web1_Botzman-2c-Thomas.jpg

Their view: Shift into reverse for a 2nd college degree

web1_wvw_s2_faa.jpg

WVC football: Valley West rumbles past Scranton in season-opener

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Crestwood dusted off the single-wing playbook Friday night and for the most part it was a success.</p><p>Senior running back Pat Rother took plenty of direct snaps, rushing for 163 yards and a touchdown as the Comets opened their season with a 21-14 victory over Coughlin in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game.</p><p>Now for the bad part. Crestwood was penalized 17 times for 140 yards, including three times in the final minute that allowed Coughlin to pull within seven points with 15 seconds to play.</p><p>&#8220;I think it was a typical first game,&#8221; Crestwood coach Greg Myers said. &#8220;It was sloppy. We did enough good things to win the ball game. But we played like it was our first game. We have a lot of mistakes we need to correct, but we found a way to beat them. I thought we had the opportunity to pull away, but we didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>Rother, though, was one of the bright spots. The best of his 25 carries was arguably his 7-yard TD score late in the third for a 14-0 lead. After doing most of the work on the 47-yard drive, Rother rushed into the middle of the line, bounced off a wall of players and then darted right for the touchdown.</p><p>&#8220;I thought Pat Rother ran the ball well at the tailback position. He ran the ball tough,&#8221; Myers said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what we need within this offense. We weren&#8217;t able to throw the ball, but we really didn&#8217;t have to. Overall, I happy how we ran the ball. I don&#8217;t know what the numbers were like, but we&#8217;re going to have to be able to throw the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Coughlin was the opposite. Known as a run-oriented team, the Crusaders gained just 109 yards on 29 carries. Rafael McCoy accounted for a bulk of them on one run &#8212; a 45-yard score with 5:45 to play to cut Crestwood&#8217;s lead to 21-7. He added Coughlin&#8217;s final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 15 seconds remaining.</p><p>Instead, the Crusaders found some success through the air as first-year starter Garrett Wardle completed 11-of 20 passes for 172 yards. The passing game didn&#8217;t top 100 yards in any games last season.</p><p>&#8220;This is probably the first time in I don&#8217;t know how long we threw for over 100 yards,&#8221; Coughlin coach Ciro Cinti said. &#8220;It was nice to mixed the plays up and we have the athletes to do it. If anything, that a positive you can take out of it. Negatives you can take out of it &#8212; not tackling well and not taking advantage of our opportunities.&#8221;</p><p>Coughlin had the ball for all but four plays of the first quarter. But Crestwood regrouped and scored on its first possession of the second quarter, with quarterback Chase Passman running up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown.</p><p>Crestwood built its lead to 21-0 on a 19-yard TD run by Garrett Swank with 8:57 to play.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Crestwood 21, Coughlin 14</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Crestwood`0`7`7`7 &#8212; 21</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Coughlin`0`0`0`14 &#8212; 14</strong> </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Second quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>CRE &#8212; Chase Passman 5 run (Garrett Swank kick), 6:28 </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Third quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>CRE &#8212; Pat Rother 7 run (Swank kick), 3:30 </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Fourth quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>CRE &#8212; Swank 19 run (Swank kick), 8:57 </ins></p><p><ins>COU &#8212; Rafael McCoy 45 run (Chad Regan kick), 5:45 </ins></p><p><ins>COU &#8212; McCoy 1 run (Regan kick), 0:15 </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Team statistics`CRE`COU</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>First downs`14`15 </ins></p><p><ins>Rushes-yards`44-251`29-109 </ins></p><p><ins>Passing yards`32`172 </ins></p><p><ins>Total yards`283`281 </ins></p><p><ins>Passing`2-5-0`11-20-2 </ins></p><p><ins>Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-11 </ins></p><p><ins>Punts-avg.`3-34`2-29 </ins></p><p><ins>Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-1 </ins></p><p><ins>Penalties-yards`17-140`7-72 </ins></p><p><ins><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; Crestwood, Rob Figmic 3-13, Rother 25-163, Passman 10-27, Swank 4-44, Ryan Petrosky 1-7, team 1-(minus-3). Coughlin, Jervone Young 5-2, Garrett Wardle 8-12, Xayvion Proctor 5-13, McCoy 9-80, Marquis Silva 2-2. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; Crestwood, Passman 2-4-0-32, Figmic 0-1-0-0. Coughlin Wardle 11-20-2-172. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; Crestwood, Petrosky 1-30, Brandon Nieminski 1-2. Coughlin, Young 1-4, Proctor 3-30, Salem Diop 2-72, McCoy 4-55, Ben Yozwiak 1-11. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; Crestwood, Rother 1-0, Passman 1-0. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; Coughlin 35WL </ins></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/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_1-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin wide receiver Salem Diop makes a one-handed grab between Crestwood defenders Patrick Rother, left, Chase Passman, and Rob Figmic in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_1-1-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coughlin wide receiver Salem Diop makes a one-handed grab between Crestwood defenders Patrick Rother, left, Chase Passman, and Rob Figmic in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium 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/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_5-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood's Ryan Petrosky grabs the ball over Coughlin defender Nino Cinti in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_5-1-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood's Ryan Petrosky grabs the ball over Coughlin defender Nino Cinti in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_3-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin's Xayvion Proctor, left, looks to avoid Crestwood's Rob Figmic in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_3-1-1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Coughlin's Xayvion Proctor, left, looks to avoid Crestwood's Rob Figmic in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_4-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood quarterback CHase Passman follows his blockers on a keeper against Coughlin in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_4-1-1-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Crestwood quarterback CHase Passman follows his blockers on a keeper against Coughlin in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_6-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Patrick Rother runs through a hole in the Coughlin defense in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518HSF-Crest-Coughlin_6-1-1-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Crestwood&#8217;s Patrick Rother runs through a hole in the Coughlin defense in WVC football action at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></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: Crestwood runs past Coughlin in hard-fought 2018 debut