Wyoming Seminary at Nanticoke Boys

Wyoming Seminary came to Nanticoke to take on the Trojans. The 2003 Trojanette Softball team was recognized before the game started. The Trojans and Blue Knights played a tight first quarter but Nanticoke went on an 8-0 run after trailing 6-4 and would lead 12-8 after 1. Nanticoke would increase their lead to 11 with 5 points from Nate Kreitzer. However, 2 free throws from Nick Ganter and a 2 from Dimitri Gnall to cut the Blue Knights lead to 7 at halftime. The Blue Knights deficit was cut to 2 with 5 straights points from Gnall but a Nate Kreitzer 3 increased the lead to 5. After a Noah Munley field goal, Nate Kreitzer hit back-to-back 3s to end the quarter to give the Trojans a 37-28 lead after 3. Even after the Trojans increased the lead to 12, the Blue Knights kept fighting back. The Blue Knights went on an 8-2 to cut the lead to 6 but Nanticoke stopped them and sunk two free throws by Rich Wiaterowski and Luke Butczynski to seal the game by the score of 50-42. Nate Kreitzer scored 22 points and Justin Casey had 8 points for Nanticoke. Dimitri Gnall had 12 points and Tyler Maddock scored 11 for the Blue Knights.

Thoughts on the game: Great game by Nate Kreitzer, sunk a bunch of 3s off the bench and the Trojans as a team held off the Blue Knights. Dimitri Gnall had a good game for the Blue Knights as well as Tyler Maddock.

Abington Heights at Holy Redeemer Boys

Abington Heights came down to Wilkes-Barre to play the Holy Redeemer Royals. Abington Heights came off a victory over La Salle College on Saturday afternoon. Holy Redeemer came off a victory against Holy Cross. Abington Heights and Holy Redeemer were close at 4-3 but Abington Heights called timeout and they would go on a 15-3 run for the rest of quarter and would 19-3 after 1. Abington Heights continued their onslaught with 3 straight field goals, including back-to-back buckets from Jackson Danzig. Redeemer would attempt their hardest to get back into the game, with Colin Cook scoring 4 points to end the half but would trail by 20 at halftime. Trey Koehler would score the first 5 points of the third and would go on a 11-0 run, breaking the run by a 3 by Jason Stachokus but the Comets would lead 51-23 after three. Abington Heights would cruise in the fourth to take the victory 62-29. Trey Koehler would score 17 points and Seth Maxwell would have 11. For the Royals, James Kosik had 10 points and Colin Cook had 7.


Thoughts on the game: Seth Maxwell might be the main attraction of Abington Heights, but Trey Koehler had a great game tonight and he really stood out, scoring 17. Seth Maxwell had a pretty good game himself, scoring 11 and making the difference in the lane and on the boards. James Kosik had a pretty game for Holy Redeemer. He would score the first 6 points for Redeemer.

Hanover Area at Nanticoke Boys

Hanover Area came to Nanticoke to renew their rivalry. Both student sections both came to see their respective teams play. Nanticoke started the game on an 11-2 run and would lead 18-9 after 1. Nanticoke started the second with another run, this time on a 10-3 run. The Hawkeyes could cut the lead to 12 til Luke Butczynski and Cody Piestrak hit back-to-back threes to make it an 18 point lead and would lead 39-22 at halftime. Hanover Area would attempt a comeback with 5 straight points from Tyler Diggs to cut it to 12, but a Nate Kreitzer 3, a Justin Casey basket and one and a Luke Butczynski basket brought them to a 20 point lead and would lead 59-34 after 3. Nanticoke would cruise in the fourth with the final of 76-48. Luke Butczynski had a game-high 25 points and Nate Kreitzer had 16 points for the Trojans. Tyler Diggs had 15 points and Desmond McCamce had 8 points. 

Thoughts on the game: Nanticoke played a really good game. Luke Butczynski had a great game, scoring 25 points as well as Nate Kreitzer who had 16 points. I was impressed by Hanover Area's Tyler Diggs who had 15 points.

