Warriors Fall to Coughlin 17-14   TIMES LEADER WILKES-BARRE — The Coughlin Crusaders have changed the direction of their football season. After Saturday night’s game at Memorial Stadium, the Wyoming Area Warriors are desperate to do the same. Jake Cole used his second straight 200-yard rushing game to lead Coughlin to its second consecutive win, 17-14. The Crusaders were 0-2 and behind at halftime a week ago, having been outscored 110-14 to that point. Since then, Coughlin has outscored its opponents, 37-14, and turned around its season, reaching the .500 mark. “Our kids never say die,” Coughlin coach Ciro Cinti said. “Kids are getting more comfortable in their positions. We have a fairly young line, but now we’re into the fourth game. “They have half a season under their belt. They’re only getting better at this point.” Wyoming Area can’t shake the tight games. After winning by four points on opening night, the Warriors have lost three straight three-point games. “We’re working hard and we’re not getting paid off,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We’ve got to be able to go to the bank and cash a check one day.” Coughlin took advantage of a Wyoming Area penalty early in the game and Cole kept the Crusaders in possession while they protected leads of either three or 10 points the rest of the night. The senior running back carried 26 times for 202 yards and both of his team’s touchdowns. “Jake Cole’s a four-year starter for us,” Cinti said. “The bottom line is when the game’s on the line, we like to have the ball in his hands.” The Crusaders held a 7-3 lead from 7:56 remaining in the half until 2:44 remaining in the game. That’s when Cole went 12 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-two. Wyoming Area responded with an 11-play scoring drive, converting third-and-nine, fourth-and-five and third-and-five. Marc Anthony Minichello, who had both Wyoming Area touchdowns, scored on a 5-yard pass from Dominic DeLuca with 33.5 seconds remaining, but Eric Sovan handled the on-side kick to clinch the Coughlin win. Coughlin did not move on its first three plays, but a Wyoming Area personal foul penalty on the punt allowed the Crusaders to maintain possession for the first 7:40 of the game. Wyoming Area stopped Coughlin twice from the 2 before a penalty forced the Crusaders to settle for a 23-yard Jeff Mondulick field goal. “We certainly had an opportunity to get off to a better start there,” Spencer said. Both teams struck quickly in the second quarter. On the first play after stopping Wyoming Area on fourth-and-one, Cole went up the middle for a 57-yard touchdown, slipping one tackle near midfield and then winning a race to the goal line. Wyoming Area answered on the ensuing kickoff when Minichello made it to the right sideline then sprinted the rest of the way to a 90-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 10-7 with 7:56 left in the half. Cole surpassed the 100-yard mark in the first half. Wyoming Area managed just one play of more than nine yards in the first half when DeLuca hit Brian Williams on a fly pattern for 43 yards to the Coughlin 29 late in the half. Four straight incompletions ended the threat. Coughlin 17, Wyoming Area 14  Wyoming Area`0`7`0`7`—`14  Coughlin`3`7`0`7`—`17  First quarter  CO – Jeff Mondulick 23 FG, 4:20 Second quarter  CO – Jake Cole 57 run (Mondulick kick), 8:09 WA – Marc Anthony Minichello 90 kickoff return (F.J. Braccini kick), 7:56 Fourth quarter  CO – Jake Cole 12 run (Mondulick kick), 2:44 WA – Minichello 5 pass from DeLuca (Braccini kick), 0:33.5 Team statistics`WA`CO  First downs`12`16 Rushes-yards`24-90`44-222 Passing yards`165`49 Total yards`255`271 Passing`14-29-0`3-8-0 Sacked-yards lost`1-3`3-21 Punts-avg.`4-33.0`4-31.3 Fumbles-lost`1-1`3-1 Penalties-yards`4-33`5-40 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS  RUSHING — WA, Marc Anthony Minichello 10-39, Dominic DeLuca 5-19, Darren Rodney 5-18, Donovan O’Boyle 2-6, Robbie Trottini 1-5, Charlie Banashefski 1-3. CO, Jake Cole 26-202, Vincent Todd 13-41, Garrett Wardle 4-20, Team 1-minus 1. PASSING — WA, DeLuca 12-26-0-120, Trottini 1-1-0-28, Minichello 1-1-0-17, Team 0-1-0-0. CO, Wardle 3-8-0-49. RECEIVING — WA, Minichello 8-42, Shane Eslick 3-38, Brian Williams 2-68, Trottini 1-17. CO, Salem Diop 1-33, Rafael McCoy 1-18, Cole 1-minus 2

