Wyoming Valley West running back Malique Campbell breaks free for a touchdown in the second quarter on Friday night against Hanover Area.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area wide receiver Conor Richardson tries to turn upfield after catching a pass in the first quarter on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area wide receiver Luke Willis looks for room to get past Wyoming Valley West defensive back Connor Krobert (16) after catching a sideline pass in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area running back Dewayne Downey tries to fight through a tackle by Wyoming Valley West defenders Iszrel Davis (4) and Trevor Ruddy (56) in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area quarterback Logan Richardson looks downfield for a receiver in the second quarter against Wyoming Valley West.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
KINGSTON — It has been five long years since Wyoming Valley West has won back-to-back games.
Thanks to big plays by its defense, Wyoming Valley West held off a scrappy and resilient Hanover Area for a 26-22 victory. It marks the first time the Spartans won consecutive games since beating Abington Heights and Tunkhannock in September 2021.
It was the defense that gave up an average of 43 points per game in the opening two weeks that sparked Wyoming Valley West time and time again on Friday night. Three of the Spartans’ four scores came as a result of big plays by the defensive unit.
Tied at 14-14, the Spartans’ Lucas Flores intercepted an underthrown ball for a 27-yard pick-six with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
With Wyoming Valley West hanging on to a slim six-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Spartans defense shut down a 4th-and-1 quarterback sneak that turned the ball over on downs. Two plays later, Damien Eastman hit Malique Campbell on a screen pass for a 52-yard touchdown. Campbell’s third score of the game gave the Spartans a 26-14 lead with 6:38 remaining.
A Hawkeyes fumble on a sack on the next play from scrimmage would have eventually yielded another touchdown if not for a holding penalty.
On the opening drive, Tanner Ragukas intercepted a ball that led to the 10-yard Campbell touchdown to take an early lead.
Hanover Area gave itself a chance to reciprocate rival Nanticoke Area’s 12-point comeback last week. Angel Tejada caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from Logan Richardson. On the two-point conversion, Richardson found Tejada in the end zone to put the Hawkeyes behind by four points with exactly two minutes remaining.
Ragukas fielded the onside kick to thwart the Hawkeyes’ comeback chances over the Class 6A school.
The Hawkeyes led 14-7 in the second quarter. Dewayne Downey ran for a 2-yard touchdown on the opening play of the stanza. Richardson threw a dart to Gregory McCoy in the corner of the end zone with 3:13 remaining in the half.
The lead was brief. Less than two minutes later, Campbell broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and ran 21 yards for a touchdown that evened the score.
Campbell finished with three touchdowns. He finished with 21 carries for 164 yards. Campbell caught four passes for 66 yards.
Wyoming Valley West 26, Hanover Area 22
Hanover Area`0`14`0`8`—`22
Wyoming Valley West`7`7`6`6`—`26
First quarter
W — Malique Campbell 10 run (Xander Jones kick), 5:53
Second quarter
H — Dewayne Downey 2 run (Logan Richardson run), 11:54
H — Gregory McCoy 10 pass from LRichardson (pass fail), 3:!3
W — Campbell 21 run (Jones kick), 1:30
Third quarter
W — Lucas Flores 27 interception return (kick fail), 5:53
Fourth quarter
W — Campbell 62 pass from Damien Eastman (pass fail), 6:38
H — Angel Tejada 77 pass from Richardson (Tejada pass from LRichardson), 2:00
Team statistics`H`W
First downs`16`12
Rushes-yards`25-52`35-162
Passing yards`255`123
Total yards`307`285
Passing`19-28-2`9-11-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-11`1-6
Punts-avg.`0-0`2-28
Fumbles-lost`1-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`11-89`14-115
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HAN DeDowney 18-49, Brody Richardson 2-12, LRichardson 5-(minus-9). WVW, Campbell 21-164, Gadgidas Reisinger 2-8, Tanner Ragukas 1-0, Eastman 4-(minus-8), Colton Kocher 2-(minus-5), Kahmar Smith 1-5, Amor Sims 1-0, TEAM 2-(minus-2)
PASSING —HAN LRichardson 19-28-255-2; WVW Eastman 9-11-123-0
RECEIVING —HAN DeDowney 2-(minus-6), Conor Richardson 7-74, Luke Willis 5-63, Tejada 3-96, McCoy 2-25. WVW Ragukas 3-26, Campbell 4-66, Reisinger 2-31
INTERCEPTIONS — WVW Ragukas 1-20, Flores 1-27
MISSED FGs — HAN Aiden Hollock 1-27
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