Post Opening Night Thoughts

Week Zero has concluded and there were some games that the results were expected and some that came as a surprise. With that being said, here are a few of the games that surprised me. Though to be honest, with most of these, it's mostly because of my opinions at the time. The first week is usually the toughest in terms of evaluating a team because what a team looks like the first week can be different going into the last game of the season. Well, with that being said, here are a few thoughts:

-When I did my pre-season Top 25 this year, probably the most controversial teams on there were Pittston Area and Wyoming Area and somewhat Holy Cross. Well, Wyoming Area dominated Wallenpaupack by shutting them down and Pittston Area looked good at times against Crestwood even though they lost by a touchdown. Holy Cross could have possibly been a bit of a stretch but the countdown can be subjective.

-On the other side of the coin, there were a few teams I ranked high that did fall in Week 1 like Scranton Prep and Meyers but it was to teams that were ranked in the Top 20 at the time.

-Hanover Area beating Old Forge was possibly the biggest surprise of the weekend. Both sides had to replace key players from a year ago but I was just surprised Hanover Area beat them especially after last year, but hey it's a new year.

-Valley West/Scranton might be the early candidate game of the year in District 2. Valley West scoring the take the lead with under 2 minutes to play and then the defense stopping Scranton on the next drive for a 48-41 victory.

-There were a few coaching debuts this week and two of them started off with victories. Dwayne Downing got his first victory at Holy Redeemer beating Holy Cross and Frank Sheptock got his first  victory at Berwick with a 44-0 victory over Hazleton Area.

Well, with that, there are a few thoughts I had about opening weekend. The biggest adjustment is usually from Week 1 to 2 or in this case Week 0 to Week 1.

Pittston Area at Crestwood Football

Crestwood and Pittston Area looked to start off their season with a win as they played at Crestwood Stadium in Mountain Top. Crestwood started with the ball and looked like they were going to score but the drive stopped and had to settle for a punt. Crestwood's defense gave the Patriots a 3 and out to start the game and with the ball drove the ball all the way to the PA 8 yard line but a Crestwood unsportsmanlike conduct penalty took them back all the way to the 20, but on 4th and Goal on the 19 yard line, Lance Blass found Pat Rother and Rother took it 19 yards for a Touchdown and lead 7-0 with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter. On the next play from scrimmage for Pittston Area, Keemar Woodruff went 72 yards for the score, PAT was good and the game was tied at 7. Crestwood drove down all the way down to the field but had to settle for a field goal but the attempt hit the left post and the game stayed tied at 7. The defense held with another 3 and out. Crestwood's offense decided to air it out on the second play as Lance Blass connected with Brandon Brozena for a 41 yard catch to the Patriot 8 and two plays later, Blass would score from 2 yards out to give Crestwood a 14-7 lead. Pittston Area converted a 3rd and 4 with a completion to Rich Wallace for 4 yards but on the next play, the Patriots fumbled and Crestwood's Garrett McAfee recovered the ball and returned it 53 yards for a score and gave Crestwood a 2 touchdown lead. Crestwood attempted an onside kick but the Patriots recovered and Crestwood got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the drive started at the Crestwood 36 and three plays later, Walter Coles threw to Kevin Krawczyk for a 26 yard touchdown to cut the Patriot's deficit to 21-14. Crestwood continued to drive on the Patriots as they got to the PA 10 yard line, the Patriots defense held them to no points as they went into halftime.
The second half started with Pittston Area getting the ball but didn't answer as they went 3 and out. Crestwood continued to move the ball on the Patriots and ended with a Lance Blass 10 yard touchdown run to make it 28-14. On the kickoff, Rich Wallace returned the ball to the Crestwood 26 and the Patriots didn't let it go to waste as Coles connected with Krawczyk on a 5 yard Touchdown pass to put the game back to a one touchdown game in 28-21 and the quarter would end with the Comets leading 28-21. Crestwood kept putting in short runs and eventually scored on a 6 yard touchdown run by Owen Grigas to make it 35-21. With Pittston Area down 2 scores, they needed to capitalize on this drive. Coles and Woodruff connected on passes 4 times on the drive for 62 yards and it ended on Walter Coles third touchdown pass of the night with a 4 yard touchdown pass to Jon DeLucca in the back of the endzone on fourth down to make it 35-28 Crestwood. Pittston Area would attempt an onside kick but Crestwood's Pat Colo got on top of the ball and Crestwood would convert 2 first downs to seal their first victory of the season 35-28.

