Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jordan Kieselowsky (12) gets down to the 3-yard line on a 26-yard reception, setting up another Wolfpack touchdown against Scranton.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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Wilkes-Barre Area running back Gene Ardo (10) sneaks through for a 3-yard touchdown against Scranton.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Treyvon Gembitski gets past a Scranton defender on the way to an 89-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area running back Davon Underwood, with the help from his helmet, catches a pass from quarterback Jake Howe for a 50-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Gabe Saracino (5) latches onto Scranton quarterback Brody Coyle (1) behind the line of scrimmage.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — The offense did what it need to in the first half Friday night.
The defense and special teams did the same in the second half.
The result was Wilkes-Barre Area coming away with a 35-7 victory over Scranton in a District 2/4 Class 6A semifinal game.
WBA (6-5) will host Williamsport (6-5) at 7 p.m. Friday in the subregional championship game with a state playoff berth on the line. Williamsport rallied to defeat Hazleton Area 15-6. Scranton ended its season at 5-6.
After missing on his first six passes, WBA quarterback Jake Howe was 12-of-15 for 226 yards the rest of the first half. He had help from a couple big-play skill guys.
Receiver Treyvon Gembitski turned a short pass into a 89-yard touchdown to give the Wolfpack a 7-0 lead after one quarter. Running back Dav0n Underwood shook off a tackle attempt to finish off a 50-yard TD reception early in the second quarter.
“(Howe) had a couple drops,” WBA coach Ciro Cinti said. “A couple guys should have caught the ball, but then he got hot after that. Trey made a great play (and ) Davon. They are just wonderful kids. They work really hard at practice and it shows on game day.”
Fullback Gene Ardo, who was rarely used in the running game during the regular season, scored on a 2-yard run to bump the advantage to 21-0 at 3:53 of the second quarter.
Scranton then scored its only touchdown 21 seconds later on a 66-yard catch-and-run by Memphis Shotto. WBA responded as Howe threw a 19-yard score to Underwood with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.
The first-half statistics were lopsided. WBA had a 313-104 yardage advantage and 11 first downs to two by Scranton.
The Wolfpack, though, couldn’t keep up the offensive pace in the second half. They managed just 73 more yards and just three more first downs.
And if not for Scranton failing to capitalize and making mistakes in the second half, the game could have been much tighter.
Scranton moved to the WBA 10-yard line on its first possession of the third quarter, but the drive ended when WBA’s Nick Saracino batted down a fourth-down pass. The Knights got down to the WBA 7 on their next possession, but Ardo intercepted a pass at the 3.
Scranton moved to the WBA 1 on its third and final possession of the game. WBA defensive back Sincere Carter ended it with a fumble recovery.
“Hat goes off to coach (Ed) Michaels and the defense,” Cinti said. “When it comes down to it, we bent but we didn’t break. They made one big play on us. Scranton, they’re an explosive team. I’m very happy how we combated that. Again, the old theory, bent but don’t break.”
Scranton’s special teams also turned over the ball twice in the second half on punts. WBA’s Kevon Creech recovered a punt that hit a Knight midway through the third quarter. He also jumped on a fumbled fair catch with about nine minutes left in the game.
District 2/4 Class 6A Semifinals
Wilkes-Barre Area 35, Scranton 7
Scranton`0`7`0`0 — 7
Wilkes-Barre Area`7`21`0`7 — 35
First Quarter
WBA — Treyvon Gembitski 89 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 2:07
Second quarter
WBA — Davon Underwood 50 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 11:16
WBA — Gene Ardo 2 run (Sanchez kick), 3:53
SCR — Memphis Shotto 66 pass from Brody Coyle (Jorge Rodriguez), 3:32
WBA — Underwood 19 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 0:32
Fourth quarter
WBA — Underwood 16 run (Sanchez kick), 7:07
Team statistics`SCR`WBA
First downs`12`14
Rushes-yards`26-112`35-155
Passing yards`187`231
Total yards`299`386
Passing`12-23-1`13-26-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-31.2`6-31
Fumbles-lost`4-3`1-0
Penalties-yards`10-90`12-95
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Scranton, Shotto 3-22, Reece Whitman 14-44, Coyle 8-46, Edie Salazar 1-0. WBA, Underwood 14-54, Howe 5-57, Ardo 11-31, Brody Reh 5-13.
PASSING — Scranton, Coyle 12-23-1-187. WBA, Howe 13-26-0-231.
RECEIVING — Scranton, Whitman 6-63, Shotto 3-93, Salazar 3-31. WBA, Gembitski 3-102, Jordan Kieselowsky 3-32, Rajon Watson 1-18, Underwood 4-67, Nick Saracino 2-12.
INTERCEPTIONS — WBA, Ardo 1-35.
MISSED FGs — none.