SCRANTON — When its first two scoring opportunities slipped away, Scranton Prep simply produced more.
After wasting early chances on a bad shot-gun snap and an interception, the Cavaliers scored on six of their next seven possessions Saturday afternoon for a 42-13 non-league football romp over visiting Wyoming Area.
Jake Ryan and Tyler Stafursky led the way in an offensive attack that produced 416 yards while helping the Cavaliers improve to 2-0. Scranton Prep has one more non-league game Saturday at home against winless Tunkhannock before setting out to try to win its second Lackawanna Football Conference title in three years.
“We have to get better,” Scranton Prep coach Nick Donato said. “It wasn’t real clean in the beginning.”
The early sloppiness was followed by 42 points in 26 minutes.
Ryan got the scoring started on a 6-yard run with 1:42 left in the first quarter and finished it on a 47-yard pass to David Horvath for a 42-7 lead going into the fourth quarter. He carried seven times for 128 yards and hit six of 11 passes for 119 more.
Stafursky made the transition from fullback to tailback out of injury-induced necessity and provided 122 yards on 15 carries. He ran 48 and 4 yards for second-quarter touchdowns and 8 yards for a third-quarter score.
Braden Burrier stepped in at fullback and added 55 first-half yards, gaining at least eight on all four of his carries, including a 12-yard touchdown.
“Burrier came in and did a nice job at fullback,” Donato said.
End Thor Balavage led the Cavaliers defense. He made five tackles – three in the backfield for 16 yards in losses, one at the line of scrimmage and one after a one-yard again. His two assists also included one for a loss and he spent even more time in the backfield, forcing the Wyoming Area passer into an interception and two incompletions.
Scranton Prep had already lost one tailback in the preseason when Justin Weckel was hurt in the opener. Weckel ran for 686 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
