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KINGSTON — Some of the players have graduated. A few others were still serving out a suspension.
It didn’t matter to Wyoming Valley West that Delaware Valley wasn’t quite the same team that won both meetings last year. The Spartans wanted some revenged and got it Friday night.
Valley West’s defense dominated the tempo, intercepting three passes and smothering the DelVal offense, as the Spartans posted a 30-6 victory in a non-conference game.
DelVal (0-2) won 43-35 during the 2014 regular season and again 35-25 for the District 2 Class 4A championship.
“We were excited for this game after what they did to us last year,” said Valley West senior Bill Davison, who had an interception as a linebacker and rushed for 75 yards as a fullback. “We came out with a chip on our shoulder. We were hungry.”
The defense devoured DelVal’s offense. The Warriors had 95 yards through the air, with 65 of them coming on a TD pass on a slip screen in the third quarter. Many of their 46 yards on the ground came after Valley West (2-0) had wrapped up the victory.
The defensive performance was so strong that Valley West coach Pat Keating called it one of the best defensive efforts of his seven years in charge. Even senior defensive tackle Jason Wall had an interception, hauling in a tipped pass behind the line of scrimmage in the third quarter after DelVal moved within 20-6.
“I almost dropped it,” said the 6-foot-0, 270-pound Wall, “but I was able to hang onto it. I tried to make a move on a defender, but he was there and got me. But it all worked out.”
Wall’s interception, which not surprisingly was the first of his career, led to a 32-yard field goal by Jake Gurtis.
Gurtis had three field goals as the Spartans squandered a few scoring opportunities throughout the game. His 32-yard field goal came two plays after Valley West had a 21-yard touchdown catch by Devon Weidman negated by a penalty.
Valley West also moved to the DelVal 6-yard line on its second possession of the game, only to fumble twice and lose 13 yards on a sack. Gurtis came on to boot a 23-yard field goal. His second field goal came after a chop-block penalty deflated a drive to the DelVal 13.
“Everything mirrored the way we practiced this week,” Keating said. “We were inconsistent offensively all week and it transferred to tonight. We had a great week of defensive practice and that transferred to tonight.
“Everything carried over. We have to cut out the inconsistencies, especially down in the red zone.”
The offensive showing wasn’t all bleak. Running back Sean Judge had 124 yards on the ground and another 29 via receptions. Quarterback Aaron Austin ran for a couple second-quarter touchdowns that tilted the game. And Weidman did get a touchdown catch, a 31-yarder early in the fourth quarter for the final score.
Wyo. Valley West 30, Delaware Valley 6
Delaware Valley`0`0`6`0`—`6
Wyo. Valley West`3`17`3`7`—`30
First quarter
WVW — Jake Gurtis 23 FG, 4:33
Second quarter
WVW — Aaron Austin 3 run (Gurtis kick), 11:47
WVW — Gurtis 28 FG, 5:40
WVW — Austin 13 run (Gurtis kick), 0:26
Third quarter
DV — Dylan Kelly 65 pass from Matt Cavallero (kick failed), 8:45
WVW — Gurtis 32 FG, 2:52
Fourth quarter
WVW — Devon Weidman 31 pass from Austin (Gurtis kick), 10:38
Team statistics`DV`WVW
First downs`5`21
Rushes-yards`23-46`51-301
Passing yards`95`99
Total yards`141`400
Passing`6-19-3`8-17-1
Sacked-yards lost`2-12`4-26
Punts-avg.`6-39.5`3-34.7
Fumbles-lost`2-1`4-1
Penalties-yards`3-42`4-36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DelVal, Kyle Dillon 13-37, Cavallero 3-(minus-12), Ryan Obiso 5-17, Kyle Scibelli 2-4. WVW, Sean Judge 16-124, Austin 18-65, Mike Baird 5-28, Weidman 2-8, Bill Davison 6-75, Chris Melovitz 1-4, team 3-(minus-3).
PASSING — DelVal Cavallero 6-19-3-95. WVW, Austin 8-16-1-99, team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — DelVal, Joey Centanni 2-19, Kelly 2-70, Chido Rwakonda 1-3, James Secor 1-3. WVW, Chris Reese 1-11, Judge 3-29, Jake Shemo 1-12, LJ Wesneski 1-10, Davison 1-2, Weidman 1-31.
INTERCEPTIONS — DelVal, Trevor Smith 1-29. WVW, Shemo 1-0, Davison 1-9, Wall 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None.
