Wilkes-Barre at Valley View

Recap

WILKES-BARRE 16, VALLEY VIEW 14

 

After giving up 38 points week 1 and 42 more in week 2 it looked like Wilkes-Barre was in a shoot out again at Valley View when they gave up 14 first half points and trailed 14-13 at the break, but Ciro Cinti’s defensive showed up to shut out the Cougars in the second half and came away with a hard-earned road win 16-13.

The game ultimately came down to a fourth down and 1 at the Wilkes-Barre 15 yard line with 1:48 to play.  The Cougars tried a quarterback sneak using Tyler Muchal who finished the game with 109 yards but came up inches short of 110 and the Wolfpack had their second victory.  The Valley View coaching staff felt they got a bad spot on the play but when the sticks were stretched the ball was just short of the line to gain.

WBA Quarterback Jake Howe hurt Valley View mostly by escaping pressure and extended plays to allow his speedy, shifty playmakers to have time to do their thing.  Howe rushed for 47 yards and added another 182 in the air along with a touchdown pass.

Wilkes-Barre struck first with 2 minutes left in the first quarter on a 41 yard drive that ended with a Kevon Creech 3 yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.  Howe hit Rajan Watson with a 30 yard pass as the big play along the way.

Valley View answered right back taking the next possession covering 65 yards in seven plays.  Cougar QB Caleb Brown  hit Gabe Davis in stride on a well designed third down and 11 screen pass that went 37 yards for game tying touchdown with 10:29 left in the half.

Wilkes-Barre would quickly regain the lead going 80 yards in seven plays with Howe a factor in all of them.  He ran for 18 yards and threw for 62 on the drive that ended with an extended play scramble backside touchdown pass to Jordan Kieselowsky from 10 yards out.  After a missed extra point the Wolfpack had a 13-7 lead with 7:54 left in the half.

Valley View sophomore speedster Colin Witkowski returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to give the Cougars a short field at the Wilkes-Barre 15 yard line.  Brady Bachman only need two rushing attempts to get Valley View their only lead as his 8 yard touchdown run followed by a Braden Loff extra point made it 14-13 with 6:57 left in the half.

Defenses would take over here and just short of 24 minutes of game clock would tick off before another point was recorded.  Wilkes-Barre got a huge sack on a third down and 8 with just under 10 minutes to play and force a Valley View punt which Treyvon Gembitski returned for 21 yards to the Cougars 44 yard line.

Wilkes-Barre would move downfield to set up a first and goal at the Cougars 3 yard line but the drive stalled and Coach Cinti decided to call on Jaedyn Sanchez who nailed the game winning field goal from 20 yards out with 7:03 left to play to give the Wolfpack a 16-14 margin.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER

WB – Kevon Creech 3-yd run (Jaedyn Sanchez kick) – Wilkes-Barre 7-0

2ND QUARTER

VV – Gabe Davis 37-yd pass from Caleb Brown (Braden Loff kick) – Tied 7-7

WB – Jordan Kieselowsky 10-yd pass from Jake How (Kick failed) – Wilkes-Barre 13-7

VV – Brady Bachman 8-yd run (Loff kick) – Valley View 14-13

3RD QUARTER

None

4TH QUARTER

WB – Sanchez 20-yd field goal – Wilkes-Barre 16-14