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WRIGHT TWP. — It took Crestwood a full quarter to shake away the senior day jitters.
Finding themselves trailing winless Wyoming Valley West, the Comets scored eight unanswered touchdowns. Crestwood finished off the Spartans 54-14 on Friday in their regular season finale.
In a must-win situation for its postseason aspirations, Crestwood likely took care of business to get into the playoffs. Sitting in fifth place in the District 2 Class 4A standings, the Comets earned a win while fourth-place Honesdale soundly defeated West Scranton and third-place Wallenpaupack fell to Valley View.
Meanwhile, Wyoming Valley West and West Scranton wait for the updated power rankings to decide which winless team will take on top-seeded Abington Heights in the postseason.
A sloppy first three minutes yielded two touchdowns, two fumbles, three offsides calls and a blocked extra point.
After a three-and-out, the Spartans’ punt was miffed by the returner, allowing Wyoming Valley West to jump on the ball within the red zone. On fourth down, senior quarterback Carson Brown rolled out to throw a 22-yard pass to Tyler Mattis. Mattis reached over the defensive back’s head and fell backwards to haul in the touchdown.
It took Crestwood all of 18 seconds and one play from scrimmage to respond. Following back-to-back Spartan encroachment penalties, Crestwood’s Jake Jeckell ran for a 38-yard touchdown. Valley West blocked the extra point to lead 7-6 with 9:14 remaining in the first quarter.
The Spartans’ lead held on for nearly a full quarter’s length. Crestwood scored three touchdowns in the second and third quarters to quickly put the game away.
Gio Barna caught a 41-yard pass from Jack Rodgers down the sidelines to give the Comets their first lead (13-7) of the game with 9:37 left in the half.
Jeckell found the end zone for the second time less than three minutes later with a 30-yard rushing score.
Matthew Bealla capped the half with a 1-yard run to take Crestwood into halftime with a 27-7 lead.
Jeckell finished with two touchdowns for the Comets. He had a game-high 78 yards on six carries. Colin Lazo gained 74 yards on seven rushes.
Barna finished with a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Crestwood senior linebacker Matt Urban scored a late touchdown. Urban intercepted a pass at midfield and ran 50 yards to give the Comets a 54-7 lead.
Wyoming Valley West scored a late touchdown when Preston Sninsky caught a 5-yard pass from Damien Eastman. The Spartans’ William Lebron set up the score with a 65-yard run.
Crestwood 54, Wyoming Valley West 14
Wyoming Valley West`7`0`0`7 — 14
Crestwood`6`21`20`7 — 54
First quarter
W — Tyler Mattis 22 pass from Carson Brown (Roger Staron kick), 9:32
C — Jake Jeckell 38 run (kick fail), 9:14
Second quarter
C — Gio Barna 41 pass from Jack Rodgers (Ethan Zabroski kick), 9:37
C — Jeckell 30 run (Zabroski kick), 6:48
C — Matthew Bealla 1 run (Zabroski kick), :33
Third quarter
C — Colin Lazo 1 run (Zabroski kick), 8:16
C — Barna 14 run (Zabroski kick), 3:53
C — Rodgers 1 run (pass fail), :51
Fourth quarter
C — Matt Urban 50 interception (Zabroski kick), 9:54
W — Preston Sninsky 5 pass from Damien Eastman (Staron kick), 3:58
Team statistics`W`C
First downs`8`18
Rushes-yards`18-88`43-278
Passing yards`84`55
Total yards`172`333
Passing`8-27-3`2-9-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`6-24.5`2-31
Fumbles-lost`3-1`2-2
Penalties-yards`11-74`6-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Carter Isbel 3-4, Chase Myers 1-0, Mattis 6-7, Brown 4-2, William Lebron 2-66, Tyler Ruddy 1-10, TEAM 1-(minus-1). CRE, Jeckell 6-78, Barna 3-33, Lazo 7-74, Rodgers 8-22, Tom McLaughlin 1-9, Nate Walsh 11-48, Lincoln Bibla 1-1, Bealla 5-23, TEAM 1-(minus-10).
PASSING — WVW, Brown 5-18-56-1, Eastman 3-9-28-2. CRE, Rodgers 2-9-55-0
RECEIVING — WVW, Mattis 3-39, Sninsky 3-24, Ruddy 2-21. CRE, Barna 2-55
INTERCEPTIONS — CRE, Carter Kennedy 1-0, McLaughlin 1-0, Urban 1-50
MISSED FGs — None