HAZLETON — For Pittston Area to get this season turned in the right direction, the Patriots were going to need more from the defensive side of the ball.
The early season struggles from that unit were nowhere to be seen Friday night, as the Pittston Area defense shut down everything Hazleton Area threw at them.
The Patriots held Hazleton Area to just 77 total yards of total offense, rolling back into the win column with a 46-7 victory over the shorthanded Cougars at Harman Geist Memorial Field.
Hazleton Area didn’t reach the Pittston Area red zone, had just one touchdown on a kickoff return and felt like it was moving backward more than forward, thanks in large part to a ferocious effort from the Patriots front seven.
“Our defense played unbelievable … we’ve been kind of struggling, there’s no secret there,” Pittston Area coach Paul Russick said. “We’re starting to put the pieces where they belong.”
The Patriots scored on their very first play from scrimmage, with the ball in the hands of Lucas LoPresto. He took the snap, hit the hole and bolted 67 yards to give Pittston Area the lead.
It would only grow from there, as quarterback Santino Salvo made the most of his pass attempts. He had seven completions and four of them went for scores — Christian Cerasaro, Deondre Miller, John Jadus and finally LoPresto each caught one from the sophomore.
Jadus also caught three two-point conversion passes, all essentially the same play: freshman Patrick Roman would take the snap and lob one up in the corner of the end zone, where the 6-foot-3 Jadus proved impossible to stop in a jump-ball situation.
“(Jadus is) a matchup nightmare, especially when we could do stuff like that,” Russick said. “He’s a weapon, we’ve got to continue to get Johnny involved because he’s a difference maker.”
The Patriots led by 22 at the half, scoring two quick touchdowns in a 90-second window at the end of the first half to pull away.
Salvo’s touchdown pass to Miller made it 30-0 before Hazleton Area was finally able to break through. On the ensuing kickoff, Zach Wilson burst down the right sideline for an 83-yard kickoff return touchdown.
That was really the only gasp from Hazleton Area, which was already missing halfback Xavier Heck when the game started. By the time the game reached halftime, quarterback JJ Lantigua and leading wideout Jose Lopez were also hurt.
Wilson and Jayson Arroyo both took snaps in place of Lantigua, but the Pittston Area defense was unmovable.
LoPresto’s second touchdown of the evening put the game into mercy rule territory with 9:40 to go, and Pittston Area was able to grind those last few minutes up to pick up the win.
Chance Radzewicz added a rushing touchdown and a fumble recovery for Pittston Area, and Jude Ferentino ran for 105 yards.
The Patriots improved to 2-3 overall, and are now 1-0 in the new-look WVC Division 1 after Friday night’s win. Next up for Pittston Area will be a home game against Oxford Area from District 1 next week.
Hazleton Area (1-4, 0-1 Div. 1) will head to Dallas to take on the undefeated Mountaineers next week.
Pittston Area 46, Hazleton Area 7
Pittston Area`8`14`17`7 — 46
Hazleton Area`0`0`7`0 — 7
First quarter
PA — Lucas LoPresto 67 run (John Jadus pass from Patrick Roman) 11:46
Second quarter
PA — Chance Radzewicz 1 run (Jadus pass from Roman) 3:16
PA — Christian Cerasaro 28 pass from Santino Salvo (kick failed) 1:48
Third quarter
PA — Deondre Miller 25 pass from Salvo (Jadus pass from Roman) 10:47
HAZ — Zach Wilson 83 kick return (Derek Radzwich kick) 10:33
PA — Safety, Hazleton Area snap out of end zone 6:33
PA — Jadus 10 pass from Salvo (Sam Augustine kick) 4:30
Fourth quarter
PA — LoPresto 19 pass from Salvo (Augustine kick) 9:40
Team statistics`PA`HA
First downs`15`6
Rushes-yards`31-244`30-46
Passing yards`97`31
Total yards`341`77
Passing`7-12-0`7-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`4-18
Punts-avg.`4-41`4-20.5
Fumbles-lost`4-2`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-80`5-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, LoPresto 5-84, Jude Ferentino 12-105, Kayden Bailey 3-23, Salvo 2-1, Santino Capitano 1-12, Miller 1-11, Radzewicz 2-2, Levi Pisano 1-8, Brady Warnek 3-(minus-8), Team 1-(minus-4). HA, Alex Fedorko 9-(minus-1), JJ Lantigua 9-20, Jaxon Johnson 1-0, Wilmington Fabre 1-0, Jayson Arroyo 1-(minus-4), Wilson 4-3, Mikhail Exantus 3-18, Jason Zamudio 2-12.
PASSING — PA, Salvo 7-12-0-97. HA, Lantigua 5-9-0-23, Arroyo 0-2-0-0, Wilson 2-2-0-8.
RECEIVING — PA, LoPresto 2-22, Miller 3-37, Cerasaro 1-28, Jadus 1-10. HA, Fabre 2-26, Jose Lopez 1-(minus-1), Fedorko 2-(minus-10), Dinuel Jimenez 1-3, Johnson 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
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