TIMES LEADER By John Erzar - jerzar@timesleader.com WEST PITTSTON — Marred by penalties, errant shotgun snaps and overall ineffectiveness, Berwick needed a jolt Friday night. A sophomore whose made some big plays so far this season provided it. Teagan Wilk returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown, triggering a fourth-quarter rally as the Dawgs escaped with a 17-14 victory at Wyoming Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game. Berwick improved to 3-0, while Wyoming Area suffered its second consecutive three-point loss to fall to 1-2. Berwick trailed 14-3 midway through the fourth quarter when Wilk fielded a punt on the left sideline and weaved his way for a touchdown. “I don’t know if you saw the punt before that,” Wilk said, “but I almost took that one to the house. So we had a little conversation after that and I say, ‘Yo, you give me one more block and I’m taking it to the house.’” Wilk also leads the team in interceptions with two. “Teagan’s return, holy cow, talk about the ignition to start the comeback,” Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said. “We needed it because offensively we’re struggling. Teagan has made big plays for us in each game thus far to turn the momentum. There was none bigger than today.” Prior to Wilk’s score, two of Berwick’s three possessions had bad shotgun snaps, including one where Wyoming Area defensive lineman Damon Barhight recovered at the Berwick 15-yard line. Four plays after Barhight’s recovery, one of three fumbles he pounced on, receiver Marc Minichello threw a halfback option pass to quarterback Dominic DeLuca for an 8-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion gave the Warriors a 14-3 lead with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Wyoming Area went three-and-out on its next possession after Wilk’s touchdown. Two plays later, Berwick was on top. Damon Beckhorn darted 44 yards up the middle on a direct snap and then scored from eight yards out as the Dawgs took a 17-14 lead with 3:02 to play. Wyoming Area got one more crack on offense and moved from its 20-yard line to the 27 where DeLuca had to scramble on fourth down and was stopped for no gain. “The game is 48 minutes not 42 minutes,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “Our kids played well all game. You get a good punt you have to make the play. We were covering kicks all game. You get a good punt, make the play and finish the game.” The Warriors scored early in the second quarter. A punt skimmed off a Berwick player and Wyoming Area’s Jesse Cegelka won the dog fight for the ball at the Berwick 22. A DeLuca-to-Minichello connection put the ball at the 1, and three plays later running back Justin Joseph banged his way into the end zone. Berwick answered with a nine-play drive — slowed by two of the Dawgs’ 11 penalties — and got on the board when Ken Marshman connected on a 32-yard field goal. “We showed a lot of composure,” Sheptock said. “Just bang away a little bit, bang away a little bit. To be able to overcome all of that and beat a quality team like Wyoming Area really speaks volumes of the character of this football team.” NOTE: Wyoming Area held a moment of silence before the game in honor of Stephen Chipolis, a member of the district’s support staff who died on Monday. Berwick 17, Wyoming Area 14 Berwick`0`3`0`14`—`17 Wyoming Area`0`6`8`0`—`14 Second quarter WA — Justin Joseph 1 run (run failed), 10:46 BER — Ken Marshman 32 FG, 6:56 Third quarter WA — Dominic DeLuca 8 pass from Marc Minichello (Shane Eslick from DeLuca), 3:00 Fourth quarter BER — Teagan Wilk 81 punt return (Marshman kick), 5:43 BER — Damon Beckhorn 8 run (Marshman kick), 3:02 Team statistics`BER`WA First downs`9`6 Rushes-yards`41-192`42-68 Passing yards`32`58 Total yards`224`126 Passing`3-15-0`9-12-0 Sacked-yards lost`2-19`2-16 Punts-avg.`2-27.5`8-26.9 Fumbles-lost`5-3`1-0 Penalties-yards`11-67`6-40 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Berwick, Evan Klinger 19-136, Alex Force 6-11, Beckhorn 4-58, Owen Shoemaker 5-17, Alex Sharkuski 1-2, Jared Watts 1-4, team 4-(minus-36). Wyoming Area, Minichello 5-12, Darren Rodney 15-26, DeLuca 8-(minus-5), Joseph 3-5, Corey Mruk 7-23, Donovan O’Boyle 4-7. PASSING — Berwick, Force 3-15-0-32. Wyoming Area, DeLuca 8-11-0-50, Minichello 1-1-0-8. RECEIVING — Berwick, Watts 2-25, Wilk 1-7. Wyoming Area, Minichello 4-14, Brian Williams 1-14, DeLuca 1-8, Rob Trottini 3-22. INTERCEPTIONS — none. MISSED FGs — none

