Wyoming Area quarterback Luke Kopetchny (8) fires off a pass into the flat for a completions on Friday night against Crestwood. The senior helped guide the Warriors to a 30-13 win over Crestwood.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Crestwood senior Jake Jeckell (21) celebrates after scoring the opening touchdown Friday night against Wyoming Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Crestwood quarterback Jack Rodgers fights to get off a pass before being swallowed up by the Warriors’ Connor Grochal (35) and Riley Pierce.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area quarterback Luke Kopetchny (8) stretches the ball across the goal line for a touchdown with Crestwood’s Kyle Schade (1) pulling him down.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area running back Dominic Bartell (26) finds running room thanks to teammates Gavin Feeney (25) and Chase Krogulski (55) for the second Wyoming Area score of the night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area’s defense held on until its offense could get started Friday night.
Once the offense got moving, Crestwood could not keep up.
The Warriors did all their scoring in a span of less than 17 minutes during the second half while rallying past the visiting Comets 30-13 in a non-league game between Wyoming Valley Conference football teams at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
“It was probably in the locker room,” Warriors quarterback/defensive back Luke Kopetchny said of the game’s turnaround. “We were not where we want to be. We want to eliminate these slow starts.
“We dialed in, came out and scored three or four touchdowns real fast. That was definitely a great feeling.”
Crestwood scored on the opening drive and had the ball in Wyoming Area on its next three possessions, but could not add to its lead.
The Warriors had 12 yards on their first four possessions and just 56 at halftime before churning out 238 yards and four touchdowns in the second half to overcome a 7-0 deficit at the break.
“Second half, we called on our seniors,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “Credit to Crestwood for what they did, especially defensively and with that first drive then ball control throughout that first half.
“It was really about going in and putting it on our leaders and putting it on our seniors. We were looking for a response from them and they did a great job. They brought the rest of the team with them.”
The change was immediate coming out of halftime.
Luke Kopetchny went up the middle, then stretched the ball over the goal line as he was going down at the end of a 48-yard run for the tying touchdown on the sixth play of the second half.
When Crestwood muffed the kickoff, Michael McKernan recovered and Dominic Bartell covered the 33 yards in two carries – a 13-yard run and a 20-yard touchdown.
Wide receiver Lavell Brock blocked a man all the way into the end zone and Bartell followed him in for the score and a 14-7 lead with 8:27 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors made it 16-7 with 22 seconds left in the third when they swarmed the Crestwood punter after a bad snap and Drew Keating pushed him out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Warriors needed just five plays to move 45 yards after the free kick with Nicholas Kondrosky scoring from the 19 for a 23-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
They were not done yet.
Gavin Feeney intercepted and Kopetchny carried four times for 29 yards in the eight-play scoring drive, which he capped for a 30-7 lead with 4:19 left.
Kopetchny ran for 160 yards on 16 carries and made a brilliant one-handed interception while leading the Warriors (4-2) to their third straight victory.
“Luke hit the big run to put us on the board,” Spencer said. “He ran extremely well.”
Crestwood finished with six first downs, three on the first drive and three on the last.
In between, it had managed just nine yards.
“I’m proud of the defense in the second half, but also when adversity struck in the first half to be able to manage that and get us to halftime to kind of regroup,” Spencer said. “ … The defense collectively I thought was a very strong effort.”
The Warriors held strong after Crestwood recovered a fumble at the Wyoming Area 32 in the first quarter and returned a punt to the Wyoming Area 29 in the second.
Jake Jeckell had a 38-yard run on the third play to set up his 2-yard score that capped the first drive and gave Crestwood a lead it held for almost half the game.
Riley Wojciechowski scored from the 2 on the game’s final play.
The Comets slipped to 1-5.
Wyoming Area 30, Crestwood 13
Crestwood`7`0`0`6`—`13
Wyoming Area`0`0`16`14`—`30
First quarter
CR – Jake Jeckell 2 run (Nathan Ciocco kick), 8:19
Second quarter
None
Third quarter
WA – Luke Kopetchny 48 run (Ava Musinski kick), 9:07
WA – Dominic Bartell 20 run (Musinski kick), 8:27
WA – Safety (Keating tackled punter in the end zone), 0:22
Fourth quarter
WA – Nicholas Kondrosky 19 run (Musinski kick), 10:14
WA – Kopetchny 7 run (Musinski kick), 4:19
CR – Riley Wojciechowski 2 run (no try), 0:00
Team Statistics`CR`WA
First downs`6`17
Rushes-yards`30-109`44-268
Passing yards`27`26
Total yards`136`294
Passing`4-12-2`4-9-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-1
Punts-avg.`4-33.3`5-32.0
Fumbles-lost`2-0`2-1
Penalties-yards`5-45`6-35
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING — CR, Jeckell 15-65, Wojciechowski 6-50, Charles Higgs 2-11, Jack Rodgers 4-9, Teddy Taylor 1-1, Team 2-minus 27. WA, Kopetchny 16-160, Kondrosky 11-50, Bartell 11-43, Semaj Morris 2-12, Michael McKernan 2-5, Gavin Feeney 1-3, Jordan Rosario 1-minus 5.
PASSING — CR, Rodgers 3-10-2-17, Taylor 1-2-0-10. WA, Kopetchny 4-9-0-26.
RECEIVING – CR, Braylon Murray 2-16, Logan Lawson 2-11. WA, Keating 2-9, David Favata 1-12, McKernan 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS — CR, None. WA, Kopetchny 1-2, Feeny 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.
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