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HAZLETON — Tylil White was determined to lead his team to victory, and he did just that in an overtime thriller on Friday night, scoring three touchdowns including the game-winner to help Scranton get past Hazleton Area 21-15 at Harman-Geist Memorial Stadium.
White called his own number time and time again, carrying the ball 23 times for 90 yards and three scores. He also tacked on a two-point conversion run to tie the game up at 15 late in the fourth quarter.
The Knights had a chance to win the game in regulation after a last-minute 42-yard pass from White to Ricky Walker brought them down to the 2-yard line with just about 30 seconds left to play.
White tried a jump pass, but Hazleton Area’s Kevin Meluskey snagged the ball out of the air for the Cougar defense’s second interception of the night, forcing overtime.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, they were unsuccessful in putting points on the board in the extra period, with a fake field goal attempt coming up empty. With that, all the Knights had to do was score to win the game.
White did just that, carrying it in from 7 yards out to give Scranton the win.
The win wouldn’t have even been possible if not for two blocked extra point attempts on Hazleton Area’s touchdowns — an 11-yard run on a reverse from Matt Cusatis and a 5-yard pass to Meluskey — that kept the game within one possession late in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Matthew Buchman also had an interception for the Cougars, and had a solid game running the ball, carrying 12 times for 60 yards.
The win is Scranton’s sixth in a row, while Hazleton loses their sixth straight to fall to 1-7.
Next up for the Cougars is their home finale against Wallenpaupack, while the Knights will take on Valley View at home.
Scranton 21, Hazleton Area 15 (OT)
Scranton`7`0`0`8`6 — 0
Hazleton Area`0`3`6`6`0 — 0
First quarter
SCR — Tylil White 1 run (Jeremiah Ortiz kick) 7:20
Second quarter
HA — Nate Russo 25 field goal 7:09
Third quarter
HA — Matt Cusatis 11 run (kick blocked) 1:05
Fourth quarter
HA — Kevin Meluskey 5 pass from Kellen Warner (kick blocked) 7:23
SCR — White 5 run (White 2-pt conv.) 4:34
Overtime
SCR — White 7 run 0.0
Team statistics`SCR`HA
First downs`7`5
Rushes-yards`34-109`26-123
Passing yards`136`91
Total yards`245`214
Passing`8-20-2`7-18-0
Sacked-yards lost`3-17`1-5
Punts-avg.`3-37`4-32
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`7-45`8-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — SCR, White 23-90, Charlie Thompson 5-15, Ricky Walker 3-7, Jason Thorpe-Adams Jr. 3-10. HA, Matthew Buchman 12-60, Meluskey 7-27, Warner 3-15, Cusatis 1-11, Lance Johnson 3-10.
PASSING — SCR, White 8-20-2-136. HA, Warner 7-18-0-91.
RECEIVING — SCR, Walker 4-75, Sam Jones 1-6, Thorpe-Adams Jr. 3-55. HA, Matt Fisher 3-28, Cusatis 1-1, Buchman 1-15, Meluskey 2-47.
INTERCEPTIONS — SCR, None. HA, Buchman 1-0, Meluskey 1-0.
MISSED FGs — SCR, Ortiz 1-29. HA, None.