Comets take down Warriors

The Wyoming Area Warriors traveled to Mountain Top for a Week 2 matchup against the Crestwood Comets. With PJ Angeli out, Dominic Deluca got the start for Wyoming Area. Wyoming Area came off a close victory over Wallenpaupack. Crestwood started the season 1-0 with a win over Pittston Area on the road. It was Crestwood's home opener and how would the teams fair against each other? Let's find out! Crestwood started with the ball at their own 37. Facing a third and three, Quarterback Chase Passman would run for four for a first down. On the next play, Passman would find Brandon Niemenski for a 13 yard gain and get into Warrior territory. After an offsides by Wyoming Area, Cameron Carr would sack Passman for a loss of seven. The Comets would face a third and 12 and Passman would throw a pass to Brandon Brozena who caught it for a 42 yard touchdown. Garrett Swank's extra point was good and the Comets would lead 7-0 on their opening drive. Crestwood's defense would answer with a three and out on the Warriors opening drive. Crestwood would go three and out on their next drive after Cameron Carr had his second sack of the game forcing a Comets punt. The Comets defense on their next drive got a loss of two and then a Ryan Black sack to force a third and 21 for the Warriors. Dominic Deluca would go to Marc Minichello for a catch and run that would go 64 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked so Crestwood would continue to lead 7-6. The Comets would get a first down on a second and four after Passman went to Brozena for a 10 yard completion. However, a Rother four yard run and back-to-back incomplete passes forced the Comets to punt. Wyoming Area would go three and out and would punt. The Warriors defense would get a big three and out. Facing a third and nine on their own 22, Deluca went to Minichello but was short one yard as the first quarter came to a close. They would go for it on fourth and one and as Crestwood jumped, giving the Warriors a first down. Darren Rodney would go for 14 on the next play and Corey Mruk then went 43 yards to the Crestwood 3. After a illegal substitution penalty on the Warriors, they have a first and goal at the eight. After a no gain and an incomplete pass, the Warriors faced a third and goal and Deluca went to Minichello for an eight yard score, their second time on the night. They would attempt to go for two but failed. They would lead 12-7. After a holding penalty, they would have a first and 15 at their own 38. Kevin Klusewitz would get a 24 yard gain on second and 14 for a first down. Rother would get a nine yard gain on first down then Passman would go to Klusewitz for 9 for a first down and they would have a first and goal at the ten. An offsides would get the Comets a first and goal at the 5. After a gain of 3 on first down by Chase Passman, Pat Rother would score from two yards out on the next play. The extra point was made and the Comets led 14-12 with 7:52 remaining in the second quarter. The Warriors would start their drive at midfield. After a Darren Rodney seven yard gain, Mruk would get 15 on second down. Rodney would go for a 14 yard gain as the Warriors got into the red zone. After a gain of four by Rodney, a loss of one then an Adam Gegaris sack on third down forced a fourth and 14. Deluca would go to Rodney on a screen pass and would score from 18 yards out. The two point conversion failed but the Warriors would lead 18-14 with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter. On the next possession, Klusewitz would get 18 on second and 10, but a loss of nine on the next play caused the drive to go backwards and the Comets would be forced to punt. The Warriors would run the ball as they went into halftime with an 18-14 lead. Wyoming Area would get the ball to start the second half. Rodney would get a gain of 14 on second and 10. The Warriors faced a third and nine and Deluca connected with Minichello for 13. Justin Joseph would get 12 to get the Warriors just inside of the red zone. The Warriors would face a fourth and six at the Comets 17. Deluca went to a wide open receiver and he dropped it and the Comets would get the ball back. The first play of the Comets was a big defensive play by the Warriors Jesse Cegelka who sacked Passman for a 13 yard loss to their own 4. After a gain of one by Rother, Passman would go to Brozena for 24 on third and 22. Passman would run for 11 on second and 10, but after a gain of six by Rother. The Comets' false start and a loss of 1 then an incompletion forced the Comets to punt. The Warriors would face a third and 9 and Deluca looked like he would have a 67 yard touchdown run but a holding penalty would negate the touchdown. Rodney would gain 11 on a second and six but the Comets would then get a loss of 3. The Warriors would get the yards back but an incompletion would force the Warriors to punt. The punt would go to the Comet one yard line. After a no gain, the third quarter would come to a close with the Warriors leading 18-14. Passman would connect with Niemenski for 14 on a second and 10 to get them away from the shadow of their own end zone. They would face a third and five. Passman would go once again to Niemenski for another 14 yard pass completion. A false start, followed by only a gain of one and back-to-back incompletions would end the drive and force another punt by the Comets. The Comets defense would force a three and out. It looked like the Comets would get great field position but a block in the back would negate the big return. It wouldn't matter as Klusewitz would go in from 55 yards out to give the Comets the lead again. The extra point would be made and the Comets would lead 21-18 with 6:47 left. The Comets defense forced another three and out after they took the lead. The Comets faced a third and 11 and Passman once again connected with Niemenski for 14 yards. On third and 10, Passman would be sacked by Derek Ambrosino and they would punt back to the Warriors for one last drive. The Warriors started at their own 30. Deluca started off by completing a pass to Minichello for 11 yards and he would go out of bounds. Deluca would run the ball for a gain of six and then spiked the ball. Deluca would go to Minichello again hoping to get something off a bubble screen, instead would be a loss of one. Facing a fourth and 5, the Comets Jeff Schmude would sack Deluca to seal the game for the Comets as the Warriors had no way of stopping the clock. The Comets would just take two knees as Crestwood took the victory 21-18.

Thoughts on the game: That was a really good game by both teams. I was impressed by both quarterbacks. Dominic Deluca had a great game in his first start at QB, throwing three touchdowns and didn't throw a pick. Chase Passman also threw well in the victory. Cameron Carr had a great game on the line for the Warriors, recording two sacks. I can both these teams doing very well the rest of the way.

Passing
Wyoming Area
Dominic Deluca 8/17 120 Yards 3 TDs 0 INT

Crestwood
Chase Passman 12/21 128 Yards 1 TD 0 INT

Rushing
Wyoming Area
Darren Rodney 16 carries 77 Yards
Marc Minichello 3 carries 3 Yards
Dominic Deluca 7 carries -20 Yards
Corey Mruk 5 carries 65 Yards
Justin Joseph 7 carries 22 Yards
Donovan O'Boyle 1 carry 3 Yards

Crestwood
Chase Passman 15 carries -10 Yards
Pat Rother 9 carries 28 Yards 1 TD
Kevin Klusewitz 4 carries 102 Yards 1 TD
Garrett Swank 1 carry -9 Yards
Nick Grosek 1 carry 0 Yards

Receiving
Wyoming Area
Marc Minichello 7 catches 102 yards 2 TDs
Darren Rodney 1 catch 18 Yards 1 TD

Crestwood
Brandon Niemenski 5 catches 60 yards
Brandon Brozena 3 catches 76 yards 1 TD
Nick Grosek 2 catches 7 yards
Kevin Klusewitz 1 catch 9 yards