Hanover Area

D McCamce 8

T Diggs 15

M Piscotty 5

D Senk 3

L Rivera 6

A Hamlet 2

R Salwoski 3

D Marcincavage 3

E Materna 3

J Amador 2

Nanticoke

Nate Kreitzer 16

Justin Casey 10

Luke Butczynski 25

Alec Divers 8

Matt Piontkowski 1

Zach Cardone 6

Rich Wiaterowski 3

Cody Piestrak 3

Dylan Szychowski 1

Williamsport at Crestwood Girls

Crestwood and Williamsport played on a frigid Thursday night in a non conference clash. Crestwood led 5-4 til the Comets went on a 6-0 to end the quarter and would lead 11-5 after 1. The Lady Comets kept it up in the second quarter, going on a 11-1 run to start the quarter and would lead by 12 at half. Williamsport would cut Crestwood's lead to 10 but a Kate Snipas three point and a Bella Termini field goal would increase the lead to 15 and would by 17 at the end of third. The fourth quarter would start with the first 6 field goals going back and forth from the Millionaires and Comets. Williamsport would cut the lead to 10 late in the game but the Lady Comets would seal the game with an 11-0 run and would take the victory 59-38. 

Andrea Shipton, Bella Termini and Julia Makowski each scored 10 points for the Lady Comets. Jada Whaley scored a game-high 16 points and Gabrielle Thomas had 13. 

Thoughts on the game: Well balanced game by the Lady Comets on the scoresheet. 8 players had at least 1 field goal. Was impressed by how well they played. For Williamsport, great games by Jada Whaley and Gabrielle Thomas.

Williamsport

Gabrielle Thomas 13

Jada Whaley 16

Samiyah Little 7

Halle McCormick 2

Crestwood

Andrea Shipton 10

Bella Termini 10

Kate Snipas 7

Sara Hopkins 9

Sarah Richards 7

Julia Makowski 10

Allison Muse 2

Riley Magin 4

Forest City at Nanticoke Boys Basketball

Forest City came down to Nanticoke to start off their season. In the first quarter, after a 3-2 lead by Forest City, Nanticoke went on a 6-0 run to make it 8-3 but Jared Paulin ended it with a 2 pointer to cut it to 8-5. Justin Casey and Nate Kreitzer increased the lead to 6 but Kolby Rotella cut it down to three with a 3 pointer but a Nate Kreitzer 3 and a Rich Wiaterowski 2 gave Nanticoke a 16-8 lead after the first quarter. Luke Butczynski was held scoreless in the first quarter but started off with a basket and the foul and made the free throw which started an 11-0 run by the Trojans til Jordan Non hit a 3 pointer but Tyler Thomas would hit back-to-back two pointers to increase the lead to 20 and would lead 39-19 at the half. In the 3rd, the Trojans kept the Foresters to 2 baskets in the quarter and would lead 66-23 at the half and the mercy rule would run. The Trojans would win this one 76-27. Luke Butczynski had a game-high 26 points and Tyler Thomas scored 11 for the Trojans. Kolby Rotella had 8 points and Jordan Non had 7 for the Foresters.

Thoughts on the game: Nanticoke's Luke Butczynski had a great game, he scored 26 points in two quarters as he was held scoreless in the first quarter and sat out the fourth. Overall, the team played great. Nine different players scored a FG for the Trojans.

Forest City

Kolby Rotella 8

Jordan Non 7

Noah Yates 5

Jared Paulin 3

Dakota Knehr-Cook 2

Tyler Clift 1

Kyle Shema 1

Nanticoke

Luke Butczynski 26

Tyler Thomas 11

Justin Casey 8

Patrick Caesar 8

Nate Kreitzer 7

Zach Cardone 6

Trahjan Krupinski 4

Matt Piontkowski 4

Rich Wiaterowski 2

Solving the Scenarios

Well the end of the regular season is upon us. Some teams have already punched their ticket into next week and some need wins in the finale. Some of those teams in the playoffs are also fighting for seeding in the District 2 Tournament which starts next week. Well, with that being said, let's go into the scenarios

6A
-All teams make the postseason, and all are fighting for seeding.

-Scranton and Hazleton Area have clinched the 3 and 4 seeds in the 6A playoffs

-Williamsport and Delaware Valley have clinched home games

-Williamsport can clinch home field advantage throughout the District 2 playoffs with a win over Berwick or a Delaware Valley loss

-Delaware Valley can clinch the top seed with a victory over Abington Heights and a Williamsport loss

5A
-All 3 make the playoffs, top seed gets the bye

-Wallenpaupack has clinched the 3rd seed

-Valley West can clinch the top seed with a victory over Coughlin or an Abington Heights loss.

-Abington Heights can get the top seed with a victory or a Valley West loss

4A
-8 teams make the playoffs

-North Pocono, Wyoming Area, Berwick, Valley View, Coughlin, and West Scranton have clinched playoff spots.

-Crestwood can clinch with a win over Hazleton Area or a Pittston Area/Tunkhannock loss.

-Pittston Area can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over Wyoming Area with a win or Tunkhannock loss

-Tunkhannock can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over Northwest or a Pittston Area loss.

-North Pocono can clinch the No 1 seed with a win or a Wyoming Area loss.

-Wyoming Area can clinch the No 1 seed with a win and a North Pocono loss.

-Wyoming Area clinches the No 2 seed with a win

-Berwick cannot go higher than the No 3 seed, however will clinch the No 3 seed with a win.

-Valley View clinches the No 3 seed with a win and a Berwick loss.

-Coughlin cannot go lower than the No 6 seed.


3A
-Scranton Prep has clinched home field throughout the District 2 playoffs.

-Every team except for Holy Redeemer is still alive for a District 2 playoff spot.

2A
-Dunmore, Lakeland, Riverside and Mid Valley have clinched playoff spots

-Dunmore has clinched the top seed.

-Lakeland has clinched the No 2 seed.

-Riverside clinches the No 3 seed with a victory.

-Mid Valley clinches the No 3 seed with a victory over Lakeland and a Riverside loss.

A
-Lackawanna Trail and Northwest have clinched spots in the District Championship game.

-Northwest would clinch home field in Title game with a win over Tunkhannock

-Lackawanna Trail would clinch home field with a win over Montrose and a Northwest loss.

Week 7 Review

With 2 weeks left, several teams have clinched their spots in the playoffs whereas some teams are packing it up in two weeks when the season ends. Some teams in the final two weeks are still fighting to get in or are now fighting for seeding especially in 4A where 8 teams make it.

LAKELAND TAKES RAILRIDERS BOWL
Lakeland took down Old Forge 44-14 on Saturday night at PNC Field. Cyril Babcanec ran for 137 yards and 2 TDs and Mike Lowry ran in for 3 TDs. Both received the MVP Award. With the Old Forge loss, Northwest would need a win to clinch a spot in the A Championship Game.

VALLEY VIEW UPSETS NORTH POCONO
Valley View came to North Pocono and took the victory 12-7 to go to 4-4 on the season. Evan Carey ran in for a touchdown and Chandler Fuller threw a TD pass to Jake Osborne. Evan Carey also had an interception on defense.

CRESTWOOD TAKES DOWN HANOVER AREA
Lance Blass ran for 325 yards and 4 TDs as Crestwood took down the Hawkeyes 28-20. Crestwood has Valley West and Hazleton Area left and currently have the 7th seed in the 4A playoffs with Pittston Area and Tunkhannock trailing them for the final playoff spot.

VALLEY WEST TAKES DOWN THE BULLDOGS
Valley West came back from 14-0 down to take down Berwick 48-24. Aaron Austin ran for 126 yards and 3 TDs and Sean Judge ran for 142 yards and 3 TDs. Valley West has Crestwood and Coughlin remaining, if they are to win out, they can clinch a spot in the 5A District 2 Championship Game.

NORTHWEST SNEAKS PAST GAR
Jake Anderson ran for 171 yards and 3 TDs as Northwest got past GAR 20-17. If Northwest wins next week, they can clinch a spot in the District 2 A Championship game.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP
Delaware Valley took down Wilkes 52-10. Ryan Dailey threw for 215 yards and a touchdown pass to Zach Bogoly for Wilkes' only touchdown.

West Chester took down Bloomsburg 27-7. Duffy Gilhool threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to Hazleton Area grad Chad Hoffman for the Huskie' lone score.

DISTRICT 2 STANDINGS
6A
1 Williamsport 7-1 880 Pts
2 Delaware Valley 6-2 800 Pts
3 Scranton 3-5 310 Pts
4 Hazleton Area 1-7 110 Pts

5A
1 Valley West 6-2 780 Pts
2 Abington Heights 5-3 640 Pts
3 Wallenpaupack 3-5 310 Pts

4A
1 Wyoming Area 7-1 920 Pts
2 North Pocono 6-2 900 Pts
3 Berwick 5-3 630 Pts
4 Valley View 4-4 580 Pts
5 West Scranton 4-4 550 Pts
6 Coughlin 4-4 480 Pts
7 Crestwood 3-5 370 Pts
8 Pittston Area 2-6 240 Pts

9 Tunkhannock 2-6 220 Pts
10 Dallas 1-7 120 Pts
11 Honesdale 0-8 0 Pts

3A
1 Scranton Prep 7-1 1010 Pts
2 Lake-Lehman 5-3 650 Pts
3 Western Wayne 5-3 610 Pts
4 Meyers 5-3 590 Pts

5 Hanover Area 4-4 540 Pts
6 GAR 3-5 400 Pts
7 Nanticoke 3-5 390 Pts
8 Holy Redeemer 1-7 80 Pts

2A
1 Dunmore 8-0 1100 Pts
2 Lakeland 7-1 930 Pts
3 Riverside 5-3 590 Pts
4 Mid Valley 4-4 450 Pts

5 Susquehanna 3-5 360 Pts
6 Carbondale 3-5 360 Pts
7 Montrose 1-7 90 Pts

A
1 Lackawanna Trail 6-2 810 Pts
2 Northwest 5-3 760 Pts

3 Old Forge 3-5 400 Pts
4 Holy Cross 0-8 0 Pts

Coming into Place

The playoff picture is looking to become much more clearer as we head toward the end of the regular season. With some teams making the playoffs automatically, most are just playing for seeding. In 4A's case, all of the above .500 teams will make the playoffs and some are interesting like A, 2A and 3A. A gets only 2 and 2A and 3A get 4. With that being said, here are a few highlights from this past weekend and the standings will be at the end.

DELAWARE VALLEY KNOCKS OFF UNBEATEN WILLIAMSPORT
Delaware Valley knocked off Williamsport from the rank of unbeaten with a 42-40 victory on Saturday afternoon. Ryan Obiso ran for 194 yards and 4 touchdowns, the last one being the game-winning score. Matt Cavallaro threw for 275 yards for Delaware Valley.

VALLEY WEST TAKES TOP SPOT IN 5A
Jake Gurtis kicked a 37 yard field goal as time expired to give the Spartans a 23-20 victory over Abington Heights and gets them the top spot in 5A at the moment. Aaron Austin rushed for 127 yards and a score and threw for 106 yards for the Spartans.

LACKAWANNA TRAIL TAKES DOWN OLD FORGE
Thomas Huffsmith ran for 106 yards and a touchdown as the Lions took down Old Forge 17-8. Nathan Rolka also scored a touchdown for Lackawanna Trail.

NORTH POCONO BLOWS OUT WESTERN WAYNE
Matt Craig ran for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns as North Pocono took down Western Wayne 51-12. Tyler Musgrave ran for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans.

NORTHWEST TAKES DOWN THE HAWKEYES
Dave Piestrak scored on a 1 yard run with 10.7 seconds left as the Rangers took down Hanover Area 28-22. Jake Anderson ran for 153 yards and a touchdown for the Rangers.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP
-King's took Misericordia 42-35. Zach Whitehead threw for 355 yards and 3 TDs and ran for 99 yards and 2 TDs. Brandon Leap threw for 2 TDs and Clayton Vleck ran in for 2 scores.

-Bloomsburg fell to Kutztown 34-24. Chris Palubinsky passed for 267 yards and a touchdown and Lawrence Elliott Jr rushed for 2 TDs.

-Penn State beat Maryland 38-14. Saquon Barkley rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown and Trace McSorley threw for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns and also ran another one in.

District 2 Standings
6A
1 Williamsport 6-1 730 Pts
2 Delaware Valley 5-2 620 Pts
3 Scranton 3-4 290 Pts
4 Hazleton Area 0-7 0 Pts

5A
1 Valley West 5-2 620 Pts
2 Abington Heights 4-3 470 Pts
3 Wallenpaupack 3-4 300 Pts

4A
1 North Pocono 6-1 870 Pts
2 Wyoming Area 6-1 800 Pts
3 Berwick 5-2 600 Pts
4 Coughlin 4-3 460 Pts
5 West Scranton 3-4 450 Pts
6 Valley View 3-4 390 Pts
7 Crestwood 2-5 230 Pts
8 Tunkhannock 2-5 220 Pts

9 Pittston Area 1-6 120 Pts
10 Dallas 1-6 110 Pts
11 Honesdale 0-7 0 Pts

3A
1 Scranton Prep 6-1 830 Pts
2 Western Wayne 5-2 600 Pts
3 Lake-Lehman 4-3 530 Pts
4 Hanover Area 4-3 520 Pts

5 Meyers 4-3 460 Pts
6 Nanticoke 3-4 380 Pts
7 GAR 3-4 380 Pts
8 Holy Redeemer 1-6 80 Pts

2A
1 Dunmore 7-0 920 Pts
2 Lakeland 6-1 770 Pts
3 Riverside 4-3 500 Pts
4 Mid Valley 4-3 440 Pts

5 Susquehanna 3-4 350 Pts
6 Carbondale 2-5 250 Pts
7 Montrose 1-6 90 Pts

A
1 Lackawanna Trail 650 Pts
2 Northwest 4-3 600 Pts

3 Old Forge 3-4 390 Pts
4 Holy Cross 0-7 0 Pts

Upsets and Changes at the top

Week 6 came as a surprise to me on a few games. Nanticoke beating Crestwood just came as a major surprise to me, but well I was proven wrong. West Scranton knocking off North Pocono also came as a major surprise as well despite some controversy. In another game I found interesting that I didn't expect was Riverside knocking off Old Forge. Now with District 2 A, only 2 teams will be in the playoffs and currently Old Forge is third and 50 points behind Northwest. Some interesting matchups next week with Williamsport taking on Del Val. Abington Heights hosting Valley West which might determine who gets the bye in 5A. North Pocono takes on Western Wayne who are coming in with 5-1 records. Lake-Lehman and Nanticoke are playing on Thursday and are both 3-3 and can mix up the District 2 3A race. Meyers takes on Coughlin in a crossover matchup.

WEST SCRANTON UPSETS NO 1 NORTH POCONO
West Scranton knocked off top ranked North Pocono 27-20. Tamon Brown ran for 275 yards and 4 touchdowns in West Scranton's upset win. It looked like North Pocono could have tied it in the final minutes but the refs ruled the pass incomplete, I saw the play and I thought the refs made the right call because it looked like the ball hit the ground first and he didn't have possession.

NANTICOKE KNOCKS OFF CRESTWOOD
In one of the more surprising games, Nanticoke beat Crestwood on Friday night 25-22. Justin Casey caught a touchdown pass and also returned a fumble for the touchdown. I was impressed by Nanticoke overall, they are a young team that hopefully can get better.

SCRANTON PREP SQUEAKS BY VALLEY VIEW
Ricky Morgan ran for 91 yards and a touchdown and Jake Ryan also ran in for a touchdown as they knocked off Valley View 12-8.

MEYERS GETS PAST DALLAS
Kenny Macko kicked a game-winning FG with 43 seconds left to knock off Dallas 36-35. Janssen Wilborn ran for 126 yards and 2 TDs, he also threw 2 touchdown passes to Willie Wallace in the Mohawks victory.

WYOMING AREA BEATS HANOVER AREA
Brandon Charney ran for 92 yards and a touchdown and PJ Angeli threw a touchdown pass and also had the game-sealing interception as Wyoming Area got back in the win column.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP
King's fell to Albright 27-7. Zach Whitehead ran in for King's only touchdown of the day. Brandon Gonzalez had an INT for King's.

Wilkes lost to FDU-Florham 32-28. Ryan Dailey threw for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns. Garrett Armstrong caught 5 balls for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Misericordia fell to Stevenson 48-0.

Bloomsburg knocked off Millersville 29-15 to go to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in PSAC play. Lawrence Elliott Jr ran for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns and Chris Palubinsky threw for 236 yards and a touchdown.

Penn State knocked off Minnesota in overtime 29-26. Saquon Barkley ran in the game-winning score after Minnesota kicked a field goal on the opening possession of overtime. Trace McSorley threw for 335 yards and a touchdown to Irvin Charles. McSorley also ran in for a score.

District 2 Standings
6A
1 Williamsport 6-0 700 Pts
2 Delaware Valley 4-2 440 Pts
3 Scranton 2-4 180 Pts
4 Hazleton Area 0-6 0 Pts

5A
1 Abington Heights 4-2 460 Pts
2 Valley West 4-2 460 Pts
3 Wallenpaupack 2-4 200 Pts

4A
1 North Pocono 5-1 700 Pts
2 Wyoming Area 5-1 640 Pts
3 Berwick 4-2 470 Pts
4 West Scranton 3-3 420 Pts
5 Coughlin 3-3 320 Pts
6 Valley View 2-4 260 Pts
7 Tunkhannock 2-4 220 Pts
8 Pittston Area 1-5 120 Pts

9 Crestwood 1-5 110 Pts
10 Dallas 1-5 110 Pts
11 Honesdale 0-6 0 Pts

3A
1 Scranton Prep 5-1 680 Pts
2 Western Wayne 5-1 590 Pts
3 Hanover Area 4-2 500 Pts
4 Meyers 4-2 460 Pts

5 Lake-Lehman 3-3 400 Pts
6 Nanticoke 3-3 370 Pts
7 GAR 3-3 370 Pts
8 Holy Redeemer 1-5 80 Pts

2A
1 Dunmore 6-0 770 Pts
2 Lakeland 5-1 600 Pts
3 Riverside 4-2 490 Pts
4 Susquehanna 3-3 340 Pts

5 Mid Valley 3-3 320 Pts
6 Carbondale 1-5 160 Pts
7 Montrose 1-5 90 Pts

A
1 Lackawanna Trail 4-2 490 Pts
2 Northwest 3-3 430 Pts

3 Old Forge 3-3 380 Pts
4 Holy Cross 0-6 0 Pts

We're Halfway There

Well, here we are, the halfway point of the HS Football season. Now, some teams have proven they are real, while some teams still need to be tested and some teams are livin' on a prayer. Let's look into the playoff procedures this season and the standings entering the sixth week of games.

6A: All 4 teams qualify for the postseason

5A: All 3 teams qualify for the postseason and the top seed gets the bye

4A: 8 of 11 teams qualify for the postseason

3A: 4 of 8 teams qualify for the postseason

2A: 4 of 7 teams qualify for the postseason

A: Top 2 teams qualify for the postseason and play for the District Title

District 2 Standings
6A
1 Williamsport 5-0 540 Pts
2 Delaware Valley 3-2 320 Pts
3 Scranton 2-3 180 Pts
4 Hazleton Area 0-5 0 Pts

5A
1 Abington Heights 3-2 340 Pts
2 Valley West 3-2 340 Pts
3 Wallenpaupack 2-3 200 Pts

4A
1 North Pocono 5-0 670 Pts
2 Wyoming Area 4-1 500 Pts
3 Berwick 3-2 340 Pts
4 Coughlin 3-2 320 Pts
5 West Scranton 2-3 270 Pts
6 Valley View 2-3 240 Pts
7 Tunkhannock 2-3 210 Pts
8 Pittston Area 1-4 120 Pts

9 Crestwood 1-4 110 Pts
10 Dallas 1-4 110 Pts
11 Honesdale 0-5 0 Pts

3A
1 Scranton Prep 4-1 530 Pts
2 Hanover Area 4-1 470 Pts
3 Western Wayne 4-1 460 Pts
4 Meyers 3-2 330 Pts

5 Lake-Lehman 2-3 250 Pts
6 Nanticoke 2-3 240 Pts
7 GAR 2-3 230 Pts
8 Holy Redeemer 1-4 480 Pts

2A
1 Dunmore 5-0 620 Pts
2 Lakeland 4-1 460 Pts
3 Riverside 3-2 360 Pts
4 Susquehanna 3-2 340 Pts

