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UNION TWP. &#8212; In a must-win situation to still have a chance to reach the postseason against a winless GAR team, it seemed like Northwest would have an easy time on Friday night at Lewis and Miller Memorial Stadium as pressure mounted.Like every other game this season, it took a little time for the Rangers (5-3) to get going, playing a scoreless first quarter. But once they got going, they couldn&#8217;t be stopped and rolled to a 45-8 win over the Grenadiers (0-8).&#8220;We always have slow starts, usually,&#8221; said Northwest quarterback David Piestrak. &#8220;It&#8217;s not always a good thing. But once we get going we&#8217;re like a freight train. We keep pushing and putting scores on the board.&#8221;The freight train was headed by Piestrak, who led the offensive attack with three passing scores and another on the ground, piling up 192 yards in the air and 45 on the ground.He started the scoring for the Rangers with a 16-yard TD run with 8:48 left in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead.Piestrak got in a groove in the third quarter in the passing game connecting on long TD tosses to Connor Hazlet and Brandon Hardiman for 58 and 65 yards. Piestrak finished the contest with seven completions on 12 attempts for 192 yards and one interceptions. Every pass was completed to either Hazlet (4 receptions, 89 yards) or Hardiman (3 for 103).&#8220;Those are two really quality guys. They&#8217;re both big receivers and run well,&#8221; Rangers coach Lon Hazlet said. &#8220;And David&#8217;s starting to understand, and continues to improve. He does have a chemistry with those guys.&#8221;Jake Anderson had a big game on the ground for the Rangers rushing for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His first score was from 6 yards out in the second quarter to push the lead to 14-0. His second TD ended the game&#8217;s scoring with 1:53 left in the tilt on a 16-yarder capping a drive when he ran for 83 yards.&#8220;Everyone was working together. We&#8217;re just playing football. That&#8217;s what it comes down to is just playing football,&#8221; Piestrak said.The Northwest defense had minimal problems forcing five fumbles, recovering one of them, and picking up three interceptions. One area the Rangers did have trouble in was stopping GAR quarterback Ronald Peguero. The senior showed moves while running the ball. Multiple times he was caught in the backfield but scrambled away from tacklers to get positive yardage. He even reeled off a 53-yard run in the second quarter and another 53-yard scamper for a touchdown in the fourth quarter en route to a game-high 160 rushing yards on 14 carries.&#8220;It&#8217;s tough with a two-way quarterback, one that could run and throw,&#8221; said Piestrak, who also starts at cornerback on defense. &#8220;We did maintain him decently, but for next week, we&#8217;ll have to prepare better for the scramble.&#8221;In Week 9, the Rangers will host Meyers &#8212; and another athletic quarterback in Jansen Wilborn &#8212; with a win meaning an increased chance to claim the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A/A division championship if all goes well.<ins>Northwest 45, GAR 8</ins><ins>GAR `0&#8217;0`0`8`&#8212;`8</ins><ins>Northwest`0`17`14`14`&#8212;`45</ins><ins>SCORING SUMMARY</ins><ins>Second Quarter</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Piestrak 16 run (Wessler kick) 8:48</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Anderson 6 run (Wessler kick) 6:47</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Wessler 30 field goal 2:44</ins><ins>Third Quarter</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Hardiman 58 pass from Piestrak (Wessler kick) 4:52</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Hazlet 9 pass from Piestrak (Wessler kick) 1:45</ins><ins>Fourth Quarter</ins><ins>GAR &#8211; Peguero 53 run (Williams pass from Peguero) 7:55</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Hazlet 65 pass from Piestrak (Wessler kick) 6:53</ins><ins>NW &#8211; Anderson 16 run (Wessler kick) 1:53</ins><ins>Team statistics`GAR`NW</ins><ins>First downs`15`16</ins><ins>Rushes-yards`49-254`26-210</ins><ins>Passing yards`47`192</ins><ins>Total yards`301`403</ins><ins>Passing`4-16-3`7-12-1</ins><ins>Sacks by-yards lost`0-0`1-9</ins><ins>Punts-avg.`2-15.0`1-32.0</ins><ins>Fumbles-lost`5-1`1-0</ins><ins>Penalties-yards`3-15`6-63</ins><ins>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</ins><ins>PASSING &#8211; GAR, Ronald Peguero 4-16-3-47. NW, David Piestrak 7-12-1-192.</ins><ins>RUSHING&#8212; GAR, Anthony Blake 8-13, Tyrone Qualls 8-23, Ronald Peguero 14-160, Gerson Peralta 4-13, Will Johnson 8-14, Justice Lomas 5-37, TEAM 3-(minus-6). NW, Jake Anderson 14-143, Piestrak 7-45, Tyler Stevens 1-4, Beau Getz 2-16, TEAM 1-(minus-1), May 1-3.</ins><ins>RECEIVING&#8212; GAR, Malachai Williams 2-21, Peralta 1-11, Johnson 1-15. NW, Connor Hazlet 4-89, Brandon Hardiman 3-103.</ins><ins>INTERCEPTIONS &#8211; GAR, Will Johnson. NW, Beau Getz, Brandon Hardiman, Connor Hazlet</ins><ins>MISSED FG&#8217;S &#8211; none</ins><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Piestrak </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_nw_md2_faa_CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Piestrak </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<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>

David Piestrak leads Northwest football past GAR