Wyoming Valley West’s turnaround season ends in Williamsport

Wyoming Valley West’s rejuvenating season ends with a district title but won’t see the Spartans advance to the state tournament.

The Details

A week after trouncing Hazleton Area for a playoff opener, Valley West was knocked out by Williamsport in the District 2/4 Class 6A subregional finals, falling 41-13 on the road on Friday night.

The Spartans’ first season with program alum Brydon Rukstalis as coach was bookended by losses to the Millionaires in Week 1 and Week 12. But in between, the Spartans won six games, which included a Class 6A championship as the last District 2 team standing in the subregional bracket.

Williamsport, which won the season-opener 41-21 in Kingston, and its combo of Tevin Williams and Zion Hughes proved to be too much in the rematch between the former Wyoming Valley Conference rivals. The quarterback and running back combined for three early rushing scores on Friday for a 20-0 lead after one quarter.

Valley West got on the board in the second as Damien Eastman connected with Jaheir Coooper-Mickens on a 48-yard touchdown, but the Millionaires wouldn’t let the Spartans pick up any more momentum. Williamsport answered back with two more scores to take a 34-6 lead into halftime and triggered a running clock with a third-quarter touchdown to go up by 35.

Hughes opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown run before Williams, who missed time in the middle of the season with a medical issue, added scoring runs of 26 and 1 in the first quarter.

After the Spartans got on the board, Jaylen Lilly hauled in a 32-yard touchdown for Williamsport and Hughes scored on a 3-yard run before the break.

Trey Damschroder caught a 9-yard touchdown in the third quarter that made it 41-6.

Valley West closed out the scoring with Eastman’s second long touchdown pass of the night, this time a 67-yard catch-and-run to Zyere McCalla.

That was all for the Spartans, who finished the year 6-6. They rebounded from an 0-2 start with a four-game win streak in which they beat West Scranton, Hanover Area, Nanticoke Area and Scranton. A narrow win over Crestwood in the regular season finale led to them avenging a loss to Hazleton Area with a 35-7 playoff victory last week.

Williamsport improved to 9-3 and will move on to the PIAA Class 6A bracket. The Millionaires will face undefeated State College next weekend after the Little Lions routed McDowell 46-14 in the District 6/8/10 subregional final on Friday night.

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