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WRIGHT TWP. — When a punted football’s hovering above him, Sean Judge admits to getting a bit jumpy.
Once that ball hits his hands, he makes everyone trying to tackle him nervous.
Judge found three different ways to produce touchdowns Friday and Wyoming Valley West’s defense rolled its scoreless streak to eight consecutive quarters with its second straight shutout as the Spartans remained unbeaten with a 33-0 victory over Crestwood at Crestwood High School.
“When the ball’s in the air, there’s a little (case of) jitters,” Judge said. “Once I get the ball, you see the opening and just run through it.”
Judge ran up and down the Crestwood High School field, creating enough electricity to charge Valley West’s seventh straight win to open the season.
On the Spartans’ second series, Judge took a handoff out of the backfield and raced 75 yards for a touchdown, relying on on his uncanny vision and superior speed to produce the game’s first touchdown.
“A little bit of both,” Judge said.
In a fierce defensive battle, that score remained well into the third quarter, when Judge ripped off a 17-yard run to set up Aaron Austin’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Devon Weidman for a 14-0 Valley West lead.
Then the Spartans got a little tricky.
Judge, a junior running back, took a toss from Austin, glided to his right, then suddenly stopped and threw a screen pass back across the field to quarterback Austin – who raced untouched for a 56-yard touchdown and a 20-0 Valley West lead.
“We just threw that in this week,” Valley West coach Pat Keating said. “We got in the right situation and were able to capitlize on it.”
It was a rare touchdown pass for Judge, who’s become more accustomed to scoring touchdowns than throwing them during his three seasons as a Spartans starter.
“It’s a totally different feeling,” Judge grinned. “It’s different from running it. He (Austin) got out there, they followed a toss and they all pursued, Aaron ran for the touchdown.”
A little later, Judge was back to doing one of the more regular things that makes him dynamic.
He fielded a Crestwood punt on the Valley West 21-yard line, continued a couple steps back, then darted through a swarm of hard-charging defenders and zipped 79 yards on the punt return for another score and a 26-0 lead for the Spartans with 8:08 to play.
“He can do so many things on the field. I’ve been saying that all along,” Keating said. “It’s a pleasure to coach him.”
Judge added one more edge-of-your-seat moment, breaking off a 22-yard punt return to midfield. It led to Bill Davison’s 13-yard touchdown run, which set the final score with little more than two minutes to play.
Judge finished the day with 100 rushing yards – twice as many as any other runner in the game – and added 101 yards on punt returns.
“He’s just a super athlete,” Keating said, “whether he’s running the ball, throwing the ball, catching the ball. On defense, he covers well, tackles well. No matter what he does, he’s just a skilled athlete and he understands the game.
“Makes for a dangerous kid.”
The Valley West defense was just as destructive.
The Spartans intercepted two passes, allowed just 62 rushing yards against Crestwood dangerous Single-Wing attack and limited the Comets to 30 passing yards. Although Crestwood moved inside Valley West’s 40-yard line three times, the Comets never really came close to scoring.
“I’m very pleased,” said Judge, who also plays defensive back. “We’re coming together every week.”
Wyoming Valley West 33, Crestwood 0
Wyo. Valley West`7`0`13`13`—`33
Crestwood`0`0`0`0`—`0
First quarter
WVW — Sean Judge 75 run (Jake Gurtis kick), 4:03
Third quarter
WVW — Devon Weidman 28 pass from Aaron Austin (Gurtis kick), 5:48
WVW — Austin 56 pass from Judge (kick failed), 3:31
Fourth quarter
WVW — Judge 79 punt return (conversion pass failed), 8:18
WVW — Bill Davison 13 run (Gurtis kick), 2:22
Team statistics`WVW`CRE
First downs`9`10
Rushes-yards`23-160`45-62
Passing yards`100`30
Total yards`260`92
Passing`7-12-2`3-16-2
Sacked-yards lost`1-7`3-24
Punts-avg.`2-29.5`4-33
Fumbles-lost`1-0`3-0
Penalties-yards`1-5`7-69
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Sean Judge 9-100, Bill Davison 7-50, Aaron Austin 7-10. HOM, Josh Malkemes 3-39, Tanner Kahlau 19-33, Lance Blass 15-19, Pat Rother 3-6, Seamus Rother 2- (minus 2), Owen Grigas 1- (minus 5), TEAM 2- (minus 28).
PASSING — WVW, Austin 6-11-2-44, Judge 1-1-0-56. CRE, Blass 3-16-2-30.
RECEIVING — WVW, L.J. Wesneski 3-20, Austin 1-56, Devon Weidman 1-28, Davison 1-11, Judge 1- (minus 5). CRE, Connor Sheloski 2-18, Kahlau 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS — WVW, Weidman 1-0, Jake Shemo 1-0. CRE, Blass 2-22.
