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Western Wayne hammers Dunmore, takes LFC Division 2 crown

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

| October 25, 2024

It was a rare Thursday Night Lights matchup as Western Wayne came into Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium to play the Bucks.  The Wildcats, 8-1 on the season, were looking to get healthy after struggling with injuries the last 2 games, while Dunmore, 4-5 on the season after a loss to Honesdale last week, was looking to get back to the ways that had won them 4 straight.  The Bucks may have have thought that they caught Western Wayne at the right time of the season.

They apparently forgot about Josh Vinton.

The Wildcat Senior RB scored 5 touchdowns on the night and the Western Wayne offensive line got back to their dominating ways as the Wildcats throttled the Bucks 42-7.  Vinton had an unofficial 206 yards rushing with 3 rushing TD’s and added 2 receptions for 90 yards and 2 receiving TD’s.

Western Wayne won the coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half, so Dunmore took the opening kickoff and started their initial drive at their own 25.  Sophomore FB Xavier Burke had 3 runs on the drive totaling 7 yards, Senior WR Gabe Franek had a 7-yard run and Sophomore WR Jacob Costanzo had 3 carries for 10 yards on the drive.  Senior QB Jack McNeff hit Costanzo once on the drive for 4 yards.  The drive seemed to be effective for the Bucks but unfortunately it stalled at the Wildcat 44.  On the punt attempt, the snap was low and the punter fielded the snap as his knee touched the ground so it was Western Wayne ball at the Dunmore 44.

The Wildcats took full advantage, immediately.  On the very next play, Senior QB John Pyatt hit Senior RB Josh Vinton for a 44-yard catch and run TD that gave Western Wayne a 7-0 lead with 5:40 left in the 1st quarter.

Dunmore started their next drive at their own 24.  A wild sequence of plays then occurred when Dunmore fumbled on 2nd down and the Wildcats recovered the ball on the Bucks 25 and took over there.  The disaster bug then bit the Wildcats immediately as well — on the very a first play a bad pitch back to Vinton was off target and there was a wild scramble for the ball that was eventually recovered back at the Western Wayne 49 for a 25-yard loss.  The Wildcats only gained 8 yards on the next 2 plays and punted it away.  Dunmore started their next drive at their own 30, and the wild sequence of plays continued as 3 plays later it was another fumble by Dunmore that was recovered by the Wildcats at the Dunmore 38.

Western Wayne settled in and went back to what has given them success all season:  the running game.  Vinton had 2 runs for 5 yards, but then a false start penalty pushed them right back to the 38 as the 1st quarter ended.  On the first play of the 2nd quarter another false start made it 3rd-and-16 from the Dunmore 43.  Pyatt then hit Senior WR Sean Owens for 13 yards down to the 30.  On 4th-and-2 there, Vinton ran for 6 yards and a 1st down at the 24.  Vinton then ran it again for 10 yards and then capped the drive with a 14-yard TD run that made it 14-0 Wildcats with 10:34 left in the 1st half.

Dunmore then got exactly what they needed:  a great kickoff return.  Senior RB Izaiah Parker took the kick at his own 20 and then ran around the right side for a shot-in-the-arm 79-yard kickoff return to the Western Wayne 21.  Then on 2nd-and-7 from the 18,  McNeff rolled out and hit Franek for an 18-yard score that cut the lead in half and made it 14-7 Wildcats with 9:30 left in the 1st half.

Western Wayne never looked back.

Starting their next drive at their own 41, the Wildcats continued to march down the field behind their stout offensive line.  Vinton had a nice 19-yard run to start things off, then Senior James Jimenez got in on the action with a 6-yard run down to the Dunmore 34.  It was all Vinton from there as he ran it twice for 3 yards and on a 4th-and-1 he broke free on a 31-yard TD run to extend the Wildcat lead at 21-7 with 6:54 left in the half.

Dunmore had one more chance to score before the half as they started their next drive at their own 35 after a kickoff that went out of bounds.  Costanzo had 2 runs for 6 yards, Franek had 2 runs for 3 yards, and McNeff had 2 runs for 10 yards on the drive as well.  McNeff also connected with Franek on a nice 15-yard catch and run down to the Wildcat 30.  The Bucks gained only 2 more yards however, and the drive stalled at the 28 as Dunmore turned the ball over on downs.  Western Wayne then ran out the clock to end the 1st half up 21-7.

Western Wayne took the 2nd half kickoff and Owens had a wild, winding kick return out near midfield at the Wildcat 49.  Vinton had 4 runs for 23 yards on the drive, and after several incomplete passes it was Pyatt who connected with Jimenez for a 28-yard catch-and-run TD to make it 28-7 Western Wayne with 8:46 left in the 3rd quarter.

Dunmore then started their next drive at their own 30 and hit it big immediately as Freshman RB Brandon Mecca ran for a big 41-yard run down to the Wildcat 29.  Several plays later, on 2nd-and-9 from the 17, it was Mecca again with a strong run inside the Wildcat 10 but Owens delivered a huge hit that caused a fumble which was recovered by Western Wayne at the 8-yard line.

Taking over there, the Wildcats wasted no time as Vinton hit for a big 37-yard run out to the 45.  2 plays later, Pyatt hit Owens for 16 yard to the Dunmore 39.  Jimenez ran for 1 yard, then Vinton had a strong 19-yard run to the Dunmore 19 yard line.  Pyatt hit Owens again for 14 yards to make it 1st-and-goal from the 5, and 2 plays later Vinton struck again for a 1-yard scoring run to make it 35-7 with 1:47 left in the 3rd quarter.

Dunmore took over at their own 25, but gained only 1 yard and it was a quick 3-and-out and a punt back to the Wildcats.  Western Wayne took over at their own 27, and 2 runs by Vinton for 16 yards and a 6-yard run by Owens ended the 3rd quarter.  On the first play of the final quarter, Vinton actually had a 51-yard TD run that was called back due to a holding penalty so instead it was 1st-and-10 from the Dunmore 46.  After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Pyatt hit Vinton who outran everyone for his 5th score of the game, a 46-yard catch-and-run TD that made it 42-7 for Western Wayne and invoked the mercy rule for the game.

Backups for both teams then entered the game, and with the running clock for the remainder of the game it was a 42-7 win for Western Wayne, the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 2 champs.

After the game I spoke with RB Josh Vinton about his big night — you can see that interview at the link below.

Check out some photos from the game here:  PHOTO GALLERY

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