WRIGHT TWP. — The script didn’t change much for Western Wayne on Friday night, and it didn’t need to.
Give Josh Vinton the ball, and let him go to work.
The senior running back ran for 142 yards and a score, and caught another touchdown on a screen pass that went for 55 yards as Western Wayne beat Crestwood 21-0 to remain undefeated on the year.
Both of Vinton’s touchdowns came in the first quarter, and the Wildcats were able to lean on an exceptional effort from their defense to shut out Crestwood on their home field.
“We got ourselves into position where we had to rise up,” Western Wayne coach Shane Grodack said. “Our defense is playing outstanding.”
Crestwood’s offense continued to operate primarily on the ground, and the Comets were able to move the ball decently well on a few long drives — but they couldn’t finish.
The Comets’ opening drive stretched into Western Wayne territory, but ended in an interception by Sean Owens. The Wildcats capitalized on the turnover and took the lead after Vinton broke loose along the left side for a 20-yard touchdown run.
Crestwood was also stopped on two fourth down and short situations on the Western Wayne side of the field, including a stand by the Wildcats on their own goal line that brought Crestwood’s momentum to a grinding halt with time winding down in the second quarter.
“It was a momentum killer for sure,” said Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli, referring to the goal-line stand. “They’re a very good football team, we moved the ball very well. … We didn’t take advantage of opportunities.”
It was Vinton in on that fourth-down stop, standing up Crestwood quarterback Jaden Shedlock in his tracks to bring the ball back to the Wildcats.
Shedlock had a big game on the ground, rushing for 133 yards on 17 carries before leaving the game in the third quarter after taking a hit on a quarterback run.
“(Shedlock) is good, he’s a heck of a player,” Grodack said. “One of the best players we’ve seen this season.”
Western Wayne played the time of possession game in the second half and ran as much clock as possible when they could, with Vinton doing the bulk of the work on the ground.
The Wildcats tacked on a fourth-quarter touchdown on another screen play, with quarterback John Pyatt finding James Jimenez for 12 yards and a score to make it 21-0 with about six minutes left.
Crestwood mounted one final long drive to try and prevent a shutout, and got inside the Western Wayne 10-yard line, but the Wildcats rallied for one more fourth-down stop to seal the game.
Western Wayne (4-0) will take on Old Forge next week, while Crestwood (1-3) will hit the road to face Nanticoke Area.
Western Wayne 21, Crestwood 0
Western Wayne`14`0`0`7 — 21
Crestwood`0`0`0`0 — 0
First Quarter
WW — Josh Vinton 20 run (Jacob Wells kick) 3:33
WW — Vinton 55 pass from John Pyatt (Wells kick) 0:14
Fourth quarter
WW — James Jimenez 12 pass from Pyatt (Wells kick) 6:13
Team statistics`WW`CRE
First downs`13`13
Rushes-yards`31-153`46-233
Passing yards`150`13
Total yards`303`246
Passing`7-13-1`2-7-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-29.5`2-30
Fumbles-lost`2-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`6-45`7-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WW, Vinton 28-142, Vinny Silon 1-0, Jimenez 1-(minus-1), Sean Owens 1-12. CRE, Matthew Bealla 5-23, Jaden Shedlock 17-133, Colin Lazo 7-18, Jacob Jeckell 11-31, Gio Barna 3-14, Nate Walsh 2-7, Jack Rodgers 1-7.
PASSING — WW, Pyatt 7-13-1-150. CRE, Shedlock 1-3-1-11, Barna 0-1-0-0, Rodgets 1-3-0-2.
RECEIVING — WW, Owens 4-74, Silon 1-9, Vinton 1-55, Jimenez 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS — WW, Owens 1-11. CRE, Rodgers 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none.
