Mitch Rupert

SCRANTON — Austin Johnson had barely broken the plane of the goal line with the football when Muncy’s Kenny Hampe and Cameron Kamerer ran over to coach Sean Tetreault.

“We’re going for two,” Hampe shouted at his coach.

It wasn’t a request. It wasn’t even a demand. It was a statement. Johnson’s 32-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a screen pass had brought Muncy within one point of Lackawanna Trail with just 75 seconds remaining in Friday’s PIAA Class A first-round game at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

Even before that moment Tetreault had decided he would go for two points if the Indians scored. But when his players approached him, it made him even more sure it was the right decision.

Johnson barreled through a couple defenders and plunged into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion that was the winning margin in a wild 47-46 victory over District 2 champion Lackawanna Trail.

To call Friday’s game a track meet would have been an insult to track meets. There was more running than at the Boston Marathon. The two teams combined for 1,074 yards of offense, including 892 on the ground. Johnson finished with 284 yards and three touchdowns. Trail running back Isaac Ryon ran for 303 yards and a trio of touchdowns, and the Lions’ Demitrius Douglas added 167 yards and two touchdowns.

But the most important play of the night didn’t count toward those rushing totals. But it was the final two points that gave Muncy its first state playoff win since beating Millersburg, 49-0, on Nov. 16, 2019.

Muncy advances to the state quarterfinals where it will face either Delone Catholic or Belmont Charter. Those teams play at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“I knew I was going for two, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Tetreault said. “But when the kids come over and they’re so passionate about it, it’s 100 percent we’re going for it. When you have Cameron Kamerer, who is one of the best tight ends in the state, and Kenny Hampe, who is one of the best linemen in the state, who want to go for two, it’s an easy decision and we’re going to run behind those two. And they made me look good.”

In a game which felt like the team with the ball last was going to win, Muncy’s Stiles Eyer proved that theory wrong when he intercepted Trail quarterback Tyler Jervis with 50 seconds to go on his own 11-yard line. It was the third interception for a Muncy defense which had absolutely no answer for a Lions running attack which went for nearly 500 yards.

But they did have an answer in the secondary, picking off three of the five passes Jervis threw, two from Dominic Guardini, and the clincher from Eyer.

“Lackawanna is a really good ball control team. They don’t fumble,” Eyer said. “We knew the only way we’re getting the ball back is if they pass the ball and we get some turnovers that way. And we did.”

“It all goes back to believing we’re one best teams in the state,” Tetreault said. “If we believe and we execute, we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Offensively, the Indians were definitely that Friday. And it largely came on the back of their 200-pound running back who is the only player in school history to run for 2,000 yards in a season. But when it had to have a score after Lackawanna Trail took a 46-39 lead with 1 minute, 50 seconds to play, the Indians turned to the right arm of Eyer.

The senior quarterback found Landyn Wommer for 26 yards to get into Trail territory. He then threw a dart to the sideline to Paxton Derr for 10 more yards. And that set up a throwback screen to Johnson, who hadn’t had a catch all game.
But he slipped one tackle and found a convoy of blockers sealing off the left sideline. He made one stutter-step move to get through the last defender and get into the end zone for the potential tying touchdown. And that’s when Muncy’s players insisted Tetreault go for two.

“We have so much confidence, especially in the line,” Johnson said. “We know we’re going to send it, go for it, and leave it all out there. I wasn’t going down there. I just said I’m punching it in.”

“That kid’s a freight train,” Eyer said. “On the two-point conversion I told him if he gets caught up, I’m right behind him. But he didn’t need me. The kid squats 600 pounds, he deadlifts 700, and he benches 400. He didn’t need any help.”
Eight of Johnson’s runs went for more than 10 yards. He had touchdown runs of 48 and 59 yards, and a 42-yard explosion which set up a 4-yard scoring run.

He was the workhorse which made the Muncy offense go on a night where it had to operate at optimum efficiency. His work allowed for counters from the Indians offense which included and Landyn Wommer 54-yard touchdown run, or a 64-yard touchdown pass to Kamerer in the first half.

“That’s the belief in who we are,” Tetreault said. “We have to believe in our process and believe in our system. We couldn’t stop the Wing-T, but we kids made plays when they needed to.”

Trail forced Muncy to play one of the best offensive games — considering what was on the line — in the program’s history because its rushing attack was unstoppable. The Lions had won 10 games in a row on the back of its Wing-T offense which produces yards and points like Hershey’s produces chocolate.

The Lions got to the perimeter with ease, creating a gap between Muncy’s defensive ends and tackles, allowing pulling guards and tackles to clear out any linebackers before getting into the Muncy secondary.

No matter how many times they ran it, and no matter whether it was Ryon or Douglas carrying the ball, the Lions averaged nearly 10 yards per carry. Ryon had touchdown runs of 68, 56 and 29 yards. And 19 of Trail’s 55 rushing attempts went for 10 yards or more.

“It’s the Wing-T way, get as many bodies to the point of attack as possible, get one crease, and then go,” Tetreault said. “They hit the C-gap hard and we have to do a better job to shore that up. But the Wing-T is tough to stop. (Ryon) us a heck of a back. I don’t think anybody can stop him. Our kids just made enough plays to win us the game.”

“I’ve been waiting my whole high school career for a game like this,” Johnson said. “This is just an amazing feeling. It’s so great for our school and community.”

Austin Johnson with a beautiful catch and run on a screen for a 32-yard TD pass and the. He barrels in for 2 to give Muncy a 47-46 lead with 1:15 to go

Muncy 47, Lackawanna Trail 46
Muncy 7 25 7 8 – 47
Lackawanna Trail 14 10 8 14 – 46
First quarter
LT—Demitrius Douglas 14 run (Isaac Ryon kick), 6:14
M—Austin Johnson 48 run (Austin Hartzel kick), 4:10
LT—Ryon 68 run (Ryon kick), 3:10
Second quarter
M—Stiles Eyer 17 run (kick failed), 11:19
M—Johnson 4 run (run failed), 4:26
LT—Ryon 56 run (Ryon kick), 2:32
M—Landyn Wommer 54 run (pass failed), 1:53
M—Cameron Kamerer 64 pass from Eyer (Hartzel kick), :59
LT—Ryon 30 FG, :00
Third quarter
LT—Ryon 29 run (Ryon run), 2:55
M—Johnson 59 run (Hartzel kick), 1:20
Fourth quarter
LT—Douglas 9 run (kick failed), 9:06
LT—Tyler Jervis 1 run (Ryon run), 1:50
M—Johnson 32 pass from Eyer (Johnson run), 1:15

Mun LT
First downs 20 24
Rushes-yds 40-405 55-487
Com-att-int 5-9-2 2-5-3
Pass yards 142 40
Total yards 547 527
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-5 3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Muncy, Austin Johnson, 26-284, 3 TDs; Landyn Wommer, 10-80, TD; Stiles Eyer, 2-39, TD; Wesley Somits, 1-3; Team, 1-(-1). Lackawanna Trail, Isaac Ryon, 21-303, 3 TDs; Demitrius Douglas, 23-167, 2 TDs; Tyler Jervis, 8-28, TD; Logan Edwards, 2-8; Team, 1-(-19).
Passing—Muncy, Eyer, 5-9-2, 142 yds., 2 TDs. Lackawanna Trail, Jervis, 2-5-3, 40 yds.
Receiving—Muncy, Wommer, 2-36; Cameron Kamerer, 1-64, TD; Johnson, 1-32, TD; Paxton Derr, 1-10. Lackawanna Trail, Max Kimmel, 2-40.
INTERCEPTIONS—Muncy (3), Dominic Guardini 2, Eyer; Lackawanna Trail (2), Ryon 2.
RECORDS: Muncy (11-2); Lackawanna Trail (11-2).

PLAINS — Jake Howe stood in the pocket unbothered and surveyed the football field. But there was nowhere to go with the football. The junior quarterback for Wilkes-Barre with a rifle of a right arm bounced on the balls of his feet looking for any opening to deliver a pass on fourth down late in the fourth quarter Friday night.

But there was nothing open, not against a Williamsport defense which harassed Howe all night and made throwing the football much more difficult than the gusting wind in his face.

Finally, Howe unloaded a rocket to the end line as one of his receivers flashed into open space. Williamsport’s Giovanni White batted down the pass, which never even reached the receiver. It was the last gasp for a Wilkes-Barre offense which never found its footing Friday night in the District 2/4 Class 6A championship game.

Williamsport’s defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions, and Samir Williams scored a touchdown on both sides of the football as the Millionaires captured their first district championship since 2016 with a 14-0 win. In a wild season which has seen Williamsport open with a four-game winning streak before losing five in a row, the Millionaires have now won their last three — two against Wilkes-Barre — and will face District 6 champion State College in the first round of the state tournament next week.

“I feel like we’re a tough team,” said Williams, who scored on a 27-yard touchdown run and a 58-yard interception return. “We kept our heads up all season and kept pushing through and we ended up here. But the job’s not done.”

“It means everything to us because these opportunities for these kids don’t come a million times in your life,” Williamsport coach Mike Pearson said. “Playing hard competition preps you for these runs. So we’re thankful for that run in the middle of the season. It was really hard weeks, but now we get to leave here as district champs.”

It wasn’t exactly pretty for Williamsport, but nobody in cherry and white seemed to particularly care. The Millionaires managed just 115 yards of offense and made only two first downs over the final three quarters. But it didn’t particularly matter. Between a defense which pitched its third shutout of the season and a howling wind which negated Wilkes-Barre’s ability to throw the football consistently, Williamsport was still massively in control of the football game.

And it was because the Millionaires allowed Wilkes-Barre to convert just 4 of 16 third downs, and four times in the second half they turned the Wolfpack away inside the Williamsport 15-yard line. Howe, who completed 21 of 29 passes in the teams’ first meeting just two weeks ago, completed just 13 of 33 last night. Kyreek Bradshaw intercepted a pass in the first half when a Howe deep ball hung up in the wind and Bradshaw outjumped a defender for it for the first of his two interceptions.

“We hoped that the wind was going to blow because of the respect we have for Jake. I hope people realize he’s one of the best quarterbacks in Northeast PA,” Pearson said. “It was blowing so hard that even at your back, the wind would just catch the football and it would go. But our defense wouldn’t be denied.”

The Millionaires didn’t give much throwing room for Howe to deliver the ball. Members of the secondary were in the Wolfpack’s hip pocket on almost every route. And coupled with a relentless pass rush which saw Howe struggle to get through his progression before having to scramble, there wasn’t much room for the Wilkes-Barre offense to move.

The Wolfpack gained just 29 yards in the first half. And even when it did move the ball in the second half, Bradshaw’s second interception ended a drive at the Williamsport 3-yard line, the secondary forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-3 at the Williamsport 16, and linebacker Anthony Manley stuffed Wilkes-Barre fullback Gene Ardo for a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-2 on the Millionaires’ 24.

In fact, Wilkes-Barre held a 45-17 edge in plays run in the second half, but came away with zero points.

And then there was Williams, who had nearly jumped a couple hitch routes Wilkes-Barre loves to run in its passing offense earlier in the game. But with under 9 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, he jumped another one, and when the ball was tipped, it floated right into his hands and he went 58 yards untouched to put Williamsport up 14-0.

“I knew they’d run that because they love to run hitches,” Williams said. “We work on tip drills in practice specifically for that moment.”

When White knocked down Howe’s final pass of the night in the end zone, the play was emblematic of how the secondary handled an explosive Wilkes-Barre passing game. It forced Howe to make throws into tight windows just to see if they could get something started. White’s pass breakup came on the 18th play of a drive which took nearly 6 minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter and left Wilkes-Barre with zero points.

“(Wilkes-Barre) has outstanding receivers, and on a calm night this could be a completely different football game,” Pearson said. “But our secondary has been a very good unit. They work very hard and I’m so proud of those kids.”

Williamsport 14, Wilkes-Barre 0
Williamsport 7 0 0 7 – 14
Wilkes-Barre 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
W—Samir Williams 27 run (Parker Johnson kick), 1:42
Fourth quarter
W—Samir Williams 58 INT return (Johnson kick), 8:49

Will WB
First downs 7 13
Rushes-yds 35-104 37-96
Com-att-int 2-13-0 13-33-3
Pass yards 11 82
Total yards 115 178
Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 4-25 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Williamsport, Jamel Bailey, 14-42; Kahyear Whaley, 14-35; Samir Williams, 1-27, TD; Parker Johnson, 1-4; Giovanni White, 2-(-2); Elijah Way, 3-(-2). Wilkes-Barre, Davon Underwood, 10-41; Jake Howe, 15-36; Khalil Smith, 3-18; Treyvon Gembitski, 1-3; Gene Ardo, 6-0; Rajon Watson, 1-(-1); Team, 1-(-1).
Passing—Williamsport, Elijah Way, 2-12-0, 11 yds.; Samir Williams, 0-1-0. Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 13-33-3, 82 yds.
Receiving—Williamsport, Kyreek Bradshaw, 1-8; Samir Williams, 1-3. Wilkes-Barre, Jordan Keselowsky, 4-22; Treyvon Gembitski, 4-21; Davon Underwood, 2-18; Rajon Watson, 2-14; Gene Ardo, 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS—Williamsport 3, Samir Williams, Kyreek Bradshaw (2).
RECORDS: Williamsport (7-5); Wilkes-Barre (6-6).

PLAINS — Gene Ardo wasn’t the intended receiver on a pass that hit him in the chest late in the third quarter Friday night. But the way he read the pass and handled it, he sure looked like the intended receiver.

The problem on that red zone play for the Scranton offense is that Ardo plays linebacker for Wilkes-Barre. And Ardo’s interception turned the Spartans away for the second consecutive drive inside the Wolfpack 10-yard line.

But that was the theme of the second half of Friday’s District 2/4 Class 6A semifinal. Ardo and the Wilkes-Barre offense pitched a second half shutout, including stopping three drives inside the 10-yard line on its way to a 35-7 victory over Scranton. The Wolfpack host next week’s district final against Williamsport, which was a 15-6 winner over Hazleton in the other semifinal.

Williamsport defeated Wilkes-Barre, 34-20, in Week 10 of the regular season. That is the Wolfpack’s only loss in six home games this season.

“I told the guys, you now get to defend your district championship on your home field. There’s nothing better you can ask for,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “We don’t have to worry about getting on a bus anywhere no matter who we play.”

Cinti and the Wolfpack will get the chance to avenge a frustrating loss from a week ago which saw Williamsport score three times in the fourth quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a 14-point victory. Cinti said he was much more pleased following the win over Scranton because all the ills which plagued Wilkes-Barre a week ago were cleaned up.

On top of that, the Wolfpack forced a pair of turnovers, and on two other occasions they recovered punts which were muffed by the Knights’ special teams.

“I thought our kids played well,” Cinti said. “We even ran the ball a little bit. That’s a nice thing.”

Ardo’s interception came at the end of a Scranton drive which saw the Knights march 74 yards to put themselves in scoring position. Scranton took advantage of a Wilkes-Barre holding penalty to convert a fourth down and extend the drive into the red zone. But two plays later, as Knights quarterback Brody Coyle looked for a quick slant in the end zone, Ardo jumped in front of the pass and returned it out near midfield. The stop was critical because the Wolfpack had turned away a Scranton fourth-down attempt from the Wilkes-Barre 10-yard line just 6 minutes earlier.

Any momentum the Knights had built in the second half with an offense which was chewing up ground, seemed to be washed away with Ardo’s interception. And 5 minutes later the Wolfpack put the game on ice with a Davon Underwood 16-yard touchdown run. It was his third touchdown of the game.

“Our defense played great,” Cinti said. “They got it in the red zone twice and those were just two huge stops. We were on our heels, but we bent and didn’t break. That’s a huge play from Gene, but we expect that from him. He’s a very smart kid and he watches film and he’s ready for that.”

Ardo’s play was the highlight of a defense which allowed just one score, a 66-yard touchdown pass from Coyle to Memphis Shotto in the second quarter. The Wolfpack defense allowed just two first-half first downs, one of which came on Shotto’s touchdown.

“Hats off to coach (Ed) Michaels and the defense because when it came down to it, we bent but didn’t break,” Cinti said. “They had one big play on us, but Scranton is an explosive team and I’m very proud of the way we combated that.”

The Wilkes-Barre offense got off to a slow start as quarterback Jake Howe didn’t complete any of his first six passes. But the floodgates seemed to open when he hit Treyvon Gembitski on a quick out route late in the first quarter and Gembitski made one defender miss before finishing an 89-yard catch and run to give the Wolfpack a 7-0 lead.

One series later, Howe (13 of 26, 231 yards., 3 TDs) found Underwood on a scramble drill. Underwood made one defender miss and scampered into the end zone for a two-score Wolfpack lead. Howe, who eclipsed 2,000 passing yards for the season last night, later found Underwood on a 19-yard fade pass for his third TD strike of the first half.

“We had a couple of drops early, but after that, Howe got hot,” Cinti said. “Treyvon made a great and so did Underwood. They’re wonderful kids and they work hard at practice and it shows on game day.”

Wilkes-Barre 35, Scranton 7
Scranton 0 7 0 0 – 7
Wilkes-Barre 7 21 0 7 – 35
First quarter
WB—Treyvon Gembitski 89 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 2:07
Second quarter
WB—Davon Underwood 50 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 11:16
WB—Gene Ardo 2 run (Sanchez kick), 3:53
S—Memphis Shotto 66 pass from Brody Coyle (Jorge Rodriguez kick), 3:32
WB—Underwood 19 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), :32
Fourth quarter
WB—Underwood 16 run (Sanchez kick), 7:07

S WB
First downs 12 14
Rushes-yds 28-103 37-157
Com-att-int 12-23-1 13-26-0
Pass yards 186 231
Total yards 289 388
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 9-65 11-80

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Scranton, Reece Whitman, 13-41; Memphis Shotto, 5-32; Brody Coyle, 7-24; Edie Salazar, 3-6. Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 6-58; Davon Underwood, 15-54, TD; Gene Ardo, 11-30, TD; Brody Reh, 4-16; Kymani Hubbard-Jones, 1-(-1).
Passing—Scranton, Coyle, 12-23-1, 186 yds., TD. Wilkes-Barre, Howe, 13-26-0, 231 yds., 3 TDs.
Receiving—Scranton, Whitman, 6-62; Shotto, 3-93, TD; Salazar, 3-31. Wilkes-Barre, Underwood, 4-67, 2 TDs; Treyvon Gembitski, 3-102, TD; Jordan Kieselowsky, 3-32; Nick Saracino, 2-12; Rajon Watson, 1-18.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wilkes-Barre, Gene Ardo.
RECORDS: Scranton (5-6); Wilkes-Barre (6-5).

YATESVILLE — Randy Spencer challenge the members of his Wyoming Area secondary to plan man-to-man coverage Friday night against Pittston. By doing that, Spencer could ensure some help on Patriots leading receiver Lucas Lopresto.
The Warriors’ secondary lived up to the challenge. They not only picked off three Pittston passes Friday night, they challenged nearly every ball put in the air by three Patriots quarterbacks.

Wyoming Area pitched its second consecutive shutout Friday night, winning convincingly despite a less-than-clean night from its offense. The 28-0 victory over Pittston means the Warriors solidified its spot in the District 2 Class AAA standings and will host a first-round playoff game next week.

The back-to-back shutouts are a first for Wyoming Area since it shut out Hanover Area and Pittston in Weeks 9 and 10 in 2019. The Warriors went on to win the state championship that year.

“Our secondary just handled our assignments,” said Wyoming Area senior Damian Lefkoski, who had a tide-turning interception in the end zone near the end of the first half. “And then in the second half the coaches adjusted everything so out linebackers and line were able to get in the backfield.”

Wyoming Area defenders nearly caught more passes from Pittston quarterbacks last night than Pittston receivers did. Lopresto, who came in averaging nearly 15 yards per reception this season, was held without a catch.

Kevin Wiedl’s third-quarter interception set up the second of three Lidge Kellum touchdown runs. But it was Lefkoski’s pick near the end of the first half which changed Friday night’s game.

The Warriors struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half thanks to a pair of lost fumbles. Only Kellum’s 71-yard touchdown run — which was sprung by a brilliant seal block from Trustin Johnson — kept Wyoming Area from being shut out in the first half. And when Pittston capitalized on one of the fumbles to put together a nearly 8-minute drive in the second quarter, Lefkoski shut the drive down when he jumped a route in the end zone for his fourth interception of the season, which leads the Warriors.

The pick allowed Wyoming Area to carry a 7-0 lead into the half and reset a little bit.

“It was a big momentum change,” Lefkoski said. “All our heads were down. I think that just opened things up for us and got us hyped again.”

“That’s such a big stop at that point in the game,” Spencer said. “We were fortunate to stem the tide there, get into the half, gain possession in the second half, and extend the lead.”

Wiedl continued Wyoming Area’s momentous ways when he intercepted a second pass with less than 2 minutes gone in the third quarter. That’s when Kellum seemed to get his confidence back after the two first-half fumbles.

He went 22 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive and, three plays later, ran through two defenders trying to strip the football from him for a 20-yard touchdown run which extended the Warriors’ lead to 14-0. Kellum added a 24-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter which iced the game.

The junior finished with 264 yards on 22 carries despite getting just one tote in the second quarter after the two fumbles. Kellum went over 1,700 rushing yards for the season last night.

“As outstanding as he is, a lot of outstanding players have adversity during games,” Spencer said. “But you saw his response to it. That’s part of growing up. He responded exceptionally well in the second half.”

“In the first half I kept telling him to have a short memory,” Lefkoski said. “And in the second half he came out and did what he does. If he just gets a little crack, he’s going to take it and go.”

Kellum provided a little breathing room for a Wyoming Area defense which gave absolutely none to Pittston’s offense. The Patriots gained just 112 total yards of offense, averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, and completed just 4 of 21 passes.
Pittston (2-8) lost for the sixth consecutive week, but its the first loss in that stretch by more than 12 points. Wyoming
Area (9-1) will carry a seven-game winning streak into next week’s district playoffs.

“Adversity is part of football and it’s aprt of life,” Spencer said. “The kids were able to work through it and come out with a victory. So that is a positive. We have a lot of things to clean up going forward, but the result tonight is positive.”

Wyoming Area 28, Pittston 0
Wyoming Area 7 0 13 8 – 28
Pittston 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
WA—Lidge Kellum 71 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:29
Third quarter
WA—Kellum 20 run (Ciampi kick), 8:50
WA—Michael Crane 8 pass from Anthony DeLucca (kick failed), 1:57
Fourth quarter
WA—Kellum 24 run (Kevin Wiedl pass from DeLucca), 2:17

WA PA
First downs 16 7
Rushes-yds 33-320 30-76
Com-att-int 7-11-1 4-21-3
Pass yards 78 36
Total yards 398 112
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-87 7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Wyoming Area, Lidge Kellum, 22-264, 3 TDs; Trustin Johnson, 6-54; Michael Crane, 4-10; Anthony DeLucca, 1-(-8). Pittston, CJ Pietrzak, 15-71; Matt Walter, 11-12; Lucas Lopresto, 2-0; Santino Capitano, 2-(-7).
Passing—Wyoming Area, DeLucca, 7-10-0, 78 yds., TD; Kellum, 0-1-0. Pittston, Walter, 3-11-2, 26 yds; Capitano, 1-9-1, 10 yds.; Paulie Ferentio, 0-1-0.
Receiving—Wyoming Area, Luke Kopetchny, 4-36; Kevin Wiedl, 2-34; Crane, 1-8, TD. Pittston, Colten Lis, 2-17; Walter, 1-10; Jakob Bolchune, 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wayoming Area (3), Damian Lefkoski, Kevin Wiedl, Gage Speece.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (9-1); Pittston (2-8).

NANTICOKE — Three Hanover defenders converged on Lake-Lehman’s Jaydon Skipalis as he tucked the football away after catching a third-quarter pass in the flat.

All three players hit the Black Knights’ junior running back at the same time. Somehow, Skipalis was the only one who didn’t fall to the ground.

Skipalis outraced another defender to the front pylon to complete a 35-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Skipalis totaled 120 yards and that touchdown against his former team Friday night as Lake-Lehman won, 48-6, at Nanticoke’s Frank Chicknoski Stadium.

Skipalis ran for more than 650 yards and scored 13 touchdowns for Hanover Area a year ago before transferring to Lake-Lehman in the offseason. But don’t be confused, this wasn’t a revenge game for Skipalis. He didn’t come into it with any ill will. Instead, he said it was a “little weird” to be playing against his former teammates.

“I knew there was going to be a lot of competition coming from those guys,” Skipalis said. “But it was a fun game and I enjoyed it.”

Skipalis helped the Lehman offense to an efficient night with the football. It was already 14-0 before the Knights’ offense ever took the field thanks to a Logan Deyo kickoff return touchdown and a Hayden Evans pick-six. But when they finally did get the ball, it gained yards seemingly at will.

Skipalis had a 24-yard run to set up a 33-yard touchdown pass from Evans to Ben Dowling. On Lehman’s next drive, it recorded first downs on four of its five plays to cover 50 yards, capped by the first of three touchdown runs for Jim Mitkowski.

And even after Hanover ate up 8 minutes of the second-quarter clock with a scoring drive of its own, Lehman needed just five plays to cover 66 yards for its fifth touchdown of the first half with Skipalis having back-to-back carries totaling 53 yards on the drive.

By halftime, the Knights had 35 points on just 16 snaps of the football. They averaged better than 12 yards per play in the first half, including more than 10 yards per rush.

Skipalis and Mitkowski combined for 116 of Lehman’s 134 rushing yards in the first half. Skipalis has given the Knights some depth in the run game this year which has helped open up the entire offense.

“He gives us a two-headed dragon with two good running backs,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “You can spell Jimmy a little bit more. You can take the focus off one back and you still have a good second back. We had both of them on the field at the same time this week, which makes it a little harder for the defense.”

