web1_hurricane-3.jpg

Hurricane’s wrath less than feared in U.S., but 10 still dead

web1_FOOTBALL.jpg

WVC Football: Delaware Valley knocks off Williamsport, 49-42

<p>CLARKS SUMMIT &#8212; As Wyoming Valley West kicker Jake Gurtis was walking off the field &#8212; the game ball tucked under his arm &#8212; assistant coach Ted Jackson Sr. shouted to him.</p><p>&#8220;Hey, anybody can score a goal,&#8221; Jackson joked.</p><p>Soccer is a bit more difficult than that, but so was what Gurtis did Saturday afternoon.</p><p>Gurtis, a soccer player who moonlights as the team&#8217;s kicker, booted a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Valley West a 23-20 victory over Abington Heights in a key game to determine seedings in the District 2 Class 5A football playoffs.</p><p>Valley West (5-2) came into the weekend tied with Abington (4-3) for the top seed in the D2-5A standings. All three teams, which also includes Wallenpaupack (3-4), make the playoffs with the top seed getting a first-round bye and hosting the championship game.</p><p>The Spartans exited &#8212; thanks in part to three second-half field goals by Gurtis &#8212; ahead of Abington by 150 state points.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in a good position right now and control our own destiny,&#8221; Valley West coach Pat Keating said, &#8220;but we have three quality opponents down the stretch and another huge game next week (against Berwick). We haven&#8217;t been able to come up for air all season.&#8221;</p><p>Tied 20-20, Valley West took possession at the Abington 41-yard line with 2:30 remaining after a punt. Six plays later, the Spartans were at the 20 and called a timeout with 5.4 seconds remaining.</p><p>Gurtis crushed his two earlier field goals in the half, from 22 and 31 yards to extend Valley West&#8217;s lead to 20-10 in the third quarter. His game-winning kick didn&#8217;t have the same oomph to it and it barely had enough juice to clear the crossbar.</p><p>Gurtis said an Abington timeout before he kicked didn&#8217;t phase him.</p><p>&#8220;It didn&#8217;t affect me much,&#8221; Gurtis said. &#8220;I knew I just had to go out there and do my job. I knew the linemen and Aaron (Austin), the holder, would do their jobs. I just had to finish it off.</p><p>&#8220;It felt it a little weak coming off my foot, but I knew I got enough behind it to get it over the goalpost.&#8221;</p><p>Valley West&#8217;s 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter evaporated quickly. Colin McCreary booted a 24-yard field goal, his second of the game, two plays into the final period to move the Comets within 20-13.</p><p>Then six plays after Tom Rothenberger returned a Valley West punt 27 yards, McCreary threw a 17-yard TD pass to Brandon Hardy at the front right pylon of the end zone.</p><p>McCreary tried a few times to connect with Hardy only to have Valley West defensive back Sean Judge thwart those efforts. Judge had good coverage on the 17-yard TD to Hardy, but the pass was so well thrown he had no chance to break it up.</p><p>Abington can still catch Valley West for the top seed in D2-5A, but the key right now is to at least hold on to second to get home game in the semifinals. The Comets can take a big step by defeating Wallenpaupack next Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re always one day at a time,&#8221; Abington coach Joe Repshis said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to come back on Monday and prepare for Wallenpaupack and worry about the things we can control. That&#8217;s working to improve every day in practice and our effort and attitude.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s always been our approach &#8212; one day at a time.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wyo. Valley West 23, Abington Heights 20</strong></p><p><strong>Wyo. Val. West`7`7`6`3`&#8212;`23</strong></p><p><strong>Abington Heights`7`3`0`10`20</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>AH &#8212;Colin McCreary 59 run (McCreary kick), 10:58</p><p>WVW &#8212; Sean Judge 8 run (Jake Gurtis kick), 6:16</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second quarter</strong></p><p>AH &#8212; McCreary 26 FG, 9:11</p><p>WVW &#8212; Aaron Austin 5 run (Gurtis kick), 2:51</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>WVW &#8212; Gurtis 22 FG, 6:02</p><p>WVW &#8212; Gurtis 31 FG, 0:12</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>AH &#8212; McCreary 24 FG, 11:39</p><p>AH &#8212; Brandon Hardy 17 pass from McCreary (McCreary kick), 7:03</p><p>WVW &#8212; Gurtis 37 FG, 0:00</p><p><strong>Team statistics`WVW`AH</strong></p><p>First downs`19`12</p><p>Rushes-yards`49-256`24-116</p><p>Passing yards`105`111</p><p>Total yards`361`227</p><p>Passing`12-15-0`8-14-0</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`2-6`2-6</p><p>Punts-avg.`3-30.3`4-28</p><p>Fumbles-lost`1-0`0-0</p><p>Penalties-yards`12-89`5-41</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Judge 25-119, Austin 22-111, Melovitz 1-3, Jake Shemo 1-3. Abington, Kaleb Sherman 14-55, McCreary 8-69, George Tinsley 1-(minus-4), Hardy 1-(minus-4).</p><p><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Austin 12-15-0-105. Abington, McCreary 6-12-0-83, Tinsley 2-2-0-28, team 0-1-0-0.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Darrian Tyson 4-24, Judge 5-30, Shemo 2-43, Rob Dwyer 1-8. Abington, Corey Justave 2-39, Mikey Malone 1-16, Nick Emmett 2-24, Tom Rothenberger 1-12, Hardy 2-20.</p><p><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; None.</p><p><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; Abington 37 BLK.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab1_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">WVW quarterback Aaron Austin scores a touch down in the second quarter dragging Abington Heights defensive back Brandon Hardy with him ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab1_faa-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>WVW quarterback Aaron Austin scores a touch down in the second quarter dragging Abington Heights defensive back Brandon Hardy with him ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab2_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">WVW quarterback Aaron Austin  runs along the side line as  Abington Heights Nate Gronsky pursues ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab2_faa-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>WVW quarterback Aaron Austin  runs along the side line as  Abington Heights Nate Gronsky pursues ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab3_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">WVW running Back Sean Judge cuts into the thick of the Abington Heights defense  ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab3_faa-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>WVW running Back Sean Judge cuts into the thick of the Abington Heights defense  ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab4_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">WVW linebacker Zach Davies sack Abington Heights quarter back George Tinsley in the second quarter ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16 </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab4_faa-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>WVW linebacker Zach Davies sack Abington Heights quarter back George Tinsley in the second quarter ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16 </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab5_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">WVW wide receiver Darrian Tyson tries to run as Abington Heights defensive back Nick Emmett moves in ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab5_faa-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>WVW wide receiver Darrian Tyson tries to run as Abington Heights defensive back Nick Emmett moves in ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab6_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Colin McCreary scored the first touch down of the game for Abington Heights against WVW ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab6_faa-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Colin McCreary scored the first touch down of the game for Abington Heights against WVW ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption5><photoCredit5></photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab7_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Colin McCreary  Abington Heights  quarterback gains yards as WVW defensive back Jake Shemo tries to make the tackle ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16-------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_wvw_ab7_faa-1.jpg</photo6><caption6>Colin McCreary  Abington Heights  quarterback gains yards as WVW defensive back Jake Shemo tries to make the tackle ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16-------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-8-16</caption6><photoCredit6></photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Gurtis kicks winning field goal as time expires</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WVC Football: Jake Gurtis boots game-winning field goal for Wyoming Valley West