TIMES LEADER Crestwood edges Wyoming Area on long 4th-quarter touchdown run WRIGHT TWP. — Crestwood’s big play in the second half Friday counted. Wyoming Area’s didn’t. That was the difference in Crestwood’s 21-18 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3A football game. Kevin Klusewitz raced 55 yards for the only touchdown with 6:47 in the game, allowing the Comets to get off to a 2-0 start. Wyoming Area fell to 1-1.  “That was a great football game between two good football teams,” said Crestwood coach Greg Myers, whose team is trying to make amends for a 3-8 season in 2016. “I thought (Wyoming Area) did a phenomenal job on defense containing us. But we were able to get the big play late in the game. It seemed like it would come down to whoever made the big play.” Klusewitz made it after an illegal block wiped out a punt return deep into Wyoming Area territory by Brandon Brozena. Klusewitz came across the formation and started left, then darted up the middle and outran a couple Warriors to score. Late in the third quarter, Wyoming Area had a 67-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Dominic DeLuca wiped out by a holding penalty. The Warriors also misfired on their first possession of the second half when DeLuca had a pass into the end zone dropped on a fourth-and-6 from the Crestwood 17-yard line. DeLuca was solid in his first varsity start with incumbent senior starter P.J. Angeli out for the season. Angeli was injured early in Wyoming Area’s 7-3 win against Wallenpaupack in the season opener. DeLuca finished 8 of 17 for 125 yards and three touchdowns. “Another outstanding job,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said of DeLuca. “He made some big plays and did a great job managing the game. We didn’t turn the ball over. Again, that’s all you can ask for in a close game. Just give you an opportunity to make big plays.” Wyoming Area, though, couldn’t muster one on its final two possessions after Klusewitz’s TD run. The Warriors went three-and-out the first time. They got the ball back with 2:06 left and no timeouts, but the drive ended when Crestwood’s Matt Tirpak and Ryan Black forced DeLuca up in the pocket where he was sacked by Jeff Schmude. Crestwood struck first, scoring on its initial drive of the game. Quarterback Chase Passman found Brandon Brozena down the middle of the field and Brozena split two defenders on the way to a 42-yard touchdown. Wyoming Area answered back a short time later. DeLuca made a quick pass to Marc Minichello in the left flat and Minichello did the rest, sprinting 64 yards for a touchdown. Running back Darren Rodney eliminated the final Comet with any shot at stopping Minichello. The extra-point was blocked, allowing Crestwood to maintain a 7-6 lead. The Warriors, though, took the lead early in the third as DeLuca threw 8 yards to Minichello, who caught the pass after it had popped out of his hands. Sophomore fullback Corey Mruk set up the score with a 46-yard run up the gut of the Crestwood defense. Wyoming Area took an 18-14 lead into halftime when DeLuca found Rodney wide open for an 18-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-14. Crestwood 21, Wyoming Area 18 Wyoming Area`6`12`0`0`—`18 Crestwood`7`7`0`7`—`21 First quarter CRE — Brandon Brozena 42 pass from Chase Passman (Garrett Swank kick), 9:50 WA — Marc Minichello 64 pass from Dominic DeLuca (kick blocked), 5:48 Second quarter WA — Minichello 8 pass from DeLuca (run failed), 10:25 CRE — Patrick Rother 2 run (Swank kick), 7:52 WA — Darren Rodney 8 pass from DeLuca (pass failed), 4:28 Fourth quarter CRE — Kevin Klusewitz 55 run (Swank kick), 6:47 Team statistics`WA`CRE First downs`14`12 Rushes-yards`40-176`29-84 Passing yards`125`182 Total yards`301`266 Passing`8-18-0`14-25-0 Sacked-yards lost`4-26`5-50 Punts-avg.`5-32.2`6-32.2 Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0 Penalties-yards`7-45`7-45 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Wyoming Area, Rodney 16-79, Minichello 3-3, DeLuca 8-6, Corey Mruk 6-67, Justin Joseph 7-21. Crestwood, Passman 16-(minus-14), Rother 7-19, Klusewitz 5-87, Nick Grosek 1-1, team 2-(minus-8). PASSING — Wyoming Area, DeLuca 8-17-0-125, team 0-1-0-0. Crestwood, Passman 14-25-0-182. RECEIVING — Wyoming Area, Minichello 7-107, Rodney 1-18. Crestwood, Brandon Niemenski 5-56, Brozena 4-86, Grosek 2-7, Klusewitz 2-32, Rother 1-1. INTERCEPTIONS — None MISSED FGs — None. Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar

TIMES LEADER HAWLEY – When Wyoming Area lost senior leader P.J. Angeli just four plays into the season Friday night, it was time for the Warriors talented sophomore class to get to work in a hurry. Dominic DeLuca, F.J. Braccini, Corey Mruk and Darren Rodney all responded. As a result, Wyoming Area escaped Wallenpaupack with a 7-3 victory in the non-league high school football opener for both teams and gave itself time to reorganize. Angeli, the team’s quarterback, strong safety and punter, was just beginning his fourth season as a starter. He went down clutching his right knee on Wallenpaupack’s first offensive play and spent the rest of the night being checked on by medical staff and with his leg elevated while he sat on the bench. The Warriors simply improvised. DeLuca took over at quarterback and joined Braccini and Mruk in leading a strong defensive effort. Rodney raced 23 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the second half. After a rocky start, Braccini also handled a busy night as punter in the defensive struggle. “Early in the game, when we lost P.J. I think everyone initially was shocked,” said Marc Anthony Minichello, Wyoming Area’s other four-year starter, who had expected to be on the receiving end of Angeli’s passes. DeLuca stepped in and went 6-for-12 passing while running an offense that struggled, but never turned the ball over. “Incredible effort for a young guy,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “When you’re that second guy, you don’t get a lot of reps. You’ve got to learn by watching. “ … I just think he did a great job, going in managing the game and making some key throws. We didn’t pop any big plays, but all those little plays added up to being enough.” DeLuca did that while still playing well defensively as the free safety. He made five tackles and assisted on five others. “P.J. went down early,” DeLuca said. “I wasn’t ready for that, but I had to step up.” He was not alone. While DeLuca and Mruk were varsity players a year ago, Braccini was pressed into the starting lineup for his varsity debut when linebacker Justin Joseph suffered an ankle injury leading up to the game. Braccini’s night was busier than he could have ever anticipated. He made nine tackles, assisted another, broke up a pass and was in on two of the game’s biggest defensive plays in the fourth quarter. Cameron Carr forced a fumble on fourth-and-one with 10 minutes left and Braccini recovered it. When Wallenpaupack drove 74 yards to first-and-10 at the Wyoming Area 15 with 2:35 left, Braccini broke into the backfield to force a three-yard loss. The Buckhorns sputtered from there and gave the ball up on downs. “You know it’s tough, but you play for P.J.,” Braccini said. “He’s a great player; a leader. He’s our captain. “You just have to trust your players and do your job. I trust my players … and played as hard as I can.” Braccini got even more work as the third punter with both Joseph and Angeli unavailable. His first kick, after having trouble with a low snap, went just two yards, but he got away seven more without incident. Mruk, who became a starting linebacker as a freshman linebacker, made nine tackles and assisted on six others. “The sophomores played very well,” Mruk said. “I think it’s just from practice. We mature very quickly.” Rodney scored the game-winning touchdown in his first start at tailback. Zajquay Williamson – yes, another sophomore – recovered a fumble on the second half kickoff. DeLuca passed nine yards to Minichello on the first play, then Rodney burst off tackle for the touchdown. Spencer said after the game that it was too early to know the extent of Angeli’s injury. “You’re hoping for a strain or a sprain or something like that going forward,” he said. “He’s a great kid. “You hate to see him start his senior year like that, but hopefully there’s more of his senior year to come for him.” Wyoming Area 7, Wallenpaupack 3 Wyoming Area`0`0`7`0`—`7 Wallenpaupack`3`0`0`0`—`3 First quarter WAL – Aiden Maldacker 42 FG, 1:02 Second quarter None Third quarter WYO – Darren Rodney 23 run (F.J. Braccini kick), 11:12 Fourth quarter None Team statistics`WYO`WAL First downs`6`11 Rushes-yards`27-58`33-104 Passing yards`52`88 Total yards`110`192 Passing`7-14-0`11-20-0 Sacked-yards lost`2-15`2-14 Punts-avg.`9-22.9`4-37.8 Fumbles-lost`0-0`3-3 Penalties-yards`7-34`7-63 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — WYO, Darren Rodney 13-40, Marc Anthony Minichello 3-22, Dominic DeLuca 7-0, P.J. Angeli 1-minus 1, Corey Mruk 3-minus 3. WAL, Nicholas Ruggieri 12-64, Joe Ingulli 12-40, Aiden Maldacker 3-3, Exzavier 2-0, Tom McCormick 4-minus 3. PASSING — WYO, DeLuca 6-12-0-50, Angeli 1-1-0-2, Team 0-1-0-0. WAL, McCormick 11-20-0-88. RECEIVING — WYO, Minichello 5-30, Shane Eslick 1-15, Robbie Trottini 1-7. WAL, Adam Haupt 3-28, AMaldacker 3-15, Ingulli 2-19, Thomas Vanbuskirk 2-9, Eric Smith 1-17. INTERCEPTIONS — None. MISSED FIELD GOALS – WYO, None. WAL, AMaldacker 37, 41. Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports