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Damon Horton’s huge return boosts Cougars, 34-13

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Getz, Anderson help Northwest grind out win over Nanticoke

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The Coughlin Crusaders shook off a slow start against the Honesdale Hornets to take control of the game and capture their team&#8217;s third straight victory with a 28-13 non-conference triumph at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.</p><p>All but 13 of the Crusaders 316-yards of total offense came from the ground, as they were led by the dynamic senior duo of Vincent Todd and Jacob Cole who scored all of their team&#8217;s four touchdowns.</p><p>&#8220;We came to play after that opening score from Honesdale, and our guys showed lots of heart and determination to come back and win that ball game tonight,&#8221; said Coughlin coach Ciro Cinti, whose team improved to 3-2 heading into next Friday&#8217;s home game with Berwick (4-1).</p><p>After an early 7-0 deficit midway through the first quarter thanks to a Garyn Barnes 1-yard plunge into the end zone, Coughlin&#8217;s offense woke up with only 4:24 left in the first half. </p><p>The offense, which up to this point had no first downs, received a huge play from Todd, who took the direct snap from the wildcat formation and sprinted down the sidelines for a 65-yard touchdown to cut Honesdale&#8217;s lead to 7-6.</p><p>Coughlin didn&#8217;t take long to strike again, after a key interception from sophomore Rafael McCoy gave the Crusaders the ball back just before halftime. They turned the turnover into more points with another big offensive play. In similar fashion to his first touchdown run, Todd took the direct snap and scampered down the sidelines for a 62-yard touchdown run for a 13-7 lead heading into the locker room.</p><p>From there, Coughlin never looked back, as Todd and Cole dominated the ground game against a Honesdale squad that had no answer to stop them throughout the whole second half. </p><p>Todd added his game-high third touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak midway through the third quarter to give the Crusaders a 21-7 advantage. In total, Todd ran for a game-high 187 yards on just 11 carries, to go along with his three scores. </p><p>Cole shook off a slow start and finished with a 110 yards rushing on 16 carries and one big touchdown run four minutes into the fourth quarter that would put the game out of reach for good.</p><p>The Crusaders once again turned a key interception into points, when Todd picked off Ethan Dunn&#8217;s pass while the Hornets were driving and only down by one score in the final stanza. Cole finished the job when he ran up the gut of the Hornets, defense &#8212; along with some juke moves that made several defender miss &#8212; and took it to the end zone for a 59-yard touchdown.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ross Turetsky</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Coughlin ground game too much for Honesdale