WRIGHT TWP. — Wilkes-Barre Area had its statement game.
The Wolfpack could do no wrong on the road against a formidable opponent – defense, passing, even running the ball. It was as dominant and complete performance as it has had in its brief program history.
Wilkes-Barre Area scored the game’s first five touchdowns to skate past Crestwood 35-7 on Friday night.
“This solidifies us into the playoffs,” Wilkes-Barre Area coach Ciro Cinti said. “I give credit to all three phases of our performance today. We threw the ball over the place. We ran well. We played outstanding defensively today except for one play.
“The defense came to play. This time of year, you’ve got to play defense. That’s the bottom line.”
Wilkes-Barre Area’s defense left its mark in the first two possessions of the game.
Gene Ardo intercepted a pass inside the Wolfpack 30 and returned it 50 yards down the sideline on the Comets’ opening drive. That set up a chance for Wilkes-Barre Area’s Davon Underwood to score on its first play. Underwood weaved past Crestwood defenders for a 28-yard rushing touchdown a mere 74 seconds into the game.
Wilkes-Barre Area held firm on the next Crestwood drive. Inside the 10-yard line, the Wolfpack pushed the Comets backwards, thwarting any open space to find the end zone. A missed 25-yard field goal attempt left the Comets scoreless through two drives.
The Wolfpack marched 92 yards downfield to extend their lead to two scores with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Jonathan Otway-Kellom hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jake Howe, pulling it in over the defender while falling backward into the end zone.
“That just shows the maturity of the kids we have out there,” Cinti said. “When you play a Crestwood team, it’s very tough to emulate what they do in practice because they do so much shifting and misdirection. We bent but we didn’t break.”
Wilkes-Barre Area set the mercy rule running clock into effect with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
Underwood scored his second touchdown of the game, finding the end zone on a delayed handoff for 21 yards. He finished with 102 rushing yards on 13 carries.
“It shows you our versatility,” Cinti said. “You’ve got to be able to run because you never know how the weather is going to be this time of year. Today, we showed another aspect of our offense.”
Gino Dalessandro scored his second touchdown of the season on a 6-yard pass from Jake Howe. The Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback threw for two scores and 101 yards on a 10-for-18 outing. He ran for one touchdown in the third quarter.
Crestwood’s lone touchdown came on a 67-yard touchdown from converted fullback Matt Bealla, who broke away from the field after a missed tackle with seconds left in the third quarter.
Wilkes-Barre Area 35, Crestwood 7
Wilkes-Barre Area`14`7`14`0 — 35
Crestwood`0`0`7`0 — 7
First quarter
WBA — Davon Underwood 28 run (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 10:46
WBA — Jonathan Otway-Kellom 26 pass from Jake Howe (Sanchez kick), 3:30
Second quarter
WBA — Howe 1 run (Sanchez kick), 8:03
Third quarter
WBA — Gino Dalessandro 6 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 9:48
WBA — Underwood 21 run (Sanchez kick), 3:17
CRE — Matthew Bealla 67 run (Cooper Laubach kick), :43
Team statistics`WBA`CRE
First downs`17`11
Rushes-yards`31-213`32-193
Passing yards`101`37
Total yards`314`230
Passing`8-16-0`6-17-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-6
Punts-avg.`1-32`3-28
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-0
Penalties-yards`4-30`7-77
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WBA, Underwood 12-102, Khalil Smith 3-13, Howe 7-31, Otway-Kellom 1-22, Kevon Creech 1-21, Gene Ardo 4-20, Dalessandro 1-1, Treyvon Gembitski 1-4, TEAM 1-(minus-1). CRE, Nate Walsh 3-10, Jacob Jeckell 8-34, Jaden Shedlock 6-26, Tyler Herbert 2-7, Bealla 9-97, Jack Rodgers 3-12, Giovanni Barna 1-7
PASSING — WBA, Howe 8-16-101-0. CRE, Shedlock 5-12-33-1, Teddy Taylor 0-1-0-0, Rodgers 1-1-4-0
RECEIVING — WBA, Otway-Kellom 1-26, Nick Saracino 1-12, Jordan Kieselowsky 4-43, Dalessandro 1-6, Ardo 1-15. CRE, Rodgers 2-13, Walsh 1-15, Barna 2-5, Bealla 1-4
INTERCEPTIONS — WBA, Ardo 1-50
MISSED FGs — CRE, Laubac
