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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If the Nanticoke Area Trojans knew how good running back Joe Ammons would be on Saturday nights, they might have tried to schedule all their games for that time.</p><p>Coach Ron Bruza, though, pointed to another coincidence for Ammons&#8217; success on Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;You got it all wrong. It&#8217;s what we&#8217;re playing on,&#8221; said Bruza as he pointed to the artificial surface at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium. &#8220;It has nothing to do with the day of the week.&#8221;</p><p>Artificial surface and Saturday night was a great mix for Ammons, who rushed for 237 yards and two touchdowns as Nanticoke Area rolled past GAR 35-0 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.</p><p>Three weeks ago on a Saturday night and on Crestwood&#8217;s fake grass, Ammons rushed for 374 yards and five touchdowns. He went over 1,000 yards vs. GAR, upping his season total to 1,203. Over half of those yards have come in the two games Nanticoke Area played on an artificial surface.</p><p>Ammons had a 42-yard run on Nanticoke Area&#8217;s first possession, which ended on a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Colby Butczynski. He then scored Nanticoke Area&#8217;s second TD on a 46-yard run and closed out the half with a 73-yard TD score as the Trojans reached the 35-point mercy rule just before halftime.</p><p>Between his two long touchdown runs, Keanu Ammons scored on a 33-yard run and Butczynski threw a 43-yard TD pass to Dylan Szychowski, who was wide open behind the secondary. The Trojans had 278 yards at halftime. GAR had 48.</p><p>GAR (1-8) managed just one more yard the rest of the game yet remains alive for the final District 2 Class 3A playoff spot. If the Grenadiers get it, which is very likely, they will travel to Scranton Prep (8-1) or Wyoming Area (9-0).</p><p>Nanticoke Area (4-5) would have likely locked up a D2-4A playoff berth with Saturday&#8217;s win. The Trojans, though, opted out of the district playoffs where their probable opponent would have been a traditional power &#8212; Valley View (9-0), Dallas (8-1) or Berwick (7-2).</p><p>Instead, Nanticoke Area is battling for an Eastern Conference 4A spot. The Trojans came into the weekend in second place after all the teams in position for district playoff spots were deleted from the equation. Two teams make the E.C. 4A playoffs.</p><p>&#8220;It was a majority vote,&#8221; Bruza said of not participating in districts. &#8220;We sat down and took things into consideration to where we were because I feel in the next cycle we&#8217;re going to be 3A anyway. That&#8217;s where I feel we&#8217;re going to fall down to. For the betterment of our program and our community, it was the right decision.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Nanticoke Area 35, GAR 0</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`20`15`0`0 &#8212; 35</strong></p><p><strong>GAR`0`0`0`0 &#8212; 0</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>NA &#8212; Colby Butczynski 1 run (run failed), 9:20</p><p>NA &#8212; Joe Ammons 46 run (pass failed), 3:34</p><p>NA &#8212; Keanu Ammons 33 run (J.Ammons run), 1:07</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second quarter</strong></p><p>NA &#8212; Dylan Szychowski 43 pass from Butczynski (J.Ammons run), 3:32</p><p>NA &#8212; J.Ammons 73 run (Ricky Klepadlo kick), 1:43</p><p><strong>Team statistics`NAN`GAR</strong></p><p>First downs`10`4</p><p>Rushes-yards`31-333`29-33</p><p>Passing yards`43`16</p><p>Total yards`376`49</p><p>Passing`1-2-0`3-10-2</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-12</p><p>Punts-avg.`1-42`5-20.4</p><p>Fumbles-lost`3-1`1-0</p><p>Penalties-yards`4-56`3-36</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; Nanticoke, J.Ammons 11-237, Butczynski 1-2, K.Ammons 4-33, Ammyn Gregory 5-18, Pierson Park 4-22, Delvin Heffron 1-(minus-2), Devin Lohman 2-3, Colin Kashatus 1-0, Austin Cheslaw 1-20. GAR, Justice Lomas 6-18, Kam Taylor 9-(minus-19), Tyrone Qualls 2-11, Rodsheen Ayer 12-23.</p><p><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; Nanticoke, Butczynski 1-2-0-43. GAR, Taylor 3-10-2-16.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; Nanticoke, Szychowski 1-43. GAR, Mike Smeraglio 1-(minus-3), Lomas 1-10, Ayers 1-9.</p><p><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; Nanticoke, Szychowski 1-22, Josh O&#8217;Borski 1-25.</p><p><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; none.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke running back Joe Ammons breaks through the GAR defense on Saturday night. Ammons rushed 11 times for 237 yards and two touchdowns. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke running back Joe Ammons breaks through the GAR defense on Saturday night. Ammons rushed 11 times for 237 yards and two touchdowns. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR quarterback Kam Taylor fights off a tackle from Nanticoke Area linebacker Andy Day in the first quarter Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>GAR quarterback Kam Taylor fights off a tackle from Nanticoke Area linebacker Andy Day in the first quarter Saturday night. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR running back Justice Lomas gets past the Nanticoke Area defense Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan3_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>GAR running back Justice Lomas gets past the Nanticoke Area defense Saturday night. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area defensive back Dylan Szychowski returns an interception in the second quarter against GAR on Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan4_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area defensive back Dylan Szychowski returns an interception in the second quarter against GAR on Saturday night. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke running back Joe Ammons runs for a gain against GAR in the rain at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_gar_nan5_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Nanticoke running back Joe Ammons runs for a gain against GAR in the rain at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. </caption4><photoCredit4></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: Nanticoke Area runs over GAR, 35-0