A year ago, Mitkowski averaged just 4.3 yards per carry and didn’t crack 300 yards for the season. Now, he’s averaging nearly 8 yards per carry and went over 700 rushing yards for the year last night. In addition to that, Skipalis is at 7.9 yards per carry this year despite missing time because of a hamstring injury.

And as they showed last night, that two-back run game opened the door in the passing game. Evans completed just four passes, but they went for 20, 33, 10 and 35 yards, and a pair of touchdowns. Skipalis showed his versatility when he caught that third-quarter pass in the flat from Evans and turned it into a touchdown despite meeting a number of Hanover defenders.

“Even I surprised myself there,” Skipalis said of his touchdown catch. I stiff-armed one guy and felt like I was gone. But that definitely surprised me.”

“When you’re able to run it, you’re able to keep it out of your opponent’s hands,” Gilsky said. “And then, at the end of a drive like that, you’re in a situation where you can get a high-percentage pass in there. And when you do that, now you have everybody on your offense making plays.”

Lake-Lehman has already clinched a District 2 playoff spot, but entered this week fifth in the playoff rankings. It’ll face a Dallas team next week which has won six games in a row as it tries to work for a Top-4 seed and a home playoff game in two weeks.

“It’s an important game because it’s a rivalry game,” Gilsky said. “But it’ll also get us ready for the caliber of team we’ll see in the playoffs. We have to be ready for them.”

Lake-Lehman 48, Hanover 6
Lake-Lehman 28 7 13 0 – 48
Hanover 0 6 0 0 – 6
First quarter
LL—Logan Deyo 79 kickoff return (Reilley Kirkutis kick), 11:47
LL—Hayden Evans 53 interception return (Kirkutis kick), 10:11
LL—Ben Dowling 33 pass from Evans (kick blocked), 3:42
LL—Jim Mitkowski 12 run (Evans run), 1:10
Second quarter
H—Dewayne Downey 11 run (kick blocked), 4:11
LL—Mitkowski 8 run (Kirkutis kick), :50
Third quarter
LL—Jaydon Skipalis 35 pass from Evans (kick failed), 7:38
LL—Mitkowski 34 run (Kirkutis kick), 3:59
Fourth quarter
No Score

LL HA
First downs 13 12
Rushes-yds 18-208 37-96
Com-att-int 4-5-0 5-11-1
Pass yards 98 45
Total yards 306 141
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-61 6-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Lake-Lehman, Jim Mitkowski, 7-98, 3 TDs; Jaydon Skipalis, 6-85; Hayden Evans, 2-18; Anthony Magnotta, 2-10; Connor Poulos, 1-(-3). Hanover, Dewayne Downey, 12-50, TD; Malique Campbell, 9-32; Tyler Herbert, 4-17; Brody Richardson, 2-5; Evan Rought, 2-5; Conor Engelman, 1-2; Jonathan Otway-Kellom, 3-(-4); Josh Richendrfer, 1-(-5); Logan Richardson, 3-(-6).
Passing—Lake-Lehman, Evans, 4-4-0, 98 yds., 2 TDs; Magnotta, 0-1-0. Hanover, L. Richardson, 4-9-1, 30 yds.; Richendrfer, 1-2-0, 15 yds.
Receiving—Lake-Lehman, Ben Dowling, 3-63, TD; Skipalis, 1-35, TD. Hanover, Deacon Eisenbach, 2-17; Luke Willis, 1-15; Conor Richardson, 1-9; Otway-Kellom, 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS—Lake-Lehman, Evans.
RECORDS: Lake-Lehman (6-3); Hanover (1-8).

BERWICK — Berwick’s Ty Wilkerson was the fastest player on Crispin Field on Friday night, but it was his patience and vision which set up his first of two long touchdown runs against Nanticoke. And when his offensive line opened up an alley for the junior, that’s when he let his 4.4-second speed kick in to outrun everybody to the end zone.

Wilkerson is still getting the feel for running out of Berwick’s backfield, but at times the explosive Wilkerson looks like he’s been there his entire life. A week after Bulldogs coach CJ Curry said he has to find more ways to get the ball in Wilkerson’s hands, Wilkerson ran for a pair of touchdowns and caught another as the Bulldogs beat Nanticoke, 41-0.

On a night where the two teams honored coach Scott Dennis, who passed away in August before his first game as Nanticoke’s head coach, the Bulldogs honored the former freshman coach with its first shutout in 755 days. And Berwick complemented that defensive performance with an offensive explosion of more than 400 yards of offense.

“Coach Dennis was my freshman coach (at Berwick) and he helped me fall in love with the game,” Berwick coach CJ Curry said. “I have so much respect for him and I love his family. We could feel his spirit on the field tonight.”

But as good as the Berwick defense was in allowing just one first down and only 40 yards of offense, it was Wilkerson who set off the figurative fireworks on the field, and the literal fireworks which celebrated all three of his touchdowns. Running out of the Wildcat formation, Wilkerson took his first carry of the night 37 yards for a touchdown.

Wilkerson was patient in stringing the run out wide before exploding through a running lane to the end zone, like a sports car dropping into gear and taking off. Less than 8 minutes later, he hit an almost carbon copy of his first touchdown, this time from 70 yards, to put Berwick up 14-0 in the first quarter.

“We know we have to run the ball,” Wilkerson said. “It’s just about good vision and my team blocking for me. I was able to see it, we hit it, and we got a touchdown.”

Wilkerson has found his footing running consistently out of the backfield over the last three games. Coincidentally or not, as Wilkerson has taken off out of the backfield, the Bulldogs have gone 2-1. He ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Hanover three weeks ago. Last week against a tough Wyoming Area team, Wilkerson gained 88 yards and a touchdown. And before the first quarter was over last night, Wilkerson had already eclipsed the 100-yard mark before finishing with 182 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Curry had Wilkerson running out of the Wildcat, but also mixing in some read option plays with Gavin Galutia (10 carries, 74 yards), who returned from injury.

“He’s getting more comfortable back there each week,” Curry said. “Any time you give him the ball, he’s got a shot to score. He’s got 4.4 speed and great vision. He turns on those jets fast, but he has to see it develop like he did on that first one.”

The ability to pick up big yards early in the game seemed to suck in Nanticoke’s defense to the line of scrimmage. Senior wide-receiver-turned-quarterback Billy Hanson was able to use that against the Trojan. A beautiful play-action pass left Skylar Nevel wide open in the end zone, and Hanson dropped it in his bread basket for a 28-yard touchdown pass.

On the ensuing play after Berwick recovered a muffed pooch kickoff, Hanson threw a high pass into the end zone which senior Julian Howie jumped over a defender to catch for a 26-yard touchdown. The two scored came just 9 seconds apart and pushed Berwick’s lead to 28-0.

The Bulldogs invoked the mercy rule when Hanson hit Wilkerson on a bubble screen and Wilkerson ran through a couple defenders for an 11-yard touchdown pass with only 20 seconds left in the half. Hanson, who moved to quarterback in Week 4 to help jumpstart the Berwick offense, completed 5 of 9 passes for 123 yards and a trio of scores. Both the yardage and touchdowns were season highs for Hanson.

“He consistently gets better every week,” Curry said. “Billy’s not a pocket passer, but he’s trying to develop and do everything he can every week to make those throws. He was able to throw a couple touchdowns and get some confidence. He’s a grinder and he loves to compete. It’s been great seeing him improve every week.”

Berwick 41, Nanticoke 0
Nanticoke 0 0 0 0 – 0
Berwick 14 21 0 6 – 41
First quarter
B—Ty Wilkerson 37 run (Caleb Yost kick), 10:21
B—Wilkerson 70 run (Yost kick), 2:25
Second quarter
B—Skylar Nevel 28 pass from Billy Hanson (Yost kick), 4:59
B—Julian Howie 26 pass from Hanson (Yost kick), 4:48
B—Wilkerson 11 pass from Hanson (Yost kick), 2:20
Fourth quarter
B—Ashton Smith 13 run (kick failed), 1:04

Nan Ber
First downs 1 12
Rushes-yds 32-27 32-290
Com-att-int 3-6-0 5-10-0
Pass yards 13 123
Total yards 40 413
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-20 11-81
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Nanticoke, Treston Allen, 23-38; Tyler Skordensky, 3-12; Chris Julian, 2-3; Sean Benjamin, 1-(-3); Mike Stachowiak, 1-(-5); Team, 1-(-18). Berwick, Ty Wilkerson, 13-182, 2 TDs; Gavin Galutia, 10-74; Brock Simms, 4-18; Ashton Smith, 1-13, TD; Bill Hanson, 4-3.
Passing—Nanticoke, Stachowiak, 3-5-0, 13 yds.; Allen, 0-1-0. Berwick, Hanson, 5-9-0, 123 yds., 3 TDs; Team 0-1-0.
Receiving—Nanticoke, Jason O’Borski, 1-8; Skordensky, 1-3; Julian 1-2. Berwick, Julian Howie, 2-74, TD; Skylar Nevel, 1-28, TD; Wilkerson, 1-11, TD; Aiden George, 1-10.
INTERCEPTIONS—None
RECORDS: Nanticoke (1-6); Berwick (2-5).

WEST PITTSTON — Berwick linebacker Rocco Romeo ran into the Wyoming Area backfield untouched on the second snap of the second half Friday night. He had Warriors running back Lidge Kellum dead to rights.

Kellum cut and ran through Romeo’s tackle on the toss sweep. And then he met a pack of Bulldog tacklers at the line of scrimmage, Kellum ran through them, too. Kellum was finally brought to the ground after a 5-yard gain which had no business being a positive yardage play.

You can point to Kellum’s 42-yard touchdown run Friday night as a sign of his explosiveness as a runner. But it was that innocuous 5-yarder at the start of the third quarter at Jake Sobeski Stadium which set a tone for the Warriors, who led Berwick by just eight points at that moment. It was the physicality with which Kellum ran the football which has allowed the Warriors to not skip a beat in their run game despite graduating 1,800-yard back Aaron Crossley.

Kellum ran for 225 yards and four touchdowns last night as Wyoming Area posted a 42-20 win on Berwick. Kellum eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season Friday and has run for at least 100 yards in each of his last five games.

“He’s an explosive runner,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “He’s a glider in terms of having legitimate breakaway speed. But he’s also turned into a strong runner.”

A year ago, Kellum was an as-needed option in the Warriors’ backfield as Crossley took on the bulk of the offense’s carries before heading off to Lehigh to play running back. Kellum shined in some blowout wins, eclipsing 100 yards against both Holy Redeemer and Lake-Lehman. But he also showed there was some big play potential as he averaged better than 12 yards a carry on his 47 totes.

He’s returned for his senior season as the featured back in one of the Wyoming Valley Conference’s best offenses. And Kellum is a big part of why the Warriors have had so much success. He ran for more than 300 yards in a win over returning state finalist Dallas. He had more than 150 yards even in a loss to undefeated Western Wayne.

And when the game got hairy last night, Spencer and the offense turned to the 170-pounder and asked him to run around and through a Berwick defense which was spending ample time in the Berwick backfield. Kellum carried on all 10 plays of 63-yard drive which allowed Wyoming Area to take a 14-6 lead into halftime.

Kellum carried on all six plays of a 55-yard touchdown drive to start the second half. His 42-yard scoring run 4 1/2 minutes later showcased how quickly he can gash a defense. And with a comfortable lead, Kellum’s night was done.

At the point of his 42-yard scoring run, Kellum was averaging 9 yards per carry. The rest of the Warriors offense was average 1.57 yards per play when someone had the ball in their hands.

“As he’s played this season he’s built a lot of competitive confidence, not just in his ability, but in his running physicality,” Spencer said. “And because of that he’s perceived as getting stronger and stronger.”

Wyoming Area (5-1) scored 21 points to break open a one-score halftime game against Berwick (1-5). It’s a problem the Bulldogs have had for much of this difficult season.

“It seems like the tale of the tape for us has been the third quarter,” first-year coach CJ Curry said. “There’s just something about the third quarter that we can’t keep the momentum going. But at 14-6 at halftime I thought we were right in the mix and we were playing well.”

And they were. Berwick recovered a Wyoming Area fumble in the first half and forced a midfield punt. And running back Ty Wilkerson put the Dawgs on the board when he scampered 53 yards on a sweep to the left to cut the initial Warriors lead to 7-6.

Wilkerson had 80 rushing yards at halftime but finished with just 88 after the Warriors made some second-half adjustments.

“They’ve got the fastest runner in the conference in Wilkerson and he got one on us,” Spencer said. “That was a matter of them shifting from one formation to another and us needing to adjust, and a couple guys just didn’t get there in time. And someone with that athletic ability and speed is going to make you pay.”

“He’s unbelievable,” Curry said. “Get the ball in his hands and let him get to work. He was a broken tackle away a couple of times. Ty’s awesome and we’ve been finding ways to get him the ball.”

Wyoming Area 42, Berwick 20
Berwick 0 6 0 14 – 20
Wyoming Area 7 7 21 7 – 42

First quarter
WA—Lidge Kellum 35 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 3:02

Second quarter
B—Ty Wilkerson 53 run (kick failed), 6:37
WA—Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), :46

Third quarter
WA—Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), 8:57
WA—Kellum 42 run (Ciampi kick), 4:27

Fourth quarter
WA—Luke Kopetchny 17 pass from Anthony Delucca (Ciampi kick), 9:36
B—Alex Estrella 59 run (run failed), 7:38
B—Ashton Smith 3 run (Smith run), 1:00

Ber WA
First downs 10 14
Rushes-yds 31-215 38-258
Com-att-int 6-11-2 3-5-0
Pass yards 52 70
Total yards 267 328
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 5-31 2-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Berwick, Ty Wilkerson, 14-88, TD; Alex Estrella, 1-59, TD; Brock Simms, 2-33; Billy Hanson, 7-15; Conner Roberts, 2-8; Everett Snyder, 3-6; Ashton Smith, 2-6, TD. Wyoming Area, Lidge Kellum, 25-225, 4 TDs; Trustin Johnson, 7-23, TD; Michael Crane, 3-9; Anthony Delucca, 1-3; Team, 2-(-2).
Passing—Berwick, Billy Hanson, 5-10-2, 26 yds.; Ashton Smith, 1-1-0, 26 yds. Wyoming Area, Anthony Delucca, 3-5-0, 70 yds., TD.
Receiving—Berwick, Ty Wilkerson, 3-8; Brett Eisenhauer, 1-26; Julian Howie, 1-11; Shiloh Escobar, 1-7. Wyoming Area, Luke Kopetchny, 3-70, TD.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wyoming Area, Josh Mruk, Damian Lefkoski.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (5-1); Berwick (1-5).

YATESVILLE — The plays which sprung Dylan Geskey on two of the first four snaps for the Dallas offense on Friday were no secret. It’s a sweep play. But it’s a staple of the Mountaineers’ offense and a play they have to be able to run.

Geskey set a tone at Charley Trippi Stadium last night with those first two carries. Behind an offensive line which is starting to find its footing as a brand new group, Geskey ran for 34 yards on his first two carries. Two more touches later he was in the end zone. Geskey found paydirt two more times after it, and Dallas ran for 291 yards as a team in a 30-22 win over Pittston.

Despite a young, inexperienced offensive line which had to replace all five starters from last year’s state finalist, Geskey (118 yards) and quarterback Brady Zapoticky (134 yards) both eclipsed the century mark last night. And the Mountaineers asserted themselves up front to control the football game despite the tight score.

“We’re taking what’s there,” Zapoticky said. “Me, Dylan and Nate (Malarkey) carried the load and those guys were great. Those guys ran the ball excellent and they were physical. Kudos to those guys because they were phenomenal.”

Dallas didn’t just have to replace its entire offensive line, they had to do it against a schedule which started with three teams who are now a combined 11-4. And both Dallas coach Rich Mannello and Zapoticky think that those challenges are eventually going to benefit the group.

Those benefits have shown up the last two weeks as the Mountaineers have won their last two games. And after averaging just 34 rushing yards the first three weeks and just 2.2 yards per carry, Geskey — a 1,500-yard rusher a year ago — has now recorded back-to-back 100-yard games.

He did the bulk of his damage Friday night on not-so-secret sweep play. It’s a play which allows Mannello to utilize an offensive line which may be undersized, but it’s both strong and quick. And they created a seal that Vince Lombardi would have been proud of to spring Geskey early. By the end of the first quarter, the senior had 56 yards and a pair of short touchdown runs.

“It’s not always about what you want to do as coaches, but what can your players do within the scheme. That play fits in well with our personnel,” Mannello said. “There’s no magic there. It’s a sweep play and everyone knows we’re running it, but we have to find a way to run it.”
“We don’t always have the heaviest guys, but we’re strong and we have speed up front,” Zapoticky said. “So we have to use that and get out to the perimeter and let our guys make plays.”

About the only hiccups for Dallas last night was a second-quarter in which it surrendered 15 points to the Patriots. The Mountaineers were called for pass interference on third down which gave the Patriots a second chance to convert. Two plays later CJ Pietrzak plunged into the endzone from the 4 and added a two-point run. On Pittston’s next drive, quarterback Matt
Walter broke a 32-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 even as the Dallas coaches were calling out what play the Patriots were running before the snap.

But the Mountaineers’ defense always seemed to find a way to stifle the Patriots outside of those two scores. Pittston had just 145 yards of offense. Patriots leading rusher Pietrzak was held to just 16 yards on 13 carries, and both Malarkey and Gavin Lewis came up with key interceptions.

“That (Lewis) pick in the second half was huge,” Mannello said. “That was a huge statement play because they had the momentum. But he’s a senior and he needs to make that play.”

From there, Dallas’ run game methodically wore down the second half clock. Zapoticky scored on a 6-yard run in the third quarter to put the Mountaineers up two scores, and the defense forced a fourth-quarter turnover on downs when Pittston had a chance to tie the game.

After starting 0-3, the returning state finalists have won a pair of games in a row to take control of first place in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. And as the Mountaineers see it, everything they still want to accomplish is in front of them.

“We still gotta take it step by step and game by game,” Zapoticky said. “There’s a lot of things we have our eyes set on. But we still have things we have to fix.”

Dallas 30, Pittston 22
Dallas 14 7 9 0 – 30
Pittston 0 15 0 7 – 22
First quarter
D—Dylan Geskey 4 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 8:43
D—Geskey 3 run (Laubach kick), 3:12
Second quarter
P—CJ Pietrzak 4 run (Pietrzak run), 11:40
P—Matt Walter 32 run (Gavin Wolfe kick), 8:11
D—Geskey 1 run (Laubach kick), 4:36
Third quarter
D—Brady Zapoticky 6 run (Laubach kick), 4:04
D—Safety, punter tackled in the end zone, 2:42
Fourth quarter
P—Lucas Lopresto 12 pass from Walter (Wolfe kick), 7:07

Dal Pit
First downs 23 7
Rushes-yds 56-291 32-65
Com-att-int 6-14-1 5-16-2
Pass yards 64 80
Total yards 355 145
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-70 8-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 24-133, TD; Dylan Geskey, 22-118, 3 TDs; Nate Malarkey, 10-40. Pittston, Matt Walter, 15-98, TD; CJ Pietrzak, 13-16, TD; Team, 4-(-49).
Passing—Dallas, Zapoticky, 6-14-1, 64 yds. Pittston, Walter, 5-16-2, 80 yds., TD.
Receiving—Dallas, Malarkey, 2-29; Geskey, 2-5; Logan Geskey, 1-29; Gavin Lewis, 1-1. Pittston, Lucas Lopresto, 4-52, TD; Colten Lis, 1-28.
INTERCEPTIONS—Dallas (2), Malarkey, Lewis; Pittston (1), Victor Narsavage.
RECORDS: Pittston (2-3); Dallas (2-3).

MOUNTAIN TOP — On a night where he ran for more than 100 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, the biggest play Western Wayne’s Josh Vinton made Friday came when he didn’t have the football in his hands.

The Wildcats’ senior ran from his own end zone toward Crestwood ballcarrier Jaden Shedlock as the quarterback was wrapped up at the 1-yard line. With Shedlock falling forward but not yet down, Vinton delivered a hard, clean hit which kept Shedlock from getting into the end zone.

The fourth-down hit left the Comets with a scoreless first half trailing by a couple touchdowns. The momentum Crestwood had gained on the nine-play, 62-yard drive was washed away because it didn’t pick up that 63rd yard.

Crestwood didn’t threaten to score again until the game’s result was in hand. Western Wayne moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2019 with a 21-0 victory at Crestwood Stadium.

“That was a momentum-killer for sure,” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “Give them credit. That’s what good teams do.”

Vinton prepared all offseason for a moment like that goalline collision, Wildcats coach Shane Grodack said. He’s not just a two-way player, but a three-way player who is contributing on offense, defense and special teams.

Vinton, who is averaging more than 20 carries a game through four weeks, had 29 more last night for 140 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a screen pass for a 55-yard touchdown. And a week after recording a fourth-quarter pick-six, he came up with another stellar defensive play.

“There are few kids I’ve seen in my years of coaching who worked as hard as he did in the offseason to mentally and physically prepare himself for this season,” Grodack said. “There’s times we’ll pull him out of the game and give him a blow, but in a game like this that’s this tight, we have to have our 11 best on the field.”

Believe it or not, despite the final numbers, Crestwood’s defense did quite the admirable job against Vinton last night. More than half of his 140 rushing yards came on Western Wayne’s first scoring drive after a Sean Owens interception.

Vinton carried eight times in a 10-play drive following Owens’ interception, and he accounted for 78 of the 84 yards, including the final 19 to put the Wildcats up 7-0.

But after that possession in which Vinton averaged 9.75 yards a carry, the Comets held him to just 2.95 yards per carry over his final 21 totes.

“Hat’s off to Crestwood. They made some goof plays and they played good defense,” Grodack said. “They came to hit. They stymied a couple drives.

“We had grit. It was nothing to do with a lack of grit,” Arcangeli said. “(Vinton) is exceptional and I thought we did as good a job as we could do between the tackles on that guy.”

In fact, on the next series when Western Wayne got into a third-and-long situation, they still went to Vinton, but in a much different manner. The Wildcats rolled quarterback John Pyatt to his left before throwing a screen back to the right. Vinton caught the pass with a convoy of offensive linemen in front of him. He needed to make just one cut at about the Crestwood 20-yard line to finish off a 55-yard catch-and-run which put the Wildcats up 14-0.

“We made an adjustment to try and stop the rollout, and it’s just a great adjustment from Western Wayne,” Arcangeli said. “That’s on (the coaches), not the kids. The kids played it aggressively, and we have to do a better job of telling the kids on the back side to stay home.”

That 14 point lead was more than enough for Western Wayne as the Wildcats turned away Crestwood’s offense multiple times. Despite running for 239 yards as a team, Crestwood was turned away on downs at the Western Wayne 36-yard line when it was stopped on fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter. Some 6 minutes later, Vinton kept Shedlock from falling into the end zone.

“Any time you have a goalline stop in high school football, it’s critical,” Grodack said. “We got ourselves in position and we had to rise up and do it. Our defense is playing outstanding.”

Even with the game having been decided late in the fourth quarter, Owens made a brilliant tackle in the backfield on fourth-and-goal from the Wildcats 6-yard line to all but end the game.

“We’re not trusting the call all the time (in the red zone),” Arcangeli said. “It’s a characteristic of young kids in certain positions. We’ll block two plays good, then we block one really bad. It’s inconsistency over the base of our offense and we have to get better with that.”

Western Wayne 21, Crestwood 0
Western Wayne 14 0 0 7 – 21
Crestwood 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
WW—Josh Vinton 19 run (Jacob Wells kick), 3:33
WW—Vinton 55 pass from John Pyatt (Wells kick), :14
Fourth quarter
WW—James Jimenez 12 pass from Pyatt (Wells kick), 6:13

WW CRE
First downs 14 15
Rushes-yds 34-149 48-239
Com-att-int 7-13-1 2-7-1
Pass yards 154 13
Total yards 303 252
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-50 7-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Western Wayne, Josh Vinton, 29-140, TD; Sean Owens, 1-12; James Jimenez, 1-1; Vinny Silon, 1-(-1); Team, 1-(-1); John Pyatt, 1-(-2). Crestwood, Jaden Shedlock, 18-134; Jacob Jeckell, 11-31; Matthew Bealla, 5-25; Colin Lazo, 7-19; Giovanni Barna, 3-14; Jack Rodgers, 1-9; Nate Walsh, 2-7; Dylan Bellas, 1-0.
Passing—Western Wayne, Pyatt, 7-13-1, 154 yds., 2 TDs. Crestwood, Shedlock, 1-3-1, 11 yds.; Rodgers, 1-3-0, 2 yds.; Barna, 0-1-0.
Receiving—Western Wayne, Owens, 4-76; Vinton, 1-55, TD; Jimenez, 1-12, TD; Silon, 1-11. Crestwood, Rodgers, 1-11; Emmett Seyer, 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS—Western Wayne, Sean Owens; Crestwood, Jack Rodgers.
RECORDS: Crestwood (1-3); Western Wayne (4-0).

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).

LEHMAN — Marc Persing and the Shamokin football program has a tremendous relationship with its track team. It’s not as if Persing isn’t a baseball fan, it’s just that he sees the value on Friday nights from springs spent running.

In the first two weeks of the season, the second-year coach is seeing the benefits of that relationship. Friday night the Indians outran a Lake-Lehman team which was coming off a monumental win over Berwick a week ago. The Knights had no answer for a Shamokin offense which looked like a four-by-one relay team in pads.

Shamokin rolled up 426 yards of offense, including more than 300 on the ground, and the defense pitched its first shutout in two years in a 40-0 win over Lake-Lehman. All-stater Chase Pensyl scored on a 73-yard touchdown pass. Jayce Ginck had a 76-yard run which led to a mercy rule-invoking touchdown, and Shamokin is 2-0 for the first time since 2014.

