Abington Heights prevails in road victory over Wilkes-Barre Area

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John Kotsko | September 2, 2023

In a close game, Declan Walsh ended up with two big plays to help seal the victory. He had a 58 yard touchdown run and returned a fumble 55 yards as Abington Heights took a 35-28 road victory at Wilkes-Barre Area. “He’s an explosive runner, when the ball is in his hands, he has a chance to score.” Abington Heights head coach Joe Repshis said. Repshis on the fumble return. “We tell our players to pick up the ball and play until the whistle is blown. Those points mattered tonight.”

Wilkes-Barre Area started with the ball. On the second play, Davon Underwood went for a 32 yard gain into Abington Heights territory to the 39 yard line. The Wolf Pack drove down the field but faced a fourth down and 12 at the Comet 20 yard line. Jake Howe founds Jovan Goodwin in the end zone for a 20 yard score and a 7-0 Wilkes-Barre Area lead.

Kevin Schmidt gave Abington Heights great field position on the kick return as he took the return to midfield. The Comets gained two first downs to the Wolf Pack 24 where they faced a fourth down and 8. Nick Bradley found Schmidt for a 24 yard score to tie up the game at 7 with 4:24 to go in the first quarter.

Underwood gained 34 yards on the first play of the next drive but the offense stalled and were forced to punt. Wilkes-Barre Area pinned Abington Heights at the 15 yard line. The Comets faced a third and six where Bradley found Shawn Theodore for 31 yards to the 50 yard line. However, Abington Heights were unable to gain another first down and punted the ball back to the Wolf Pack as we entered the second quarter.

Wilkes-Barre Area looked to score. They faced a third and six at their own 28 yard line and Howe found Treyvon Gembitski for 16 yards. Underwood and Howie Shiner got the Wolf Pack into Comets territory. They faced a third and second and Underwood gained 11 to get the first down. Shiner finished off the drive. On a second and 8, Shiner went 25 yards for a touchdown to make it 13-7 with 5:18 remaining until halftime.

The Comets got the ball at the 42 yard line. Bradley found Schmidt for 11 yards to get into Wolf Pack territory Anthony Curra gained five yards on a second and 3 to get a first down. After a holding penalty, Bradley found Schmidt for a 20 yard gain. On a third and six, Bradley went to Gavin Anders for a 19 yard touchdown to make it a 14-13 Abington Heights with 56 seconds to go until halftime.

Wilkes-Barre went three and out on their next drive before halftime. The Comets got the ball back 29 seconds left. First play, the pass was deflected and intercepted by Logan Sincavage who returned it to the Abington Heights 14 yard line. Underwood gained seven yards on first down. After back to back incompletions, the Wolf Pack went for a field goal with one second left but the field goal ended up being no good as we hit halftime.

Both teams ended up trading punts. Abington Heights looked like they were going to score as they were driving but Wilkes-Barre Area ended stopping a fourth and one quarterback sneak to get the ball back. The Wolf Pack went three and out and punted the ball back but the Comets muffed the punt and Wilkes-Barre Area recovered at the Abington Heights 37 yard line. On a third and 3, Shiner gained four yards. On a third and 8, the pass fell incomplete but a pass interference penalty kept the drive alive. On the very next play, Shiner scored from 12 yards out. They got the two point conversion as they led 21-14 wth 1:20 left in the third quarter.

The Comets started at midfield just before the third quarter came to an end. After a pass interference penalty and as the third expired, Curra ran in from 25 yards out to tie the game at 21. Wilkes-Barre Area took the ball after the kickoff at their own 43 yard line. On third and 5, Underwood gained eight yards on the ground. The Wolf Pack were unable to get another first down and punted the ball away.

Abington Heights got the ball back with 8:04 left in the game. Curra gained four on a second and 2. After a false start, Walsh went 58 yards to give the Comets a 28-21 lead with 6:45 left. The Wolf Pack fumbled the kickoff and Abington Heights recovered at the Wilkes-Barre Area 33 yard line. They drove to the 24 yard line where they faced a fourth and 13. They went for it and pass fell incomplete as the Wolf Pack got the ball back with 2:30 left.

After a sack on first down, Howe found Gembitski for a 38 yard completion. The Wolf Pack got a completion but fumbled it and Walsh recovered and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-21 with 1:42 left. Howe finds Jazaiah McCoy for a 19 yard catch. Howe went to Gembitski for 10 on a second and 5 to get to midfield. Wilkes-Barre Area faced a third and 10. Howe went to Kevon Creech for 1. After a spike, Howe found Creech again for 10. Howe completed the drive with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Underwood to make it 35-28 with 23 seconds left. Abington Heights recovered the onside kick to seal the 35-28 victory on the road.

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