Warriors Defeat Lake Lehman 49-8

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Citizens Voice The ball ripped through the humid air.
Hudson Sharpe knew quarterback Luke Kopetchny would get the ball into his hands. The Wyoming Area wide receiver knew it would be up to him to complete the play.
It wasn’t going to be easy. Two Lake-Lehman defenders right in front of him. The spiraling ball spinning through the foggy lights of Jake Sobeski Stadium.
No problem for Sharpe.
The sophomore hauled in the 54-yard touchdown with no time left in the first half, giving Wyoming Area a four-score lead at the break. The Warriors went on to defeat the Black Knights, 49-8, in a Wyoming Valley Conference football game Friday.
Kopetchny accounted for four touchdowns, while Semaj Morris had 144 yards on three carries and two scores as Wyoming Area ran its winning streak to five.
“Honestly, you just don’t know what’s going to happen on a play like that,” Sharpe said. “It was a great throw by Luke, and I felt like I was able to track it pretty good. And then, touchdown.”
More important than just a regular-season win, it keeps Wyoming Area (6-2) in firm control of that second seed in the District 2 Class 3A playoff race, while Lake-Lehman (3-5) could fall into the fourth spot after Mid Valley’s win over Lakeland.
“I think we are in a good spot,” Kopetchny said. “We have Nanticoke next week, and close it out with Pittston. We are looking to get two wins in a row, and get a nice seed going into playoffs. From there, it’s about getting the job done.”
Back to the final two minutes.
Kopetchny eradicated a Lake-Lehman scoring drive late in the first half by intercepting a pass at the Warriors 1 on a fourth-down play.
“I probably shouldn’t have picked it, realizing that it was fourth down and we were stuck on on the 1-yard line,” Kopetchny smiled.
Again, no problem for the Brown University commit.
He connected with Gavin Feeney to get the ball from the goal line, and ended up pushing the pigskin around the 50 with two seconds left.
There was never a doubt in Kopetchny’s mind that the Warriors would be aggressive in that spot.
There was also, never a doubt, that ball was getting in the end zone.
“I knew that we were going to try and score, for sure,” Kopetchny said. “We had some explosive plays in that first half, and we felt that we could get some more again. And we had one right there.”
The play, a reverse, started in the hands of Michael McKernan, who took the snap and immediately handed the ball to Kopetchny. The senior rolled to his left, planted his feet and fired a dart down the sideline.
Streaking toward the end zone was Sharpe.
“The ball, it was right in the lights. I lost it for a second, but was able to get it right back on track,” Sharpe said. “Going back to the sidelines, everyone’s cheering for you, bumping heads and high-fives. It’s probably one of the best, if not the best, feeling of all time.”
Fifty-four yards later, the Warriors carried a 28-0 lead in the locker room.
“We are still working on playing clean, not playing to a scoreboard, and just executing,” Wyoming Area head coach Randy Spencer said. “From a football standpoint, we made a lot of outstanding football plays. We are excited about that. But we are still very focused on cleaning up a lot of things that we need going forward here in the last few weeks.”
Kopetchny had himself a first half, rushing for a TD, while passing for two more. He racked up 187 total yards in the first half, running for 78 and passing for 109.
“You are talking about a Division 1 Ivy League recruit,” Spencer said of Kopetchny. “To see him evolve from the standpoint of moving to quarterback, where he started and where he’s at right now, it’s amazing. To have his hands on the ball on every snap, that’s so important for us.”
Leading, 6-0, after one quarter, Wyoming Area came alive in the second, scoring 22 points on Kopetchny passing scores to Sharpe and Feeney, and Dominic Bartell’s 5-yard burst through the heart of the Black Knights’ defense.
Wyoming Area sent the game into the mercy rule in the third on Kopetchny’s 54-yard strike to a wide-open Lavell Brock, while Morris added TD runs of 71 and 69 yards in the second half.
The Warriors’ defense also got the job done, holding the Black Knights’ Wing-T offense to just 80 yards in the first half.

Wyoming Area 49, Lake-Lehman 8
Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`8 — 8
Wyoming Area`6`22`14`7 — 49
First quarter
WA — Luke Kopetchny 1 run (kick failed), 1:58
Second quarter
WA — Dominic Bartell 5 run (Kopetchny run), 11:27
WA — Gavin Feeney 4 pass from Kopetchny (kick failed), 8:03
WA — Hudson Sharpe 54 pass from Kopetchny (Drew Keating from Kopetchny), 0:00
Third quarter
WA — Lavell Brock 54 pass from Kopetchny (Ava Musinski kick), 5:16
WA — Semaj Morris 71 run (Musinski kick), 0:21
Fourth quarter
LL — Jeremy Matusick 8 run (Matusick run), 4:53
WA — Morris 69 run (Teagan Meier kick), 3:01

Team statistics`LL`WA
First downs`12`13
Rushes-yards`40-217`34-341
Passing yards`5`163
Total yards`222`504
Passing`1-7-1`5-8-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-32`1-36
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-51`7-63
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lehman, Coldyn Harris 12-62, Devon Albee 10-42, Damon 2-3, Anthony Magnotta 7-21, Ben Brelsford 2-40, Matusick 6-52, Aiden Miller 1-(minus-3). Wyoming Area, Nicholas Kondrosky 11-45, Kopetchny 10-79, Bartell 8-66, Feeney 1-2, Mike McKernan 1-5, Morris 3-144.
PASSING — Lehman, Jesse Strenfel 1-7-1-5. Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 5-8-0-163.
RECEIVING — Lehman, Albee 1-5. Wyoming Area, Brock 2-96, Feeney 2-13, Sharpe 1-54.
INTERCEPTIONS — Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none

-Max Getzie Named to PSFCA Small School East All Star Team to be played on May 17 -Named to 3A All State Second Team-Mini-Maxwell Award