“We’re fast, and we’re going to use our speed,” Persing said. “Our job is to get the ball to the right guys in the right situations. We’re lucky to have six or seven guys who can take it, and they’re track fast. They’re not just football fast, they’re track fast.”

From the moment Shamokin caught a break when an opening-drive fourth-down pass to a wide open receiver in the end zone fell incomplete, the Indians took control of Friday night’s game. And they did it in every facet of the game. Just five plays after dodging that fourth-down bullet, Shamokin took advantage of a blown coverage on Pensyl’s 73-yard touchdown reception from Logan Steele.

Of the 85 offensive yards the Indians’ defense allowed in the first half, 44 of them came on just two plays from the Lehman offense on that opening drive. Take away those two carries and Lehman’s offense average just 2.5 yards per carry last night. Shamokin also scored on defense, created two turnovers on special teams, and averaged more than 8 yards per carry offensively.

The 49 points were the most a Shamokin team has scored since dropping 57 on Shikellamy in 2022.

“We’re a system and the kids have bought into it,” Persing said. “Our two running backs are feature backs on any other team, and we’re just fortunate enough to have two of them. Unfortunately our system requires only one to be in the game at a time, but they complement each other so well.”

It would be cliché to call Ginck and ZaKem Clinton ‘Thunder’ and ‘Lightning,’ but it would also be true. Ginck is a 160-pound Ferrari in football pads who needs just a crease to turn 3 yards into 30. Clinton is a 225-pound Earth mover who is harder to bring down than a Redwood tree.

Ginck averaged more than 18 yards a carry last night. Clinton scored on three of his six carries. They made the Shamokin offense go behind a patient offensive line which punished Lehman’s defense and stayed on its blocks to spring 11 carries for 8 yards or more.

“They run that flanker offense very well,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “They get their guys to the perimeter and they’re big up front. They’re very methodical in what they do. And they’re very patient. Their linemen stay on their blocks and they work you and they’re physical.”

Lehman was riding the high of beating Berwick a week ago when it worked its way into the red zone on the game’s opening possession. But when the fourth-down pass fell incomplete, the Knights seemed to fall flat. After recording five first-quarter first downs, the Knights didn’t pick up another one until the fourth quarter when a running clock was in play and backups for both teams had entered the game.

Shamokin used its speed defensively just as effectively as it did offensively. After picking up runs of 32 and 12 yards on the first drive, the Knights had just four more runs gain more than 5 yards over the final 46 minutes of the game.

“We’re switched our defense up this year and we got one more athlete on the field,” Persing said. “It’s paying dividends already.”

“The way we started out, we had a ton of energy,” Gilsky said. “But then we dug ourselves a hole with turnovers. We had two end zone plays and we couldn’t get it in and our kids got flat after that.”

In the second quarter, Lake-Lehman ran just six offensive plays. One ended in an interception returned for a touchdown by Steele. The Knights also muffed a punt which Shamokin recovered and cashed in with a Clinton touchdown run. They also turned the ball over on the ensuing kickoff when the ball hit an upback and the Indians recovered, eventually scoring on Clinton’s second touchdown run.

It was the Murphy’s Law of quarters, and when Ginck setup up Clinton’s third touchdown run less than a minute into the third quarter, the mercy rule was invoked.

“This was a big piece of humble pie,” Gilsky said.

“These guys have bought into everything we’ve asked of them in the last nine month,” Persing said. “This is them benefitting from all the hard work.”

Shamokin 49, Lake-Lehman 0
Shamokin 6 22 14 7 – 49
Lake-Lehman 0 0 0 0 – 0

First quarter
S—Chase Pensyl 73 pass from Logan Steele (kick failed), 6:22

Second quarter
S—ZaKem Clinton 8 run (Pensyl kick), 6:05
S—Steele 46 INT return (Pensyl kick), 5:06
S—Clinton 1 run (Pensyl kick), :21

Third quarter
S—Clinton 12 run (Pensyl kick), 11:23
S—Jayce Ginck 38 run (Colin Steinhart kick), 5:30

Fourth quarter
S—Steinhart 3 run (Steinhart kick), 6:22

Sha LL
First downs 16 9
Rushes-yds 36-304 29-104
Com-att-int 6-11-0 6-11-1
Pass yards 122 34
Total yards 426 138
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-54 4-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Shamokin, Jayce Ginck, 8-149, TD; ZaKem Clinton, 6-40, 3 TDs; Chase Pensyl, 2-35; Trey Taylor, 4-20; Logan Steele, 5-19; Colin Steinhart, 2-16, TD; Ryan Bickert, 3-15; Rylan Price, 3-13; Andrew Leffler, 1-2; Barrett Walsh, 1-2; Team, 1-(-7). Lake-Lehman, Jayden Skipalis, 9-56; Anthony Magnotta, 4-27; Jim Mitkowski, 5-20; Lukas Conte, 3-9; Alex Smith, 1-2; Benjamin Brelsford, 1-0; Damon Bond, 1-(-2); Hayden Evans, 5-(-8).
Passing—Shamokin, Logan Steele, 6-10-0, 122 yds., TD; Barrett Walsh, 0-1-0. Lake-Lehman, Hayden Evans, 6-11-1, 34 yds.
Receiving—Shamokin, Chase Pensyl, 2-81, TD; Ben Delbaugh, 2-19; Jenssyn Shuey, 1-19; Rylan Price, 1-3. Lake-Lehman, Jayden Skipalis, 2-16; Chris Sholtis, 1-11; Jim Mitkowski, 1-9; Ben Dowling, 1-0; Alex Smith, 1-(-2).
INTERCEPTIONS—Shamokin, Logan Steele.
RECORDS: Lake-Lehman (1-1); Shamokin (2-0).

Photo of receiver Evan Snyder. He had six catches, 104 yards and 2 TDs

DALLAS — Midway through the third quarter Friday night, Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish kept starting quarterback Elijah Jordan on the bench for an offensive series. Opening night had been a struggle for the converted running back, and Jordan was playing on offense, defense and special teams. So Gravish gave the senior a quick break.

Whatever happened during that quick breather, Jordan returned to the field at Mountaineer Stadium a different player. Jordan completed 13 of his final 20 passes for 156 yards, including a game-winning touchdown with 43 seconds left to give the second-ranked Bulldogs a come-from-behind 28-21 win over returning state finalist Dallas.

Jersey Shore passed its first test in a year where it has ramped up its schedule to nothing like the Bulldogs have ever played against. Jordan and Shore were trailing 21-7 when he returned from his quick break, and the Bulldogs rallied off the final 21 points of the night to take a stunning win.

“It says a lot about these guys,” Gravish said. “We have a lot of newcomers who showed up big time in a big time game. I’m so proud of the resiliency we showed after halftime. At 21-7 our backs were against the wall and it was time to make plays and the kids never quit. I’m sure darn proud to be part of it.”

Shore was out of sync for the better part of 2 1/2 quarters Friday night against a Dallas team which should again battle for a District 2 championship. It ran the ball for just 19 yards on 23 carries in the first half, largely because of five sacks registered against Jordan, who was making his first career start at quarterback after being the Bulldogs’ second-leading rusher a year ago. Jordan also struggled throwing the ball, completing just 3 of 10 passes for 70 yards and an interception.
The Bulldogs’ lone offensive spark in the first 30 minutes of the game came on an option pass from Carson Watkins to Luke Ryan. It was a trick play which gained 46 yards and finally injected some life into the Shore offense. Four plays later, Jordan floated a beautiful fade pass to Evan Snyder, who wrestled the ball away from Dallas’ Gavin Lewis for his first of two touchdown receptions last night.

“Evan is a threat anywhere on the field,” Gravish said. “But scoring there allowed us to get back to some of the ordinary things we do extraordinarily well.”

It still took some time to click on both sides of the ball for Shore. The defense surrendered three touchdown passes on wide receivers screens where Mountaineer receivers Lewis and Logan Geskey had open lanes to the end zone.
Lewis’ first of two catch-and-run scores came just over 2 minutes into the game from 23 yards out. Geskey added a 40-yarder midway through the second quarter to give the Mountaineers a 14-7 lead.
Lewis pushed that lead to 21-7 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. Shore’s defense read the screen perfectly. But Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky (223 yards, 3 TDs) held the ball for an extra second allowing Lewis to slip behind the defense and go 36 yards for his second touchdown.

“They have a really nice left tackle and he gets our there and bodied up our corner,” Gravish said. “We need our corner to make that play, but we also need the safety, and a backer, and the defensive end to get out there and make a play. But (Lewis) just outraced us the whole way. He was really good for them last year, too.”

At 21-7, Dallas was in total control. But that was also when Shore’s offense finally found its footing.
Jordan completed 3 of 5 passes on the ensuing drive, including another 50/50 ball to Snyder which he again wrestled away from Lewis for a 16-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

“All I saw was the ball in the air and I knew I had to go get it,” Snyder said. “There was a little frustration at halftime, but as soon as we come together like we did, it feels like nothing can stop us.”

While Shore’s defense took away any semblance of Dallas’ running game despite returning 1,000-yard back Dylan Geskey, the Bulldogs’ offense continued to build. Jordan went 5 for 5 for 42 yards to set up a Bo Sechrist 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to tie the game, 21-21.

And after Dallas’ Rowan Laubach missed a 40-yard field goal attempt wide right with 2:33 to go, it felt inevitable Shore would answer. Jordan took some easy yards early to move the sticks on a couple quick hitters before picking up 27 yards on a post pattern to Snyder to get to the Dallas 31-yard line.

After Jordan scrambled for 15 yards to give the Bulldogs first down at the Dallas 11, he threw a dart to Severino over the middle for an 11-yard scoring pass with just 43 seconds left to give Shore its first lead.

Jordan finished his first start at quarterback with 226 passing yards and a trio of touchdowns. After being sacked five times in the first half, he wasn’t sacked at all in the second half.

“No question, that kid can sling it,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “Those receivers are good, and that quarterback is a tough-minded young man. We knew we were going to have our hands full. We hit him and he just kept getting up.”

“We knew Elijah just needed a series. He’s on punt, he’s playing defense, and we asked him to run probably 20 times,” Gravish said. “But his elusiveness and ability to extend a play with his eyes downfield was a key for us.”

“I have no clue what happened, but I know he came back way better,” Snyder said. “He helped us move the ball and brought us some energy.”

It was only the first step in a long season which is going to include games with the likes of Delaware Valley, Williamsport, Hollidaysburg and Penn Wood. But it was an important first step Friday night for Shore.

“We’ve been in these kinds of games before, but maybe not with exactly these kids,” Gravish said. “But this is the part of tradition that never graduates.”

Jersey Shore 28, Dallas 21
Jersey Shore 0 7 7 14 – 28
Dallas 7 7 7 0 – 21
First quarter
D—Gavin Lewis 23 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:59
Second quarter
JS—Evan Snyder 16 pass from Elijah Jordan (Brodie Herr kick), 6:55
D—Logan Geskey 40 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 6:34
Third quarter
D—Gavin Lewis 36 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 3:06
JS—Snyder 16 pass from Jordan (Herr kick), :51
Fourth quarter
JS—Bo Sechrist 1 run (Herr kick), 7:30
JS—Trent Severino 11 pass from Jordan (Herr kick), :43

JS Dal
First downs 22 13
Rushes-yds 43-116 31-42
Com-att-int 17-34-1 12-34-1
Pass yards 272 223
Total yards 388 265
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-yards 7-40 6-54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Jersey Shore, Brodie Herr, 17-65; Elijah Jordan, 19-33; Bo Sechrist, 6-13, TD; Nolen Pauling, 1-5. Dallas, Dylan Geskey, 19-36; Nate Malarkey, 2-6; Brady Zapoticky, 9-1; Team, 1-(-1).

Passing—Jersey Shore, Elijah Jordan, 16-32-1, 226 yds., 3 TDs; Carson Watkins, 1-1-0, 46 yds.; Nolen Pauling, 0-1-0. Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 12-32-0, 223 yds., 3 TDs; Team 0-1-0; Dylan Geskey, 0-1-1.

Receiving—Jersey Shore, Evan Snyder, 6-104, 2 TDs; Paul Hale, 5-45; Luke Ryan, 4-113; Trent Severino, 2-10, TD. Dallas, Logan Geskey, 4-85, TD; Gavin Lewis, 3-76, 2 TDs; Nate Malarkey, 3-47; Cole Rigol, 2-15.

INTERCEPTIONS—Jersey Shore, Luke Ryan; Dallas, Nate Malarkey.

RECORDS: Dallas (0-1); Jersey Shore (1-0).

DALLAS — Needing a touchdown like a fish needs water, Dallas coach Rich Mannello didn’t go to any new wrinkles with his offense. He went to his tried and true way of winning football games.

He dotted the Mountaineers’ I-formation backfield with bulldozing running back Dylan Geskey and just had him run right at the Valley View defense. No matter how much Mannello’s offense has evolved since the last time Dallas won a District 2 championship, at his heart, he’s still a smashmouth football kind of guy.

And trailing the defending district champ Cougars in the fourth quarter, Mannello went to Geskey and his bread-and-butter offense. Geskey ran through the Valley View defense, scoring from 3 yards out with 4 minutes, 42 seconds left in Friday’s District 2 Class AAAA final to hand the Mountaineers its first district title in 4 years, 21-18, over Valley View.

The Mountaineers avenged a loss to the Cougars in last year’s title game, and overcame a game where it faced more adversity than it has seen in more than 10 weeks. Geskey ran for a game-high 94 yards and three touchdowns, and Gavin Lewis came down with a game-clinching interception to send Dallas to next week’s PIAA quarterfinals. The Mountaineers will host the winner of Saturday’s game between Pope John Paul II and Bonner-Prendie.

“I’m going to be an I-formation guy until they put me in the box,” Mannello said. “I love off-tackle football.”

Dallas established a physical style of play early in Friday’s district title game, running right at a Valley View defense with a punishing push from an undersized offensive line, and a tempo which left the Cougars little time to recoup from body blow after body blow. And when Valley View took its first lead on the penultimate play of the third quarter, Mannello and the Dallas offense got back to that physicality and tempo.

He trusted his offensive line to create space. He trusted Geskey to find that space. And it led to a go-ahead touchdown which put the Mountaineers back in the state tournament for the first time since 2019 when they advanced to the state final.

“We knew they were going to be pumped up, but we wanted it more,” Dallas center Dan Sabulski said. “We came out and punched them in the mouth. I think that set the tone and got us those early touchdowns and ultimately was what won us the game.”

Dallas opened the game with a 10-play, 74-yard drive which was capped by a Geskey 2-yard scoring run. A sensational 29-yard catch from Lucas Tirpak set up the touchdown run, and the Mountaineers ran six time for 39 yards on the drive to take a 7-0 lead.

Dallas scored its second touchdown on a seven-play, 79-yard drive with Geskey scoring his second touchdown less than a minute into the second quarter.

“They surprised me a little bit with their aggressiveness,” Valley View coach Scot Wasilchak said. “I thought we were a physical football team and they took it to us a little bit.”

The only thing that kept Dallas from making it a lopsided game early on was an inconceivable two-play stretch which saw The Valley View defense stonewall Dallas from the 1-yard line on fourth down and then turn that stop into a 99-yard touchdown pass from Dominic Memo to Kyle Rupp on the very next play.

But Valley View missed the PAT on that touchdown and chased down that missed point the rest of the game. Ultimately, the Cougars’ three missed conversions made the difference in the score.

“When they started taking it to us like they did, we had to have something to ignite us and I think that did it,” Wasilchak said of the stop and long touchdown pass. “They took it to us a little bit early, and by the time we got up to their speed, we had to play catchup all night.”

Dallas ran up 202 yards of offense in the first quarter as it set the tone for the football game. But that’s when the Valley View defense settled in and the Mountaineers were plagued by bad field position and consequential penalties. Dallas had just 8 yards of offense in the second quarter and just 16 more in the third quarter.

That defensive shift allowed Valley View the opportunity to work itself back into the game. Memo hit Chris Savkov to set up Preston Reed’s 2-yard touchdown run to get the Cougars within 14-12. And they took the lead in the third quarter when 22-yard pass to Nick Kucharski set up Memo’s 1-yard quarterback sneak to give Valley View its first lead, 18-14, with just 2 seconds left in the third quarter.

Memo completed 12 of 24 passes for 215 yards Friday, the most passing yards for a Cougars offense since they threw for 192 yards against Western Wayne on Oct. 21, 2016. Memo’s completions and attempts were both season-highs for the Cougars’ offense.

“Dom’s a seasoned vet,” Wasilchak said. “He’s been here before. We know we can count on him to make big throws.”

But after Dallas took the lead on Geskey’s third touchdown run, Valley View couldn’t get deep into Dallas territory to tie the game or take the lead, not even after a post-play unsportsmanlike conduct penalty turned a third-and-16 into a third-and-1 which the Cougars capitalized on.

And that’s because Memo’s final pass of the night was an underthrown deep ball down the right sideline which hit Lewis directly in the chest for a game-clinching interception.

Dallas will carry an undefeated, 13-0 record into next week’s state tournament opener, which it will host.

“Our last district title was in 2019 and that came after a 20-year gap. That’s how hard it is to win this,” Mannello said. “To win two district titles in four years is an incredible feat, and it really means something. And now that record really means something. Now we can be excited about the undefeated record. Without this, it’s just a good season. Now it’s something they can all tell their grandkids about.”

Dallas 21, Valley View 18

Valley View 6 6 6 0 – 18
Dallas 7 7 0 7 – 21

First quarter
D—Dylan Geskey 2 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 8:58
VV—Kyle Rupp 99 pass from Dominic Memo (kick failed), 1:31

Second quarter
D—Geskey 2 run (Laubach kick), 11:03
VV—Preston Reed 2 run (pass failed), 2:37

Third quarter
VV—Memo 1 run (pass failed), :02

Fourth quarter
D—Geskey 3 run (Laubach kick), 4:42

VV Dal
First downs 15 14
Rushes-yds 37-92 43-158
Com-att-int 12-26-2 6-16-0
Pass yards 215 133
Total yards 307 291
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-53 9-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Valley View, Preston Reed, 9-35, TD; Nick Kucharski, 10-27; Cam Higgins, 8-18; Dominic Memo, 10-12, TD. Dallas, Dylan Geskey, 24-94, 3 TDs; Brady Zapoticky, 11-33; Zach Paczewski, 4-29; Nate Malarkey, 1-5; Team, 3-(-3).

Passing—Valley View, Dominic Memo, 12-24-2, 215 yds., TD; Nick Kucharski, 0-1-0; Team, 0-1-0. Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 6-16-0, 133 yds.

Receiving—Valley View, Preston Reed, 4-28; Kyle Rupp, 3-115, TD; Nick Kucharski, 3-39; Chris Savkov, 2-33. Dallas, Zach Paczewski, 3-58; Lucas Tirpak, 1-29; Nick Farrell, 1-25; Gavin Lewis, 1-21.

INTERCEPTIONS—Dallas, Paczewski, Lewis.
RECORDS: Dallas (13-0); Valley View (10-3).

WEST PITTSTON — Josh Mruk walked off Jake Sobeski Field by himself Friday night, but he wasn’t really alone. With every couple steps the sophomore from Wyoming Area took, someone shouted his name. They wanted to get the attention of the player who swung the momentum of the District 2 Class AAAA quarterfinal game permanently in the Warriors’ favor.

If the smile stripped across Mruk’s face following Wyoming Area’s 31-19 win over North Pocono isn’t permanent, it’s going to take a while to be wiped away. One play after dropping a critical fourth-down pass, Mruk intercepted a screen pass and returned it for a touchdown giving the Warriors a two-score lead. He added a touchdown reception with about 8 minutes to play which all but sealed Wyoming Area’s spot in the 4A semifinals next week where it will travel to face Valley View.

“It’s definitely a big moment,” Mruk said.

And more importantly, it was his moment. Mruk admitted after his career night, which included a pair of interceptions, that it’s hard as a young player to live up to the standard his older brothers have set before him. Corey was a four-year letterwinner for the Warriors who was on the state title team in 2019. Drew is a state and national javelin champion who was also a significant contributor on the Warriors’ football team.

But Friday night was Josh’s opportunity to show just what he’s capable of. Sure, he had that hiccup on a fourth-down pass in which he was wide open which could have extended a drive deep in North Pocono territory. But all of that was washed away with his other contributions.

And on a night where Division I recruit Aaron Crossley injured his ankle and barely played in the fourth quarter, Wyoming Area had to have someone provide answers to a handful of second-half big plays by North Pocono. Mruk just happened to be that guy.

“Josh has done an outstanding job all year. He’s an outstanding young player,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “He’s made big plays all year and significant contributions on both sides of the ball. We’re very excited for him. That was a big momentum swing that we were able to hold on to throughout the game.”

Wyoming Area was leading North Pocono, 17-12, with about 2 minutes to play in the third quarter when Crossley (35 carries, 192 yards, 2 touchdowns) was pulled down backwards on a third-down run which caused his ankle to bend awkwardly and forced him off the field. Facing fourth-and-3 from the Trojans’ 37-yard line, Spencer chose to go for the first down.

He ran a play-action pass with two criss-crossing receivers. Mruk was one of them and broke wide open on the left side of the field. Quarterback Anthony DeLucca’s pass hit Mruk in stride, but he couldn’t haul it in, turning the ball over on downs to North Pocono.

On the very next play, the Trojans ran a screen play to the left. Mruk, after hitting the tight end, sniffed out the play. North Pocono quarterback Noah West’s pass hit Mruk in the hands and he hauled it in. Mruk shrugged off a pair of tacklers before breaking free and racing 35 yards for momentum-shifting touchdown.

“Big swing. Big emotional swing,” North Pocono coach Greg Dolhon said. “We get that stop and we thought we had a play there that we really liked. But big credit to them for making the play.”

It was the second time Mruk intercepted a short pass. In the first half from his edge rusher position, he jumped up to intercept a swing pass from West. Six plays after that interception, Crossley scored the first of his two touchdowns.

“It’s about understanding where the football is,” Mruk said. “I had to shake off (the dropped pass) because when your energy goes down, everyone’s goes down. So you have to make a big play and get it back.”

But not even Mruk could have anticipated getting that emotion and energy back on the very next play. And it proved to be pivotal.

Each time Wyoming Area scored in the second half to push its lead to two scores, North Pocono found a way to answer quickly to get right back in the game. First it was a 33-yard pass from Noah West to Cole West to set up a 10-yard scoring strike to Ryan Marsh. Then it was a 48-yard connection between the West brothers to set up a 4-yard touchdown pass to Evan Wolff.

“We have some good wideouts, and we think we have a special one in in Cole,” Dolhon said. “Noah did a great job of putting the football on him in some big spots. We had to do something to stay with them.”

The final blow for Wyoming Area was one North Pocono couldn’t answer. Thirty-eight rushing yards from Lidge Kellum and a personal foul penalty on the Trojans defense led the path to DeLucca’s 14-yard scoring pass to Mruk on the same exact play in which he dropped that fourth-down pass earlier in the half.

“What a way to make up for a tough play,” Spencer said. “It tells you what type of player he is at a young age.”

Wyoming Area 31, North Pocono 19
North Pocono 3 5 7 7 – 19
Wyoming Area 3 8 13 7 – 31

First quarter
NP—Brady Mapes 37 FG, 8:14
WA—Liam Burke 26 FG, :16

Second quarter
NP—Safety, punter tackled in end zone, 7:21
WA—Aaron Crossley 5 run (Crossley run), :39

Third quarter
WA—Crossley 3 run (run failed), 6:14
NP—Ryan Marsh 10 pass from Noah West (Mapes kick), 3:56
WA—Josh Mruk 35 interception return (Burke kick), 1:18

Fourth quarter
NP—Evan Wolff 4 pass from Noah West (Mapes kick), 11:55
WA—Mruk 14 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Burke kick), 8:30

NP WA
First downs 10 20
Rushes-yds 18-72 56-281
Com-att-int 9-20-2 2-9-0
Pass yards 169 36
Total yards 241 317
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-44 7-54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—North Pocono, Kevin Wickizer, 9-42; Noah West, 5-23; Ryan Marsh, 1-7; Brady Lavery, 1-2; Riley Moore, 1-(-1); Team, 1-(-1). Wyoming Area, Aaron Crossley, 35-192, 2 TDs; Lidge Kellum, 5-54; Michael Crane, 8-38; Anthony DeLucca, 6-19; Team, 2-(-22).

Passing—North Pocono, Noah West, 9-20-2, 169 yds., 2 TDs. Wyoming Area, Anthony DeLucca, 2-9-0, 36 yds., TD.

Receiving—North Pocono, Ryan Marsh, 3-53, TD; Evan Wolff, 3-25, TD; Cole West, 2-81; Riley Moore, 1-10. Wyoming Area, Michael Crane, 1-22; Josh Mruk, 1-14, TD.

INTERCEPTIONS—Wyoming Area, Josh Mruk 2.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (10-1); North Pocono (4-7).

WEST PITTSTON — To say Aaron Crossley was bottled up on the sideline would be an understatement. The Pittston defense had the Wyoming Area senior running back in a blender on his first carry of the second half.

He bounced off of defenders like he was the white dot in a game of Pong. But he never lost his footing. And Crossley never lost site of the goal line.

Somehow he found a way to get escape the grasp of the Pittston defenders and covered the remainder of the ground to the end zone to finish off a 76-yard scoring run. It was Crossley’s third scoring run in a four-touchdown night. And it was easily the most impressive.

In his final game between the two rivals, Crossley carried 28 times for 344 yards as the Warriors defeated Pittston at Jake Sobeski Field, 35-14.

“That’s why he’s a Division I football player,” Pittston coach Nick Barbieri said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Wyoming Area bounced back from its only loss of the season to Southern Columbia to finish the year 9-1. It will host a District 2 Class AAAA quarterfinal next week. Pittston finished the regular season 5-5 after having its three-game winning streak snapped. Despite the loss, the Patriots should still earn the final spot in the District 2 AAAAA semifinals next week.

