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<p>WHITEHALL TWP. &#8212; Worried about the reputation of a big-play opponent, Wyoming Valley West decided to pull out some different stops.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to show them fronts they&#8217;ve never seen before,&#8221; Valley West quarterback Rob Dwyer said.</p><p>In the process, the Spartans showed a dominance they haven&#8217;t delivered much this season.</p><p>Dwyer ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns, caught another while lining up at wide receiver and Valley West trampled Whitehall, 32-21 to win the District 2/4/11 Class 5A football title at Whitehall&#8217;s Zephyr Stadium.</p><p>&#8220;We knew we were underdogs,&#8221; said Dwyer, who helped ensure 7-6 Valley West won&#8217;t finish with a losing season after a 1-5 start. &#8220;But we knew what we can do.</p><p>&#8220;We knew we could win this game.&#8221;</p><p>By the end, so did everyone else.</p><p>Led by hard-nosed Dwyer, Valley West rolled up 289 rushing yards and controlled the tempo and the time of possession.</p><p>That started early, as Valley West&#8217;s opening drive chewed nearly five minutes off the clock, covered 80 yards and wrapped up when Dwyer lined up as a receiver and snagged an 18-yard touchdown pass from co-quarterback Jake Shusta on fourth-and-2.</p><p>&#8220;I like running for them, I like throwing them, I like catching them,&#8221; Dwyer said. &#8220;I like it all.&#8221;</p><p>From there, it was pretty much all Valley West.</p><p>Whitehall, which finished 9-4, had the ball for just 14 plays in the first half and 21 through three quarters as the Spartans built a 32-13 lead.</p><p>The final score was a bit deceiving, as Whitehall scored its final touchdown and added a conversion pass with five seconds to play.</p><p>&#8220;I think our kids, they just came together,&#8221; Valley West coach Pat Keating said. &#8220;They&#8217;re executing things so much better right now. We accomplished everything we wanted to tonight.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just really proud of them.&#8221;</p><p>When Whitehall&#8217;s opening drive ended on a running play that was stopped short of a first down, the Spartans took off on another long, time-consuming march that covered more than six minutes, 46 yards and finished with a 33-yard field goal by Jake Gurtis for a 10-0 Valley West lead early in the second quarter.</p><p>&#8220;That was sort of our gameplan,&#8221; Keating said, &#8220;how we wanted to manage it (the clock). The (the Zephyrs) are very dangerous.&#8221;</p><p>Whitehall showed it a couple times.</p><p>Zephyrs quarterback Ethan Parvel took off on a 43-yard touchdown run to pull Whitehall within 10-7 three plays after Gurtis&#8217; field goal, and later hit Braxton Morrero out of the backfield with a 62-yard scoring strike as Whitehall closed within 24-13 in the third quarter.</p><p>Aside from those two quick-strike scores, though, the Spartans controlled the game.</p><p>Starting up front.</p><p>&#8220;Our offensive and defensive lines, they&#8217;ve just gotten an attitude down the stretch here,&#8221; Keating said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve just been able to control games.&#8221;</p><p>That proved particularly true on offense, where Division I recruit Chris Bleich kept blasting holes in the center of Whitehall&#8217;s defense.</p><p>That allowed Dwyer to take off on runs of 15 and 26 yards during a 74-yard scoring march that he ended with a 5-yard touchdown run to boost Valley West&#8217;s lead to 17-7 by halftime.</p><p>For the game, the Spartans had nine runs covering 12 or more yards and rushed for 17 of their 23 first downs.</p><p>&#8220;Our offensive line, they beat the crap out of them up front,&#8221; Dwyer said. &#8220;I&#8217;m just following my blocks and looking at the end zone, doing whatever I can to win games.&#8221;</p><p>Dwyer wasn&#8217;t done, as he charged for a 2-yard touchdown keeper to give the Spartans a 24-13 lead late in the third quarter. He then took off on a 31-yard dash to set up Sean Mikovitch&#8217;s 4-yard touchdown run for a 32-13 lead and Valley West&#8217;s final points early in the fourth quarter.</p><p>&#8220;Our goal was to run it,&#8221; Dwyer said. &#8220;We just wanted to pound them up front.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>D2/4/11 Class 5A Championship</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Valley West 32, Whitehall 21</strong></p><p><strong>Wyo. Valley West`7`10`7`8 &#8212; 32</strong></p><p><strong>Whitehall`0`7`6`8 &#8212; 21</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>WVW &#8212; Rob Dwyer 18 pass from Jake Shusta (Jake Gurtis kick), 7:08</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second quarter</strong></p><p>WVW &#8212; Gurtis 33 FG, 10:29</p><p>WH &#8212; Ethan Parvel 43 run (Alex Khouri kick), 9:39</p><p>WVW &#8212; Dwyer 5 run (Gurtis kick), 3:25</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>WVW &#8212; Dwyer 2 run (Gurtis kick), 3:15</p><p>WH &#8212; Braxton Morrero 62 pass from Parvel (kick failed), 2:18</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>WVW &#8212; Sean Mikovitch 4 run (Mikovitch conversion pass from Shusta), 10:01</p><p>WH &#8212; Allen Negrete 9 pass from Parvel (Dez Boykin conversion pass from Parvel), 0:05</p><p><strong>Team statistics`WVW`WH</strong></p><p>First downs`23`9</p><p>Rushes-yards`56-289`19-101</p><p>Passing yards`66`203</p><p>Total yards`355`304</p><p>Passing`5-8-0`14-22-2</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`1-8`0-0</p><p>Punts-avg.`3-34.3`0-0</p><p>Fumbles-lost`1-0`4-2</p><p>Penalties-yards`3-21`4-27</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Rob Dwyer 17-120, Zach Davies 18-94, Sean Mikovitch 15-69, Jake Blaski 1-9, Nate Shovlin 1-4, Jake Shusta 1-1, Carson Canavan 1- (minus 1), TEAM 1- (minus 1), Darrian Tyson 1- (minus 6). WH, Ethan Parvel 8-75, Braxton Morrero 6-20, Dez Boykin 4-5, Dabriel Ayala 1-1.</p><p><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Dwyer 1-3-0-9, Shusta 4-4-0-57, TEAM 0-1-0. WH, Parvel 14-22-2-203.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Blaski 3-29, Dwyer 2-37. WH, Boykin 6-65, John Kaintz 3-46, Morrero 2-66, Allen Negrete 2-20, Joe Herman 1-6.</p><p><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; WVW, Tyson 1-0, Blaski 1-4.</p><p><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; WVW, Gurtis, 45-Short.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West quarterback Rob Dwyer scores a touchdown as Whitehall&#8217;s Joel Henninger pulls him down in the end zone during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West quarterback Rob Dwyer scores a touchdown as Whitehall&#8217;s Joel Henninger pulls him down in the end zone during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Zach Davies turns the corner against the Whitehall defense during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Zach Davies turns the corner against the Whitehall defense during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Sean Mikovitch returns a kickoff in the District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Sean Mikovitch returns a kickoff in the District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township on Friday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West quarterback Rob Dwyer takes a snap from the shotgun during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL111817HSF-WVW-Whitehall_5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Wyoming Valley West quarterback Rob Dwyer takes a snap from the shotgun during Friday&#8217;s District 2/4/11 Class 5A subregional championship in Whitehall Township. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dwyer, Wyoming Valley West football trample Whitehall to win 5A title