Thoughts on the game: Great game by Crestwood on offense, didn't have too many big plays but whittled down the clock with long drives which resulted in scores. I was impressed by Pittston Area's QB Walter Coles and RB Keemar Woodruff. Woodruff tallied 100 yards on the ground and 80 yards receiving. Coles also impressed with his 3 TD passes.

Stats
Pittston Area
Passing
Walter Coles 11/15 127 Yards 3 TDs 0 INTs

Rushing
Keemar Woodruff 12 Carries 100 yards 1 TD
Walter Coles 6 carries 16 yards
Rich Wallace 1 carry -2 yards
Dylan Spurlyn 1 carry 1 yard

Receiving
Rich Wallace 1 catch 4 yards
Kevin Krawczyk 3 catches 40 yards 2 TDs
Mike Starinsky 1 catch -1 yards
Keemar Woodruff 6 catches 80 yards
John DeLucca 1 catch 4 yards 1 TD

Crestwood
Passing
Lance Blass 4/6 89 yards 1 TD 0 INTs
Kyle Richards 1/3 10 yards 0 TD 0 INTs

Rushing
Owen Grigas 20 carries 117 yards 1 TD
Lance Blass 17 carries 87 yards 2 TDs
Pat Rother 19 carries 99 yards
Jacob Barney 1 carry 3 yards
Kevin Klusewitz 1 carry -1 yards
Brandon Brozena 3 carries 6 yards
Kyle Richards 1 carry 7 yards
Ryan Black 1 carry 2 yards

Receiving
Kevin Klusewitz 1 catch 1 yard
Pat Rother 1 catch 18 yards 1 TD
Brandon Brozena 1 catch 41 yards
Kyle Richards 1 catch 29 yards
Lance Blass 1 catch 10 yards

Defensive
Garrett McAfee 1 FR 1 TD

The Coming of a New Season

Well, here we are, the beginning of the 2016-2017 HS Sports season. The fall sports started their practices last week and football has been back for about 2 weeks and oh boy, is there going to be some changes this year. The sports got more classifications and I will be explaining right now.

FOOTBALL INCREASES TO SIX CLASSIFICATIONS

Last October, the PIAA voted to increase the number of classifications from 4 to 6 and in several other sports like baseball, softball and basketball also increased to 6 classifications.

TEAMS IN THE CLASSIFICATIONS

Here is a list of what teams are in which classification:

6A

Delaware Valley

Scranton

Hazleton Area

Williamsport (District 4)

5A

Abington Heights

Wallenpaupack

Valley West

4A

West Scranton

North Pocono

Valley View

Honesdale

Crestwood

Coughlin

Pittston Area

Wyoming Area

Berwick

Tunkhannock

Dallas

3A

Scranton Prep

Western Wayne

Nanticoke

Meyers

GAR

Lake-Lehman

Hanover Area

Holy Redeemer

2A

Dunmore

Lakeland

Riverside

Mid Valley

Susquehanna

Carbondale

Montrose

A

Lackawanna Trail

Old Forge

Northwest

Holy Cross

PLAYOFF FORMAT

In A and 6A, District 2 will have all 4 teams make the playoffs. 2A and 3A will have 4 teams in the playoffs and 4A will have 8 teams in the playoffs. 4A is interesting with all 8 of 11 teams going into the playoffs, there could be a possibility of a 4-6 or 3-7 team in the playoffs. 5A is in a Subregional with District 11.

Well with that, stay tuned the rest of the season. I will have a preview of games later on this week so stay tuned to that and hopefully I'll have a game blog this week weather permitting. Expect 2 to 3 posts from me a week during football season.