Wyoming Area rode its Lehigh-bound running back to a punishing ground game which racked up more than 400 yards. The Warriors did not complete a pass last night, and it attempted only two. But it didn’t particularly matter. They had the best player on the field and he just happened to play like the best player on the field.

Crossley punished defenders on short runs, initiating contact and making defenders pay the price for bringing him down. He also hit a pair of home runs, one from 86 yards and one from 76 yards. And just for good measure, he covered all 53 yards on six carried on a game-icing touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.

“We had nine guys in the box,” Barbieri said with a what-are-you-gonna-do shrug of his shoulders. “He’s a man.”

“There’s speed and there’s power. But the depth of his willfulness that he runs with is what makes him special,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “When Aaron is playing at his highest level, he’s one of the best players in Pennsylvania.”

It’s not hyperbole in which both coaches talked about Crossley’s performance Friday night. It was honesty and adulation at its finest.

The 344 yards for Crossley were the second most of his career, behind only the 352 yards he gained in the 2022 season-opener against Tunkhannock. It was his sixth career 300-yard game.

He opened the scoring with an 6-yard run in the first quarter after a Kyle Barhight strip sack gave the Wyoming Area offense a short field to work with. Crossley burst through the line on the second play of the second quarter and outran everyone on the way to an 86-yard scoring run — the second longest run of his career.

His 76-yard scoring run in the third quarter in which he played pinball off the Pittston defenders gave the Warriors a 21-0 lead.

“You’re always trying to show out against Pittston,” said Crossley, who was presented the Carmelo Falcone Award as the game’s MVP. “Their student section talks a lot of crap, their school talks a lot of crap. So you always want to show out against them. It’s exciting to do that.

Pittston finally got back into the game in the third quarter when it finally connected on a pair of deep passes for touchdowns. The Patriots used a reverse flea flicker to allow Drew DeLucca to hit Matt Walter on a 44-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter. And 2 minutes later following a Wyoming Area fumble, DeLucca found Lucas Lopresto for a 38-yard scoring strike in tight coverage to make it 21-14.

“They were playing pass all first half,” Barbieri said of Wyoming Area’s defense which sacked DeLucca four times in the first 24 minutes. “So we started to run a little in the second half and make them change. We were able to get back into it with the passing game.”

But the Patriots just didn’t have an answer for the Warriors’ run game. A Michael Crane 37-yard run set up Anthony DeLucca’s 1-yard scoring sneak in the fourth quarter. And Crossley iced the game with his final scoring run, an 8-yarder with under two minutes to play.

It was a fitting end on a night where Crossley made his mark on this historic rivalry.

“You can’t put that kind of play on display without the other people around you, and they all did an outstanding job,” Spencer said. “I think (Crossley) is one of the best players in Pennsylvania and he put that on display tonight.”

“It’s the O-line that makes that happen,” Crossley said. “It’s the O-line and nothing else. They opened up the holes tremendously. They’re my favorite players on the field.”

Wyoming Area 35, Pittston 14
Pittston 0 0 14 0 – 14
Wyoming Area 7 7 7 14 – 35

First quarter
WA—Aaron Crossley 6 run (Liam Burke kick), 5:12

Second quarter
WA—Crossley 86 run (Burke kick), 11:11

Third quarter
WA—Crossley 76 run (Burke kick), 11:05
PA—Matt Walter 44 pass from Drew DeLucca (kick blocked), 2:38
PA—Lucas Lopresto 38 pass from DeLucca (Chris Pietrzak pass from DeLucca), :19

Fourth quarter
WA—Anthony DeLucca 1 run (Burke kick), 8:19
WA—Crossley 8 run (Burke kick), 1:40

PA WA
First downs 13 13
Rushes-yds 32-85 38-403
Com-att-int 12-27-0 0-2-1
Pass yards 167 0
Total yards 252 403
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-30 8-68

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Pittston, Brody Spindler, 9-33; Xzavyier Blackshear, 6-30; Chris Pietrzak, 4-22; Lucas Lopresto, 2-2; Drew DeLucca, 11-(-2). Wyoming Area, Aaron Crossley, 28-344, 4 TDs; Michael Crane, 6-55; Lidge Kellum, 1-3; Anthony DeLucca, 3-1, TD.

Passing—Pittston, Drew DeLucca, 12-26-0, 167 yds., 2 TDs; Lucas Lopresto, 0-1-0. Wyoming Area, Anthony DeLucca, 0-1-1; Aaron Crossley, 0-1-0.

Receiving—Pittston, Lucas Lopresto, 4-77, TD; Matt Walter, 4-62, TD; Ciran Bibow, 1-9; Steven Barnic, 1-7; Colten Lis, 1-7; Chris Pietrzak, 1-5. Wyoming Area, None.

INTERCEPTIONS—Pittston, Drew DeLucca.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (9-1); Pittston (5-5).

DALLAS — The Dallas didn’t use any clever play call on a critical fourth quarter, fourth down call. They looked at junior safety Dylan Geskey and told him to go get the quarterback.

Geskey moved up to linebacker on the play. Trailing by seven points, Wilkes-Barre Area had to convert the fourth-and-10 opportunity or Friday’s game was all but over.

Geskey made sure it was over. He broke through the middle untouched sacking Wolfpack quarterback Jake Howe for a 14-yard loss and all but securing the Mountaineers’ 14-7 win.

The victory kept Dallas unbeaten at 9-0, but it also secured a Wyoming Valley Conference Division I championship. The Mountaineers will look to finish their first unbeaten regular season since 2019 next week when it faces Lake-Lehman for the Old Shoe.

“Number four (Geskey) is just a hell of a football player,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “He’s a safety all night and we put him at the Mike linebacker for that play and just said go get the quarterback. And then there was a rush around him, so there was no where to go.”

Geskey’s sack was the third time the Dallas defense got to Howe last night, but the Mountaineers had consistently moved the sophomore signal-caller off his spot in the backfield throughout the game. When the Wolfpack faced a fourth-and-10 from the Dallas 32-yard line with just over 2 minutes to go, defensive coordinator Matt Austin didn’t take any chances at letting Wilkes-Barre’s stable of athletes get loose. He sent the house at Howe with Geskey being the main firing pin.

By the time Geskey broke through, all Howe could do was retreat looking for space to move. It was a fitting final play for a defense which bent at times last night, but always seemed to come up with an answer when it needed one.

When Wilkes-Barre penetrated to the Dallas 16 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers’ defense forced a turnover on downs. Dallas did the same thing when the Wolfpack got inside its 30 in the second quarter. And the Mountaineers forced an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter.

“We can’t get down in the red zone twice and get nothing,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “Dallas is a great team, and they’re resilient.”

“The defense showed tremendous heart,” Mannello said. “(Wilkes-Barre) has speed all over the place and the quarterback throws the ball well. But that’s a defensive night, and the defense won the football game.”

Wilkes-Barre’s offense finished just 7 of 22 throwing the ball with three interceptions, including one on a second-half halfback pass. But it wasn’t the fault of a pouring rain which bordered on deluge at times. The Dallas defense covered the Wilkes-Barre receivers like the plethora of umbrellas which littered Mountaineer Stadium.

Lucas Tirpak high-pointed a pass for an early interception. Mike Lewis and Gavin Lewis later did the same thing. And even if there were receivers open, Howe didn’t have much time to sit in the pocket and find them.

And because of that defensive prowess, Dallas could focus on playing a ball control and field position game thanks to the 14 points it scored in the first 8 minutes of the game. Mannello said he didn’t want the weather to alter their gameplan after taking a 14-0 lead, but he said it was difficult not to let it affect their plan.

He didn’t want to take unnecessary chances deep in their own zone, so he often called on quarterback Brady Zapoticky to run the ball on third-and-long situations. He knew it likely meant they wouldn’t get a first down, but he also knew he could flip the field position with punter Rowan Laubach, who did a tremendous job of not only getting rid of the football, but giving very little opportunities for Wilkes-Barre to return the kicks.

“He was unbelievable with the punting,” Mannello said. “He rolled an ankle pretty bad in soccer a couple weeks ago, and he was able to fight through it for PATs and kickoffs, but this is the first he’s been able to punt. And to come back and punt this way in this weather says a lot about him.”

Dallas opened the game with a 10-play, 65-yard drive which was capped by a Zapoticky 1-yard scoring run. And seemingly before Wilkes-Barre’s defense knew what hit it, Zach Paczewski went 59 yards yards on a reverse on the next series to put the Mountaineers up 14-0.

Dallas managed just 116 more yards of offense the rest of the game, and only four first downs. But it was enough.

Dallas 14, Wilkes-Barre 7
Wilkes-Barre 0 0 0 7 – 7
Dallas 14 0 0 0 – 14

First quarter
D—Brady Zapoticky 1 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 7:50
D—Zach Paczewski 59 run (Laubach kick), 4:57

Fourth quarter
WB—Howie Shiner 1 run (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 5:49

WB Dal
First downs 14 9
Rushes-yds 40-114 38-202
Com-att-int 7-22-3 3-8-0
Pass yards 112 38
Total yards 226 240
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 1-5 8-49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing—Wilkes-Barre: Howie Shiner, 27-126, TD; Evan Laybourn Boddie, 1-6; Team, 1-(-1); Davon Underwood, 4-(-5); Jake Howe, 7-(-12). Dallas: Dylan Geskey, 16-85; Zach Paczewski, 6-79, TD; Brady Zapoticky, 11-22, TD; Mike Lewis, 4-18; Team, 1-(-2).
Passing—Wilkes-Barre: Jake Howe, 7-21-2, 112 yds.; Howie Shiner, 0-1-1. Dallas: Brady Zapoticky, 3-8-0, 38 yds.

Receiving: Wilkes-Barre: Evan Laybourn Boddie, 4-105; Davon Underwood, 2-3; Treyvon Gembitski, 1-4. Dallas: Dylan Geskey, 2-8; Zach Paczewski, 1-30.

INTERCEPTIONS:Dallas, Lucas Tirpak, Gavin Lewis, Mike Lewis.
RECORDS: Dallas (9-0); Wilkes-Barre (5-4).

BERWICK — Carl Majer looked into the camera and said he was glad Friday night’s high school football game between Berwick and his one-loss Danville team was over.

This game which his Ironmen won, 49-6, has been circled on the calendar for everyone but himself since he was hired as Danville’s coach earlier this year. The former Berwick player under the tutelage of the legendary George Curry has numerous times been an applicant for open head coaching positions at Berwick, and back in 2019 he was a finalist before the school board eventually selected Carmen DeFrancesco to run the program.

In the afterglow of such a lopsided win by his veteran Danville team, Majer didn’t gloat. He didn’t play the coulda, shoulda, woulda card. Instead, he gave compliments to a young Berwick program which gave the Ironmen’s defense some headaches for the first 24 minutes.

But in the end, the Ironmen’s plethora of offensive weapons was one point shy of its fifth 50-point performance of the season. The Ironmen ran just 34 offensive plays Friday, but still totaled more than 400 yards of offense, averaging more than 12 yards per snap.

It led to Danville’s second win over Berwick in as many years, the first time since the 1961-62 seasons that the Ironmen have beaten the Bulldogs in back to back years.

“I’m just glad it’s over with. I’m tired of the hype,” Majer said. “Any time you get to come and beat a Berwick team is refreshing.”

Danville picked on an inexperienced Berwick defense which allowed more than 40 points for the second consecutive week and has held just two opponents to fewer than 30 points this season. On the Ironmen’s first offense snap quarterback Madden Patrick found Aaron Johnson for a 45-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Later in the quarter, a 67-yard run by former Berwick player Bo Sheptock led to a Patrick touchdown run.

Patrick later found Cole Duffy for a 64-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Patrick’s third touchdown toss came on a 20-yard completion to Johnson following a Berwick fumble. And a rocket screen to Duffy closed the first-half scoring on an 11-yard pass play.

And Johnson invoked the mercy rule on the first play of the third quarter when he got behind the Berwick defense for a 63-yard touchdown pass. Patrick surpassed 300 passing yards for the third time this season, and his five touchdown passes were the third-most he’s thrown in a came this year.

“You don’t have many quarterbacks that can throw the ball like (Patrick),” interim Berwick coach Bo Orlando said. “And he’s got a lot of athletes around him. He’s got three or four or five guys he can go to. They’re good athletes and they’re tough to stop.

“I call (Patrick) my X-factor,” Majer said. “You see how he gets the ball and can score in one play. The game has slowed down for him. It’s a great advantage having a quarterback like Madden.”

Berwick had multiple opportunities to answer in the first half. They chipped away at yards with the running game, as quarterback Ethan Lear deftly ran their read-option offense. The Bulldogs had six first downs in the first quarter alone. The problem was, none of those possessions resulted in points.

One drive ended when a field goal attempt saw the snap sail high and cause a 10-yard loss on fourth down. Another drive which got as far as the Danville 10 ended in a turnover on downs when a jump ball to the end zone fell incomplete. Another turnover on downs came in the second quarter when a fourth-down pass to the end zone was knocked down.

There were chances for the Bulldogs to at least keep the game competitive. Berwick racked up 246 yards of offense in the first half on 41 snaps. But its only points were a beautifully thrown ball on the seam to Braylon Hawkins for a 49-yard touchdown.

“I think offensively we played pretty well,” Orlando said. “We shot ourselves in the foot with some of the mistakes we made. I thought we did better running at them. And I thought Ethan did a really good job running the option, but we just didn’t finish those.”

“We changed up a couple things in the red zone, and that’s just smart football,” Majer said. “You have to give them a different look when things are going right, and we gave them a different look. The guys really sucked it up in the red zone.”

Danville 49, Berwick 6
Danville 14 21 7 7 – 49
Berwick 0 6 0 0 – 6

First quarter
D—Aaron Johnson 45 pass from Madden Patrick (Aaron Johnson kick), 10:02
D—Patrick 1 run (Garrett Hoffman kick), 4:21

Second quarter
D—Cole Duffy 64 from Patrick (Hoffman kick), 8:08
D—Johnson 20 pass from Patrick (Johnson kick), 7:10
B—Braylon Hawkins 49 pass from Ethan Lear (kick blocked), 2:38\
D—Duffy 11 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick), 1:47

Third quarter
D—Johnson 63 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick), 11:42

Fourth quarter
D—Bo Sheptock 15 run (Hoffman kick), 4:33

Dan Ber
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yds 17-110 35-118
Com-att-int 12-17-0 12-25-1
Pass yards 303 198
Total yards 413 316
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-yards 9-66 4-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Danville, Bo Sheptock, 10-102, TD; Aaron Johnson, 1-10; Madden Patrick, 3-5, TD; Aidon Bingaman, 1-(-3); Lliam Hagerman, 2-(-4). Berwick, Tyler Winter, 18-69; Ethan Lear, 11-38; Braylon Hawkins, 1-21; Gavin Galutia, 4-0; Team, 1-(-10).

Passing: Danville, Madden Patrick, 12-17-0, 303 yds., 5 TDs. Berwick, Ethan Lear, 12-25-1, 198 yds., TD.

Receiving: Danville, Aaron Johnson, 3-128, 3 TDs; Cole Duffy, 3-82, 2 TDs; Carter Raup, 3-80; Bo Sheptock, 2-5; Cameron Kiersch, 1-8. Berwick, Braylon Hawkins, 5-130, TD; Harrison Snyder, 2-37; Josh Kishbaugh, 2-18; Tyler Winter, 2-5; Ty Wilkerson, 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: Danville, Cole Duffy.

RECORDS: Berwick (2-6); Danville (7-1).

DALLAS — The numbers from the box score will tell you everything you need to know about Dallas’ 42-6 win over Berwick on Friday night at Mountaineer Stadium. The game was just as lopsided as the numbers would suggest.

But to learn how Dallas got to this point — unbeaten through seven games, averaging more than 40 points per game — you’ll have to dig a little deeper. It goes back nearly three years to when the Mountaineers were on the bus home from Hershey after taking a 46-7 thumping at the hands of Thomas Jefferson in the state title game.

For Mountaineers coach Rich Mannello, that was the moment when he knew things had to change. As much as he loves lining up in the I-formation, dominating the line of scrimmage, and controlling football games between the tackles, eventually he knew his teams were always going to come up against a opponent who could neutralize his front and his offense — just like Thomas Jefferson did in Hershey.

With that in mind, Mannello has forged an offense which is not only potent, but fun. Friday night against Berwick, Dallas attacked the perimeter like Mannello has never done. He shifted his backfield formation to create some confusion with the Berwick defense. And he even ran a trick play out of that shift for a big gain.

At 62-years old, Mannello and his offense have evolved. It’s like a basketball game with helmets and pads. Brady Zapoticky isn’t a quarterback so much as the point guard distributing the ball in a way which would make John Stockton’s jaw hit the floor. Last night that led to 328 yards of offense and a 42-point lead before Berwick recorded a first down.
Welcome to a new generation of Dallas football.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Dallas receiver Zach Paczewski, who had five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown Friday. “Dallas used to be in that I-back a lot and now we’re really expanding our formations, and it’s awesome. We’re all getting the ball and we’re just having a blast out there.”

“It’s no secret, you have to get the ball in the playmakers’ hands,” Mannello said. “It’s a little more involved than lining up in the I-formation, — which I love doing — and running iso and power and counter. I can do that and be pretty happy, but it’s about the kids and giving them the best chance to win.”

Don’t be fooled, there is still plenty of that I-formation in the Mountaineers’ playbook. At 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, tailback Dylan Geskey (90 yards, 3 touchdowns) is a load to bring down. He brings that physical, punishing style with which Mannello teams are so well known. Just look at Geskey’s three touchdown runs last night, they came from 1, 2 and 3 yards out.

But he can also gain chunks on the edge with sweep plays that are triggered by an offensive line which may be undersized but moves with a quickness that allows Dallas to be varied in the offensive gameplan.

Paczewski had 111 yards of offense and a touchdown last night. Geskey had 95 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Brady Zapoticky ran for 36 yards and a score to complement his 129 passing yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Nick Farrell had a 19-yard catch-and-run for a score.

“I think coach Mannello sees the speed we have on the perimeter. He sees we have a lot of guys who can take over games when they’re given the chance,” Paczewski said. “I think he realizes what he can do with these players.”

“We all learn all the time. I’m 62-years old and I learn every day we’re here,” Mannello said. “I’ve got a staff that challenges me every day to think outside the box. But the kids are engaged because those skilled guys are all over the place and we’re moving the football around to so many guys. We’re changing personnel groups and formations and that keeps us sharp. Kids want to be challenged mentally. Their brains work fast. Their whole world is faster and if you don’t keep them moving fast, you lose them.”

That change has made its way to the Dallas defense as well. This is no longer a unit sitting back and reading an opponent’s offense and reacting to it. Instead, the Mountaineers are putting the pressure on their opponents. They sacked Berwick quarterback Ethan Lear three times last night. Three other times they managed to let the Bulldogs’ signal-caller get back to only the line of scrimmage.

Of Berwick’s 20 rushing attempts last night, 10 went for 2 yards or fewer. There wasn’t time to throw even if receivers did manage to get open. When Berwick’s first-team offense and Dallas’ first-team defense were finally replaced by backups in the fourth quarter, Berwick had managed just 16 yards of offense and did not record a first down. There were only 8 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game when Berwick finally managed to get one of its two first downs.

“Playing shade and reading the offense, those days are over. Football is too fast,” Mannello said. “You have to be torqueing the front and you gotta be moving. That defense can run. So we had to change up our personnel and our plan to what we’re able to do.”

Now at 7-0, Dallas has a team that maybe has Mannello evoking some of the same thoughts as he had with that 2019 state finalist team. Only time will tell what this group of Mountaineers can accomplish, but Mannello believes it’s a group which can battle for a District 2 Class 4A championship.

He saw the improvement in the weight room from the offseason that he wanted to see. And now schematically he’s got as varied a group as he’s ever had.

“Our confidence is definitely up,” Paczewski said. “But we have to keep it going. So let’s just focus on getting another win next week.”

Dallas 42, Berwick 6
Berwick 0 0 0 6 – 6
Dallas 14 14 14 0 – 42
First quarter
D—Brady Zapoticky 4 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 11:05
D—Dylan Geskey 2 run (Laubach kick), 4:34
Second quarter
D—Zach Paczewski 13 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 11:17
D—Nick Farrell 19 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 5:39
Third quarter
D—Geskey 3 run (Laubach kick), 9:27
D—Geskey 1 run (Laubach kick), 2:24
Fourth quarter
B—Braylon Hawkins 49 run (run failed), 8:37

Ber Dal
First downs 2 19
Rushes-yds 20-76 44-199
Com-att-int 2-9-0 10-12-0
Pass yards 16 129
Total yards 92 328
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 5-21 2-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Berwick, Braylon Hawkins, 2-57, TD; Gavin Galutia, 3-19; Jimmy DeAndrea, 3-9; Tyler Winter, 5-6; Ethan Lear, 7-(-15). Dallas, Dylan Geskey, 18-90, 3 TDs; Brady Zapoticky, 8-36, TD; Sam Kelley, 4-29; Zach Paczewski, 2-21; Hunter Pitcavage, 2-8; Mike Lewis, 4-7; Logan Geskey, 2-7; Brady McCann, 1-3; Kenny Martin, 1-0; Team, 2-(-2).

Passing—Berwick, Ethan Lear, 2-9-0, 16 yds. Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 10-12-0, 129 yds., 2 TDs.

Receiving—Berwick, Braylon Hawkins, 1-9; Tyler Winter, 1-7. Dallas, Zach Paczewski, 5-90, TD; Nick Farrell, 2-24, TD; Mike Lewis, 1-12; Dylan Geskey, 1-5; Gavin Lewis, 1-(-2).

INTERCEPTIONS—None.
RECORDS: Dallas (7-0); Berwick (2-5).

MOUNTAIN TOP — Crestwood finally had some momentum Friday night when its long touchdown pass tied the score with Wilkes-Barre in the second quarter. The Comets’ offense was clicking, scoring on two of its last three possessions and now back at square one with a Wolfpack squad in the midst of a winning streak, it felt like things were starting to finally go Crestwood’s way.

Then Wilkes-Barre’s Howie Shiner ripped off a 42-yard run into the red zone. On the next snap, Davon Underwood hopped out of a couple tackles and found his way to the end zone. All the momentum Crestwood had built was stopped dead in its tracks, like a car crashing into a brick wall.

Underwood’s touchdown run gave the Wolfpack a lead it never again relinquished. They won for the fourth consecutive week, this time 34-14 over the defending District 2 champs. Quarterback Jake Howe was brilliant again for Wilkes-Barre, throwing for 183 yards and a touchdown, and the Wolfpack defense stymied a Crestwood run game which has been so potent the last two weeks.

“That was a great team effort,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “Our defense was prepared. We knew if we were able to get them in passing situations, we had a much better shot of winning. Against a good running team, you have to make them uncomfortable. We stopped their run.”

Wilkes-Barre won by at least two scores for the fourth consecutive week as it improved to 4-2 this year. Cinti said there was no secret to how the Wolfpack have won over the last four weeks. Nor did he say there has been any big change in how the team has gone about its business.

But he did point to another complete four-quarter effort which saw the Wolfpack roll up 390 yards of offense while holding Crestwood to just 3.3 yards per carry.

“We played for four quarters,” Cinti said. “That’s the long and short of it. When you play good defense and play four quarters, good things happen.”

“They made plays. Give coach Cinti and his staff a lot of credit,” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “They prepared them like crazy. They plan they had was a good one, and their kids executed it.”

Wilkes-Barre found a rhythm quickly offensively in the first half, and Crestwood found ways to answer. When Jaden Shedlock executed a perfect play fake and found Matt Sklarosky open on the post for a 38-yard score, the Comets tied the game for the second time in the first half, 14-14.

But that’s when Wilkes-Barre’s offense stole the momentum back with a two-play drive which covered 56 yards, the last 14 of which were Underwood’s scoring run. The Wolfpack continually found openings on the edge which sprung Shiner (15 carries, 159 yards) running untouched into the secondary.

After Underwood’s tie-breaking run, Shiner had runs of 14, 8 and 34 yards before pounding the football into the end zone from 6 yards out to give the Wolfpack a 26-14 halftime lead. Shiner averaged better than 10 yards per carry and had seven of his 15 runs go for at least 8 yards.

“Howie’s been doing that for four years,” Cinti said. “He’s a great downhill runner and that’s why he’s one of our captains.”

“It’s tough, it felt like within a blink they’re back up on us, and it was because of big plays off the edge,” Arcangeli said. “It was nothing we didn’t prepare for, it was just their kids making a play. I have to put our guys in position to have success. I didn’t do that well enough.”

Just to complement that running game which eclipsed 200 yards for Wilkes-Barre, sophomore quarterback Jake Howe again had a strong performance. Howe completed 10 of 13 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He added another touchdown strike in the second half.

Over the Wolfpack’s four-game winning streak, Howe has no completed 66% of his passes for 755 yards, nine touchdowns and only one interception. Last night he remained poised in the pocket, threw with confidence and even more accuracy.

Howe threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Evan Laybourn-Boddie, and an 11-yard scoring pass to Treyvon Gembitski, who also had a pair of interceptions on defense.

“He’s getting comfortable out there,” Cinti said. “He’s maturing more. He’s seeing the field better. He made the one play because he was moving, but his eyes were downfield. He’s getting better.”

“He’s a good, young player,” Arcangeli said. “I’m really impressed by him.”

On the other side of the ball, the Wilkes-Barre defense held Wyoming Valley Conference rushing leader Jaden Shedlock to just 46 yards on 21 carries. The Wolfpack never let Shedlock get outside of the defense, and when he did scramble they never let him break a big run. Shedlock’s biggest run was just 7 yards, which he did twice.
And with the Crestwood running game not gaining chunk yards the way it did during its two-game winning streak coming into the game, it made it even more difficult for the Comets to pass. After Shedlock’s 38-yard scoring pass to Sklarosky, he completed just two more passes in the game.

“They set an edge offensively and defensively and that’s how football’s won,” Arcangeli said. “They dominated the point of attack. When you do that, you can end up searching for answers for a long time.”

Wilkes-Barre 34, Crestwood 14
Wilkes-Barre 14 12 8 0 – 34
Crestwood 7 7 0 0 – 14
First quarter
WB—Jake Howe 1 run (kick blocked), 8:01
C—Jaden Shedlock 4 run (James Barret kick), 4:26
WB—Evan Laybourn Boddie 7 pass from Howe (Howie Shiner pass from Howe), 3:02
Second quarter
C—Matt Sklarosky 38 pass from Shedlock (Barret kick), 6:52
WB—Davon Underwood 14 run (pass failed), 6:06
WB—Shiner 6 run (pass failed), 2:05
Third quarter
WB—Treyvon Gembitski 11 pass from Howe (Jovan Goodwin pass from Howe), 2:52

WB CR
First downs 18 15
Rushes-yds 30-207 47-156
Com-att-int 15-20-0 6-13-2
Pass yards 183 103
Total yards 390 259
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 6-60 7-46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Wilkes-Barre, Howie Shiner, 15-159, TD; Davon Underwood, 10-56, TD; Team, 1-(-1); Jake Howe, 4-(-7), TD. Crestwood, James Barret, 14-55; Colin Lazo, 9-48; Jaden Shedlock, 21-46, TD; Osten Grigas, 2-5; Giovanni Barna, 1-2.

Passing—Wilkes-Barre, Howe, 15-20-0, 183 yds., 2 TDs. Crestwood, Shedlock, 6-13-2, 103 yds., TD.

Receiving—Wilkes-Barre, Evan Laybourn-Boddie, 7-45, TD; Underwood, 3-58; Treyvon Gembitski, 3-54, TD; Jovan Goodwin, 2-26. Crestwood, Matt Sklarosky, 2-43, TD; Barret, 2-43; Lazo, 2-17.

INTERCEPTIONS— Wilkes-Barre, Gembitski (2).

RECORDS: Crestwood (2-4); Wilkes-Barre (4-2).

LEHMAN — Nanticoke coach Ron Bruza joked senior lineman Ryan Wiaterowski was going to jump in the bus and drive the team home from Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Why not? The senior had done just about everything else for the Trojans in a 42-0 win over the Black Knights.

Wiaterowski ran for a pair of touchdowns as a fullback in Nanticoke’s full house backfield, and he also intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. And just for good measure, he was in on one of the three sacks recorded by the Trojans’ defense as they snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 2-3.

“We put him in a position to make plays, just like he’s done for the last three and a half years for us,” Bruza said. “We’re really proud of Ryan. All the success he gets, he deserves because he works hard.”

Wiaterowski was the engine that pushed the bulldozing of Lake-Lehman on its own turf Friday night. Use whatever analogy you wish, a runaway freight train, a rolling snowball, it doesn’t matter. They all properly explain what happened in a matchup of 1-3 teams last night. Nanticoke never relinquished the momentum it gained after returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Lake-Lehman never recovered from the downswing that opening play caused.

Lehman turned the ball over on two of its first three possessions. It added two more turnovers before the first half was completed. And seemingly before the Black Knights blinked last night, Nanticoke had a three score lead and Wiaterowski was in the middle of it all.

The senior 265-pound lineman was out front blocking when Zack Fox (171 yards, TD) caught the corner and raced 61 yards for a score. He caught a tipped screen pass about 90 seconds later and raced untouched 32 yards for a score. He finished drives with touchdown runs of 5 and 1 yards.

It all was so uncommon for a guy with the number 53 on his jersey. But nobody on the Nanticoke sideline seemed particularly surprised. Wiaterowski is a lineman with good feet, speed and athleticism and made him the natural choice to run lead blocker and even carry the football against Lehman.

“We just got a little clever and changed some of our blocking schemes,” Bruza said. “Being a Wing-T team, we usually have some undersized linemen who can run. But Ryan is a big guy who can run, so we just threw a little glitch into what we usually do.”

“I’m just super excited,” Wiaterowski said. “The pick six is the one that got me most excited because you just don’t usually see that from defensive linemen.”

Nanticoke has been plagued by injuries and mistakes ever since opening its season with a convincing win over Carbondale. But on Friday, the Trojans limited the mistakes and finally had a little bit of health. Fox returned after missing last week’s game against Wyoming Area and being limited against Lackawanna Trail the week before.

And he returned in a big way. The senior carried only 12 times, but six of them went for double-digit yardage and three of them went for more than 20 yards.

Nanticoke tried to get Fox to the corner, and while he ripped off chunks of yards, he finally hit a home run with a 61-yard run in which he outran a defender who seemed to have an angle on him toward the sideline.

“Zack is great because he can give us a little threat between the tackles, and he finishes runs hard,” Bruza said. “But he’s a threat when he gets on the edge. He gets that second gear, third gear and fourth gear, and he starts pulling away from guys.”

“If we can get a few of those runs in the middle, it opens the outside a lot because people start stacking the box,” Wiaterowski said. “So that opens up the outside and just lets Zack run. And it’s a blast to watch him run.”

For the first time since that Week 1 win, Nanticoke appears to be back on track. It was a perfect night against Lake-Lehman, but it was about the closest thing to it. And it seemed to get the good vibes flowing through the Trojans’ postgame huddle.

“We had to come out and play Trojan football, eliminate mistakes and get back to fundamentals,” Bruza said. “Our goals are still there for us. We’ve got a good football team. But we have to stop beating ourselves and play football, and we did that.”

Nanticoke 42, Lake-Lehman 0
Nanticoke 29 13 0 0 – 42
Lake-Lehman 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
N—Mychal Julian 86 kickoff return (Zack Fox run), 11:47
N—Ryan Wiaterowski 5 run (Gio Heratauro kick), 8:08
N—Zack Fox 61 run (Heratauro kick), 3:18
N—Waiterowski 32 interception return (Heratauro kick), 1:49
Second quarter
N—Wiaterowski 1 run (kick blocked), 6:21
N—Jaidyn Johnson 34 pass from Seth Raymor (Heratauro kick), 1:33

Nan LL
First downs 14 5
Rushes-yds 43-271 21-75
Com-att-int 1-4-0 1-6-2
Pass yards 34 7
Total yards 305 82
Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-3
Penalties-yards 8-70 8-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Nanticoke, Zack Fox, 12-171, TD; Chris Julian, 4-31; Reagan Jackson, 7-24; Ryan Wiaterowski, 4-21, 2 TDs; Treston Allen, 5-17; Eugene Gyle, 3-11; Stephen Armstrong, 2-3; Mike Taylor, 1-(-1); Mike Stachowiak, 5-(-6). Lake-Lehman, Ben Dowling, 6-28; Sam Plummer, 2-27; Gavin Shoemaker, 2-17; Jim Mitkowski, 5-13; Chris Yetter, 1-12; Hayden Evans, 5-(-22).

Passing—Nanticoke, Seth Raymor, 1-1-0, 34 yds., TD. Lake-Lehman, Hayden Evans, 1-6-2, 7 yds.

Receiving—Nanticoke, Jaidyn Johnson 1-34, TD. Lake-Lehman, Ben Dowling, 1-7.

INTERCEPTIONS—Nanticoke, Ryan Wiaterowski, Landon Lore.

RECORDS: Lake-Lehman (1-4); Nanticoke (2-3).

MOUNTAIN TOP — Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli emerged from a postgame conversation with Wyoming Valley West coach Bob Stelma and shook his head and let out a sigh.

“It’s been a long time since we had one of these,” the fifth-year Comets coach said of his team’s 17-7 win over the Spartans. “We haven’t had a win since November. So this feels good.”

It was a little easier to be light-hearted after his defending District 2 champions finally broke into the win column in the fourth week of the season. Arcangeli wasn’t wrong. Before Friday night, Crestwood hadn’t won a game since it defeated Bonner-Prendergast in the state tournament last November.

Its first three games of this season ended in seven-point losses to Valley View, Dallas and Wyoming Area. But the Comets overcame a first half Friday in which it ran just 12 offensive snaps by getting a pair of Jaden Shedlock touchdown runs in the second half. And their defense limited Wyoming Valley West to just 57 yards in the second half.

“Players win games. Our kids made plays,” Arcangeli said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our players and happy for them because last November is a long time ago, and I’m really glad we’re able to celebrate tonight.”

The first three weeks have been challenging for the Comets. They lost by seven points each to three teams who are a combined 11-0. But Arcangeli and his team were tired of hearing about tough losses.

So they made some adjustments to their defense after giving up 42 points to Dallas two weeks ago and 266 rushing yards to Wyoming Area a week ago. Those adjustments led to holding an explosive Wyoming Valley West offense to just seven points.

Even in a first half where the Spartans outgained the Comets, 195-76, Crestwood still allowed only seven points because the Spartans missed one field goal attempt and had a high snap on another. It didn’t matter that the Comets allowed 124 rushing yards to Isaiah Cobb, or that it was outgained in yardage for the game. Because when the night was done, only Lucas Zdancewicz’s 1-yard touchdown run was on the scoreboard for Valley West.

“Our defensive change this week was kind of bend but don’t break because we’ve been a little renegade the first few weeks,” Arcangeli said. “We have to make plays, and we have to make splash plays. We have to dial up some things and take chances when we can, and when we did, we got home.”

“We’re going to look at the film, but there’s some blown assignments there, and some reads that were not read,” Valley West coach Bob Stelma said. “We just had some mental errors. I was proud of the way the guys played, it’s just the little things that cost us.”

Valley West’s best defensive effort in the first half was just to keep the ball out of the Comets’ hands. The Spartans had a 35-12 advantage in plays run in the first half. Of Crestwood’s 75 first-half yards, 61 of them came on one completion to Matt Sklarosky, but that drive ended in just a James Barret 21-yard field goal.

When Crestwood was finally able to get its hands consistently on the football in the second half, Shedlock took over. The starting quarterback was held to just 18 yards on three carries in the first half. But he ran four times for 48 yards on the second half’s opening drive, including a 32-yard touchdown catch.

Later in the third quarter, Shedlock carried six more times for 42 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run to give Crestwood a 17-7 lead which it never relinquished.

“Credit them. That’s a good football team. It wasn’t anything we were doing wrong (in the first half), they were just stopping us,” Arcangeli said. “Our offensive line has to want to go do it. So we challenged them and they rose up to the challenge.”

Crestwood 17, Valley West 7
Valley West 7 0 0 0 – 7
Crestwood 3 0 14 0 – 17
First quarter
WVW—Lucas Zdancewicz 1 run (Roger Staron kick), 3:33
C—James Barret 21 field goal, :40
Third quarter
C—Jaden Shedlock 32 run (Barret kick), 8:19
C—Shedlock 13 run (Barret kick), 2:00
Fourth quarter

WVW Cre
First downs 13 10
Rushes-yds 38-105 33-157
Com-att-int 11-20-1 1-6-0
Pass yards 147 61
Total yards 252 218
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-30 5-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Valley West, Isaiah Cobb, 16-124; Lucas Zdancewicz, 5-14, TD; Tyler Mattis, 1-2; Paul Riggs, 2-0; Jake Dubaskas, 2-(-2); Ty Makarewicz, 2-(-15); Carson Brown, 10-(-18). Crestwood, Jaden Shedlock, 16-114, 2 TDs; Colin Lazo, 6-28; Allen Angon, 3-14; James Barret, 5-7; Osten Grigas, 1-2; Team, 2-(-8).

Passing—Valley West, Carson Brown, 9-16-1, 82 yds; Lucas Zdancewicz, 2-4-0, 65 yds. Crestwood, Jaden Shedlock, 1-6-0, 61 yds.

Receiving—Valley West, Ty Makarewicz, 3-15; Maki Wells, 2-53; Tyler Mattis, 2-40; Isaiah Cobb, 2-13; Paul Riggs, 1-16; Jonathan Otway, 1-6. Crestwood, Matt Sklarosky, 1-61.

INTERCEPTIONS—Crestwood, Colin Lazo.
RECORDS: Crestwood (1-3); Valley West (1-3).

DALLAS — On a night when the Dallas football program honored former All-State lineman Josh Balara, the Mountaineers put together a performance he would have been proud of.

Dallas’ 28-20 win over Williamsport on Friday night was by no means pretty. But it sure as heck was gutty. It was the embodiment of who Balara was as a player and a person when he played for the Mountaineers and then at Dartmouth College.

Sadly, Balara died this spring of adrenal cancer less than 3 years after graduating from Dallas. The football program honored his memory last night, releasing 76 balloons (Balara’s number was 76), and encouraging people to wear green to raise awareness for adrenal cancer. They also honored him by coming up with two gutsy defensive stands in the fourth quarter. And they ground on offense for four touchdowns against a spirited Williamsport defense.

At the end of the night, the Mounts were 3-0, and coach Rich Mannello held back tears as he talked about the win and what it meant.

“This was a win Josh would be proud of,” Mannello said.

It was the third consecutive week Dallas has fought through a tough end of the game to claw out a victory. Last night the Mountaineers nearly blew a 21-0 lead and needed a Zach Paczewski interception inside the 10-yard line to turn away a potential tying touchdown by the Millionaires.

“When you have heart and guys, you have a chance,” Mannello said. “And when you add a team that’s together like this, you’re capable of doing extraordinary things. We didn’t point fingers, we just found a way to get it done.”

Dallas senior lineman Dan Sabulski became the first player Mannello honored with wearing Balara’s No. 76. Mannello plans on handing out the jersey number to players who are the epitome of the grinder Balara was as a player, and the successful student he was in the classroom. Sabulski recorded a sack in the third quarter and helped the Dallas offense take advantage of short fields in the first half. Dallas broke out to a three-score lead with drives that covered 36, 1, and 34 yards.

Sabulski was right in the middle of Brady Zapoticky’s 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and Mike Lewis’ 1-yard scoring run. He also protected Zapoticky on a touchdown pass of 12 yards to Gavin Lewis. Zapoticky (11 0f 21, 102 yards) threw a second scoring pass in the third quarter to Paczewski to cap a 56-yard drive.

“There couldn’t have been a more perfect pick to wear No. 76,” Mannello said. “If you spend 10 minutes with him, he’s just an incredible young man. We wanted (Balara’s) brother and sister to be able to come here someday and see No. 76 on the field and say to their kids that that is what their uncle was like.”

Dallas was outgained 384-205 in total yards, but it was because of those short fields it was able to overcome a Williamsport defense that flew to the football after it had stacked the box on Dallas’ physical style of run game. The Mountaineers averaged just over 3 yards per carry thanks in part to a handful of high snaps which threw off the timing of some running plays and led to losses in yardage.

But they found just enough key plays offensively to get in the end zone, and a couple more defensively to keep Williamsport out.

“They were putting nine guys in the box. I wasn’t really good at math, but I know that means we’re outnumbered,” Mannello said. “We’re running a sweep play which we’ve never done before, but we had to get to the perimeter against that defense. It’s something we still need to work on.”

“Our kids learned how to step up tonight and make them earn everything,” Williamsport coach Mike Pearson said. “They kept slugging back and forth. Dallas earned everything they got tonight, and that’s encouraging to me.”

It took some time for the Williamsport offense to match what its defense was doing. The Millionaires’ lull-you-to-sleep passing attack was happy to take its 3 to 6-yard bits in the first half and eventually, they caught the Dallas secondary creeping forward.

Quarterback Caleb Williamson found Yazhir Slaughter behind the Dallas defense for a 61-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter to cut the Dallas lead to two scores. After the Mountaineers again opened a three-score lead in the third quarter, Williamson again found Slaughter behind the defense for a 46-yard score.

Williamson finished 26 of 44 passing for 273 yards and those two scores. He also ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. All of that despite being sick all week and barely having a voice for Friday night’s game. Slaughter had a career-high 165 receiving yards on six receptions, including two touchdowns.

With Williamsport still trailing 28-12 in the fourth quarter and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 16, Williamson kept the ball up the middle and ran over a Dallas linebacker before high-stepping out of a couple more tackles and getting into the end zone with 6:06 to play to get the Millionaires within 28-20.

“That’s a statement of who he is,” Pearson said. “He’s always in the weight room and it paid off right there. He lowered the boom on that run.”

“You have to be able to tackle them in space, which is a chore,” Mannello said. “They have incredible speed and they’re doing the right thing offensively for the talent they have. But our guys found a way.”

After Williamson’s touchdown run, kicker Connor Poole’s kickoff hit an upback and Williamsport recovered with a chance to tie the game. The Millionaires drove to the Dallas 15 thanks to a fourth-down, 23-yard completion to Slaughter.

But on third-and-3, the Millionaires again tried to get Slaughter free behind the middle of the Dallas defense. But the Mountaineers’ Zach Paczewski intercepted the pass returning it to near midfield.

Williamsport had one more attempt with just over a minute to go but went three-and-out.

But as disappointing as the loss was, Pearson could find the silver lining. He saw an offensive line starting a freshman and two sophomores pave the way for 111 rushing yards at nearly 5 yards a clip.

“Where we are in our development, we’re waiting for our line to grow up,” Pearson said. “It’s hard to run the ball against Dallas, and we started to run the ball against Dallas from late in the second quarter on. That was encouraging.”

Dallas 28, Williamsport 20
Williamsport 0 6 6 8 – 20
Dallas 14 7 7 0 – 28

First quarter
D—Gavin Lewis 12 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:00
D—Zapoticky 1 run (Laubach kick), 1:44

Second quarter
D—Mike Lewis 1 run (Laubach kick), 10:53
W—Yazhir Slaughter 61 pass from Caleb Williamson (kick blocked), 10:00

Third quarter
D—Zach Paczewski 10 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 6:32
W—Slaughter 46 pass from Williamson (pass failed), :08

Fourth quarter
W—Williamson 16 run (Kahyear Whaley run), 6:06

Will – Dal
First downs 17 13
Rushes-yds 23-111 33-103
Com-att-int 26-44-2 11-21-0
Pass yards 273 102
Total yards 384 205
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 11-85 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Williamsport, Devon Harris, 9-62; Caleb Williamson, 5-22, TD; Kahyear Whaley, 6-18; Semaj Hale, 3-9. Dallas, Dylan Geskey, 12-89; Mike Lewis, 12-37, TD; Zach Paczewski, 1-5; Brady Zapoticky, 6-(-11), TD; Team, 2-(-17).

Passing—Williamsport, Caleb Williamson 26-44-2, 273 yds., 2 TDs. Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 11-21-0, 102 yds., 2 TDs.

Receiving—Williamsport, Kyreek Bradshaw, 8-51; Salaij Moses, 8-41; Yazhir Slaughter, 6-165, 2 TDs; Semaj Hale, 4-16. Dallas, Zach Paczewski, 6-46, TD; Dylan Geskey, 2-27; Nick Farrell, 2-17; Gavin Lewis, 1-12, TD.

RECORDS: Dallas (3-0); Williamsport (1-2).

BERWICK — In the huddle prior to a key third-down play to start the fourth quarter, Berwick coach Bo Orlando warned his defense to watch for a screen on the ensuing play.

That’s exactly what Valley View coach Scot Wasilchak called for. Valley View won the play.

Cougars fullback Preston Reed side-stepped through a couple defenders and found nothing but open field to escort him to a touchdown which all but sealed Valley View’s ninth consecutive win over Berwick. Reed came up with three massive plays in the second half and ran for a game-high 94 yards in the Cougars’ 34-19 win at Crispin Field.

“We preach to our kids that when you come to Crispin Field and when you play Berwick, you’re playing a premier program,” Valley View first-year coach Scot Wasilchak said. “We look at this like a playoff game and we want to continue to come down and play them, It’s special to beat them because not many teams can say they do that.”

When Orlando, who was filling in for head coach Mike Bennett who was sick, warned his Berwick defense about the screen pass, it was because Valley View was facing a third-and-7 from its own 46-yard line. Berwick was within two scores and had a full quarter to make up the deficit with an offense which was starting to find its footing.

Reed, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound fullback who looks like an out of place lineman, caught the screen pass from Casey Malsberger in traffic. But a quick step to his left allowed the Bulldogs defense to overrun Reed and leave a wide open field to run to. Reed won the foot race to the pylon and gave the Cougars and all but game ending 54-yard touchdown reception.

It was one of four long-distance downs in which the Valley View offense converted a first down Friday night. All four drives ended in touchdowns.

“We clamped them on first and second down and they gashed us on third down,” Orlando said. “That’s a good team. You can’t play teams like that and make mistakes.”

Reed has been coming along slowly early in the season because of a preseason hamstring injury. But Wasilchak unleashed the junior Friday night and it paid dividends.

Reed not only finished with a game-high in rushing yards, his two biggest runs came on back-to-back plays after Berwick had cut the Valley View deficit to just one score in the third quarter. Reed ripped off a 39-yard run on first down after Berwick cut the Cougars’ lead to one score. He ran for another 28 on the next carry. Cam Higgins scored his second touchdown of the game on the next play, a 12-yard scoring run.

That three-play drive covered 79 yards and stole any momentum Berwick had gained when Ethan Lear scored on a sneak just 71 seconds prior.

“The hamstring is fine. I’m sure it won’t hurt anymore after tonight,” Wasilchak said of Reed. “Last year I thought we should have run him more and we didn’t. But I think he’s ready to be a premier back now.”

“We gave up those chunk plays last week too,” Orlando said. “They keep running off our tackles and ends. We keep pinching down. We thought we had coached them up, but we gotta go back to the drawing board and look at it because teams are going to keep doing that against us.”

Valley View took control of the game in the first half by making the most of some Berwick mistakes. The Cougars recorded gains of 35 and 30 yards on a drive which ended with the first of Zach Cwalinski’s two touchdown runs. Cwalinski added a second touchdown run with just 33 seconds left in the half to take a 20-6 lead to the locker room.

Valley View ran 11 more plays than Berwick in the first half and gained nearly 100 more yards. Berwick got some of the momentum back when Chase Schuckers blocked a punt which led to Lear’s touchdown run, but the momentum was short-lived.

“We’re inexperienced, and it shows at times,” Wasilchak said. “But we’re resilient. I thought if we could win these first two games that we can have a real nice season. We’re happy with what we’ve done.”

Valley View 34, Berwick 19
Valley View 7 13 7 7 – 34
Berwick 0 6 7 6 – 19

First quarter
VV—Cam Higgins 3 run (Jacob Bekele kick), 7:49
Second quarter
B—Billy Hanson 41 pass from Ethan Lear (kick blocked), 10:04
VV—Zach Cwalinski 1 run (kick failed), 8:44
VV—Cwalinski 4 run (Bekele kick), :33
Third quarter
B—Lear 1 run (Luke Peters kick), 5:14
VV—Higgins 12 run (Bekele kick), 4:03
Fourth quarter
VV—Preston Reed 54 pass from Casey Malsberger (Bekele kick), 11:47
B—Tyler Winters 1 run (kick blocked), 7:14

VV Ber
First downs 15 10
Rushes-yds 41-244 32-80
Com-att-int 6-10-0 10-24-0
Pass yards 119 126
Total yards 363 206
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-58

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Valley View, Preston Reed, 10-94; Cam Higgins, 15-71, 2 TDs; Zach Cwalinski, 8-69, 2 TDs; Nick Kucharski, 5-14; Casey Malsberger, 3-(-4). Berwick, Tyler Winters, 14-41, TD; James Deandra, 3-20; Ethan Lear, 14-15; Ty’Mere Wilkerson, 1-4.

Passing—Valley View, Casey Malsberger, 6-10-0, 119 yds., TD. Berwick, Ethan Lear, 10-24-0, 126 yds., TD.

Receiving—Valley View, Kyle Rupp, 2-42; Chris Savkov, 2-18; Preston Reed, 1-54, TD; Gianni Marino, 1-5. Berwick, Billy Hanson, 6-92, TD; Ty’Mere Wilkerson, 3-21; Tyler Winters, 1-13.

RECORDS: Berwick (0-2); Valley View (2-0).

PLAINS — The football floated into the hands of Scranton’s Elijah Ortiz as if he were a center fielder hauling in a can-of-corn fly ball. He was the only one who could catch the pass from Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback Jake Howe, and he made the most of his opportunity.

Ortiz, who already had one long touchdown earlier in Friday night’s football opener, took off from the left hashmark toward the right sideline. One block gave Ortiz all the room he needed to run. And from there, Ortiz glided into the end zone.

The senior defensive back put an exclamation point on Scranton’s 35-27 win over the Wolfpack on Friday with the scintillating interception return for a touchdown. It was the second of the half for the Knights who overcame a 27-point second quarter by Wilkes-Barre to pick up its second consecutive win over the Wolfpack.

“Two pick-sixes in a game like that is crucial,” Scranton coach Steve Shumbres said. “Those pick-sixes by (Chris) Chandler and Ortiz were huge for our team.”

Somehow, just calling them huge still seemed like a massive understatement. This was a Scranton team that looked as if it was dead in the water as it walked to the locker room at halftime. The 14-0 lead the Knights had built with explosive football in the first quarter was erased by an equally explosive Wilkes-Barre offense in the second quarter.

Howe threw a trio of touchdown passes in the second stanza, all to different receivers, and Davon Underwood ignited the home crowd with a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown. And when Howe’s final touchdown pass with 13 seconds left in the first half gave Wilkes-Barre a 27-14 lead at halftime, there didn’t seem to be much life to Scranton.
The offensive and defensive lines which dominated the first quarter, failed to make an impact in the second quarter. An offense that was fueled by a 67-yard scoring pass to Ortiz and a brilliant catch after adjusting to an underthrown ball by Adrien Johns, had no zip in the second quarter. And it didn’t appear as if any were about to return.

“We played as bad as we could have played in the second quarter, and I think everyone who was here knows that,” Shumbres said. “We know that. And I think Wilkes-Barre knows that.”

“I thought our young kids played well at times and played like freshmen and sophomores at times,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “We have some good, young kids. Davon is only a sophomore. (Treyvon) Gembitski is a sophomore. (Howe) is a sophomore. But they have to mature and cut down on the mistakes because that’s what killed us.”

