Hazleton Area rolls in second half to defeat Pittston Area

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News

John Kotsko | August 27, 2022

In the first quarter, it looked like Pittston Area and Hazleton Area were evenly matched as we headed to halftime. However, a close game at half turned into a 47-15 Hazleton Area victory at Pittston Area as the Cougars’ running attack proved to be the difference. “We feel like we can use some of our backs to our advantage. To be able to have those backs and be able to rotate guys, we feel like that’s an advantage for us.” said Cougars Head Coach Dennis Buchman.

The Patriots started with the ball and faced a third and 11. The Cougars came up with a big interception by Matthew Cusatis to give them great field position at the Patriot 42 yard line. The drive ended with a seven yard touchdown run by Matt Buchman and ended up going for two as the Patriots were offsides on the PAT. Buchman added the two point conversion to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter. Coach Buchman on Matthew Cusatis. “He’s had an absolute tremendous camp, he’s had an incredible summer and it’s translating to the field.”

It looked like the Cougars were getting all the momentum. They forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Hazleton Area recovered. However, on the first play of the drive, Josh Pierre intercepted a pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. Drew DeLucca found Kevin Lockett for the two point conversion to tie the game at 8 with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter. Pittston Area Head Coach Nick Barbieri on Pierre “We just got him back from injury and he made a big play. He’s a good kid and all we ask of him is make big plays.”

The Cougars went to work on the following drive. They faced a third and 10 at their own 31 yard line. Tyler Wolfe found Connor Shamany for 17 yards. Hazleton Area then had a fourth and 1 at the Pittston Area 46 yard line. Cougars fullback Ryan Matyas ran for 3 yards to keep the drive going. At the start of the second quarter, Hazleton Area faced another fourth down and 1 at the Patriot 34 yard. Wolfe found Connor Kundrat for six yards. On the next play, Wolfe found Shamany for a 28 yard touchdown to make it 15-8 with 11:13 remaining in the second quarter.

The Patriots offense went to work and drove all the way to the Hazleton Area 38 before ending up punting the ball away. The Pittston Area defense stepped up with a three and out as their offense went back out there down seven. Starting at their own 46, the Patriots benefitted from a defensive pass interference penalty. DeLucca found Robby Barbieri for 14 yards two plays later. Facing a fourth and 1 at the Cougar 11 yard line, DeLucca found Barbieri again for 10 yards to the one yard line. On second and goal, Harry Pugliese went in from one yard and the PAT tied the game up at 15 with 2:28 remaining in the second quarter.

First play of the Hazleton Area drive, Wolfe went to Shamany again for a 53 yard gain to the Patriot 7 yard line. After a five yard run by Buchman, Buchman went in from two yards out for a score and his second touchdown of the game to give the Cougars a 22-15 lead with 1:14 before halftime. Pittston Area looked to capitalize as they started at their own 38 yard line. They drove as far as the Hazleton Area 37 yard line but time ran out at the half on two incompletions. Coach Buchman on taking the lead late in the first half. “It was huge, especially getting the ball in the second half. We were almost able to steal that possession before half which was our goal.”

The Cougars got the ball to start the second half. Wolfe found Buchman and Cusatis for 15 yards on back-to-back plays to move Hazleton Area to the Patriot 43 yard line. Three plays later, Wolfe went to Zander Coleman for a 32 yard touchdown to give the Cougars a 28-15 with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter. Pittston Area went four and out and it gave Hazleton Area great field position. The drive ended with a Connor Kundrat five yard touchdown run to make it 34-15 with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

Kundrat got his second touchdown of the game on the Cougars next drive from 10 yards out. On the next Pittston Area possession, Cusatis picked off a pass and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown and made it 47-15 and that ended up being the final score. After the game, Patriots head coach Nick Barbieri had this to say about the Cougars. “Hazleton Area is a great football team, it’s one of the better 6A teams in the eastern part of the state.” Pittston Area travels to Williamsport next Friday while the Cougars travel to Wallenpaupack.

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