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Western Wayne gets convincing win over Wyoming Area

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 7, 2024

All week the hype had been building up for the matchup of 2 early-season powerhouses. Wyoming Area, fresh off a 49-41 defeat of defending 4A State Runner-Up Dallas, was riding a wave of excitement. Meanwhile, Western Wayne had just handed Lackawanna Trail a convincing 28-7 defeat and had some momentum of their own.

Something had to give, and it did.

The Wildcats played great on defense, adjusting to the flow of the gameplan of the Warriors and making several crucial big plays. Meanwhile, the Western Wayne offense was led by RB Josh Vinton who punished the Warrior defense for 175 yards and 2 scores as the Wildcats proved superior to the Warriors with a convincing 34-23 win at Sharkey-Rosetti Stadium.

Wyoming Area won the toss and deferred, so the Wildcats took the opening kickoff. WR Vinny Silon got a great return out to the Wildcat 46 and it was RB Josh Vinton who got right to work on the ground. Vinton had 2 runs for 9 yards, but an incomplete pass meant a 4th down attempt in Warrior territory and Vinton was stopped for no gain causing a turnover on downs.

The Warriors went to their workhorse right away as well, and it was RB Lidge Kellum with a heavy load right off the bat. Kellum gained 19 yards on 6 carries, and QB Anthony DeLucca had a nice connection going with WR Luke Kopetchny, hitting him twice on the drive for a total of 15 yards. But, just like the Wildcats it was a 4th down attempt that fell short at the Western Wayne 20 that turned the ball back over on downs.

Western Wayne could not get anything going on their next drive though, with a net loss of 2 yards over 3 plays. On 4th down, the snap for the punt attempt sailed over WR/P Sean Owens head and out of the endzone for a safety and Wyoming Area took a 2-0 lead with 3:21 left in the 1st quarter.

With a free kick coming, Wyoming Area got a great return out to the Wildcat 49. Kellum had a nice 11-yard run to start things off, but facing a 4th-and-4 at the 32 it was DeLucca who was forced to scramble and was sacked for a 5-yard loss and Western Wayne got the ball right back. The Wildcats drove as the 1st quarter ended and the 2nd quarter got underway, but their drive stalled at the Warrior 46 and they were forced to punt.

In troubling field position at their own 15, the Warriors were stung even further when a holding penalty made it 1st-and-17 from their own 7. Kellum gained only 2 yards on 2 carries and a 3rd down pass was nearly intercepted by DB Archer Long for the Wildcats. The Warriors punted it away and the Wildcats took over at their own 45. It only took one play as Vinton took the handoff and ran right, breaking several tackles and rumbled 55 yards to paydirt for the score. Western Wayne now had the lead 7-2 with 9:22 left in the 1st half.

The Warriors were not fazed at all however, and as they started their next drive at their own 29 it was DeLuccca who made the difference as he mixed runs and passes. He hit Kopetchny on comeback route 3 times on the drive for 12, 12 and 14 yards. The Warriors capped the drive when Kellum hit on the stretch play run around the left side from 21 yards out for the score. Kellum also ran in the 2-point conversion, and with 5:06 left in the half it was the Warriors now with the lead at 10-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, Owens got a huge return to the Warrior 49. Vinton then carried the team on his back as he ran it 6 straight times for a total of 39 yards down to the 10. QB John Pyatt then hit a wide-open Owens in the left corner of the endzone for the score. The PAT failed, but Western Wayne had once again taken the lead 13-10 with 1:52 left in the half.

Wyoming Area got a great return out to their own 42 to start their next drive, but on 2nd-and-8 from the 44 it was a great individual effort by DB Archer Long to jump the comeback route and intercept the DeLucca pass which he returned to the Warrior 37. On the very next play, Silon took the end around and ran it 37 yards for the score to make it 20-10 with only 56 seconds left in the half.

The Warriors had one more shot before halftime as they got another good kick return, this time from WR Jacob Morgan down to the Wildcat 41. On 3rd-and-11 from the 42, DeLucca threw for a 10-yard gain to Kopetchny, who got out of bounds to stop the clock with 18 seconds to go. Unfortunately, on the next play it was Kellum who was hit for a loss on 4th-and-1 to end the half.

Wyoming Area received the 2nd half kickoff and started their drive at their own 20. DeLucca threw it to Kellum for 7 yards, then Kellum took over on the ground as he gained 56 yards on 6 runs and then hit for another score, this time a 10-yard TD run to make it 20-17 Wildcats with 7:26 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Wildcats responded in kind on their next drive with Vinton, who ran it twice for 14 yards. RB James Jimenez then came in and ran for 2 yards, and then Pyatt hit Owens for a big 23-yard strike down to the Warrior 33. Vinton then took over again as he ran it 4 times for 26 yards down to the Warrior 8, then took it once more as he scored again on an 8-yard run. With 2:27 left in the 3rd quarter, Western Wayne had increased their lead to 27-17.

Wyoming Area then began an inspired drive after a nice return by RB Trustin Johnson out to their own 38. Johnson stayed in the game and ran it for 2, and DeLucca converted the 1st down when he hit Kopetchny again for 8-yards on the comeback route. Johnson ran it for 8 and the Kellum came back in as the 3rd quarter ended. Starting the 4th quarter, DeLucca had a nice throw to WR Kevin Wiedl down to the Wildcat 28 but the drive eventually stalled on an incomplete 4th down pass at the Wildcat 31.

Sensing that time was not on their side, the Warriors came with big pressure from their front 7 on defense. Western Wayne started at the 31 but actually ended up losing yards on the drive back to the 25 and were forced to punt. Owens caught ahold of this one however, and a fortuitous bounce allowed the Wildcats to down it at the Warrior 4. After Kellum was stopped for no gain it was Vinton for the Wildcats who guessed correctly on another comeback route and intercepted DeLucca’s pass, returning 10 yards for the pick-6 and extended the Western Wayne lead 34-17 with 5:44 left in the game.

Wyoming Area scrambled quickly to get back in the game and drove 81 yards in 5 plays. Kopetchny had a 20-yard reception followed by a 22 yard run from Kellum. DeLucca hit Kopetchny 2 more times on the drive, including a 5-yard score. The PAT was partially blocked and failed, and the score was 34-23 with only 3:58 left in the game.

The Wildcats then took possession for good as runs by Vinton and Silon drained the clock, and it was Western Wayne with the 34-23 win.  After the game, Wildcat Head Coach Shane Grodack reminded his team: “Don’t let off the gas pedal….be ready to go next week!” I had a chance to speak with RB Josh Vinton about his amazing 175-yard performance: “My line is amazing, they show week in and week out how they can compete with any defensive line in the district.”


Western Wayne improved to 3-0 and heads on the road next week to play Crestwood. Wyoming Area fell to 2-1 and will look to get back on track next week at home against Lakeland.

Check out the photo gallery from the game here:  PHOTO GALLERY

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