Scranton put some life back in its sideline with a physical 10-play drive to open the second half. It covered all 60 yards on the ground capped with a Memphis Shotto 9-yard touchdown run. And just 80 seconds later, Chandler made the first of four huge defensive plays in the second half when he jumped a seam route for an interception and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.

Chandler, who isn’t a starter, recorded the interception, three sacks, and a forced fumble all in the second half for the Knights.

“He was just supposed to be a guy who was going to come in and give us reps, but he got better as the game went on,” Shumbres said. “Chris is just an all-around great athlete and the plays he made were even better as the game went on.”

Chandler’s interception return for a touchdown gave Scranton the lead back, 28-27. And the Knights’ physical defense earned four second-half sacks. And it was that pressure that forced Howe off his spot and scrambling to his right with only 4 minutes left in the game and the Wolfpack still trailing by a point.

Howe threw one up for grabs on second-and-15 as he scrambled, and only Ortiz was there to catch. Seventy-six yards later he stood in the end zone with Scranton’s win all but iced.

“Both those interceptions are disappointing only because we had opportunities to make tackles and we didn’t,” Cinti said. “(Howe) was trying to make a play and I’m not blaming anyone for anything. But on the other end of that, we have to make a tackle. We did a horrendous job of tackling.”

Scranton 35, Wilkes-Barre 27
Scranton        14 0 14 7 – 35
Wilkes-Barre 0 27 0 0 – 27
First quarter
S—Elijah Ortiz 67 pass from Billy Maloney (run failed), 9:05
S—Adrien Johns 24 pass from Maloney (Chris Chandler pass from Maloney), 2:27
Second quarter
WB—Treyvon Gembitski 11 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 10:30
WB—Davon Underwood 16 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 9:05
WB—Underwood 66 punt return (Sanchez kick), 6:35
WB—Gabe Saracino 2 pass from Howe (pass failed), :13
Third quarter
S—Memphis Shotto 9 run (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 6:11
S—Chris Chandler 41 interception return (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 4:56
Fourth quarter
S—Ortiz 76 interception return (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 3:47

Scr WB
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yds 36-135 35-149
Com-att-int 4-10-1 8-20-2
Pass yards 121 87
Total yards 256 236
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 5-30 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Scranton, Memphis Shotto, 10-60, TD; Elijah Ortiz, 5-46; Billy Maloney, 18-31; Declan Gregor, 1-0; Team, 2-(-2). Wilkes-Barre, Davon Underwood, 13-61; Howie Shiner, 10-50; Jake Howe, 7-26; Jordan Kieselowsky, 5-12.

Passing—Scranton, Billy Maloney, 4-10-1, 121 yds., 2 TDs. Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 8-20-2, 87 yds., 3 TDs.

Receiving—Scranton, Memphis Shotto, 2-30; Elijah Ortiz, 1-67, TD; Adrien Johns, 1-24, TD. Wilkes-Barre, Gabe Saracino, 3-35, TD; Jovan Goodwin, 2-20; Davon Underwood, 1-16, TD; Treyvon Gembitski, 1-11, TD; Nick Saracino, 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS—Scranton, Chris Chandler, Elijah Ortiz; Wilkes-Barre, Howie Shiner.

RECORDS: Wilkes-Barre (0-1); Scranton (1-0).

DANVILLE – The football seemed to hang in the air as it approached the goalpost at Danville’s Ironmen Stadium. Not a sound came from the fans, the teams on the field, or their fans as the kick which would decide the fate of Friday’s PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal game. To bet on this thrilling game, you can click on LUXURY333.

But as the official emphatically waived his arms to signal Danville’s Aaron Johnson had missed a 32-yard field goal with just 3 seconds left, the Wyomissing sideline erupted in celebration. Danville’s was despondent.

The missed kick sealed Wyomissing’s 21-19 win in a matchup of the state’s top two ranked Class AAA teams. But the celebration for the Spartans was more about relief than it was exuberance.

The Spartans survived a furious second-half comeback from the Ironmen and a bevy of its own mistakes to reach the state semifinals for the third consecutive season. Wyomissing will face the winners of today’s quarterfinal game between Neumann Goretti and Northwestern Lehigh next week at a site and time to be determined.

“You never get used to games like that,” Wyomissing 72-year-old head coach Bob Wolfrum. said. “There are two coaches on the staff that has A-Fib, and this game almost sent us both back into it.”

After playing a first half in which anything that could go right did go right, Wyomissing played a second half, leading 21-6, in which Murphy’s Law took over. The Spartans were stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, leading to a 99-yard Danville touchdown drive. A lost fumble stopped a Wyomissing drive at the Ironmen 20-yard line which could have put the game away had it finished with a touchdown.

A team that gained 219 yards of offense and scored on all three of its first-half possessions all of a sudden couldn’t get out of its own way in the second half. And a Danville team which had as many dropped passes as completed passes in the first half, latched on to the momentum it gained with a goalline stand and ensuing touchdown drive and never let go of it until the final kick sailed wide left of the goal post by mere inches.

“It was a roller coaster of emotions,” Wyomissing fullback Matthew Kramer said after rushing for a game-high 157 yards and a touchdown. “You can’t be super happy about a win like this. And you don’t always deserve to win the game. But seeing that kick go wide means you get to live to see another day.”

The emotion following the matchup of top-ranked Wyomissing and second-ranked Danville was that of relief for the Spartans. They played well enough to win, even if it wasn’t pretty. They rolled up 325 rushing yards with a complementary running game which saw them gouge Danville both inside and outside.

Halfbacks Drew Eisenhower (109 yards) and Charlie McIntyre (61 yards) provided the perfect complement outside to Kramer’s bullish running style inside. They helped Wyomissing march meticulously down the field in the first half, scoring on drives of nine, nine, and 14 plays which covered 64, 51, and 65 yards.

An Ironmen defense that didn’t allow three touchdowns in a game this season until last week’s District 4 final against state-ranked Loyalsock never really did find an answer for Wyomissing’s Wing-T attack. The Ironmen survived thanks to one key defensive stand and a handful of mistakes by the Spartans’ ball carriers.

“We knew the gameplan was to attack the eight-hole between the outside linebacker and the tackle, and we were just going to pound it, pound it, pound it,” Wyomissing lineman Jack Gartner said. “We probably ran less than 10 different plays in the first half.”

“I’m not sure (Danville) had played anybody quite like us, and it took them a while to get used to it,” Wolfrum. said. “And our defense really shut them down the first half. That combination made it tough on them for a while.”

While the Spartans’ offense took care of its business rolling up 14 first-half first downs, the defense made sure an explosive Danville offense which ad scored nearly 600 points in 12 weeks never found its footing. The combination of Ryker Jones and

Pacen Zeigler spent almost as much time in the Danville backfield as quarterback Zach Gordon.

Wyomissing consistently knocked Gordon off his spot in the first half, forcing him to either throw with a hand in his face or throw on the move. His receivers didn’t help him much either, dropping four passes in the first half. The Ironmen ran just 17 plays in the first half but were able to get in the end zone once when a long kickoff return and a 29-yard Ty Stauffer run set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Carson Persing to stretch the senior’s District 4 record to 24 touchdown receptions this year.

Despite that touchdown, it was a near-flawless first half for the Spartans. They ran the ball at will. They shut down nearly every option the Ironmen had to move the football. A 21-6 lead at halftime felt like so much more because it was hard to envision a scenario in which everything flipped on its head.

“Our offensive line was moving people all over the place,” Kramer said. “We were on cloud nine going up three scores on those guys because we know that’s a good team.”

Wyomissing opened the second half much like it had played the first half. It picked up three first downs on the way to setting up Ian Levering for a 36-yard field goal attempt, which he drilled. But a roughing the kicker call gave the Spartans a first down and new life.

The Spartans drove to the Danville 1-yard line, but on fourth down, Kramer ran into a pile of bodies at the line of scrimmage and couldn’t get to the end zone.

“I probably should have jumped there, but I stayed on my feet and they stopped us at the goal line,” Kramer said. “We had all the momentum at that point, then all of a sudden they stop us and score on the next drive and it’s like, oh my gosh, we’re in a game now. It was a roller coaster of emotions.”

The Ironmen didn’t get out of the shadow of its own goalpost until Gordon hit Cameron Kiersch down the right sideline for a 23-yard gain on third-and-10. And from there, Danville was rolling. Gordon and Mason Raup combined for 38 yards on back-to-back carries to get over midfield. Gordon found Johnson on the seam for 21 more yards. And two plays later Kiersch made his second catch of the drive, this time an 8-yard scoring catch.

Danville tried to go for two, but the pass fell incomplete, putting its deficit at 21-12.

“I really don’t think much changed for us defensively, I think their offense just stepped it up,” Ryker Jones said. “We were getting to the quarterback still, but he made some great plays.”

Wyomissing let a receiver get behind them for the first time on the first play of the fourth quarter and Gordon didn’t miss him, hitting Johnson for 53 yards to the Wyomissing 10. A penalty put the ball on the 5, and two plays later Gordon scampered in from 3 yards out to cut the deficit to 21-19 with 10:56 to play.

“We got (Gordon) off the spot, we just didn’t contain him,” Wolfrum. said. “He made a lot of plays. It’s tough to cover the receivers they have when (Gordon) gets on the run like that.”

When Danville partially blocked a Spartans punt with 1:25 to go, the Ironmen were at their own 46 with no timeouts. But Gordon hit Raup on a crossing route for 21 yards. He then ran a draw for 13 yards and Danville had first down at the Wyomissing 14.

Danville spiked the ball on the first down before Gordon was caught behind the line of scrimmage on the second down.

Gordon spiked the ball again on third down with 10 seconds left, setting up Johnson for a 32-yard field goal attempt to win the game. Johnson had made his previous two field goal attempts this year – from 37 and 22 yards – but this kick from the right hash sailed wide of the left upright.

“That was a big scare,” Jones said. “But we’re glad our season is not over yet.”

“Honestly, it’s a sick feeling in my stomach,” Gartner said. “That’s the best team we’ve seen this season, and it’s sad to see them go out this way because that was great competition on both sides. We all played our hearts out and it was a great game.”

Wyomissing 21, Danville 19

Wyomissing 14 7 0 0 — 21
Danville 0 6 6 7 — 19
First Quarter
W – Evan Blickley 23 pass from Ben Zechman (Ian Levering kick), 5:40
W – Drew Eisenhower 12 run (Levering kick), :47
Second Quarter
W – Matthew Kramer 2 run (Levering kick), 2:42
D – Carson Persing 6 pass from Zach Gordon (kick blocked), :45
Third Quarter
D – Cameron Kiersch 8 pass from Zach Gordon (pass failed), 2:12
Fourth Quarter
D – Zach Gordon 3 run (Aaron Johnson kick), 10:56

Wyo – Dan
First Downs 22 11
Rushes-Yards 58-325 21-96
Comp-Att-Int 2-7-0 11-24-0
Passing 31 175
Total Yards 356 271
Fumbles-Lost 4-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-26 5-27

Individual statistics

Rushing: Wyomissing — Matthew Kramer, 27-157, TD; Drew Eisenhower, 14-109, TD; Charlie McIntyre, 12-61; Chase Eisenhower, 2-10; Ben Zechman, 3-(-12). Danville — Ty Stauffer, 6-36; Mason Raup, 1-31; Zach Gordon, 13-30, TD; Aaron Johnson, 1-(-1).

Passing: Wyomissing — Ben Zechman, 2-7-0, 31 yds., TD. Danville — Zach Gordon, 11-20-0, 175 yds., 2 TDs; Carson Persing, 0-1-0; Team, 0-3-0.

Receiving: Wyomissing — Evan Blickley, 1-23, TD; Drew Eisenhower, 1-8. Danville — Aaron Johnson, 4-102; Carson Persing, 4-21, TD; Cameron Kiersch, 2-31, TD; Mason Raup, 1-21.

INTERCEPTIONS — None.

Records: Danville (12-1); Wyomissing (13-0).

DUNMORE — A couple of Lackawanna Trail offensive linemen tried to push Northern Lehigh linebacker Bailey Smith out of their way. Smith just didn’t budge.

By the time the screen pass floated toward the 6-foot, 175-pounder, he looked like the intended receiver. The interception came with 2 minutes left in the first half of Saturday’s PIAA Class A first-round game at Dunmore High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, and it set up the Bulldogs with a short field.

Northern Lehigh turned the only turnover of the football game into a touchdown. And it was a touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a three-score lead heading into halftime of an eventual 40-7 victory.

The Bulldogs advance to next week’s Class A quarterfinals where they will face District 3 champion Steelton-Highspire at a site and time to be determined.

“Now you feel comfortable,” Northern Lehigh coach Joe Tout said of that touchdown. “We can put up points, but at the end of the day out team’s strength is the defense. So when you build up a three-score lead, you feel good about it.”

There were plenty of reasons to feel good. The Northern Lehigh offense ran for 360 yards and scored all six of its touchdowns on the ground. The Bulldogs’ defense allowed just 126 yards of total offense and four first downs to a Lackawanna Trail offense that had scored at least 36 points four times during its five-game winning streak.

Northern Lehigh quarterback Nick Frame led the Bulldogs with 114 yards rushing, becoming the first player in school history to run and throw for 1,000 yards in the same season. Izaiah Ramos ran for a career-high 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns just two weeks after returning from a broken collarbone.

Ramos, who said he’s still getting his full range of motion back in his shoulder, made a critical catch on that final touchdown drive of the first half for Northern Lehigh. He caught a 20-yard pass from Frame in traffic to set the Bulldogs up at the 1-yard line.

When John Abidelli punched it in on the next play, Northern Lehigh had a 27-7 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs’ defense has allowed 27 points in a game just four times this year, three of which were wins.

“We wore on them. We just stayed the course,” Tout said. “Late in the second quarter we felt like we were wearing on them and we didn’t have to worry about them flying to the ball as they had been, and we could settle in.”

Northern Lehigh used Lackawanna Trail’s aggressiveness to its own advantage running reverses, counter treys, and other misdirection plays which gave Bulldog ballcarriers plenty of room to operate.

After a bad punt snap set up Northern Lehigh in the plus territory in the first quarter, a 13-yard run by AJ Jimenez on a counter play set up Ramos for the first of his two touchdown runs.

Frame’s outside run early in the second quarter caught the Lions’ defense being a little too aggressive and opening up a hole for a 10-yard touchdown run. Ramos then scored his second touchdown 5 minutes later on a counter play which opened up a gap for a 21-yard scoring run.

“They were flying to the ball,” Tout said. “They were all over the place and that set up the counters.”

Ramos finished the first half with 99 rushing yards, which was already a career-high. He carried only three times the rest of the game. But he was a central piece of Northern Lehigh’s offense. His outside speed was the perfect complement to AJ Jimenez’s brutish running up the middle which led to 59 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m just so grateful to God. Coming off a seven-week injury, you’re still getting your conditioning back and my shoulder mobility back,” Ramos said. “It’s not fun being out. But I put everything aside and came on this field thinking about only football. I love this game so much and everything else goes away when I’m on this field.”

The Northern Lehigh defense dominated over the final 24 minutes. Its only hiccup throughout the game was a 55-yard touchdown run by Lackawanna Trail’s Hunter Patterson on a quick-hitting trap play early in the second quarter.
But take away that run and the Bulldogs allowed just 70 yards of offense. The Lions didn’t record a first down in the second half.

“We’ll go back inside and see what we missed on that trap play, but give them credit because they weren’t able to get outside on us and they hit that quick one inside,” Tout said. “But our kids adjusted, and once they saw it once they were able to get to that as well.”

Northern Lehigh 40, Lackawanna Trail 7

Northern Lehigh 6 21 7 6 — 40
Lackawanna Trail 0 7 0 0 — 7

First Quarter
NL—Izaiah Ramos 3 run (run failed), 3:53
Second Quarter
NL—Nick Frame 10 run (AJ Jimenez run), 9:16
LT—Hunter Patterson 55 run (Isaac Ryon kick), 8:58
NL—Ramos 21 run (Chase Moffitt kick), 4:30
NL—John Abidelli 1 run (kick failed), :36
Third Quarter
NL— Frame 37 run (Moffitt kick), 5:30
Fourth Quarter
NL—Jimenez 3 run (run failed), 7:34

NL LT
First Downs 24 4
Rushes-Yards 50-360 25-126
Comp-Att-Int 8-10-0 0-4-1
Passing 62 0
Total Yards 422 126
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-24 1-10
Individual statistics
Rushing: Northern Lehigh — Nick Frame, 10-114, 2 TDs; Izaiah Ramos, 11-108, 2 TDs; AJ Jimenez, 13-59, TD; John Abidelli, 7-39, TD; Jack Tosh, 7-35; Reese Lipsky, 1-3; Isaac Raber, 1-2. Lackawanna Trail — Lukas Gumble, 9-79; Hunter Patterson, 6-59, TD; Stephen Jervis, 5-5; Demetrius Douglas, 4-(-4); Team, 1-(-13).

Passing: Northern Lehigh — Nick Frame, 8-10-0, 62 yds. Lackawanna Trail — Stephen Jervis, 0-4-1.

Receiving: Northern Lehigh — Izaiah Ramos, 4-28; Austin Smyth, 2-17; Ethan Karpowich, 1-10; Chase Wisocky, 1-7. Lackawanna Trail — None.

INTERCEPTIONS — Northern Lehigh, Bailey Smith.

Records: Lackawanna Trail (8-5); Northern Lehigh (12-1).

Next: Northern Lehigh vs. Steelton-Highspire in the PIAA Class A Quarterfinals

BERWICK — Berwick didn’t pick up a first down in Friday night’s District 2 Class AAAA quarterfinal against North Pocono until nearly 16 minutes of game time had elapsed. It didn’t much matter, though. The Bulldogs still had a two-score lead by that point.

Fourth-seeded Berwick capitalized on two early special teams mistakes by North Pocono to punch in touchdowns in goal-to-go situations, and the Bulldogs’ two best playmakers put the game to bed in the fourth quarter for a 28-14 win over the Trojans at Crispin Field. Berwick advances to face top-seeded Crestwood next week in the district semifinals after the undefeated Comets beat Nanticoke, 61-7.

For an offense which has struggled as much as Berwick has during its three-game losing streak getting the ball handed to it inside the North Pocono 5-yard line twice in the game’s first 90 seconds was a welcome sight. The Bulldogs had been shut out twice during its three-game losing streak to close out the regular season, but when North Pocono failed to field the opening kickoff and Berwick linebacker Braylon Hawkins jumped on it on the Trojans’ 2-yard line, the Bulldogs were able to waltz into the end zone on a Matt Lonczynski touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead.

And after a low snap rolled between the punter’s legs, Berwick started on the Trojans’ 3-yard line. The Bulldogs took a 13-0 lead with only 1:32 elapsed in the game when Lonczynski hit Rowan Slabinski with a touchdown pass.

“They’re costly mistakes,” North Pocono coach Greg Dolhan said. “It’s part of the game, but it’s hard to stop them when they’re inside the 5.”

“That was stunning,” Berwick coach Mike Bennett said. “We were trying to kick the ball away from (North Pocono’s Michael Blaine) and it ended up between their two returners and we were able to make a play. But that start was phenomenal. We needed to get off fast, and it’s great to see the kids come together to make that happen.”

After those two quick scores, both offenses fell into the traps they had late in the season which led to both teams’ records dipping below .500. Berwick struggled to run the ball and totaled just 74 yards at the half. North Pocono picked up yardage, but couldn’t finish drives, going a combined 2 for 11 on third and fourth downs in the first half.

Even when North Pocono finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter, it was only because Riley Moore made an exceptional run 53 yards after intercepting a pass to dive into the end zone. The Trojans’ only other score came after a Berwick fumble set up the Trojans with a short field. Noah West found Evan Wolff for a 17-yard touchdown pass which cut Berwick’s lead to 21-14 with 6:23 to go.

But Berwick always had that 14-point cushion it started the game with to fall back on. Even when Moore’s return cut their lead to 14-6, there was never any panic. And after Wolff’s touchdown, Berwick again responded to keep its two-score lead.
The Bulldogs kept their lead because it was finally able to lean on its two biggest playmakers to come up with back-breaking plays. First, it was Spencer Kishbaugh throwing a mean stiff arm after a 5-yard out pattern to turn it into a 37-yard touchdown. Then it was Drey Wilk utilizing tremendous blocking from his fellow receivers to turn a bubble screen into a 46-yard gain. Three plays later, Berwick’s Bo Sheptock scored from 1-yard out to give the Bulldogs its 28-14 lead.

“Those two were hurt all week after they got banged up at Hazleton,” Bennett said of Wilk and Kishbaugh. “But big players make big plays. And they both turned a little pass into a big play when we needed it.”

“They’re a handful athletically,” Dolhan said. “They made big plays when they had to. Unfortunately, we just didn’t make enough plays to match them.”

North Pocono moved the ball well for much of the game. Blaine ran for 91 yards and Noah West threw for 140 more. But the Trojans finished just 1 for 7 on fourth-down attempts and 2 for 14 on third down, including 0 for 7 in the second half.

“We have to convert on those,” Dolhan said. “Football is won by playmakers and we didn’t make enough plays. We got the football down in the red zone, but we didn’t put it in the end zone enough, and I call the plays, so that’s on me.”

Berwick 28, North Pocono 14

North Pocono 0 0 6 8 — 14

Berwick 14 0 0 14 — 28

First Quarter

B – Matt Lonczynski 7 run (Luke Peters kick), 10:56

B – Rowan Slabinski 7 pass from Lonczynski (Peters kick), 8:30

Third Quarter

NP – Riley Moore 53 interception return (kick failed), 3:19

Fourth Quarter

B – Spencer Kishbaugh 37 pass from Lonczynski (Peters kick), 9:49

NP – Evan Wolff 17 pass from Noah West (Ty Lafave pass from West), 6:23

B – Bo Sheptock 1 run (Peters kick), 4:29

NP Ber

First Downs 11 10

Rushes-Yards 30-86 32-152

Comp-Att-Int 15-34-1 10-15-2

Passing 140 121

Total Yards 226 273

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-22 8-87

Individual statistics

Rushing: North Pocono — Michael Blaine, 17-91; Riley Moore, 1-27; Ty Lafave, 1-4; Noah West, 10-(-6); Team, 1-(-30). Berwick — Bo Sheptock, 19-74, TD; Matt Lonczynski, 7-47, TD; Ethan Lear, 1-18; Tyler Winter, 2-12; Spencer Kishbaugh, 1-3; Team, 2-(-2).

Passing: North Pocono — Noah West, 15-34-1, 140 yds., TD. Berwick — Matt Lonczynski, 10-15-2, 121 yds., 2 TDs.

Receiving: North Pocono — Michael Blaine, 5-44; Ty Lafave, 4-8; Zack Benzie, 2-38; Riley Moore, 2-29; Evan Wolff, 1-17, TD; Cole Thomas, 1-4. Berwick — Drey Wilk, 6-69; Spencer Kishbaugh, 2-40, TD; Rowan Slabinski, 1-7, TD; Ethan Lear, 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS — Berwick, Spencer Kishbaugh; North Pocono, Riley Moore, Zach Hoover.

Records: Berwick (5-6); North Pocono (4-7).

DALLAS – The game was in hand. Dallas had a 35-point lead and the clock was going to run non-stop for the final 24 minutes of the Old Shoe game with Lake-Lehman on Friday.

But Parker Bolesta still put a tidy little bow on the Mountaineers’ return to the win column in the Back Mountain rivalry. The senior tailback soft-stepped through the line, allowing his blockers to work in front of him. When he got one-on-one with a defensive back, he made one cut to the sideline and was gone. It was an 82-yard tidy little bow on Dallas’ 49-6 win over Lake-Lehman. It was Bolesta’s fifth touchdown of the night. They were the final 82 of his 334 rushing yards.

But most importantly, the Bolesta and his teammates were able to hoist the bronzed shoe above their head for the first time since 2019.

“Last time out was two years ago and they whooped us purple over there,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “But we didn’t forget that and how that whole thing went about. Our kids have been waiting and they proved they were better tonight.”
Dallas finished the regular season 8-2 and secured the third seed in the District 2 Class AAAA playoffs. The Mountaineers unofficially host Wyoming Area in the quarterfinals next week.

Friday night’s win in which Dallas rolled up 574 yards of offense not only was a strong bounce-back performance following last week’s loss to Wilkes-Barre, but it also gave the Mountaineers a little positive momentum heading into the postseason. The performance eased Mannello’s mind a little bit as well. Dallas had lost two of its last three games before Friday’s win.

But the Mountaineers are finally healthy. And they finally clicked on all cylinders offensively and defensively.

“We came out here and played Dallas football,” said lineman Lucas Shultz, who recorded three sacks on defense and led the charge up front on offense. “We were in a slump and this got us back in our mojo.”

Dallas righted the ship from the start. It scored on all six of its first-half possessions, four of which came on Bolesta runs.
Bolesta covered 55 of the 66 yards on a game-opening touchdown drive. Dylan Geskey did the brunt of the work on a 63-yard catch and run to push the Mountaineers’ lead to 14-6. Bolesta took advantage of a short field to score from 7 yards out to close the first quarter.

Dallas then forced three consecutive turnovers, all of which turned into Mountaineer points. Bolesta scored on runs of 9 and 45 yards. And Zapoticky found Nick Farrell for a 15-yard scoring strike.

It was a sublime performance from an offense which was shut out after scoring on its first possession a week ago. Bolesta had 252 yards by halftime on just 15 carries.

“We’ve got a physical group up front,” Bolesta said. “They work their butts off in the weight room all year long and it showed when we snapped the ball and I’d see nothing but open field tonight.”

“I know some folks like to question Parker’s speed, but I see him run away from people every single week,” Mannello said. “He’s a glider. He’ll run you over, but when he goes he can really stride.”

