Wyoming Valley West running back Colton Kocher runs through a hole in the line as Nanticoke Area defender Aiden Knapp squares up for a tackle in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area running back Justin Johnson is brought down by a trio of Valley West defenders on Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Gadgidas Reisinger runs into a pair of Nanticoke Area defenders in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area’s Landyn Hules tries to keep Wyoming Valley West defensive back Jessiah Davis on an outside run.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West receiver Noah Council hauled in the Spartans’ third touchdown of the night in the first half on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
NANTICOKE — On the last Friday night of September, the Wyoming Valley West Spartans controlled play against the Nanticoke Area Trojans from start to finish for a 47-7 victory.
After Valley West lost to two formidable opponents top open the year, Williamsport and Dallas, the Spartans have caught fire, winning three straight games over West Scranton, Hanover Area and now Nanticoke.
Valley West’s first-year head coach Brydon Rukstalis was proud of his team’s effort, even having to play some new guys in place of some of his injured star players, as he works to build his alma mater back up to prominence.
“I think it’s just the preparation that we’ve had,” Rukstalis said. “The kids decided at the beginning of the year it’s not going to be the same as the last couple of years and we are going to just do things differently. We started off this year against two great teams in Week 1 and 2, but now we are starting to kind of roll. We are getting everyone together now and playing a full game of football.
“… We were without one of our key offensive players, (junior running back) Malique Campbell this week, but it’s the next-man-up mentality here. We doubled our roster this year and we expect the guys that are on our team to be able to play good football for us and do a good job. Several guys stepped up like Colton (Kocher) and Noah (Council), and it was a good team win.”
Valley West kicked off the scoring party with 2:51 remaining in the opening quarter as junior quarterback Damien Eastman connected with wide-open senior wide receiver Council for a 47-yard touchdownfor an early 7-0 advantage.
In the second quarter, the Spartans would score two more touchdowns, as their first came from stalwart senior tailback Gadgidas Reisinger, who sprinted to the end zone from 38 yards out to enhance his squad’s lead to 14-0 with 3:06 left in the first half.
Valley West’s other touchdown before the break came when Eastman found Council on their second strike, this time on a 27-yard touchdown pass with just 34.3 seconds left before halftime for a 21-0 cushion heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter, Valley West continued to display its scoring prowess, tallying another dozen points. The Spartans next score came from senior Tanner Ragukas, who barreled his way into the end zone from 4 yards out to up his team’s lead to 27-0 over the Trojans.
The Spartans’ other score in the quarter came from junior running back Kocher, who bashed his way into the end zone from 3 yards out to give his squad a 33-0 advantage with 3:11 left in the period.
The fourth quarter saw the Spartans score another pair of touchdowns for good measure, as their first tally came when Eastman threw his third touchdown pass of the night, this one a short screen pass to junior tailback Iszrel Davis. Davis did the heavy lifting and took it to the house for a 78-yard score to bring the lead to 40-0 with 11:03 left.
For Valley West’s seventh and final score of the night, backup running back Elijah Holiday took the handoff and muscled his way in for an 11-yard touchdown for a 47-0 lead with 8:03 left.
In the final moments, the Trojans got on the board as junior running back David Jackson rammed his way into the end zone from 4 yards out with 4:16 remaining in regulation.
Now the 3-2 Spartans will look to extend their winning streak to four when they host Scranton in non-conference play next Friday night under the lights.
“We’ve got to clean up a couple of things, with the penalties and a couple of big drops today, especially going forward against these really good schools we are facing,” Rukstalis said. “These explosive plays we had today are definitely big, but football is not lived off of explosive plays, we have to have good drives and sustainable drives moving forward if we are going keep winning these games.”
Meanwhile, coach Joe Shimko and his 1-4 Trojans will look to bounce right back when they travel to square off against fellow first-year head coach Mike Mully and Lake-Lehman on the black turf next week.
Wyoming Valley West 47, Nanticoke Area 7
Wyoming Valley West`7`14`12`14 — 47
Nanticoke Area`0`0`0`7 — 7
First Quarter
WVW — Noah Council 47 pass from Damien Eastman (Xander Jones kick), 2:51.
Second Quarter
WVW — Gadgidas Reisinger 38 run (Jones kick), 3:06.
WVW — Council 27 pass from Eastman (Jones kick), 34.3.
Third Quarter
WVW — Tanner Ragukas 4 run (kick failed), 7:36.
WVW — Colton Kocher 3 run (pass failed), 3:11.
Fourth Quarter
WVW — Iszrel Davis 78 pass from Eastman (Jones kick), 11:03.
WVW — Elijah Holiday 11 run (Jones kick), 8:03.
NAN — David Jackson 4 run (Juanpablo Pastuizaca kick), 4:16.
Team statistics `WVW `Nanticoke
First downs`18`3
Rushes-yards`32-281`26-56
Passing yards`185`10
Total yards`466`66
Passing`7-25-0`5-14-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-15
Punts-avg.`6-37`10-35
Fumbles-lost`1-1`4-2
Penalties-yards`18-135`5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Gadgidas Reisinger 10-105, Iszrel Davis 2-64, Colton Kocher 7-22, Noah Council 2-7, Tanner Ragukas 4-12, Elijah Holiday 2-28, Zayid Muhamid 3-21, Josiah Willis 2-22. NAN, Jeremy Smith 6-neg.4, Chet Beggs 2-5, Reagan Jackson 1-3, Jonah Guzman 6-8, David Jackson 3-12, Justin Johnson 8-32.
PASSING — WVW, Damian Eastman 7-25-0-185. NAN, Chet Beggs 4-11-0-10, Max Leonard 0-2-1-0, David Jackson 1-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — WVW, Noah Council 6-107, Iszrel Davis 1-78. NAN, Justin Johnson 3-9, Jonah Guzman 2-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — WVW, Dakota Rocco 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.
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