PECKVILLE – As players, coaches, and fans look forward to the upcoming 2024 season, there was one last game to be played by graduated seniors who finished their high school careers in 2023.
The 90th annual Scranton Lions Dream Game was played on Thursday night, and there was no shortage of big plays at Valley View’s John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium. In the end, the County team was able to hold on for a 35-28 win over a City team that came close to providing a fantastic finish. Mid Valley’s Jordan Chmielewski intercepted a pass with just over two minutes left in the red zone that enabled the County to preserve the victory. The interception wrapped up a huge night for Chmielweski, who gained a small measure of satisfaction after a broken wrist ended his fall season prematurely.
“In my senior year, I couldn’t finish it,” Chmielewski said. “So I had a lot of faith in myself, and to finish the senior year with one last game, I just had that chip on my shoulder, and continued playing through that.”
It was Chmielewski who got things going for his team offensively. After Lukas Gumble of Lackawanna Trail opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown that capped off a efficient 11-play drive for the City team, Chmielewski provided a swift answer. The speedy quarterback got loose, and took off on a 55-yard run to paydirt, pulling the County team to within 7-6 midway through the opening quarter. Chmielewski led all rushers with 121 yards on just nine carries.
“This was a great experience,” Chmielewski said. “It was a lot of fun meeting all these new guys, and just building memories and relationships with everyone. I’m going to cherish it forever, definitely.”
Western Wayne’s Frankie Layshon made an immediate impact when he took over at quarterback. On the very first pass he threw, Layshon connected with Jayden Ramirez on a 38-yard touchdown pass to give the County team a 14-7 lead. The City would come right back, and even things up thanks to a 6-yard run by Dunmore’s Danny Pigga with 5:03 left before halftime.
The final two minutes of the first half would prove pivotal. Chmielewski scored on a 6-yard run of his own to put the County team up 21-14. Cameron Hedgelon of Honesdale then intercepted his second pass of the night, allowing Ramirez to strike again in dramatic fashion as time expired. A well-executed play saw Chmielewski find Ramirez all alone down the right sideline, and the Delaware Valley graduate did the rest by winning a race to the front-right pylon for a 47-yard touchdown, while opening up some separation on the scoreboard.
“Oh, I trusted my guys,” Chmielewski said. “(Riverside coach Harry) Armstrong drew up a great play. It wasn’t supposed to go to him, but I saw Jayden was wide open. I threw it to him, and I trusted he would make a great play.”
Trailing by two scores, the City team immediately cut the lead in half. Liam Barnett of Scranton Prep made a gorgeous one-handed catch on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Scranton’s Billy Maloney with 7:30 left in the third quarter. Riverside’s Reese Gaughan crossed the goal line from a yard out on the opening play of the fourth quarter, but once again Maloney would make it a one possession game. This time, he would use his legs to score on a 14-yard run to cap off a 76-yard scoring march. Maloney totaled 59 yards on 10 carries, and also hooked up with Scranton teammate Elijah Ortiz one last time on a 50-yard pass play.
“Billy is a superb athlete,” City and Dunmore coach Kevin McHale said. “We had some plays for him as a receiver, and he made a great play down there at the end. He was a little gassed, and we wanted to get him back in, but he was great to coach the last few days.”
The City defense got a stop, getting the ball back for one last chance to tie or win in the waning moments. Eight consecutive running plays, including a nifty 14-yard dash by Maloney, moved the ball to the County 16 yard line. However, a screen pass was sniffed out for a loss of two, and Chmielewski sealed the deal on the very next play by stepping in front of a pass. Four consecutive runs by Gaughan churned out two first downs, and ran out the clock.
“It was a great experience, besides the outcome of tonight’s game,” McHale said. “I really couldn’t have asked for anything else. It was a super bunch of kids. I was fortunate to have a bunch of guys from Dunmore, Lackawanna Trail, North Pocono, Scranton Prep, all great kids. All were coached well by their high school coaches, obviously.”
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| City | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| County | 6 | 22 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
CI-Lukas Gumble 6 run (Brady Mapes kick) 7:15
CO-Jordan Chmielewski 55 run (pass failed) 6:00
Second Quarter
CO-Jayden Ramirez 38 pass from Frankie Leyshon (Resse Gaughan run) 9:07
CI-Danny Pigga 6 run (Mapes kick) 5:03
CO-Chmielewski 6 run (Carter Mistishin kick) 2:18
CO-Ramirez 47 pass from Chmielewski (Mistishin kick) :00
Third Quarter
CI-Liam Barrett 26 pass from Billy Maloney (Mapes kick) 7:30
Fourth Quarter
CO-Gaughan 1 run (Mistishin kick) 11:56
CI-Maloney 14 run (Mapes kick) 9:48
Team Statistics
……………………..CI…………………….CO
1st downs……….21…………………….16
rush-yds………42-260………………28-181
comp-att-int….5-11-2……………….10-20-0
pass yds…………90…………………..178
total yds………350…………………….359
fumb-lost………0-0…………………..1-0
pen-yds…………9-55………………….7-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing-City: Lukas Gumble 15-109, TD; Billy Maloney, 10-59, TD; Danny Pigga 8-59, TD; Hunter Patterson 3-24; Stephen Jervis 4-7; Liam Barrett 1-6; Thomas Bowen 1-(-4). County: Jordan Chmielewski 9-121, 2 TDs; Reese Gaughan 7-35, TD; Joe Granko 5-16; Robby Garvey 1-4; Anthony Curra 1-3; Victor Holt 1-3; Dominic Memo 1-2; Frankie Leyshon 2-(-1); Jacob Cottle 1-(-2).
Passing-City: Maloney 3-5-0, 85 yds., TD; Bowen 2-5-2, 5 yds.; Gumble 0-1-0. County: Chmielewski 4-11-0, 78 yds., TD; Leyshon 5-6-0, 74 yds., TD; Kyle Rupp 1-1-0, 26 yds.; Memo 0-2-0.
Receiving-City: Elijah Ortiz 1-50; Barrett 2-33, TD; Pigga 1-9; Gumble 1-(-2). County: Jayden Ramirez 3-101, 2 TDs; Rupp 3-31; Holt 2-30; Gaughan 1-10; Christopher Savkov 1-6.