It wasn’t that Lake-Lehman didn’t move the ball in the first half. After Dallas opened the game with a touchdown, the Black Knights (3-7) got a 47-yard catch and run from Gavin Paraschak to cut the deficit to 7-6. But trailing by two scores to end the first quarter, the Knights fell apart offensively.

Lucas Tirpak’s interception inside the 20-yard line led to a Dallas TD drive. A fumble inside the 10-yard line led to a 95-yard Dallas touchdown drive. And a strip sack by Shultz led to the Mountaineers’ final touchdown of the half.

“Turnovers are a big momentum gainer,” Shultz said. “Once we force a fumble or get a pick, it gets us rolling and gets us scoring a bunch.”

“Getting a turnover changes the momentum,” Bolesta said. “And being able to score off it really puts the odds in our favor.”
And now Dallas goes into the postseason feeling good about where it is. Recent losses to Berwick and Wilkes-Barre mean little. The key is the Mountaineers will be the third seed and have an opportunity to make a run at a district title beginning next week.

“This eases my mind. We got some of our momentum back,” Mannello said. “Since Hazleton we’ve been sputtering for a lot of different reasons. But you are what you are and we had lost two out of three. But this helps get that taste out of our mouth.”

Dallas 49, Lake-Lehman 6
Lake-Lehman 6 0 0 0 — 6
Dallas 21 21 7 0 — 49
First Quarter
D – Parker Bolesta 14 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 10:41
LL – Gavin Paraschak 47 pass from Landon Shuckers (kick blocked), 5:27
D – Dylan Geskey 63 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 4:40
D – Bolesta 7 run (Chopyak kick), :02
Second Quarter
D – Bolesta 9 run (Chopyak kick), 7:01
D – Bolesta 45 run (Chopyak kick), 3:08
D – Nick Farrell 15 pass from Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), :36
Third Quarter
D – Bolesta 82 run (Chopyak kick), 9:05

LL Dal
First Downs 12 18
Rushes-Yards 32-104 30-422
Comp-Att-Int 10-17-1 7-9-0
Passing 171 152
Total Yards 275 574
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 6-47 11-121
Individual statistics
Rushing: Lake-Lehman — Landon Shuckers, 13-62; Gavin Wallace, 3-29; Gavin Paraschak, 2-6; Josh Ryan, 6-5; Chris Yetter, 3-5; Javon Borger, 2-1; Hunter Lee, 3-(-4). Dallas — Parker Bolesta, 16-334, 5 TDs; Sam Kelley, 6-41; Nico Wilk, 3-30; Zach Paczewski, 1-11; Dylan Geskey, 1-8; Bob Booth, 2-3; Brady Zapoticky, 1-(-5).

Passing: Lake-Lehman — Landon Shuckers, 8-12-1, 156 yds., TD; Gavin Wallace, 2-5-0, 15 yds. Dallas — Brady Zapoticky, 7-8-0, 152 yds., 2 TDs; Travis Cheskiewitz, 0-1-0.

Receiving: Lake-Lehman — Gavin Paraschak, 3-106, TD; Chris Sholtis, 3-22; Brandon Ritinski, 2-28; Jakob Daum, 1-8; Mason Lee, 1-7. Dallas — Joe Peters, 3-35; Zach Paczewski, 2-39; Dylan Geskey, 1-63, TD; Nick Farrell, 1-15, TD.

INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Lucas Tirpak.

Records: Dallas (8-2); Lake-Lehman (3-7).

FRANKLIN TWP. — Wyoming Area was 2 yards away from making Friday night’s non-conference game against Southern Columbia a one-score game. Then the Tigers’ Braeden Wisloski struck on back-to-back plays changing the entire complexion of the contest.

The All-State running back and Maryland recruit stripped a Warrior’s ballcarrier on the 2-yard line ending what was looking like a touchdown drive. On the very next snap, the former PIAA 100-meter champion got the corner on a sweep and raced 98 yards for a touchdown.

Wyoming Area, which came in having won four of its last five games, never recovered. The Tigers won a first-half track meet to open a big league before eventually beating the Warriors, 55-28, at Jim Roth Field.

The two-play swing was emblematic of how the night went for both teams. Wyoming Area couldn’t get out of its own way, turning the ball over four times in the first half despite churning out nearly 280 yards of offense. Southern Columbia was opportunistic, turning those four turnovers into 20 points as it opened a 27-point lead at the half.

Wyoming Area wasn’t outclassed by any means. It was just outplayed. Aaron Crossley eclipsed the 300-yard rushing mark for the fourth time this season, running for 312 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 35 carries. It was the most rushing yards against Southern Columbia since Steel Valley’s Nahjier West ran for 288 yards against the Tigers in the 2016 PIAA Class AA championship game.

“We’re not happy with the outcome, but there were some positives,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “There were positives for sure, but you can’t turn it over four times and not tackle well.”

“We tried everything we could, and we played the way a Warrior football team should play,” said Crossley, who went over 1,800 rushing yards this year. “If we don’t win there’s always frustration. But we just have to see what we did wrong and fix those things and move on to Pittston next week.”

Southern Columbia was leading Wyoming Area, 27-14, when the Warriors began a march toward the Tigers’ end zone. On second-and-goal, quarterback Michael Crane was stood up on the 2-yard line, and before officials could blow the play dead, Wisloski ripped the football from Crane’s arms.

On the very next snap, Wisloski took a wing-back sweep (which Southern had already scored on earlier) to the right side. He raced past the Warriors’ secondary and coasted into the end zone. All of a sudden, instead of being down just a score, Wyoming Area stared at a three-score deficit.

“We felt confident that if we go in there, it’s a one-score game, and we’re right there punch for punch,” Spencer said. “That’s a key point in the game where it was a turn of momentum.”

“Those turnovers, maybe that’s a good sign because we just haven’t been getting them this year,” said Southern coach Jim Roth, the state’s career wins leader. “But that’s heads up from Braeden, if you’ve got the guy stood up, see if you can’t rip the ball out of there.”

The three-score cushion which turned into four and then five was enough to save the Tigers from a Wyoming Area run game it never figured out. Crossley’s second run of the game went for an 80-yard touchdown. He was over 100 rushing yards before the end of the first quarter. He was at 200 before the end of the first half. And Crossley averaged nearly 10 yards per carry last night.

He did it by running past defenders, like on his 80-yard score. He did it by bullying his way through arm and shoulder tackles to turn 3-yard runs into 10-yard runs. And he did it by exploiting the gaps his offensive line was able to create for him.

“Our linemen just block tremendously,” Crossley said. “The creases they’re able to find and the work they do has escalated over the season.”

“Our No. 1 concern was our run defense and we struggled at that again,” Roth said. “(Crossley) had something to do with that. He’s a heck of a player. He looked good on film, but until you see him in person, it’s totally different. He was tough to bring down and we didn’t tackle him well.”

But not even Crossley’s huge night could overcome the early mistakes by the Warriors. Jake Toczylousky intercepted the first pass of the game and returned in 24 yards for a touchdown. The first of two lost fumbles by Wyoming Area led to a Jack Biermass 1-yard touchdown run. And Wisloski’s strip led to another score.

In between, Carter Madden ran for a 42-yard touchdown. Louden Murphy scored from 64 yards out on a sweep. And Wisloski, after picking up 10 yards on a run, pitched to Murphy who raced the final 56 yards to the end zone.

Because of the scoring of the lateral play, in which Wisloski gets credit for a carry for 10 yards and Murphy gets no rushing attempt but 56 rushing yards, at one point Murphy had one carry for 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

But the Tigers were explosive like that all night. They had just 13 offensive plays in the first half but totaled 309 yards. And that’s despite five of those plays resulting in a total of 0 yards. Southern finished with 405 yards of offense on just 29 offensive plays.

Conversely, Wyoming Area had 445 yards on 65 snaps.

“Braeden had the wheels turning tonight,” Roth said. “Stealing the ball on the 2-yard line, then pitching the ball? We don’t coach pitching the ball like that, but it looked like it was scripted because he pitched it and Louden was right there and he took off with it.”

Southern’s turnover prowess Friday was a sight for sore eyes on the coaching staff. The Tigers entered the game minus-4 in the turnover department this year. They’re now even after Friday’s game.

And it led to an important bounce-back win after Southern lost for the third time this season last week against Mount Carmel.
“This has probably been our worst year for turnovers in quite a while,” Roth said. “Maybe that’s a good sign.”

Southern Columbia 55, Wyoming Area 28
Wyoming Area 14 0 7 7 — 28
Southern Columbia 27 14 7 7 — 55

First Quarter
SCA – Jake Toczylousky 24 interception return (Isaac Mikel Carter kick), 10:25
WA – Aaron Crossley 80 run (Liam Burke kick), 10:12
SCA – Louden Murphy 64 run (run failed), 9:12
WA – Garrett Pocceschi 24 pass from Crossley (Burke kick), 3:55
SCA – Carter Madden 42 run (Braeden Wisloski run), 2:34
SCA – Jack Biermass 1 run (kick blocked), :25
Second Quarter
SCA – Wisloski 98 run (Dominic Fetterolf pass from Blake Wise), 8:50
SCA – Murphy 56 run (kick blocked), 6:16
Third Quarter
SCA – Wisloski 31 run (Carter kick), 9:45
WA – Pocceschi 22 pass from Michael Crane (Burke), 2:43
Fourth Quarter
SCA – Kyle Christman 8 pass from Wise (Carter kick), 11:15
WA – Crossley 5 run (Burke kick), 4:06

WA SCA
First Downs 22 11
Rushes-Yards 60-393 24-386
Comp-Att-Int 3-5-2 2-5-0
Passing 52 19
Total Yards 445 405
Fumbles-Lost 5-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-21 3-20

Individual statistics
Rushing: Wyoming Area — Aaron Crossley, 35-312, 2 TDs; Michael Crane, 21-78; John Mruk, 2-5; Team, 2-(-2). Southern Columbia — Braeden Wisloski, 6-151, 2 TDs; Louden Murphy, 3-131, 2 TDs; Carter Madden, 2-47, TD; Jack Biermass, 8-39, TD; Tyler Arnold, 1-12; CJ Swank-Dworchak, 2-8; Team, 2-(-2).

Passing: Wyoming Area — Michael Crane, 2-4-2, 28 yds., TD; Aaron Crossley, 1-1-0, 24 yds., TD. Southern Columbia — Blake Wise, 2-5-0, 19 yds., TD.
Receiving: Wyoming Area — Garrett Pocceschi, 2-46, 2 TDs; John Mruk, 1-6. Southern Columbia — Kyle Christman, 2-19, TD.

INTERCEPTIONS — Southern Columbia, Jake Toczylousky, Dominic Fetterolf.

Records: Southern Columbia (6-3); Wyoming Area (5-4).

DALLAS — As Lucas Tirpak ran down the sideline untouched to put the finishing touches on Dallas’ 35-13 win over Wallenpaupack on Friday, it was the first time the Mountaineers were truly able to feel good about the football game.

A one-win Buckhorns team gave Dallas everything it could handle for the better part of 40 minutes last night. But the way the Mountaineers finished the football game – scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter – showed coach Rich Mannello everything he needed to see.

Dallas found a way to fight through its own mistakes Friday and coupled with 243 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns from senior tailback Parker Bolesta, the Mountaineers rebounded in the win column after last week’s disappointing loss to Berwick.

“We overcame a tremendous amount of self-induced stuff with penalties,” Mannello said “To overcome that and have that push at the end, that was great for our kids.”

Dallas opened a two-score lead in the second quarter when it scored on consecutive offensive snaps. Bolesta scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 54-yard sprint through the Buckhorns’ defense for a 7-0 lead.  And after the defense forced a punt, sophomore quarterback Brady Zapoticky found Nick Farrell on a 49-yard catch-and-run which finally gave the Dallas offense some life following a scoreless first 20 minutes.

Although Dallas maintained the lead throughout the game, a Wallenpaupack team that hasn’t won since the first week of the season cut that deficit to just one score twice. First when Dylan Podrazil scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter. And then again on his 7-yard run with 3:35 left in the game to cut the Buckhorns’ deficit to 21-13.

But the Mountaineers found a way to respond to each score, leaning hard on its running game to extend the lead each time. First, it was Bolesta on a 17-yard run following a 32-yard punt return by teammate Zach Paczewski. Then after Bolesta ripped off runs of 23, 15, and 12 yards on the same drive, on third-and-5 Zapoticky went with a play-action fake to find Dylan Geskey in the flat. Geskey followed his blocking and zig-zagged to the end zone for a 41-yard score to put the Mountaineers up 28-13 with 1:46 to play.

Tirpak’s interception return for a touchdown just 23 seconds later gave Dallas its first comfortable lead of the night.

“They stayed with it and they didn’t get frustrated – and there were a lot of reasons to get frustrated – but they stayed with it and fought hard to the end,” Mannello said. “Hats off to Wallenpaupack because those kids came ready to play.”

But as well as the Buckhorns played, they had no answer for Bolesta, the senior running back who last week went over 1,000 yards for the season. The 205-pounder ground out yards up the middle but gouged Wallenpaupack’s defense on the perimeter for big runs.

Bolesta has nine of his 25 carries go for more than 10 yards. And four of those went for at least 20 yards. “All the credit goes to our O-line,” Bolesta said. “The holes I get to run through are great. They give me at least 5 yards to run through.”

“We knew from last spring that’s how it was going to be and we were going to lean on those seniors,” Mannello said. “As you go through the night you look for where those big runs are going to be. We can go to either side, but those big runs were there to the right toward the end of the game.”

Dallas still has everything it wants in front of it for the rest of the year. The Mountaineers are still locked atop Division I of the Wyoming Valley Conference with Crestwood at 4-1, and Dallas has a win over the Comets this year. The Mountaineers are also third in District 2 4A standings but have a key game against Class 6A Wilkes-Barre next week.

“We’re a 7-1 football team and we’re playing our butts off,” Mannello said. “These kids just do everything the right way and work so hard. We still have a lot of good things in front of us to accomplish.”

TUNKHANNOCK — Nanticoke’s Zach Fox ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run in the second quarter Friday night at Tunkhannock only to see it called back because of a penalty. Five plays later, he scored from 26 yards out only to see it wiped off the board because of a yellow flag. And when quarterback Lucas Stachowiak scored from 4 yards out four plays later, a chop block negated the score.

Those momentum-killing flags could have stalled even the strongest of offenses. But for Nanticoke last night, they were merely roadblocks on the road to paydirt.

Fox finally finished the drive with a touchdown on a 19-yard run. It was one of five first-half touchdown runs for the junior running back as he spared the Trojans a 42-7 win over Tunkhannock.

Nanticoke totaled 405 rushing yards as it dominated the line of scrimmage Friday. Fox ran for a game-high 243 yards, all in the first half, and four Trojans ran for at least 40 yards as they moved within a game of .500.
“We put in the work for this,” Fox said. “The line put in the most work and they were making great blocks. I can’t thank them enough.”

“We deserve a night like this,” Nanticoke coach Ron Bruza said. “We’re banged up quite a bit, but our kids played well.”

Nanticoke took some time finding its footing, but once it did, there was no answer from a Tunkhannock defense that allowed 9.6 yards a carry last night. The Trojans found their footing when Fox hit a sweep play for a 49-yard touchdown run on the penultimate play of the first quarter.

That one sweep play turned into a bushel of sweeps that opened holes like the automatic doors at Walmart. Fox’s first seven carries of the game went for 24 yards. His final 11, primarily on that sweep, went for 219 yards, including all five of his touchdown runs. Nine of those 11 carries went for at least 16 yards.

“My pulling guard, my favorite blocker, Ryan Wiaterowsi, he’s always out there and he moves guys with the first block and I can just read it and go from there,” Fox said. “Our line used a lot of anger that’s built up from all the losing, and they brought it out tonight.”

“That’s our Wing-T offense,” Bruza said. “We want to get those guards out there.”

Nanticoke expanded on its 6-0 lead early in the second quarter despite having those three touchdown runs called back because of penalties. Fox’s 19-yard scoring run made it 14-0. He then needed just one play for a 13-yard touchdown scamper after a bad punt snap set up the Trojans in the red zone. When Nanticoke’s Aiden Kolet ended Tunkhannock’s best offensive drive with an interception, Fox needed just two plays to cover all 35 yards for his fourth score.

And when the Tigers didn’t cover a squib kick and Nanticoke recovered, Fox needed just one snap to score on a sweep from 37 yards out. The Trojans scored three times in the final 4 minutes, and 8 seconds of the first half to turn a tight game into a mercy rule contest.

“We’ve overcome penalties and adversity all season,” Bruza said. “But they’re slowly learning how to win and how to overcome the adversity.”

“We don’t get our heads down after a bad play, like those touchdowns that were called back,” Fox said. “We just keep going strong.”

Now, Nanticoke is within a win of getting to .500 despite having only eight of its original 22 starters from the preseason still in the lineup. The Trojans’ win Friday was their second in three games and they close with contests against Holy Redeemer, Shamokin, and Hanover Area.
“We feel good, but we feel like we can still do way better,” Fox said. “We’re going to stay locked in and come play the last few games strong.”

“They’re gaining confidence,” Bruza said. “We’re not where we want to be and we’re playing with guys we maybe didn’t expect to be playing. But we’ve got some winnable games coming up and we have to keep getting ready.”

Nanticoke 42, Tunkhannock 7
Nanticoke 7 28 0 7 — 42
Tunkhannock 0 0 0 7 — 7
First Quarter
N – Zach Fox 49 run (kick blocked), :52
Second Quarter
N – Fox 19 run (Fox run), 6:26
N – Fox 13 run (kick failed), 4:08
N – Fox 16 run (Luke Stachowiak run), :50
N – Fox 37 run (Sophia Lukowski kick), :39
Fourth Quarter
T – Colin Madan 49 pass from Joey Ross (Paige Adams kick), 6:29
N – Sam Petrini 34 run (Lukowski kick), 1:55

Nan Tun
First Downs 16 5
Rushes-Yards 42-405 22-5
Comp-Att-Int 0-1-0 5-12-1
Passing 0 129
Total Yards 405 134
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-76 7-63
Individual statistics

Rushing: Nanticoke — Zach Fox, 18-243, 5 TDs; Mykal Julian, 11-63; Sam Petrini, 3-52, TD; Treston Allen, 8-44; Eugene Gyle, 2-3. Tunkhannock — Tenzen Lewis, 10-22; Caden Simmers, 4-5; Ethan Dominick, 1-3; Bobby Schultz, 1-2; Joey Ross, 4-(-9); Team, 2-(-18).

Passing: Nanticoke — Lucas Stachowiak, 0-1-0. Tunkhannock — Joey Ross, 5-12-1, 129 yds., TD.

Receiving: Nanticoke — None. Tunkhannock — Colin Madan, 4-126, TD; Gavin Montross, 1-3.

INTERCEPTIONS — Nanticoke, Aiden Kolet.

Records: Tunkhannock (1-6); Nanticoke (3-4).

KINGSTON — Rowan Slabinski didn’t really have to do much on his second-quarter interception Friday night. The Berwick defensive linemen in front of him were the ones putting the pressure on Wyoming Valley West quarterback Lucas Zdancewicz.

But from his spot just behind that defensive line, Slabinski found the football floating in his direction after Zdancewicz tried fruitlessly to get rid of it before being driven into the Spartan Stadium turf. Slabinski cradled the football and casually jogged into the end zone untouched for the exclamation point on a brilliant defensive performance.

Berwick’s starting defense allowed just 12 yards of offense Friday in a 41-13 win which got the Bulldogs back to .500 ahead of a brutal four-game stretch to close out the season.

“Coming off a loss the kids were anxious to get back out there and prove themselves,” Berwick first-year coach Mike Bennett said. “They were challenged from top to bottom this week.”

That challenge came after the Bulldogs’ defense allowed more than 400 yards of offense, including 212 on the ground, in last week’s loss to Wilkes-Barre. So Berwick went starters against starters for much of practice this week in order to get everyone prepared for Friday night’s rivalry game.

Berwick’s defense spent so much time in the Valley West backfield, the Spartans could have charged it rent. Berwick’s didn’t just shut down Valley West’s run game, it eliminated it entirely.

Against the Bulldogs’ first-team defense, 14 of Valley West’s rushing attempts went for 1 yard or fewer. Ten of those 14 carries resulted in negative yardage.

“We were angry after last week,” Slabinski said. “All week we stepped it up to play like this. We stuck to our assignments and won the game.”

Whatever those assignments were, they must have involved breaking through the Spartans’ offensive line like a game of Red Rover. But instead of sending one person at a time, it was the entire Berwick defensive front breaking through, like on Slabinski’s interception.

Zdancewicz began his drop-back on that ill-fated second-quarter play and almost immediately had pressure in his face. His only hope to avoid a sack was to flip the ball away in desperation. The only problem with that plan was Slabinski was the only one in the area to catch it.

That’s just what the senior did. And with nobody in front of him to slow him down, Slabinski waltzed into the end zone. The defensive score was the reward for a defense that was relentless through the first 24 minutes of Friday’s game.

“I didn’t really do much,” Slabinski said. “The ball just kind of came to me. It was great to see our defensive linemen get after it like that.”

“I think it’s always our plan to be aggressive and be physical like that,” Bennett said. “I don’t think we got to it as much last week, so we wanted to get back to doing that this week. That’s who we are.”

Slabinski’s score gave Berwick a 35-0 lead at halftime, invoking the mercy rule and a second-half running clock. It was the perfect complement to an explosive Berwick offense which didn’t run many plays Friday but made the ones it did run count.
Berwick ran 17 first-half plays. Four of them produced touchdowns. Five more produced first downs. Drey Wilk scored on the Bulldogs’ third offensive snap when he took a Wildcat snap, raced up the middle, then cut to the right sideline to finish off a 40-yard touchdown run.

Berwick needed just two plays on its next drive to score when Matt Lonczynski hit Wilk in stride for a 34-yard touchdown pass. Wilk has turned into a dynamic offensive threat for the Bulldogs this year. His rushing touchdown was his fourth of the season. His receiving touchdown was his seventh.

Wilk had just one touchdown rushing and receiving a year ago.

“He’s a playmaker and we like to do different things to get him the ball,” Bennett said. “He’s very special and he’s really just hitting his stride right now.”

Ethan Lear added to Berwick’s 13-0 lead when his 37-yard run set up his own 8-yard scoring run. Bo Sheptock ripped of a 65-yard run of his own in the second quarter to set up his 3-yard touchdown run.

By the end of the first half, Berwick was averaging better than 16 yards per carry and nearly 15 yards per snap. At the same time, Valley West had just 2 yards rushing on 17 attempts and 19 total yards in the first half.

“We felt like there were some big plays there for us to make, but we wanted to grind it down and run our offense,” Bennett said. “If they were going to give us certain things, we were going to take it. It’s those regular plays that our playmakers can stretch from a 5-yard play to a 35-yard play, and that’s what makes those guys special.”

Berwick 41, Wyoming Valley West 13
Berwick 21 14 6 0 — 41
Wyoming Valley West 0 0 6 7 — 13
First Quarter
B—Drey Wilk 40 run (Luke Peters kick), 8:53
B—Wilk 34 pass from Matt Lonczynski (kick blocked), 7:04
B—Ethan Lear 8 run (Rowan Slabinski pass from Lonczynski), 2:13
Second Quarter
B—Bo Sheptock 3 run (Peters kick), 11:18
B—Rowan Slabinski 21 interception return (Peters kick), 10:31
Third Quarter
B—Sheptock 43 punt return (kick blocked), 5:23
WVW—Tyler Mattis 86 kick return (kick blocked), 5:08
Fourth Quarter
WVW—Devon Suda 17 run (Lauren Richie kick), 2:21

Ber WVW
First Downs 12 6
Rushes-Yards 22-189 28-65
Comp-Att-Int 7-7-0 4-8-1
Passing 96 17
Total Yards 285 82
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-50 7-70
Individual statistics

Rushing: Berwick — Bo Sheptock, 6-94, TD; Ethan Lear, 4-54; Drey Wilk, 1-40, TD; Ryan Bankes, 3-18; Tyler Winter, 7-5; Team, 1-(-22). Wyoming Valley West — Tyler Mattis, 10-40; Devon Suda, 2-15, TD; Paul Riggs, 11-14; Carson Brown, 2-0; Lucas Zdancewicz, 3-(-4).

Passing: Berwick — Matt Lonczynski, 4-4-0, 83 yds., TD; Ethan Lear, 3-3-0, 13 yds. Wyoming Valley West — Lucas Zdancewicz, 2-5-1, 15 yds.; Carson Brown, 2-3-0, 2 yds.

Receiving: Berwick — Bo Sheptock, 3-22; Spencer Kishbaugh, 2-41; Drey Wilk, 1-34, TD; Ryan Bankes, 1-(-1). Wyoming Valley West — Paul Riggs, 1-19; Maki Wells, 1-3; Ty Makarewicz, 1-(-1); Devon Suda, 1-(-4).

INTERCEPTIONS — Berwick, Rowan Slabinski.

Records: Wyoming Valley West (0-6); Berwick (3-3).

TUNKHANNOCK — Cameron Hedgelon hadn’t caught a pass all season. Facing fourth down from the Tunkhannock 28-yard line Friday night, the Honesdale junior picked a pretty good time to catch his first.

He gathered in a pass from quarterback Aiden Collins as he broke toward the sideline. And just as it appeared the Tigers’ defense had him bottled up, Hedgelon cut back toward the middle of the field and raced to the end zone for a touchdown.

It was one of two fourth-down touchdowns scored by the Hornets last night. It was also the first of four touchdowns of at least 17 yards Honesdale score. The Hornets’ offense may not have sustained drives last night, but it was explosive leading to a 34-0 win over Tunkhannock.

And offense which has struggled to find much of anything in the passing game over the last three weeks certainly found its footing against Tunkhannock. Sophomore quarterback Aiden Collins completed 9 of 13 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns. And after not catching a pass through the first four weeks, Hedgelon caught four balls for 94 yards and that first-quarter score.

