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Defending Pocono winner Ryan Blaney captures pole

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Hazleton Area comes alive, captures District 2 Class 6A baseball crown

<p>WEST PITTSTON &#8211; Robbie Dwyer and Adrian Otero each turned into double threats for the Pioneers Friday night when the 67th annual UNICO Game moved back to a spring date.</p><p>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Dwyer accounted for 214 yards and two touchdowns while leading the offense when the Pioneers defeated the Miners 28-14 at Wyoming Area&#8217;s Sobeski Stadium.</p><p>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Otero, the University of Maine recruit as a linebacker, helped the Pioneers defensively, but also served as the team&#8217;s top running back. He ran for 58 yards and two touchdowns while earning the game&#8217;s George Curry Most Valuable Player Award.</p><p>&#8220;It was tough,&#8221; Otero said. &#8220;For some of these guys, it was (their) first chance playing football since the season was over. I had a chance playing in the East-West (Game) already.&#8221;</p><p>Otero enjoyed what may be his last shot to play offense and scored a 16-yard touchdown on the game&#8217;s opening series. He closed the scoring with a 3-yard run in the first minute of the fourth quarter.</p><p>Dwyer was preparing to call signals along with Wyoming Area&#8217;s P.J. Angeli, who was trying to return to the football field for the first time since missing all but the opening series of his senior season because of a serious knee injury.</p><p>By game time, Dwyer knew he would have to serve as the team&#8217;s only quarterback.</p><p>&#8220;We approached this with a lot of excitement,&#8221; Dwyer said. &#8220;We wanted to get the win.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to spread the ball around and make it exciting for everyone.&#8221;</p><p>Dwyer found open running lanes more often than he was able to locate open receivers, but he was effective in both facets of the game. He carried 13 times for a game-high 122 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown to put the Pioneers ahead to stay with 4:42 left in the half.</p><p>Just 1:05 after running for a touchdown, Dwyer found Spartans teammate Jake Blaski with a 25-yard touchdown pass. On the first play after a Miners fumble, Dwyer led Blaski on a fly pattern down the left sideline and Blaski ran under the ball in the end zone.</p><p>Three players accounted for all of the scoring in the game.</p><p>Janssen Wilborn from Meyers ran 1 yard for a score to tie the game in the second quarter, then sprinted 89 yards untouched with the second half kickoff to cut into a 21-7 deficit.</p><p>Dwayne Downing from Holy Redeemer coached the Pioneers team, which consisted of players from Wyoming Valley West, Wyoming Area, Tunkhannock, Crestwood, Tunkhannock, Dallas, Pittston Area, Hazleton Area and Holy Redeemer.</p><p>The Miners were coached by Jeffrey Labatch from Meyers. The team was made up of players from Lake-Lehman, Hanover Area, Berwick, GAR, Nanticoke, Coughlin, Northwest and Meyers.</p><p>The UNICO Game, featuring graduating senior football players from the Wyoming Valley Conference, had been played on a date close to Thanksgiving in recent years.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>67TH UNICO ALL-STAR CLASSIC</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Pioneers 28, Miners 14</strong></p><p><strong>Miners`0`7`7`0`&#8212;`14</strong></p><p><strong>Pioneers`7`14`0`7`&#8212;`28</strong> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>P &#8211; Adrian Otero 16 run (Billy Prebola kick), 6:52</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second quarter</strong></p><p>M &#8211; Janssen Wilborn 1 run (Kenny Macko kick), 9:36</p><p>P &#8211; Robbie Dwyer 12 run (Nate Maransky kick), 4:42</p><p>P &#8211; Jake Blaski 25 pass from Dwyer (Jake Gurtis kick) 3:37</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>M &#8211; Wilborn 89 kickoff return (Cole Horan kick), 11:46</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>P &#8211; Otero 3 run (Prebola kick), 11:26</p><p><strong>Team statistics`M`P</strong></p><p>First downs`8`15</p><p>Rushes-yards`28-82`39-256</p><p>Passing yards`53`92</p><p>Total yards`135`348</p><p>Passing`7-16-0`6-9-0</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`1-6`0-0</p><p>Punts-avg.`3-38.3`2-47.5</p><p>Fumbles-lost`3-2`1-0</p><p>Penalties-yards`6-41`5-46</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING &#8212;</strong> M, Jake Anderson 4-28, Eric Jeffries 4-24, Jacob Cole 6-13, Vincent Todd 6-11, Trey Borger 1-8, Janssen Wilborn 4-4, Dawson Hughes 1-3, Nate O&#8217;Donnell 2-minus 9. P, Dwyer 13-122, Adrian Otero 11-58, Justin Joseph 8-43, Logan Cwynski 3-23, Sean Mikovitch 4-10.</p><p><strong>PASSING &#8212;</strong> M, O&#8217;Donnell 5-13-0-23, Wilborn 2-3-0-31. P, Dwyer 6-9-0-92.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING &#8212;</strong> M, Borger 2-12, Wilborn 2-12, O&#8217;Donnell 1-21, Jimmie LeGrand 1-10, Anderson 1-minus 1. P, Marc Anthony Minichello 2-43, Jake Blaski 2-36, Otero 1-10, Connor Munley 1-3.</p><p>I<strong>NTERCEPTIONS</strong><strong> &#8212;</strong> None.</p><p><strong>MISSED FIELD GOALS &#8211;</strong> M, None. P, Jake Gurtis 30.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">UNICO Pioneers&#8217; Robbie Dwyer of Wyoming Valley West, left, and Chris Murray of Dallas celebrate their 21-7 halftime lead over the UNICO Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic in West Pittston on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>UNICO Pioneers&#8217; Robbie Dwyer of Wyoming Valley West, left, and Chris Murray of Dallas celebrate their 21-7 halftime lead over the UNICO Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic in West Pittston on Friday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">UNICO Miners&#8217; Don Lott of Hanover Area, left, and Pioneers&#8217; Jake Blaski of Wyoming Valley West battle for the ball during the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>UNICO Miners&#8217; Don Lott of Hanover Area, left, and Pioneers&#8217; Jake Blaski of Wyoming Valley West battle for the ball during the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">UNICO Pioneers quarterback Robbie Dwyer of Wyoming Valley West runs a keeper against the Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>UNICO Pioneers quarterback Robbie Dwyer of Wyoming Valley West runs a keeper against the Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">UNICO Miners quarterback Nate O&#8217;Donnell of Lake-Lehman hands off to Northwest&#8217;s Jake Anderson during the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>UNICO Miners quarterback Nate O&#8217;Donnell of Lake-Lehman hands off to Northwest&#8217;s Jake Anderson during the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Trey Borger carries the ball for the UNICO Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060218UNICO_5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Trey Borger carries the ball for the UNICO Miners in the 67th UNICO All-Star Classic Friday night in West Pittston. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</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>

Robbie Dwyer and Adrian Otero run the show in UNICO football victory