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PLAINS TWP. — Williamsport coach Mike Pearson left the elementary school where he teaches during lunch to check out the weather Friday.
In particular, he was interested in the wind, its velocity and direction and how it would correlate with Wilkes-Barre Area’s stadium. He referred to it as “all nerd stuff.”
His calculation were correct as a relentless wind, reaching gusts of 25 mph at times, had an effect on WBA’s potent passing game.
Williamsport scored the game’s only offensive touchdown and stopped WBA three times in the red zone in the second half as the Millionaires posted a 14-0 victory in the District 2/4 Class 6A championship game.
“I didn’t know how it was going to be,” Pearson said, “but we were thankful for the hard wind.”
Williamsport’s Samir Williams scored both touchdowns. He ran in from 27 yards out on a double reverse at 1:42 of the first quarter and picked off a tipped pass and raced down the left sideline for a 59-yard inteception TD at 8:49 of the fourth quarter.
WBA led the entire Wyoming Valley Conference with 181.5 yards passing per game. The Wolfpack finished with 84 yards, their second-lowest total of the season. A team loaded with big-play threats didn’t have a completion longer than 10 yards as the wind made throwing deep futile for both teams.
The WBA running game, troublesome at times during the season, mustered just 98 more yards.
“We had opportunities,” said WBA coach Ciro Cinti, whose team finished the season at 6-6. “We had enough of them. We didn’t take advantage of them. Give Williamsport credit. They played hard, they tackled excellent.
“Again, we didn’t execute when we had the opportunities and that’s the difference in the game.”
The WBA defense held Williamsport to 15 yards of total offense in the second half and one first down, with it coming with 2:01 left in the game.
The Wolfpack offense, though, squandered several chances to get on the board after halftime.
WBA drove to the Williamsport 20-yard line in its first possession of the third quarter, using a 20-yard run by running back Davon Underwood on a third-and-10 to keep the drive alive. Williamsport defensive back Kyreek Bradshaw ended it with an interception at the 3-yard line.
The Wolfpack moved to the Williamsport 16 on its next possession, only to turned over the ball on downs. They surrendered the ball on downs in their next possession at the Millionaires’ 26.
Williams had his pick-6 the next time WBA had the ball. The Wolfpack’s final drive ended at the Williamsport 8 on a fourth-down incompletion.
“It’s been that was the past several weeks,” Pearson said. “The defense has been the leaders of this team. The effort was absolutely there.”
WBA failed to score for only the third time in its six-year history, with Williamsport recording two of the shutouts.
“The defense played their hearts out,” Cinti said. “I feel bad for our seniors. There are only 10 seniors and some of those guys played four years for us. They put their heart and soul into this. My heart goes out to them and our coaches thank them, our program, from the bottom of our hearts for what they did and their dedication all these years.”
Williamsport (7-5) will play District 6 champion State College (10-1) on Friday in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs. State College defeated Erie McDowell 35-7.
District 2/4 Class 6A Championship
Williamsport`7`0`0`7 — 14
Wilkes-Barre Area`0`0`0`0 — 0
First Quarter
WIL — Samir Williams 27 run (Parker Johnson kick), 1:42
Fourth quarter
WIL — Williams 59 interception return (Johnson kick), 8:49
Team statistics`WIL`WBA
First downs`7`13
Rushes-yards`36-109`39-98
Passing yards`12`84
Total yards`121`182
Passing`2-13-0`13-33-3
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-16
Punts-avg.`10-39.3`6-29.3
Fumbles-lost`4-1`5-1
Penalties-yards`3-20`4-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Williamsport, Jamel Bailey 12-40, Kahyear Whaley-Berry 17-42, Giovanni White 2-(minus-2), Williams 1-27, Parker Johnson 1-4, Elijah Way 3-(minus-2). WBA, Davon Underwood 10-41, Jake Howe 15-48, Gene Ardo 6-(minus-1), Treyvon Gembitski 1-3, Khalil Smith 3-18, Rajon Watson 1-(minus-1), team 2-(minus-10).
PASSING — Williamsport, Way 2-12-0-12, Zion Hughes 0-1-0-0. WBA, Howe 13-33-3-84.
RECEIVING — Williamsport, Kyreek Bradshaw 1-8, Williams 1-4. WBA, Gembitski 4-23, Jordan Kieselowsky 4-23, Underwood 2-18, Watson 1-14, Ardo 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — Williamsport, Williams 1-59, Bradshaw 2-0.
MISSED FGs — none.