Scranton Rolls Over Crestwood
By JOE PETRUCCI [email protected]
Sunday, October 21, 2001 Page: 6C
WRIGHT TWP. – Every time Crestwood seemed to have Scranton’s speedy offense
contained on Saturday, things seemed too good to be true.
Knights tight end Matt Fidati brought the Comets back to reality each time.
Fidati caught five Al Karaffe passes – including a pair on third downs that
kept Scranton drives alive – for 93 yards and two touchdowns to help the
Knights to a 33-7 victory over Crestwood in Northeast Pennsylvania Football
Conference interdivisional action.
Despite being jammed by Crestwood defensive ends much of the game, Fidati
got where he needed to be, and Karaffe, in turn, found him.
“It was hard to get off the line,” said Fidati, who had a first-quarter
touchdown from 17 yards out and a 34-yard score in the beginning of the fourth
on a seam pattern up the middle.
“But I just went to the opening and (Karaffe) got the ball to me. Some
plays are just designed to get to the open area. I was surprised (I was open
as much as I was).”
Fidati’s second score, and subsequent two-point conversion reception from
Karaffe, turned an 11-point ballgame into a 26-7 foregone conclusion.
“We had some young kids in the secondary today and we didn’t cover the
tight end,” said Crestwood coach Frank Parra. “He’s a tough kid. For how big
he is, he runs well. He hurt us big time. That was the backbreaker of the
whole game, when he ran that streak down the field (for his second
touchdown).”
Karaffe added a 1-yard sneak for a score early in the second quarter, and
Scranton fullback Sean Syrla bolted into the end zone from 9 yards out late in
the third. Gil Flores added a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown
midway through the fourth.
The Knights (4-4, 0-3 NEPFC Div. 2 South), although they only registered
one sack of Comet quarterback Mike Weyrauch, used an outstanding pass rush to
punish the Crestwood signal-caller. He was knocked down four times and hurried
five more times. That rendered the Comet passing game powerless, as it
produced just 5 yards on 1-of-13 passing. Meanwhile, Karaffe threw for 186
yards on 11-of-18 passing.
The Crestwood running game wasn’t much better, amassing only 59 yards on 23
carries heading into the final seven minutes of the game.
The Comets’ lone score came on a Chris Abraham 91-yard kickoff return with
returned two kickoffs and a pair of punts for touchdowns this season.
“That’s something we work on,” Parra said of his return teams. “Like
many coaches, we put a lot of time into our special teams. It’s funny. You can
return a kickoff, but you can’t get that 3rd-and-short when you need it.
That’s just part of the game.”
Scranton linebacker Jeff Field pressures Crestwood quarterback Mike
Weyrauch during the Knights’ 33-7 victory over the Comets.
Crestwood’s Chris Abraham works his way through the Scranton defense on
Saturday. Abraham returned a kickoff 91 yards for the Comets’ lone score.
Crestwood’s Rocky Castro looks for running room on Saturday as Scranton’s
Joe Watral (51) comes up short on the tackle.
