CLINTON TWP. – Throughout his high school career, Weston Yannone has proven to be a dynamic offensive weapon. On Friday, he showed his skills carry over to the other side of the ball as well.
The senior had a punt return for a score and returned an interception for a touchdown — in addition to a pair of rushing touchdowns — as No. 2 Dunmore rolled to a 62-7 win over Lackawanna Trail in a nonleague game at Lions Pride Stadium.
Jacob Costanzo also had an interception return for a touchdown for the Bucks (2-0) after contributing a rushing touchdown and a kickoff return for a score in Dunmore’s victory in Week 1.
“Those guys are playmakers in all three phases of the game,” Dunmore head coach Kevin McHale said. “You saw it this week, you saw it last week. Kickoff return, punt return, two defensive touchdowns. We have some good athletes back there.”
After pitching a shutout in its first game, Dunmore surrendered a touchdown on Lackawanna Trail’s first play from scrimmage. Lucas Filipek dropped back to pass and hit Joey Thomas in the middle of the field and the junior outran the defenders for an 83-yard score, giving the Lions a 7-0 lead.
“That first play was definitely a punch in the mouth,” Yannone said. “Trail is a good team, good program. They’re going to come out and give us everything they have. They came out hard. We had to make some adjustments, stay focused, keep our heads down and play our game and that’s what we did.”
Dunmore quickly answered as Yannone broke a 50-yard touchdown run on Dunmore’s fourth play of the game to tie the score.
The Bucks then forced a punt. Yannone ran up to catch the kick and kept running for a 38-yard return for a touchdown to give Dunmore a lead.
“I have to give a shout out to Coach (Cameron) Young,” Yannone said. “He tells me if I’m good or not so I can look at the ball and focus on catching it. I heard the good call and I caught it and I looked up and I can’t thank the blocks enough. They set up the wall, blocked amazing and I just did my job.”
On Lackawanna Trail’s (0-2) next possession, Costanzo outjumped a receiver for a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 21-7.
A sack on the next drive drove the Lions back to their own 5, and Dunmore took possession at Lackawanna Trail’s 35 after a punt.
Three plays later, Yannone broke a 29-yard touchdown run to give Dunmore a 28-7 lead with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
“The line this year has been amazing,” Yannone said. “They put in so much work this offseason and to say I’m proud of them is an understatement. They’re amazing, they open up holes for me and I just do my job. My success is because of them. It has nothing to do with me.”
In the second quarter, Brady McCormick hit Jack McHale for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Later, Lackawanna Trail drove to Dunmore’s 39, but Yannone stepped in front of a pass and raced 67 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to give the Bucks a 42-7 halftime lead.
Dunmore’s defense was impressive, allowing 35 yards of offense after the first play of the game and forcing six punts along with the two interceptions.
“Just focusing on our fundamentals,” coach McHale said. “Trying to keep things simple, trying to read our keys, get off blocks and make tackles and just get 11 guys to the ball and our defensive staff has done a great job the past two weeks.”