Scranton Prep wins first ever District 2 title

SCRANTON – The number one seed, Scranton Prep (11-1), headed into Friday night’s District two Class AAA matchup against Berwick (9-3) seeking their first ever District 2 title, and they didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd. When the dust settled, the Cavaliers used a combined physical running attack and smothering defense to overwhelm Berwick 37-7.

“It’s a great achievement for the kids tonight,” said head football coach Nick Donato. “It was a great atmosphere and I am very proud of these young men.”

Scranton Prep will play the District 11 champion, either Lehighton or Saucon Valley who face off Saturday night at Lehighton.

The first score of the game wouldn’t come until 2:51 left in the first quarter. Scranton Prep’s Kevin Holmes intercepted a Jared Marshman pass and went 34 yards for the score. That was Holmes’ tenth interception of the season and a school record.

After a three-and-out by Berwick and a big sack by Cavaliers Matt D’Andrea that forced a punt, Scranton Prep got the ball back and was on the move again. Six plays later Ricky Morgan went in from 12-yards out with 10:08 left in the first half. Scranton Prep led 14-0.

Holmes’ second interception (11th of the season) of the night set up another scoring drive. After three straight runs, Holmes found David Horvath for an amazing 50-yard juggling catch, while dragging Berwick defenders into the end zone for the score.

Holmes finished the night completing 4 of 7 for 114 yards and one touchdown and on defense he had two interceptions.

The Dawgs finally got their offense going. After calling a timeout with 3:48 left in the half and facing a third down and six on Scranton Prep’s 43, Marshman connected with Robbie Harter for a 33-yard touchdown pass.

With 11.6 seconds remaining in the first half, Scranton Prep added to their lead with a 27-yard field goal by Biagio D’Appolino. They went into halftime leading 24-7.

Early in the third quarter, Scranton Prep’s star running back Ricky Morgan had to sit due to a injury. So, who would step up? Tyler Stafursky, a 6-foot-2, 230-pounder became a man on a mission. He rushed for over 60 yards in relief and two touchdowns in the second half.

Morgan finished the night with 58 yards and Stafursky had 101.

“First, we are a running team,” said Donato. “Tonight we lost our starting tailback and Stafursky stepped in and did a great job for us.”

“Tyler was a man on a mission tonight. He was a very physical runner.”

Scranton Prep’s defense continued their dominance in the game, setting the tone in the second half on Berwick’s first drive. Mario Giannone intercepted a Marshman pass with 8:27 left in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers again turned a turnover into points. Stafursky’s five-yard touchdown run capped off an eight-play drive.

On Berwick’s next drive, Thor Balavage, of Scranton Prep, blocked a Dawgs’ punt that was recovered on Berwick’s 35. Stafursky’s two-yard touchdown run with 8:02 remaining in the game made it 37-7 Scranton Prep.

David Horvath came up with Scranton Prep’s fourth interception of the night to seal the District two title.

“My defensive coaches do a unbelievable job getting these kids ready,” said Donato. “They get them in the right spot and the kids just have to make plays, and they did tonight.”

On the other sidelines there was a lot of emotion. This was an end of an era in Berwick. Many people said this was legendary coach George Curry’s last football game. If it is he leaves us as the all-time winningest football coach in Pennsylvania history with 455 wins.

“George is a great football coach and he helped my kids when I was at North Pocono,” said Donato. “He would send college coaches up there all the time.”

“My hat goes off to him. You can talk about the 455 wins and six state titles, and no one can do what he has does.”

Note: Scranton Prep out gained Berwick last night in total offense 368 to the Dawgs 136 and out rushed them 254 to 49. That was the story of the night, ball control and turnovers by Berwick resulting into Scranton Prep touchdowns.

“Our O-line played great tonight and they were real physical up front,” said Holmes. “We were able to control the clock tonight because of that.”