LEHMAN TWP. — Visiting Western Wayne held off a late-game charge to defeat the Lake-Lehman Black Knights 30-20 in a non-conference game Friday night.
Lehman had no answer for the powerful Western Wayne offense, particularly its impressive rushing attack as the Wildcats ran for 297 yards and three scores.
The Wildcats offense kicked things off with 7:54 left in the opening stanza on a clutch fourth-and-12 conversion where junior quarterback Matt Valanda hooked up with fellow junior, tight end Derick Mason, on an 18-yard scoring strike down the sidelines.
However, Lehman would show resiliency and take the lead back at 7-6 when their signal caller, Ethan Adams, hooked up with junior tailback Zack Kojadinovich on a 31-yard sprint down the sidelines.
Western Wayne gained the momentum right back before halftime when running back Zane Janiszewski plunged into the end zone from 4 yards out to give his squad a 13-7 lead at the half. The scoring drive was set up from a beautiful 43-yard completion to Mason.
The Wildcats dynamic rushing duo of Janiszewski, who ran for 128 yards on just 15 carries and scored two touchdowns, was matched, if not surpassed by senior tailback Kobe Sauter, who ran for a game high 139 yards on 25 carries and scored on a 1-yard goal line blast into the end zone to give his team a 20-7 lead late in the third quarter.
Lehman’s main star on offense on the night was junior wide out Casey Kaminski, who scored on two big play touchdowns. His first score came on an electrifying 86-yard kickoff return touchdown with only 46 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 23-13. His second score was the final points of the night as he caught a 57-yard pass from Adams and took it all the way to the house to cut the lead to 30-20 with only 4:49 left in regulation.
However, that would be as close as the Black Knights would come as their late game rally fell just short.
Western Wayne 30, Lake-Lehman 20
Western Wayne`6`7’10`7`—`30
Lake-Lehman`0`7’6’7’—`20
First Quarter
WW — Derick Mason 18 pass from Matt Valanda (Jake Shepherd misses extra pt.), 7:54.
Second Quarter
LL — Zack Kojadinovich 31 pass from Ethan Adams (Justin Timonte makes extra pt.), 6:53.
WW — Zane Janiszewski 4 run (Dylan Walck makes extra pt.), 2:09.
Third Quarter
WW — Kobe Sauter 1 run (Shepherd makes extra pt.), 3:23.
WW — Jake Shepherd makes 22 yard FG, 0:58.
LL — Casey Kaminski 86 yard kickoff return (2pt. fails), 0:46.
Fourth Quarter
WW — Zane Janiszewski 2 run (Shepherd makes extra pt.), 10:37.
LL — Casey Kaminski 57 pass from Ethan Adams (Timonte makes extra pt.), 4:49.
Team statistics`WW`LL
First downs`18`5
Rushes-yards`297`126
Passing yards`88`95
Total yards`385`221
Passing’6-14-1-2`3-10-2-2
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-34`2-42
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-2
Penalties-yards`5-35`4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WW, Kobe Sauter 25-139, Zane Janiszewski 15-128, Edward Sledzinski 5-25, Matt Valanda 2-5. LL, Matt Kurtz 6-11, Scott Robbins 1-2, Ryan Eiden 7-49, Ethan Adams 5-6, Zack Kojadinovich 5-51, Jarrett Cummings 1-7.
PASSING — WW, Matt Valanda 6-14-88-1-2. LL, Ethan Adams 3-10-95-2-2.
RECEIVING — WW, Alex Kuha 1-11, Dylan Walck 2-11, Zane Janiszewski 1-5, Derick Mason 2-61. LL, Zack Kojadinovich 2-38, Casey Kaminski 1-57.
INTERCEPTIONS — WW, Kobe Sauter 1-25, Caleb Brumgard 1-0. LL, Casey Kaminski 1-18, Matt Galasso 1-0.
FIELD GOALS — WW, Jake Shepherd 1-22. LL, None.
