KINGSTON — Crestwood, perhaps more than any other team in the conference, needed a strong performance Friday night heading into the postseason. The Comets had lost two in a row and scored just one touchdown in those games.
Their first drive eased some concerns. The first half erased them.
Crestwood scored on five of its six first-half possessions, jumping to a huge lead on the way to a 49-14 win over Wyoming Valley West in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
The Comets (2-3 Div. 1, 5-5) locked up the fourth seed in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs. They will head to unbeaten North Pocono for a semifinal game next Friday. Valley West (1-4 Div. 1, 1-9) held onto the final berth in the D2-5A playoffs as West Scranton lost to Honesdale.
Crestwood entered the night coming off losses of 7-0 to Dallas — where it had three touchdowns negated by penalties — and 35-7 to Wilkes-Barre Area.
“It was really tough,” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “We got gutted there a little bit at the end of the season. That kind of caused us to play a little bit of out of character last week. So to come back, get back off the mat, have three different guys at quarterback touch the ball at times where it matters, and for each guy to allow that to happen was really awesome for our kids.”
Starting senior quarterback Jaden Shedlock lined up at running back initially with freshman Teddy Taylor taking snaps. Shedlock later threw touchdown passes of 30 yards to Gio Barna and 36 yards to Jack Rodgers to start a 28-point second quarterback.
Rodgers, who started at quarterback when Shedlock was injured the previous two years, threw a 33-yard TD pass to Logan Lawson off a backward pass from Shedlock. Shedlock finished off the first half with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Barna for a 35-0 lead.
Defense and special teams also came up big in the first half. Barna, Rodgers and Braylon Murray had interceptions. The picks by Barna and Murray led to quick scores. Nate Walsh also blocked a punt, resulting on a touchdown pass on the next play. Sophomore Carson Oresick came off the edge to record three sacks.
Crestwood came into the game with just four interceptions.
“It was about time we got the ball. We were so close for a while,” Arcangeli said. “We changed the defensive backs. That quarterback can really sling the ball. That guy can really throw it so we knew we’d have opportunities.
“And young Carson Oresick, No. 16, he gets better every week. ,He’s only a sophomore. He’s got to get into the weight room and work really hard, but he loves football and he loves his team for sure.”
A bright spot for Valley West was receiver John Richards topping 1,000 yard receiving for the season. He caught nine passes for 109 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown for Valley West’s first score.
Crestwood 49, Wyoming Valley West 14
Crestwood`7`28`7`7 — 49
Wyoming Valley West`0`0`6`8 — 14
First quarter
CRE — Nate Walsh 7 run (Cooper Laubach kick), 2:58
Second quarter
CRE — Gio Barna 30 pass from Jaden Shedlock (Laubach kick), 10:27
CRE — Jack Rodgers 36 pass from Shedlock (Laubach kick), 9:15
CRE — Logan Lawson 33 pass from Rodgers (Laubach kick), 5:16
CRE — Barna 14 pass from Shedlock (Laubach kick), 0:21
Third quarter
CRE — Amias Ocasio 4 run (Laubach kick), 7:13
WVW — John Richards 40 pass from Damien Eastman (kick failed), 1:51
Fourth quarter
CRE — Kyle Schade 45 run (Laubach kick), 11:44
WVW — Malique Campbell 7 run (Richards from Chris Phelps), 9:09
Team statistics`CRE`WVW
First downs`20`12
Rushes-yards`32-293`21-82
Passing yards`176`161
Total yards`469`243
Passing`6-9-0`13-23-3
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-26
Punts-avg.1-28`1-21
Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`4-44`6-46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Crestwood, Shedlock 3-16, Jacob Jeckell 2-14, Matt Bealla 4-16, Walsh 14-118, Teddy Taylor 4-14, Ocasio 5-23, Schade 4-92. Valley West, Campbell 8-74, Will Hebda 2-3, Damien Eastman 5-(minus-26), Gadgidas Reisinger 1-(minus-1), Tanner Ragukas 3-27, Josiah Willis 1-9, team 1-(minus-4).
PASSING — Crestwood, Shedlock 4-4-0-92, Taylor 0-3-0-0, Rodgers 2-2-0-84. Eastman 13-22-2-161, Preston Sninsky 0-1-1-0. Valley West, Richards 9-109, Riesinger 0-5, Chase Meyers 1-20, Sninsky 3-27.
RECEIVING — Crestwood, Rodgers 2-48, Barna 3-95, Lawson 1-33.
INTERCEPTIONS — Crestwood, Barna 1-0, Rodgers 1-0, Braylon Murry 1-0.
MISSED FGs —none.
