well in practice he moved up the depth chart. … He got his opportunity, and did a great job.”
After the two teams traded scores in the first half, Howe and Fuentes connected for 13 yards and a touchdown to put the Wolfpack ahead 21-14 with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.
From there, Wilkes-Barre Area was able to lean on its defense down the stretch, and that unit came through with two fourth-down stops in the final six minutes of the game.
It was a big improvement after halftime for the Wolfpack defense, after Crestwood was able to sustain two long scoring drives in the first half, including a 17-play, 80-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the game where the Comets ran the ball all 17 times.
“They ran at will in the first half … we did a great job making adjustments,” Cinti said. “That’s a great gut-check, Crestwood’s a very good team, we knew they were going to run and we stopped it.”
Matthew Bealla scored to cap off that opening drive for Crestwood, which ran nearly eight minutes off the clock. After Wilkes-Barre Area tied the game with Fuentes’s first touchdown reception, Nate Walsh put the Comets back ahead early in the second quarter with a 13-yard rushing score.
Walsh finished with 87 yards rushing, and Jacob Jeckell went for 106 yards on the ground for Crestwood. But the Comets couldn’t get back to the end zone after Walsh’s touchdown.
Davon Underwood made it a 14-14 game with a 4-yard touchdown run less than a minute after Crestwood took the lead.
Howe was hobbled early in the second half after a Crestwood sack, and the one play he came off the field ended with a Wilkes-Barre Area turnover.
He was back on the field following the next change of possession, and the junior signal-caller showed his toughness in throwing for 158 yards and the two touchdowns to Fuentes.
Wilkes-Barre Area (5-4, 3-2 Division 1) will wrap up the regular season with a trip to Williamsport next Friday, a game that will have big implications for both teams in the District 2/4 Class 6A subregional picture.
Crestwood (4-5, 2-2 Division 1) will return home for its regular season finale against Wyoming Valley West.
Wilkes-Barre Area, Crestwood 14
Crestwood`7`7`0`0 — 14
Wilkes-Barre Area`7`7`7`0 — 21
First Quarter
CRE — Matthew Bealla 2 run (Ethan Zabroski kick), 4:01
WBA — Achilles Fuentes 22 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 0:37
Second quarter
CRE — Nate Walsh 13 run (Zabroski kick), 9:30
WBA — Davon Underwood 4 run (Sanchez kick), 8:35
Third quarter
WBA — Fuentes 13 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 0:29
Team statistics`CRE`WBA
First downs`14`13
Rushes-yards`55-260`23-55
Passing yards`(minus-3)`158
Total yards`257`213
Passing`1-7-1`13-23-1
Sacked-yards lost`2-16`1-2
Punts-avg.`3-23`3-32.6
Fumbles-lost`1-0`1-1
Penalties-yards`10-89`5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — CRE, Colin Lazo 10-29, Jacob Jeckell 22-106, Gio Barna 1-8, Jack Rodgers 8-17, Bealla 2-11, Walsh 11-87, Lincoln Bibla 1-2. WBA, Underwood 16-63, Howe 4-(minus-7), Jordan Kieselowsky 1-(minus-12), Gene Ardo 22-11.
PASSING — CRE, Rodgers 1-7-1-(minus-3). WBA, Howe 13-23-1-158.
RECEIVING — CRE, Lazo 1-(minus-3). WBA, Kieselowsky 4-26, Treyvon Gembitski 2-25, Fuentes 2-35, Underwood 4-62, Rajon Watson 2-10.
INTERCEPTIONS — CRE, Carter Kennedy 1-32. WBA, Sincere Carter 1-23.
MISSED FGs — none.