KINGSTON — Lucas Lopresto did about as much as he could do to put the game out of reach before his Pittston Area offense had any opportunity.
All Lopresto needed was two touches – a kick and a punt return – to give the Patriots as much of a lead that they would need in a pivotal District 2 Class 5A matchup on Friday night.
Pittston Area grinded out a 47-7 victory over Wyoming Valley West.
Lopresto finished with four touchdowns for the Patriots. He seemingly could do anything he wanted on the Spartan Stadium turf, scoring two receiving and two special teams touchdowns.
“I’m very happy with special teams all around,” Pittston Area coach Joe DeLucca said. “We said before the game that it was going to be a difference. It is something we take pride in and work hard on. It is nice to see some things come together.
“Obviously, Lucas showed what he can do when he gets the ball in his hands. The punt return was electric.”
As it has been illustrated over the first four weeks of the season, kicking to Lopresto yields costly results. He opened the game with an 85-yard kickoff return. On the Spartans’ first punt, he went 67 yards into the end zone.
“Hardly any team is going to kick to me all season,” Lopresto said. “When I get the opportunity, I try to get the most of it. I just follow my blocks.”
Later, he gave Pittston Area a 63-yard touchdown from a Matt Walter throw with 7:37 remaining in the first half. Lopresto capped the Patriots’ scoring in the fourth quarter by handily executing an 18-yard shovel pass.
Walter finished with a rushing and two passing touchdowns. He scored the offense’s first points on the scoreboard with a 15-yard quarterback sneak to take a 20-0 lead five seconds into the second quarter.
CJ Pietrzak added a 25-yard rushing touchdown. Pietrzak finished with a team-high 82 yards on 11 carries.
Wyoming Valley West’s lone points came off a Carson Brown 3-yard scamper to close out the opening half.
Pittston Area 47, Wyoming Valley West 7
Pittston Area`13`21`7`6 — 47
Wyoming Valley West`0`7`0`0 — 7
First quarter
PA — Lucas Lopresto 85 kick return (pass failed), 11:40
PA —Lopresto 67 punt return (Gavin Wolfe kick), 5:28
Second quarter
PA — Matt Walter 15 run (Wolfe kick), 11:55
PA — CJ Pietrzak 25 run (Wolfe kick), 8:13
PA — Lopresto 63 pass from Walter (Wolfe kick), 7:37
WVW — Carson Brown 3 run (10 kick), 1:24
Third quarter
PA — Colten Lis 14 pass from Walter (Wolfe kick), 6:31
Fourth quarter
PA — Lopresto 21 pass from Wolfe (kick failed), 11:58
Team statistics`PA`WVW
First downs`13`13
Rushes-yards`25-158`33-102
Passing yards`108`155
Total yards`264`257
Passing`3-9-0`11-20-1
Sacked-yards lost`1-10`2-9
Punts-avg.`2-44`6-33
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`4-35`6-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Walter 11-59, Pietrzak 11-82, Lopresto 1-12, Jude Ferentino 1-0, Aidan Brody 1-5. WVW, Paul Riggs 8-17, Brown 10-11, Leland Alexander 3-3, Carter Isbel 4-6, Tyler Mattis 3-43, Jake Dubaskas 2-1, Kamau Ingram 1-2, Damian Eastman 2-9.
PASSING — PA, Walter 3-9-108-0. WVW, Eastman 3-7-47-1, Brown 8-13-108-0
RECEIVING — PA, Lopresto 2-84, Lis 1-14. WVW, Ingram 2-17, Mattis 3-40, Riggs 2-14, Alexander 3-63, John Richards 1-21
INTERCEPTIONS — PA, Malkolm Blackshear 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None
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