North Pocono cruises past Wyoming Valley West 23-7

Written by: Mitch Rupert on Friday, September 6th, 2024. Follow Mitch Rupert on Twitter.

KINGSTON — There was no secret what North Pocono’s offense was doing in the second half Friday night at Spartan Stadium. Play after play, the Trojans got downhill with running backs Brady Lavery and Joe Briskie. And play after play the two backs broke through the Valley West defensive front added 5 and 6 yards to their totals.

It’s wasn’t fancy, but it surely was effective. North Pocono averaged better than 5 yards per carry in the second half last night, and its defense pitched its first shutout in two years in a 23-7 win at Spartan Stadium.

The Trojans’ offense was basic in the second half because coach Greg Dolhan desperately needed the unit to get back to the basics. North Pocono’s offense fumbled five snaps in the first half, turned the ball over twice, and failed to get in the end zone from the 3-yard line. So basic seemed pretty darn good.

“That was a really sloppy first half. We just didn’t play good football and that’s not who we are,” Dolhan said. “When you do that, as a football coach, it hurts your soul. That first half was one of the toughest halves these eyes have ever seen.”

But everything changed after the intermission. Snaps were handled cleanly by quarterback Chase Zimmerman. The offensive line opened consistent holes for Briskie and Lavery. And the Trojans ate away at the clock and kept the football out of the Spartans’ hands.

Lavery (23 carries, 108 yards) and Briskie (19 carries, 96 yards) combined for 139 yards on 27 carries in the second half, and each scored a touchdown. The Trojans utilized a power run game which used basic isolation and counter plays to free up the two runners to move the ball and wind down the clock.

“We were yelling at our guys in the box to try and find out what’s happening because we had guys there. We were blitzing right where they’re running,” Valley West coach Bob Stelma said. “Was it poor technique? Are they not seeing how the play is developing? We’re going to have to look at the film and see where we need to make adjustments.”

After Zimmerman intercepted his second pass of the night in the third quarter, Briskie moved the football 24 yards on five carries before Lavery covered the final 19 yards on three carries to push the Trojans’ lead to 16-7.

And after Josiah Gray intercepted a pass near midfield at the end of the third quarter, Briskie and Lavery combined to cover all 61 yards in 10 plays, capped by Briskie’s 3-yard scoring run, to give the Trojans a 23-7 lead.

“We have some talented backs,” Dolhan said. “We feel pretty good about our running game if we get on people and do things right. They can both go inside, they can both go outside, and they both hold on to the football. We love our backs and we have to run the ball on people.”

“We made halftime adjustments,” Stelma said. “But whether or not they weren’t doing the adjustments or there was just not gas in the tank, we’re going to look at the film and see what it was.”

From there, the North Pocono defense handled everything else. The Trojans allowed just two first downs the entire game, and one was on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Damian Eastman to Tyler Mattis with under a minute to go in the first half.

North Pocono did its best work on first down allowing just 24 yards on 10 first-down plays, one of which was that touchdown pass. The Trojans controlled the line of scrimmage defensively and finished the night allowing minus-9 rushing yards on 15 Valley West carries. Eleven of the Spartans’ 15 carries went for either zero or negative yards.

“They had one play,” Dolhan said. “They didn’t get anything but one play before the half. That’s a credit to our guys on defense. I’m very proud of that.”

“Our gameplan coming in was to run, run, run,” Stelma said. “When we get in bad positions with blown assignments and missed blocks, it puts us in a position where we have to throw the ball. We have to work with our line to make sure we execute what we want them to execute.”

North Pocono 23, Wyoming Valley West 7
North Pocono 7 3 7 6 – 23
Wyoming Valley West 0 7 0 0 – 7
First quarter
NP—Cole West 17 pass from Chase Zimmerman (Sam Magnotta kick), 8:16

Second quarter
NP—Magnotta 26 FG, 6:53
WVW—Tyler Mattis 30 pass from Damian Eastman (Roger Staron kick), :49

Third quarter
NP—Brady Lavery 7 run (Magnotta kick), 4:21

Fourth quarter
NP—Joe Briskie 3 run (kick blocked), 8:36

NP WVW
First downs 18 2
Rushes-yds 60-247 15-(-9)
Com-att-int 3-6-1 3-12-3
Pass yards 60 55
Total yards 307 46
Fumbles-lost 7-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-40 5-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—North Pocono, Brady Lavery, 23-108, TD; Joe Briskie, 19-96, TD; Jayden Taylor, 5-31; Chase Zimmerman, 10-5; Team, 3-(-3). Wyoming Valley West, Paul Riggs, 3-7; Carter Isbel, 2-2; William Lebron, 1-0; Tyler Mattis, 1-0; Chase Meyers, 6-(-5); Damian Eastman, 2-(-13).
Passing—North Pocono, Zimmerman, 3-6-1, 60 yds., TD. Wyoming Valley West, Eastman, 3-12-3, 55 yds., TD.
Receiving—North Pocono, Cole West, 2-42, TD; Michael Stout, 1-18. Wyoming Valley West, Mattis, 3-55, TD.
INTERCEPTIONS—North Pocono (3): Zimmerman (2), Josiah Gray; Wyoming Valley West: Preston Sninsky.
RECORDS: Wyoming Valley West (0-3); North Pocono (3-0).

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