The visiting Crestwood Comets impressed all night long with a dominant 55-15 road triumph over the Tunkhannock Tigers on Friday to capture their first win of the young season.
Crestwood bounced back in a big way after dropping its first two games of the 2024 campaign to stalwart programs in Wyoming Area and Valley View. Tunkhannock after dropping their season opener at home to Lackawanna Trail came into the night riding high after shutting out the Holy Redeemer Royals in commanding fashion on the road last week by a score of 42-0.
Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli was proud of his team’s bounce-back effort and happy for his squad to finally taste victory.
“We knew going into the season, win or lose against two really good teams like Wyoming Area and Valley View, we would know exactly who we are,” Arcangeli said. “And it took two tough losses to figure that out. We got a little glimmer of what we might be in the second half against Valley View.
“We talked about that all week long about what we could be and putting it all together. So we learn who we are and the kids put it together tonight.”
In the first quarter, Crestwood jumped out to a huge 27-7 advantage with freshman tailback Nate Walsh kicking things off with a lightning-quick 32-yard touchdown scamper to give his team a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.
The Comets found the end zone just a few minutes later when junior Giovanni Barna scored from 24 yards out to stretch his team’s lead to 14-0 with 4:43 remaining in the period.
Just 13 seconds later, however, the hometown Tigers would show some life and get on the scoreboard when junior wideout Andrew Lupinski took it all the way to the house on an awe-inspiring 86-yard kickoff return to cut the deficit to 14-7 at the 4:30 mark of the quarter.
That Tiger momentum swing would be short-lived, as the Comets scored again just 17 seconds later when junior quarterback Jaden Shedlock broke free for an impressive 75-yard touchdown run to increase his squad’s advantage to 20-7.
For the Comets’ final points of the quarter, Shedlock would find sophomore wideout Jack Rodgers on a wide open 71-yard deep ball to give their team a 27-7 lead at the 2:51 mark.
In the second quarter, the Comets scoring barrage continued, as they outscored the Tigers by a 21-0 margin.
Senior Lincoln Bibla pounded his way into the end zone to stretch Crestwood’s lead to 34-7 just six seconds into the period. For their next score, sophomore running back Matthew Bealla barreled his way for the 2-yard score to up the lead to 41-7 at the 5:03 mark of the frame.
The Comets’ last score before halftime came right as the whistle sounded for the break, as Barna scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, this one a thrilling 35-yard sprint to pay dirt for a commanding 41-point advantage heading into the locker room.
In the second half, as the clock continued to run, the scoring cooled down a bit, as Crestwood scored only once in the third stanza and was held scoreless in the fourth.
Comets sophomore tailback Jacob Jeckell scored from 12 yards out with 4:41 remaining in the third quarter to give his squad the final points of the night.
Meanwhile, the Tigers oared one last time in the final quarter when freshman running back Lucas Ciprich scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and junior backup quarterback Randall Paxton ran in the successful two-point conversion to get the Tigers point total to 15 points with 3:08 left in regulation.
Now the 1-2 Comets will look to continue their winning ways next Friday night when they host undefeated Western Wayne.
“The key for tonight’s win was tempo, tempo, tempo,” Arcangeli said. “Tempo was the difference tonight — offensively and defensively — and it was the kids who set that standard. If you can bottle up this great feeling of winning a game, it motivates you through a practice week. And if we can do that and take it into next week, I feel pretty good about our chances next Friday.
“We have great kids, great staff, they needed a win and I’m so proud of them.”
Meanwhile, coach Pat Keating and his 1-2 Tigers will look to bounce back when they host Nanticoke Area under the Friday night lights.
Crestwood 55, Tunkhannock 15
Crestwood `27`21`7`0 — 55
Tunkhannock`7`0`0`8 — 15
First Quarter
CRE — Nate Walsh 32 run (Ethan Zabroski kick), 10:05
CRE — Giovanni Barna 24 run (Zabroski kick), 4:43
TUN — Andrew Lupinski 86 kick return (Jerome Callum kick), 4:30
CRE — Jayden Shedlock 75 run (kick failed), 4:13
CRE — Jack Rodgers 71 pass from Shedlock (Zabroski kick), 2:51
Second Quarter
CRE — Lincoln Bibla 5 run (Zabroski kick), 11:54
CRE — Matthew Bealla 2 run (Zabroski kick), 5:03
CRE — Barna 35 run (Zabroski kick), 0:00
Third Quarter
CRE — Jacob Jeckell 12 run (Cooper Laubach kick), 4:41
Fourth Quarter
TUN — Lucas Ciprich 5 run (Randall Paxton run), 3:08
Team statistics `Crestwood ‘Tunkhannock
First downs`21’8
Rushes-yards`49-394`20-76
Passing yards`138`57
Total yards`532`133
Passing’3-3-1-0`3-11-0-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-10
Punts-avg.`0-0`4-32
Fumbles-lost`2-0`3-3
Penalties-yards`10-80`5-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- CR, Nate Walsh 8-67, Jacob Jeckell 13-35, Jayden Shedlock 5-140, Giovanni Barna 6-83, Lincoln Bibla 1-5, Matthew Bealla 5-21, Dylan Bellas 2-6, Amias Ocasio 2-8, Dylan Gensil 3-8, Ryan Zelinka 4-21. TU, Karver Lewis 10-32, Lucas Ciprich 6-25, Randall Paxton 1-10, Andrew Lupinski 1-4, Landon Bolcavage 1-11, Bobby Seidel 1-neg.6.
PASSING- CR, Jaden Shedlock 3-3-138-1-0. TU, Zach Latwinski 3-11-57-0-0.
RECEIVING- CR, Lincoln Bibla 1-36, Giovanni Barna 1-31, Jack Rodgers 1-71. TU, Andrew Lupinski 2-46, Mahki Mickels 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS- CR, None. TU, None.
