WILKES-BARRE — The quarterback in street clothes is usually an ominous sign.
Unless it’s Wilkes-Barre Area, which has utilized two quarterbacks all season.
With half of the duo out, the other half came up big as Talee Swinney had his hands on five touchdowns as the Wolfpack routed Scranton 41-12 in a District 2/4 Class 6A semifinal game at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.
WBA (7-4) won the first-ever playoff game in the program’s history. The Wolfpack will travel to Delaware Valley (10-1) next Friday for the championship. DelVal, which advanced with a 48-6 win over Williamsport, defeated WBA 54-20 on Sept. 13.
Swinney and Kam Taylor shared quarterbacking duties throughout the season. But a leg injury sidelined Taylor and Swinney had to fly solo.
“This isn’t my first start,” Swinney said, “but it’s always been split. It’s different and I’m playing the whole game and can show what I can do the whole game. I had five touchdowns and I’m happy now, but I want him to get healthy. I want him to play next week.”
Swinney was 8-for-8 for 219 yards and three touchdowns. He ran 10 times for 58 yards and two more scores.
“That’s the luxury we’ve had this year, the two-quarterback system,” WBA coach Ciro Cinti said. “He played in 10 games prior, so it wasn’t as if he was a rookie coming off the bench. We have all the confidence in the world. He took every snap this week. The kid just played great.
“He’s a senior and he’s come so far in 10 months it isn’t even funny.”
The Wolfpack scored on their third play from scrimmage as speedy Rafael McCoy ran around the right side and then darted inside for a 35-yard touchdown. Running back Corey Brown had a 29-yard run on the play prior.
Swinney followed with two TD passes on WBA’s next two possessions. He zipped a perfect pass down the left sideline to Nino Cinti, the coach’s nephew. Cinti continued his 62-yard straight line to the end zone. He then dropped another accurate pass over a defender and to tight end Malik Robinson for a 27-yard score and a 21-0 lead at 11:15 of the second quarter.
WBA bumped the lead to 28-0 just before halftime when Swinney dashed through the heart of the Scranton defense for a 26-yard score.
Scranton (6-5) responded with a touchdown before halftime and another on its first possession of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 28-12. The Knights, though, had trouble generating any consistency on offense. Their second scoring drive was aided by consecutive 15-yard penalties by WBA, the first for pass interference and the next for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The rally was quickly extinguished after Scranton’s second touchdown. Swinney tossed a short pass to McCoy, who zig-zagged his way for a 32-yard gain. Three plays later, Malachi Williams plucked a 23-yard pass from over a Knight to make it 34-12 late in the third quarter.
Swinney capped the scoring with a 1-yard sneak late in the fourth.
District 2/4 Class 6A Semifinals
Wilkes-Barre Area 41, Scranton 12
Scranton`0`6`6`0 — 12
Wilkes-Barre Area`14`14`6`7 — 41
First quarter
WBA — Rafael McCoy 25 run (Michael Deustch-Jones kick), 6:44
WBA — Nino Cinti 62 pass from Talee Swinney (Deutsch-Jones kick), 2:30
Second quarter
WBA — Malik Robinson 27 pass from Swinney (Deutsch-Jones kick), 11:15
WBA — Swinney 28 run (Deutsch Jones kick), 2:25
SCR — RJ Overton 12 pass from Tylil White (kick blocked), 0:43
Third quarter
SCR — White 3 run (run failed), 3:21
WBA — Malachi Williams 23 pass from Swinney (pass failed), 1:31
Fourth quarter
WBA — Swinney 1 run (Deutsch-Jones kick), 2:19
Team statistics`SCR`WBA
First downs`14`17
Rushes-yards`32-114`36-206
Passing yards`100`219
Total yards`214`425
Passing`7-12-1`8-8-0
Sacked-yards lost`3-22`1-8
Punts-avg.`4-38`1-28
Fumbles-lost`2-0`1-0
Penalties-yards`7-75`7-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Scranton, Ricky Walker 2-9, Nacier Green 9-40, White 15-43, Rodrigo Salazar 1-3, Charlie Thompson 1-4, Nate Cobley 1-3, Josh Davies 1-2, Kyle Stevens 2-10. WBA, Corey Brown 10-72, McCoy 3-35, Noah Taylor 12-45, Swinney 10-56, team 1-(minus-2).
PASSING — Scranton, White 5-9-1-63, Stevens 2-3-0-27. WBA, Swinney 8-8-0-219.
RECEIVING — Scranton, Overton 6-76, Seamus Hailstone 1-24. WBA, Williams 3-64, Cinti 1-62, McCoy 2-52, Robinson 2-27, Brown 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — Cinti 1-8.
MISSED FGs — none.
