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WILLIAMSPORT — They shouted with glee.
They posed for pictures.
They jumped skipped and hugged.
And why not?
For just the third time in school history, the Wyoming Valley West Spartans completed an unbeaten regular season.
Sean Judge scored three touchdowns, set up another and added a conversion run, Devon Weidman kept catching long passes Friday and Aaron Austin threw a pair of scoring strikes as Valley West walloped Williamsport, 48-7 to finish 10-0 and complete its first perfect season since 1997.
“This is what we wanted,” Weidman said. “We’ve been striving for this the whole year. We said this is what we wanted to do and we did it.”
Even the coach got in on the glee, breaking into an ear-to-ear grin as the Spartans ran the table on their Wyoming Valley Conference schedule – and none of the final scores were even close.
“It’s been on my bucket list as a head coach,” a delighted Keating said. “I’m really excited for these kids. No matter how talented you are, it’s really hard to go and play a regular season in any sport undefeated.”
As usual, the Spartans sure made it exciting.
Austin started and pretty much finished the offensive onslaught with a pair of scoring strikes, and in between, the Spartans broke out their big-play ability to ran away from a 6-4 Williamsport team that pulled out all the stops in pursuit of a district playoff berth.
“Williamsport had something to play for tonight,” Keating said. “We knew they were going to come out.”
The Millionaires couldn’t keep up with Valley West’s speed, though.
Judge, who finished with 229 rushing yards, zipped through Williamsport’s defense for a 55-yard gain to open the second drive of the game for the Spartans, and Austin immediately found running back Bill Davison with a 25-yard scoring strike to get the Spartans on the board.
The next time Valley West touched the ball, Judge sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown and, in a blink, the Spartans had a 14-0 lead.
They weren’t off to the races just yet, though.
Millionaires freshman Trey Potts dashed 38 yards for a touchdown that pulled Williamsport within 14-7, after it used a 21-yard quarterback scramble by Isahiah Hankins to convert one third-and-long dilemma and a 24-yard jaunt by Hankins on a fake punt to keep the team’s opening drive going.
That stalled five yards from the end zone, but Williamsport was on the move near midfield with a chance to tie the game late in the second quarter.
Then the game turned for good.
Williamsport lost a fumble, Valley West jumped on it, and pretty soon, Judge was off and running with his second score – a nine-yard burst that got Valley West more comfortable with a 21-7 lead.
The second half really made the Spartans relax.
Judge made Williamsport pay for a second lost fumble by sprinting 73 yards for a touchdown and Weidman added a 53-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter for a 35-7 Valley West lead.
“It’s great to have speed all over the place,” said Weidman, who added three catches for 79 yards. “There’s no way to handle it. We just keep moving people around.”
Meanwhile, Valley West just kept moving into the end zone.
Austin connected with tight end L.J. Wesneski on a 12-yard touchdown pass just 28 seconds into the final quarter, and even reserve running back Chris Melovicz got in on the quick-strike action with a 64-yard touchdown run to set the final score.
That sent the Spartans into the District 2/11 playoffs on a high note, and in the midst of a celebration.
“Third time in school history,” Keating said. “These guys really feed off each other. Austin, Judge, Davison, Wesneski and Weidman – they really do great jobs.”
Wyoming Valley West 48, Williamsport 7
Wyo. Valley West`7`14`14`14`—`49
Williamsport`0`7`0`0`—`7
First quarter
WVW — Bill Davison 25 pass from Aaron Austin (Jake Gurtis kick), 0:26
Second quarter
WVW — Sean Judge 65 run (Gurtis kick), 9:40
W — Trey Potts 38 run (Terrance Hillman kick), 8:50
WVW — Judge 9 run (Gurtis kick), 2:51
Third quarter
WVW — Judge 73 run (conversion pass failed), 8:09
WVW — Devon Weidman 53 run (Judge conversion run), 2:52
Fourth quarter
WVW — L.J. Wesneski 12 pass from Austin (kick failed), 11:32
WVW — Chris Melovicz 64 run (Gurtis kick), 2:13
Team statistics`WVW`WIL
First downs`16`16
Rushes-yards`30-434`46-235
Passing yards`101`31
Total yards`535`266
Passing`6-9-1`6-18-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-10`1-6
Punts-avg.`1-27`5-21.6
Fumbles-lost`1-1`4-3
Penalties-yards`5-46`4-32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Sean Judge 9-229, Chris Melovicz 3-76, Devon Weidman 1-53, Bil Davison 6-42, Aaron Austin 5-23, Zack Davies 2-8, L.J. Wesneski 1-6, TEAM 3- (minus 3). WIL, Trey Potts 19-147, Isaiah Hankins 18-84, Elliott Walker 5-16, Latrell Jackson 1-3, TEAM 3- (minus 15).
PASSING — WVW, Austin 6-9-1-101. WIL, Hankins 6-18-0-31.
RECEIVING — WVW, Weidman 3-79, Wesneski 2-27, Jake Shemo 1- (minus 5). WIL, Walker 2-17, Jerah Reeves 2-6, Jalen Jackson 1-5, Devin Welch 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS — WIL, Hankins 1-0.
MISSED FGs — WIL, Terrance Hillman, 31 yards, wide right, 1st quarter.