“We knew all week we needed to find a balance offensively because we’ve been lacking it for a few weeks,” Honesdale coach Paul Russick said. “We’ve been trying to find some confidence in some of our other guys to catch the ball.”
Ever since returning 700-yard receiver, Kage Southerton was lost in the Wyoming Area game in Week 2, Honesdale has managed just 66 passing yards in the last two weeks combined. So the Hornets played a little bit backward Friday night. They used an efficient passing game to try to open up its running game.

After throwing an incompletion on his first attempt, Collins completed six passes in a row to close out the first half, including the touchdown connection to Hedgelon. All four of Hedgelon’s receptions went for at least 20 yards, and all four made first downs.

“We knew he had it in him,” Russick said. “When Kage got hurt, we asked Cameron to go player corner and we wanted him to take care of that. But this week we got him some more reps on offense. He has that slot receiver aura about him.”
The Hornets may not have put together the lengthy drives on the ground which can grind away the clock like it wanted to. But they were explosive when they had to be. Mason Avery scored on a scintillating 38-yard touchdown run. Max Mickel scored on a 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. And Kole Fries caught a jump ball on a fade pattern when Collins had all kinds of pressure in his face in the third quarter. Fries’ touchdown, like Hedgelon’s, came on fourth down.

“That’s almost the story of our season,” Tunkhannock coach Mike Marabell said. “We can get you in third-and-long, but we can’t close it out. Those two fourth-down touchdowns are typical of what we’ve been doing and not doing right. And we’re having a hard time figuring out how to fix it.”

Honesdale’s defense was just as explosive as its offense. The Hornets pitched their first shutout of the season. Tunkhannock was shut out for the third time in its last 15 games dating back to last season.

The Tigers struggled to find any rhythm offensively. After completing three of his first four passes, Tunkhannock quarterback Ben Chilson went 4 for his final 14 in the first half as Honesdale pulled ahead, 28-0, at halftime. By the time Tunkhannock found some consistency in its passing game, they were already five scores behind.

Chilson was sacked five times by a Honesdale defensive front that harassed Chilson all night.

“Their defensive line made us look really bad,” Marabell said. “I have a very young line beside my center, and it showed.”

“Those guys got off the ball,” Russick said. “Rocco Fluck, Bryce Stone, Bennett Fritz, and Aaron Phillips, those are four seniors and they were getting in there. We play up to 10 seniors on our defense and it shows.”

Honesdale 34, Tunkhannock 0
Honesdale 14 14 6 0 — 34
Tunkhannock 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
H – Cameron Hedgelon 28 pass from Aiden Collins (Max Mickel kick), 7:45
H – Mason Avery 38 run (Mickel kick), 5:46
Second Quarter
H – Rocco Fluck 6 pass from Collins (Mickel kick), 5:11
H – Mickel 17 run (Rylan Montgomery kick), 2:48
Third Quarter
H – Kole Fries 25 pass from Collins (kick failed), 6:21
Fourth Quarter

Ho Tu
First Downs 16 9
Rushes-Yards 41-165 22-7
Comp-Att-Int 9-13-0 14-30-0
Passing 181 165
Total Yards 346 172
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-Yards 7-70 6-50

Individual statistics
Rushing: Honesdale — Max Mickel, 13-67, TD; CJ Hinton, 6-33; Mason Avery, 9-32, TD; Jeffry Delgado-Santos, 4-16; Aaron Phillips, 3-14; Robert Quinn, 3-9; Team, 3-(-6). Tunkhannock — Bobby Schultz, 4-14; Tenzen Lewis, 5-9; Joey Ross, 1-8; Jayden Ransom, 1-5; Ethan Dominick, 2-3; Evan Montross, 1-1; Caden Simmers, 1-(-1); Team 1-(-11); Ben Chilson, 6-(-21).

Passing: Honesdale — Aiden Collins, 9-13-0, 141 yds., 3 TDs. Tunkhannock — Ben Chilson, 14-30-0, 165 yds.

Receiving: Honesdale — Cameron Hedgelon, 4-94, TD; Tyler Winters, 2-14; Max Mickel, 1-42; Kole Fries, 1-25, TD; Rocco Fluck, 1-6, TD. Tunkhannock — Colin Madan, 6-52; Joey Ross, 4-57; Garrett Yuhas, 2-54; Jayden Ransom, 2-2.

INTERCEPTIONS — None.
Records: Tunkhannock (1-4); Honesdale (3-2).

LEHMAN TWP. — A singular yellow flag landed among a group of Holy Redeemer defenders celebrating and quickly their joy turned somber. The Royals’ defense appeared to have stopped Lake-Lehman receiver Landon Schukers a yard short of the first down on a fourth-down screen pass late in Friday’s game.

But that singular yellow flag changed everything. A targeting call on Redeemer’s Jake Griffin was going to be enough to give the Black Knights a first down. The subsequent three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties assessed on the Royals for arguing the call not only extended Lake-Lehman’s drive, but it placed the ball at the Redeemer 1-yard line.

It took just one play for Black Knights running back Javon Borger to plunge into the end zone with the game-tying touchdown. He then did so again to get the two-point conversion to give Lehman its first win of the season, 22-20, over Holy Redeemer. In an ugly display of high school football, Lake-Lehman got off the schneid after a brutal first three weeks of the season to earn its first victory. Holy Redeemer, which was coming off a surprising win over Tunkhannock, committed 26 penalties for 163 yards and fell to 2-2.

“We had to get a ‘W,’” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “It was an ugly game on both sides. We just kept fighting.”
“It was rough,” Holy Redeemer coach Tyson Kelly said. “The last couple minutes were chaotic, but we fought hard. We can’t control the flags that are thrown. We just tried to do our best and work with the adversity we faced.”

The targeting foul called with just under 2 minutes to play and Holy Redeemer holding a 20-14 lead was the most costly of the 18 penalties levied against the Royals in the second half of Friday’s game. Seven of those penalties were of the false start or illegal procedure variety. The Royals had nobody to blame for surrendering a 14-point lead but themselves last night. Those penalties helped an offense that had rolled up 170 first-half yards stall mightily. A bad punt snap set Lake-Lehman up with first down at the Redeemer 1-yard line which turned into a Knights touchdown.

But despite all the mistakes which plagued the Royals, they still held a six-point lead on Lake-Lehman with under 4 minutes to play because it had two of the best athletes on the field. Quarterback Jacob Hunter (263 yards, 2 TDs) found receiver Zach Perta (7 receptions, 149 yards, 2 TDs) on a scramble drill for a 60-yard touchdown pass on a second-and-25 snap to break a 14-all tie.

“Jacob Hunter is special. I get excited when he scrambles. People are starting to find out he’s a stud,” Kelly said. “When he starts to improvise, he knows what he’s doing and he’s very good at what he does. It scares the crap out of me in the best way possible.”

But a winless Lake-Lehman team didn’t buckle. It did get some help, first when a late hit 5 yards out of bounds prompted a personal foul penalty on third-and-16 to extend the Black Knights’ ensuing drive. All hell broke loose when Lehman quarterback Gavin Wallace hit Schuckers on a screen pass on fourth-and-8. Schuckers angled toward the sideline and was met in a violent collision with Redeemer linebacker Griffin. The hit was helmet-to-helmet and the back judge immediately threw his flag to call targeting.

The penalty was compounded when Griffin threw his own helmet from the hash mark to the sideline for another unsportsmanlike penalty. Kelly was then hit with another unsportsmanlike penalty for arguing the play. And another Redeemer player was hit for a third unsportsmanlike penalty on the play for arguing with the back judge.

The four penalties totaled only 15 yards because they were all half-the-distance penalties, but it was enough to move the ball to the 1-yard line and give the Knights a chance to tie the game. Borger’s touchdown run and an ensuing two-point conversion run helped to make up for two fumbles earlier in the game, one of which led to a Redeemer touchdown.

The senior running back finished with 140 rushing yards on 22 carries, including the two touchdowns.

“I always tell a kid when they make a mistake, they have to find a way to make up for it,” Gilsky said. “When you’re a senior, you want that memory and I want to give that memory to a kid, and he made up for those mistakes. He needed to know we have the trust in him to go make up for those mistakes.”

“It’s a learning experience,” Redeemer coach Tyson Kelly said. “There were a lot of penalties, and I don’t know how fair all of them were, but it is what it is. We didn’t play our best football tonight. We just had a tough one.”

Redeemer had 1:37 on the clock after Borger’s go-ahead points to try and mount a rally. But playing without Perta, who was injured just after his touchdown, the Royals’ offense just couldn’t find a spark to get downfield. In fact, a false start and an intentional grounding penalty backed the Royals up to their own 1-yard line with under 30 seconds to go.

Holy Redeemer outgained Lake-Lehman, 334-221. It also had a 17-10 advantage in first downs. But there were just too many mistakes to overcome in the end.

“We’re going to take this as a learning experience as a group,” Kelly said. “We’re going to use it to get better.”
On the flip side, Lake-Lehman is hoping to use it as a springboard into the rest of the season after starting 0-3 for the first time since 2011.

“This group needed a win,” Gilsky said. “When I asked how everyone feels, they said exhausted or hurt. But I asked if it was worth it, and they all said hell yeah. We need to learn how to win. And this was a good step.”

Lake-Lehman 22, Holy Redeemer 20
Holy Redeemer 0 14 0 6 — 20
Lake-Lehman 0 0 14 8 — 22

Second Quarter
HR – Josh Wesneski 5 run (Tyler Tarnalicki kick), 11:12
HR – Zach Perta 22 pass from Jacob Hunter (Tarnalicki kick), 4:07

Third Quarter
LL – Javon Borger 1 run (Borger run), 4:37
LL – Landon Schuckers 12 pass from Gavin Wallace (run failed), :47

Fourth Quarter
LL – Javon Borger 1 run (Borger run), 1:38

HR LL
First Downs 17 10
Rushes-Yards 42-71 28-150
Comp-Att-Int 14-33-0 6-15-2
Passing 263 71
Total Yards 334 221
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 26-163 6-69

Individual statistics

Rushing: Holy Redeemer – Jacob Hunter, 19-35; Josh Wesneski, 15-33, TD; Zach Perta, 4-11; Louis Lussi, 1-8; DJ McDermott, 1-0; Team, 2-(-16). Lake-Lehman — Javon Borger, 22-140, 2 TDs; Gavin Wallace, 4-10; Brandon Ritinski, 1-1; Landon Schuckers, 1-(-1).

Passing: Holy Redeemer — Jacob Hunter, 14-32-0, 263 yds., 2 TDs; Team, 0-1-0. Lake-Lehman — Gavin Wallace, 6-14-1, 71 yds., TD; Landon Schuckers, 0-1-1.

Receiving: Holy Redeemer — Zach Perta, 7-149, 2 TDs; Jake Griffin, 2-38; Yovanny Martinez, 2-18; Josh Wesneski, 1-37; DJ McDermott, 1-11; Louis Lussi, 1-10. Lake-Lehman — Ben Dowling, 2-29; Landon Schuckers, 2-19, TD; Chris Sholtis, 1-13; Gavin Paraschak, 1-10.

INTERCEPTIONS — Holy Redeemer, Luke Kopec (2).

Records: Lake-Lehman (1-3); Holy Redeemer (2-2).

MOUNTAIN TOP — Before the ball was even snapped, Noah Schultz knew there was going to be an open field where he was running. The Crestwood senior has been in that situation plenty of times before in his career, so he focused on taking the play where it was supposed to go and then running like hell.

Sixty-six yards later Schultz was in the end zone for the third time in the first half of Friday’s game against Wyoming Area. And it may have been his easiest tote of the night.

But there weren’t many contested carries for the Comets last night. They ran the ball so well behind a veteran offensive line that they didn’t even have to throw a pass. The Comets compiled 520 rushing yards and bounced back from a disappointing loss a week ago by beating Wyoming Area, 49-7.

Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli wanted to get back to what his offense does best following last week’s loss to Dallas in which an abundance of uncharacteristic mistakes spelled their doom. What the Comets’ offense does best is run the ball. It doesn’t necessarily matter who in their backfield carries it behind an offensive line which created gap after gap for Schultz and his teammates to run through.

The Comets averaged nearly 12 yards per carry last night. Schultz himself ran for 191 yards on 14 carries, the third-best total of his career.

“We feel really good about our seniors up front and the gentlemen we have behind them,” Arcangeli said. “So we said let’s show all the hard work we put in in the offseason and let’s keep the ball on the ground. We have confidence in them. And I can’t say enough about our entire offensive line and the backfield because they answered the challenge.”

Crestwood had already opened a three-score lead in the second quarter when Schultz stood in the backfield and knew he was about to pop a long run. When he took the snap on the sweep play the Comets executed all night with aplomb, Schultz got the open area he expected and he coasted to the end zone.

It was the second of three touchdowns Crestwood scored on their first four snaps of the second quarter. And even with 32 minutes left in the game, it was a knockout blow against a Wyoming Area defense that had no answer for any play Crestwood ran.

The Comets had 17 runs of 10 yards or better. Three of those runs were 60-plus-yard touchdown runs. And those three individual carries totaled more yardage individually than Wyoming Area ran for as a team.

“As long as we get our blocks down, we know those runs will be open, and our guys continued to do that,” Schultz said. “They made the blocks and we made the plays.”

“That’s our strength,” Arcangeli said. “We liked our matchups (on the perimeter), and our staff does a good job of picking out where we can win some matchups. But you still have to go out and execute, and the kids did that.”

Behind an offensive line of Chris Smolenak, Aidan Jardine, Aleks Jaskiewicz, John Jones, Andrew Lenahan, and tight end Zach Sheloski, Crestwood had five players run for at least 57 yards. Jaden Shedlock ran for 97 yards and a touchdown. Brady Davidson added 70 yards and a touchdown. Nick Miscavage had just one carry, but it was a 63-yard score. And Brendan Dennis ha 57 yards and a touchdown.

The Comets’ powerful run game not only produced yards and points, but it also kept the ball out of the hands of Wyoming Area’s dynamic running back Aaron Crossley. Crossley, ran for nearly 500 yards through the season’s first two weeks but gained just 42 yards on 13 carries last night. A well-rested Crestwood defense was relentless in their pursuit of Crossley and the rest of the Warriors’ backfield. Even when they didn’t tackle well, they forced Wyoming Area ballcarriers to get around 3 or 4 defenders just for a 4-yard gain.

“Don’t think that wasn’t part of the deal for us running the ball,” Arcangeli said. “Don’t give that kid any more touches than he needs. He’s electric and certainly one of the best backs around here. But sometimes a really good ground game can rest our defense so they can prepare for a guy like that.”

After a loss last week which was filled with so many mistakes, Crestwood righted the ship last night. It got back to what it does best. It built confidence in its game plan. And it executed the way it knows how.

“That was a great way to bounce back,” Schultz said. “It was the best way to bounce back.”

POTTSVILLE – With just under 9 minutes left in the first half, Wyomissing fullback Matt Kramer planted his left foot in the Veterans Memorial Stadium field and cut back toward the left hash mark. In and of itself, it was a minuscule detail that meant little in the Spartans’ 49-0 win over Pottsville on Friday night.

But in the bigger picture, it meant everything. You see, it was Kramer’s eighth carry of the game. It was also the first one in which he had to make a cut of any kind despite averaging better than 8 yards per carry. The Wyomissing offensive line – apparently a collection of earth movers dressed as high school football players – opened holes with relative ease against a tough, but outmatched Pottsville defense.

Kramer had been one of the beneficiaries of the group’s efficiency. He was giving the chain gang a workout by constantly putting them on the move in the first half. This one particular carry with just under 9 minutes left in the first half, though, well Kramer did a little more than just run through a gaping hole. That little cut toward the middle of the field left a Pottsville defender grasping at air. Kramer drug two more defenders into the end zone from inside the 5-yard line.
That score gave Wyomissing a three-score lead, but it really felt like it ended the game. The writing was on the wall for the outcome of this Week 2 game, and it was written in Sharpie.

“I think this is our own expectation every time we play,” Wyomissing offensive lineman Pacen Ziegler said. “You see on social media people talking about our potential with the size we have, but we cemented that (Friday) against a good Pottsville team.”

“Our offensive line is trapping guys and the defense doesn’t know who is going to hit them on each play,” Kramer said. “But when you combine it with the athleticism and the size our line has, a lot of times I’m making 10 to 15 yards up field before I hit a guy. And it’s fun to make runs like that.”
Jven Williams is the obvious headliner of the group as the No. 2-ranked guard in the country by ESPN. But the Penn State recruit, the teammates around him, is a cog in a machine that seems to be operating at peak efficiency through two weeks of the season.

They confuse defenses on a weekly basis by lining up at different positions in nearly every play. They’ll line up traditionally one play only to line up more unbalanced than a teeter-totter with a kindergartner and a sumo wrestler sitting on it the next play. And regardless of how they line up, they create the same gaps you could drive a dump truck through.
Friday night that led to 245 rushing yards on 26 carries (9.4 yards per carry) in the first half before a running clock was mercifully put in place. Kramer averaged nearly 10 yards per carry. Charlie McIntyre averaged nearly 9 yards a carry. Drew Eisenhower averaged more than 13 yards a carry, including a 40-yard jaunt. And six players had at least one run of 10 yards or better.

“I think they get rolling and they get some confidence,” Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum said. “Our offense is all about movement. If you have big guys who can do it, they don’t just get to the spot, they move you when they get there.”
The Spartans set a physical, punishing tone on its first possession and never left their foot off the gas. They needed just six plays to cover 55 yards, four of which produced first downs. Collin Neidrowski punched in the first score.

On Wyomissing’s next possession, it needed just six plays again to cover 58 yards with Kramer scoring the first of his two touchdowns. It was a Wing-T offense which operated with such efficiency and success on the ground, that quarterback Ben Zechman was called on to throw only five times. But he completed four, two of which went for touchdowns, including a 47-yard catch-and-run to Eisenhower which put the running clock in place with only 18 seconds left in the second quarter.
“I think our expectation is we get a first down on every play or score on every play,” Ziegler said. “Theoretically, if it’s blocked correctly  we should be able to score on every play.”

“We’ve been doing this stuff since we were in sixth and seventh grade,” Kramer said. “We’ve been doing it so long that it’s just ingrained in their brains.”

The Spartans pitched their second consecutive shutout in part because of the three turnovers it created. They scored off all three of them, each time taking just a little more wind out of the sails of a Pottsville team that still has yet to score a point in 2022.

It was by no means a perfect defensive effort. But it was plenty good enough to complement an offense which could do no wrong. Wyomissing finished with 420 yards of offense. Kramer finished as the leading rusher with 89 yards on nine carries. He’s bided his time waiting for Evan Niedrowski and Tommy Grabowski in the last two years for that featured role as the fullback in Wyomissing’s vaunted Wing-T attack. So far, he’s been just as adept as those predecessors at finding the holes and exploiting them for big yards and touchdowns.

“He’s really shifty. I don’t know that I expected that from him,” Ziegler said. “But he’s a super smart kid and he knows where he needs to go.”

“He’s a tough kid and he makes the good cuts,” Wolfrum said. “Our fullbacks are cut-and-use-the-blocks guys. And the quicker they do it with our inside trapping game, the better off they are. We need him to make that read on time and he did it.”

BERWICK – Mike Bennett rattled off everything which went so right for Berwick in the first half of Friday’s season opener against five-time defending state champion Southern Columbia.

There was an effective running game. A handful of key pass plays to extend drives led to two touchdowns. And most importantly, they kept the Tigers’ vaunted Wing-T offense off the field.

Everything for Bennett and the Bulldogs was going to plan.

And then there was a flash of lightning. And another. And another.

The near two-hour break at halftime cost Berwick its momentum after opening a two-score lead. That same two-hour break allowed Southern Columbia to gather its thoughts and reset.

After recording just 7 yards of offense in the first half, Southern gouged the Berwick defense for 313 yards and six touchdowns in the second half of a 42-27 victory at Crispin Field. Jim Roth, Pennsylvania’s coaching wins leader, avoided only his second career opening-week loss with a defense that found its footing in the second half and an incendiary offense.

“It feels like a new game almost,” Roth said of the nearly two-hour lightning delay between the first and second halves. As a coach, you don’t sense being behind as much because of that long break. That’s in the past more. So you go out and feel like it’s a new game and go get after it. But it was just a crazy game overall.”

It was crazy in the sense that Berwick played a perfect brand of ball-control offense in the first half, limiting the Tigers to just seven offensive snaps in the first 24 minutes. During those first two quarters, Berwick’s offense held the ball for 20 minutes, 29 seconds.

Southern Columbia also had a kickoff return for a touchdown called back because of a penalty. It dropped a pair of touchdown passes on the same drive. Its defense allowed a couple of ridiculous third-down completions which both led to Berwick touchdowns. And it lost all-state linebacker, Garrett Garcia, to a potentially serious knee injury.

Berwick was living out Murphy’s Law in the first half, as Southern Columbia suffered through its antithesis. The Bulldogs, playing their first game under Bennett, himself an alum of Berwick’s football glory days, gave the home crowd reason to relive those glory days, even if just for 24 minutes. They had Southern Columbia on the ropes. Berwick executed its game plan perfectly. It had momentum. It had confidence. It had a 14-point lead.

Then rainless lightning flashed over Crispin Field just as the second half was getting underway. The remnants of a thunderstorm that doused neighboring Bloomsburg skirted past Berwick last night. But its flashes of lightning made their presence known.

As teams prepared to return to the field following the first 30-minute delay, the sky lit up like a summer afternoon as a bolt of lightning appeared. Thirty minutes later, it happened again. Twice both teams were preparing to return to the field. Twice they sat back down to wait another 30 minutes.

Berwick lost all momentum it had gained with a nearly flawless first half. Southern Columbia got the opportunity it needed to refresh.

“I thought if it was only 30 minutes we’d be OK and we could get the adrenaline going again,” Bennett said. “But then you get up and it gets pushed back. Then you get them up again and it gets pushed again. We came out flat and they took it to us.”
It wasn’t an excuse from Bennett, it was reality. After receiving the second-half kickoff, Southern needed just seven plays to find the end zone and cut its deficit in half with a 3-yard Carter Madden touchdown run.

Following a Berwick three-and-out, the Tigers needed just two plays, capped with Madden’s 30-yard scoring run on an inside reverse. And after another three-and-out, the Tigers needed just four plays to go up 21-14 when Braeden Wisloski found the end zone from 36 yards out.

Berwick spent 24 minutes building confidence and momentum. Southern stole it back in 8:03 of the third quarter.

“There’s only so many times you’re going to corral Wisloski and (Wes) Barnes,” Bennett said. “Those guys are players. We held them in the beginning but they got theirs and we failed to meet the standards in the second half that we met in the first half.”
Madden, Wisloski, and Barnes each ran for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. Those six touchdown runs covered an average of better than 40 yards a pop, including a 73-yard run by Wisloski, and 44 and 56-yard jaunts right up the middle by Barnes.

“They looked like they were really trying to play outside, especially because of the way we normally run with Braeden,” Roth said. “So we thought we were going to have to go up inside ore, and in that second half we had a lot of success running inside.”
“We just stopped playing football for some reason,” Bennett said. “And when you have the five-time defending state champion over there, they’re going to take advantage of that.

Berwick cut its deficit back to one score thanks to an 8-yard catch-and-run from Matt Lonczynski to Spencer Kishbaugh. But Wisloski and Barnes scored on three consecutive offensive snaps in the fourth quarter for the Tigers.

“I wanted these kids to show their families and the alumni what they’re capable of and what their potential is,” Bennett said. “I think we did that. I wish we saw it for four quarters.”

Southern Columbia 42, Berwick 27
Southern Columbia 0 0 21 21 – 42
Berwick 0 14 0 13 – 27
Second quarter
B – Drey Wilk 8 pass from Matt Lonczynski (Luke Peters kick), 7:58
B – Lonczynski 1 run (Peters kick), :05.
Third quarter
SC – Carter Madden 3 run (Isaac Carter kick), 9:51
SC – Madden 30 run (Ryan Kerstetter pass from Jake Toczylousky), 6:54
SC – Braeden Wisloski 36 run (run failed), 3:57
Fourth quarter
B – Drey Wilk 40 pass from Lonczynski (Peters kick), 11:51
SC – Wisloski 73 run (kick failed), 11:36
SC – Wes Barnes 44 run (Wisloski pass from Blake Wise), 7:34
B – Spencer Kishbaugh 80 pass from Lonczynski (kick failed), 7:22
SC – Barnes 56 run (Carter kick), 7:12

SCA Ber
First downs 9 17
Rushes-yds 25-283 42-77
Com-att-int 2-6-0 12-22-2
Pass yards 37 254
Total yards 320 331
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-0
Penalties-yards 3-24 1-17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Southern Columbia, Braeden Wisloski, 7-133, 2 TDs; Wes Barnes, 8-112, 2 TDs; Carter Madden, 6-40, 2 TDs; Jake Biemass, 1-0; Blake Wise, 1-0; Team, 2-(-2). Berwick, Bo Sheptock, 16-49; Ryan Bankes, 12-33; Drey Wilk, 1-12; James Deandra, 2-2; Spencer Kishbaugh, 2-(-1); Matt Lonczynski, 9-(-18), TD.

Passing: Southern Columbia, Blake Wise, 2-6-0, 37 yds. Berwick, Matt Lonczynski, 12-22-2, 254 yds., 3 TDs.

Receiving: Southern Columbia, Wes Barnes, 1-23; Carter Madden, 1-14. Berwick, Spencer Kishbaugh, 5-124, TD; Drey Wilk, 4-66, 2 TDs; Bo Sheptock, 1-35; Rowan Slabinski, 1-15; Ryan Bankes, 1-14.

INTERCEPTIONS: Berwick, Southern Columbia – Jacob Hoy, Wes Barnes.
RECORDS: Berwick (0-1); Southern Columbia (1-0).