WRIGHT TWP. — On a night that featured milestones and records, Crestwood took home more than a 61-7 victory of Nanticoke Area in the quarterfinals of the District 2 Class 4A playoffs.
Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli praised his star backs after the game.
“It’s a lot of hard work, I’m proud of those guys,” Arcangeli said. “For Noah (Schultz) to get 27 and break a record that’s been around since the 80s is very special.”
Running back Noah Schultz continued his dominant season with three scores in the contest and would break the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season, scoring his 27th touchdown shortly before the end of the half.
After an outstanding first half in which Jaden Shedlock ran for 206 yards and two touchdowns, he could taste the 1,000-yard marker and wanted one more carry.
“Coming out of the half I knew I needed 11 yards and I told coach, give me one more play,” Shedlock said. “I got the opportunity and the offensive line did what they needed to do, and I got it.”
The Comets were focused from the start and started with a bang as Schultz would intercept Jaylin Collins’s first pass attempt. Two plays later, Crestwood would find itself on the scoreboard with pass completions to Josh Hilpp and Zach Sheloski.
The Comets would soon find themselves with possession again as they recovered a Trojan fumble on their second play of the game. They would put the ball in the end zone on their next play only to have a penalty negate the score and bring their offense back.
The penalty would become more costly as a miscommunication would cause the ball to become loose and end up in the hands of Nanticoke.
“The turnover was compounded by the penalty and that caused a touchdown to get wiped off the board,” Arcangeli said. “We can’t keep doing that. I talked to them during a timeout to calm them down. Once we cleaned up those mistakes and held onto the football we got into a rhythm.”
The Trojan offense seemed to settle in as it began to threaten the Comet defense and move the ball to the Crestwood 25-yard line. Nick Miscavage ended the scoring threat with his first of two interceptions in the contest.
“I felt like it was a big stand at the time,” Miscavage said, “I knew they were looking for their tight ends, so I just sat back and let the ball come to me.”
Miscavage halted two Nanticoke scoring threats, intercepting the ball at the 11- and 4-yard lines. He would add himself to the score sheet as he took the second half kickoff 78 yards to the end zone.
Following Nanticoke’s third turnover in the first quarter, the Comets would fall back on what led them to success all year — running the ball. Crestwood would only need five rushing plays to take the ball 76 yards for the score and double their early advantage.
On the ensuing Comet possession, Shedlock would try to pick out a wide-open receiver, but his pass would be just out of reach. The missed opportunity would soon be forgotten as Schultz took the ensuing handoff 33 yards for his first touchdown in the half.
Schultz would add two more scores in the half, one from 6 yards and the other from 3 yards, en route to his team’s victory and his new school record.
Shedlock could only find green grass in the contest as he ran for 65-yard and 85-yard touchdowns in the first half. He would have a 48-yard touchdown called back just short of the end zone with a late penalty call.
Shedlock finished the half rushing for over 200 yards on four carries.
Zach Fox would keep the Trojan offense moving, finishing the game with 146 yards on the ground, but Crestwood’s defiant defense would keep the Trojan offensive at bay.
“It all starts with the guys up front,” Comet linebacker Cole Kakalecik said. “It makes it easier for us to find our rhythm and that’s when we become a tough team to beat.”
Crestwood 61, Nanticoke 7
Nanticoke`0`0`0`7 — 7
Crestwood`21`26`14`0 — 61
First quarter
CRE — Zach Sheloski 17 pass from Jaden Shedlock (Logan Rolles kick), 10:47
CRE — Robert Knight 28 run (Rolles kick), 6:12
CRE — Noah Schultz 33 run (Rolles kick), 2:05
Second quarter
CRE — Shedlock 65 run (Rolles kick), 10:31
CRE — Shedlock 85 run (Kick failed), 7:40
CRE — Schultz 6 run (Kick failed), 4:08
CRE — Schultz 3 run (Rolles Kick), 1:05
Third quarter
CRE — Nick Miscavage 78 kickoff return (Rolles kick), 11:42
CRE — Allen Angon 40 run (Rolles kick), 4:43
Fourth quarter
NA — Ashton Brozusky (Sophia Lukowski kick), 0:40
Team statistics`NA`CRE
First downs`17`17
Rushes-yards`18-286`29-459
Passing yards`20`60
Total yards`306`519
Passing`1-6-20`2-5-60
Sacked-yards lost`1-12`0-0
Punts-avg.`4-14`0-0
Fumbles-lost`6-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`7-80`12-100
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — NA, Zach Fox 19-146, Ashton Brozusky 12-57, Jaylin Collins 6-41, Mykal Julian 5-24, Treston Allen 3-23, Eugene Gyle 1-1, Lucas Stachowiak 1-(minus-1). CR, Jaden Shedlock 5-230, Noah Schultz 11-113, Allen Angon 4-54, Robert Knight 1-28, Osten Grigas 5-26, Colin Lazo 2-15.
PASSING — NA, Seth Raymor 1-3-1-20, Jaylin Collins 0-3-2-0. CR, Jaden Shedlock 2-5-0-60.
RECEIVING — NP, Jaidyn Johnson 1-20. CR, Josh Hilpp 1-43, Zach Sheloski 1-17.
INTERCEPTIONS — CR, Nick Miscavage 2-19, Noah Schultz 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None.
