H.S. Football: Wyoming Area takes rivalry game with win over Pittston Area

YATESVILLE — After a first quarter that mixed success with struggles, Lidge Kellum spent the second quarter, watching, waiting … and thinking.

Kellum recovered from three first-quarter fumbles to rush for 268 yards and three touchdowns Friday night as Wyoming Area shut out host Pittston Area 28-0 in the regular-season finale for both teams at Charley Trippi Stadium.

The senior tailback became the 47th recipient of the Carmelo Falcone Award as the Most Valuable Player in the annual rivalry game.

In the 60th meeting between the teams, Wyoming Area posted its sixth win and fourth shutout of the past seven seasons. A series that was once tied 20-20 now stands 34-26 in favor of the Warriors.

Even though Kellum fumbled three times and Pittston Area recovered two of them, Wyoming Area led 7-0 after one quarter on his 71-yard touchdown run and Kellum already had 135 yards rushing.

Pittston Area held the ball for 7:23 to start the second quarter and Trustin Johnson, who rotates in to spell Kellum on occasion, took the seven tailback carries for the Warriors in the quarter.

“I took it as a moment to rebuild and think about what I had to been doing wrong and to trust myself to do better,” Kellum said.

Kellum ran for 133 more yards after halftime and held onto the ball, with the exception of an interception on a halfback option pass with the Warriors in front 20-0. He scored from 20 yards out in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth.

The Warriors, who are headed to a District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal home game next week, improved to 9-1. They won their seventh in a row and posted their second straight shutout.

Wyoming Area held Pittston Area to 36 yards on 20 pass attempts while picking off the Patriots three times.

The only Pittston Area trip into the red zone ended on a Damian Lefkoski end-zone interception to protect a 7-0 lead with 4:37 left in the half.

Kevin Wiedl and Gage Speece also had interceptions.

Kellum’s lost fumbles came at the end of 20- and 32-yard runs. Those were two of the seven times in the game when the Wyoming Valley Conference’s top rusher picked up at least 20 yards.

Wiedl intercepted a pass on the third play of the second half and Kellum picked up 42 yards in a 43-yard scoring drive.

Wyoming Area’s defense forced a three-and-out on two straight tackles, including one for a loss, by Josh Mruk.

Anthony DeLucca then went 5-for-5 on an 80-yard scoring drive, hitting Michael Crane with the 8-yard touchdown pass for the 20-point lead.

Pittston Area will hit the road for the District 2 Class 5A semifinals.

Wyoming Area 28, Pittston Area 0

Wyoming Area`7`0`13`8 — 28

Pittston Area`0`0`0`0 — 0

First quarter

WA – Lidge Kellum 71 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:29

Third quarter

WA – Kellum 20 run (Ciampi kick), 8:50

WA – Michael Crane 8 pass from Anthony DeLucca (kick failed), 1:57

Fourth quarter

WA – Kellum 24 run (Kevin Wiedl pass from DeLucca), 2:17

Team Statistics`WA`PA

First downs`15`7

Rushes-yards`32-339`31-73

Passing yards`78`36

Total yards`417`109

Passing`7-11-1`4-20-3

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-15

Punts-avg.`3-39.3`5-45.2

Fumbles-lost`4-2`1-0

Penalties-yards`6-61`6-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — WA, Kellum 21-268, Trustin Johnson 4-61, Crane 4-10. PA, C.J. Pietrzak 14-68, Matt Walter 12-6, Aidan Brody 1-2, Lucas Lopresto 2-0, Santino Capitano 2-minus 3.

PASSING — WA, DeLucca 7-10-0-78, Kellum 1-0-1-0. PA, Walter 3-11-2-26, Capitano 1-8-1-10, Paulie Ferentino 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING – WA, Kopetchny 4-36, Wiedl 2-34, Crane 1-8. PA, Colten Lis 2-17, Walter 1-10, Jakob Bolchune 1-9.

INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Gage Speece 1-18, Damain Lefkoski 1-8, Wiedl 1-3. PA, Walter 1-0.

MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.