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Three-tiered running attack lifts Crestwood past Pittston Area

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Vincent Todd scores twice as Coughlin picks up road win against Dallas

HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Written on the cover of Mike McCree&#8217;s playbook from Friday night was the lopsided score from the last time his Hanover Area team faced Old Forge, not even a year ago.The second-year coach might want to add this year&#8217;s score to next week&#8217;s playbook as a memento from perhaps his biggest win in his tenure.The Hawks&#8217; Brandon Chafin rushed for 205 yards and the team&#8217;s defense picked up a pair of safeties while holding the Blue Devils &#8211; who reached the PIAA Class A semifinals last year &#8211; to just 152 total yards as Hanover Area stunned Old Forge with a 10-7 victory to open the season.&#8220;We&#8217;re a different team this year,&#8221; McCree said. &#8220;We think defensively, we&#8217;re going to be fast. We run to the football. We&#8217;re much better fundamentally. We&#8217;re really building this team on our defense.&#8221;Last year, Old Forge walloped Hanover Area 53-20. The Blue Devils never had a chance to get anywhere close to those numbers on Friday night.Chafin, a senior, who sat out the majority of the fourth quarter, did most of his damage on two big plays. Lining up at quarterback in the second quarter, he rushed around the right side of the line for a 73-yard TD with 9:15 to go before the half.That big run was just two plays after Old Forge scored the game&#8217;s first TD to go ahead 7-0. The Hawks missed the extra point after their score and were trailing 7-6.Lining up at running back in the second half, Chafin bulldozed for a 52-yard run in the third quarter. That play didn&#8217;t lead directly to any offensive points, but had a hand in one of the safeties.The Hawks had a field goal blocked after Chafin&#8217;s big run. But a Blue Devils player jumped on the ball on their own 1. Three plays later Old Forge QB Paul Caraiti was sacked in the end zone for a safety giving Hanover Area the lead at 8-7 with 5:13 to go in the third.Later in the third, Chafin broke through for what appeared to be another long TD run, but he settled for just 20 yards after a holding penalty.&#8220;He&#8217;s a special player,&#8221; McCree said about his do-it-all back. &#8220;He&#8217;s gonna play offensively a little quarterback, a little running back. He can score at any time. We have to get him the ball in the perimeter. He can make people miss. He&#8217;s something special.&#8221;Old Forge had three drives in the fourth quarter to try to close the gap, but the Hawks defense allowed just one first down on the 12 plays it ran. The final play was a holding penalty in the end zone giving Hanover Area another safety with just 2:18 left. A pair of runs by Josh Jopling that resulted in first downs sealed the victory.McCree knows his team still has work to do, especially after committing 13 penalties for 87 yards, three of which took points off the board. The team also had a 102-yard interception return for a TD called back by a penalty, and a made field goal was negated due to a flag being thrown.&#8220;We&#8217;re lucky to win. We scored four points on defense,&#8221; McCree said. &#8220;We missed an extra point. We had a clip. We took some points off the board. We gotta get better on short yardage. I think we&#8217;ll get better week to week.&#8221;Hanover Area 10, Old Forge 7Old Forge `0`7`0`0`&#8212;`7Hanover Area`0`6`2`2`&#8212;`10Second quarterOF &#8211; Brendan Mozeleski 7 run (Mozeleski kick) 10:22HAN &#8211; Brandon Chafin 73 run (kick failed) 9:15Third quarterHAN &#8211; Safety, sack in end zone 5:13Fourth quarterHAN &#8211; Safety, penalty in end zone 2:18Team statistics`OF`HANFirst downs`7`8Rushes-yards`25-85`41-243Passing yards`67`5Total yards`152`248Passing`4-14-1`2-9-1Sacks by-yards lost`0-0`2-9Punts-avg.`3-31.0`5-37.4Fumbles-lost`2-1`3-0Penalties-yards`4-25`13-87INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; OF, Ian Hook 11-61; Anthony Rios 2-(minus-5); Brendan Mozeleski 8-33; Chris Matsko 1-6; Paul Cariati 2-(minus-9); TEAM 1-(minus-1). HAN, Josh Jopling 13-56; Brandon Chafin 20-205; Tyheim Taylor 3-(minus-1); TEAM 2-(minus-16); Mohammad Chesson 1-(minus-1); Aaron Hummer 1-0; Mike Lanahan 1-0.PASSING &#8212; OF, Cariati 4-14-67-1. HAN, Chafin 1-2-(minus-1)-0; Aaron Hummer 1-7-6-1.RECEIVING &#8212; OF, Levi Kania 1-7; Tommy Souriyavong 1-2; Matsko 1-11; Rios 1-22. HAN, Zakee Nettles 1-(minus-1); Cameron Holeman 1-6.INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; OF, Cariati. HAN, Brandon BruecknerMISSED FGs &#8212; HAN, 25 (blocked)<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave RosengrantFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

WVC football: Hanover Area’s defense stuns Old Forge, 10-7