5 Mid Valley 2-3 230 Pts
6 Carbondale 1-4 150 Pts
7 Montrose 1-4 90 Pts

A
1 Old Forge 3-2 380 Pts
2 Lackawanna Trail 3-2 350 Pts

3 Northwest 2-3 280 Pts
4 Holy Cross 0-5 0 Pts

Pottsville at Crestwood Football

Pottsville came to Mountain Top looking to avenge their losses to Crestwood in the last two years. Crestwood came into homecoming losing their last 3 games. Crestwood got the opening possession and got to the Pottsville 30 but could only get to the 28 on a 4th and 4 and Pottsville took over. Crestwood's defense stood tall by forcing a 3 and out, but Pottsville's defense answered by forcing a 3 and out with 2 sacks by Ian Renninger on first and second down. Pottsville got the ball at their own 4 after a penalty and converted on a 3rd and 4 by a 23 yard run by quarterback Eric Wapinsky but on the next play, the snap sailed over his head for a 24 yard loss and were forced to punt. Pottsville then forced another Crestwood 3 and out. We were scoreless after 1. First play of the second quarter, Darion Jacoby raced 51 yards for a score and the PAT was no good and Pottsville struck first 6-0. On a 3rd and 4, Passman found Kyle Richards for a 19 yard reception. However, Renninger sacked Passman two more times and the Comets were forced to punt. Pottsville started at their 14, and would convert on 3rd and 9 with Wapinsky going to Kory Kleckner for 12 yards. Pottsville had another 3rd down and Wapinski found another receiver, this time it was Tyler Timberlake for 16 yards. The Crimson Tide faced a 4th and 1 at the Crestwood 20 and would convert on a Eric Wapinsky 3 yard run and two plays later, Warpinsky found Kleckner for a 17 yard touchdown pass. The Extra point was good and it was 13-0 with 2:14 remaining in the 2nd quarter. We would enter halftime with the score being 13-0. Pottsville started with the ball to start the second half at their own 42, they would get to the Crestwood 28 and looked like they converted a 4th and 4 but an illegal procedure was called and on 4th and 9, the pass fell incomplete and Crestwood took over and gained 15 yards after a Pottsville unsportsmanlike penalty so Crestwood got it at their own 48. Pottsville's defense forced another three and out but Crestwood attempted a fake punt but ended up losing yardage and Pottsville took over at the Crestwood 46. After a holding penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty made it 2nd and 26, Ian Murhon gained 8 to make it 3rd and 18 and Wapinsky found Jacoby for a 23 yard gain for a first down. On the next play, Eric Wapinsky ran 27 yards for a touchdown. PAT was no good and it's 19-0 Pottsville. Crestwood got as far as their own 44 but Chase Passman would be intercepted by Darion Jacoby and he would return it 65 yards for a touchdown as the third quarter ended. The extra point was good and it's 26-0 Pottsville. Crestwood's offense kept sputtering as the Tide defense forced yet another 3 and out. On their possession, Wapinsky found Ian Renninger in the end zone for a 24 yard touchdown catch and made it 33-0 with 7:24 remaining. Crestwood's possession ended with a fumble recovered by Pottsville and the Crimson Tide ran the clock out to give Pottsville the victory 33-0.

Thoughts on the game: Pottsville played great on both sides of the ball. Darion Jacoby ran well and he picked off a pass and returned it all the way for a score. Eric Wapinsky did very well running and throwing the ball. There's many more that played well, including Ian Renninger who by my count had 4 sacks on the game and caught a touchdown pass.

Pottsville
Passing
Eric Wapinsky 9/15 116 Yards 2 TDs 0 INTs

Rushing
Darion Jacoby 10 carries 82 yards 1 TD
Ian Murhon 5 carries 16 yards
Eric Wapinsky 7 carries 32 yards 1 TD
Matt Williams 1 carry 8 yards
Justice Minor 4 carries 3 yards
Mike Botto 3 yards 14 yards

Receiving
Ian Murhon 2 catches 5 yards
Kory Kleckner 2 catches 29 yards 1 TD
Tyler Timberlake 1 catch 16 yards
Steven Drum 1 catch 7 yards
Matt Williams 1 catch 13 yards
Darion Jacoby 1 catch 23 yards
Ian Renninger 2 catches 29 yards 1 TD

Defense
Darion Jacoby 1 INT 1 TD

Crestwood
Passing
Chase Passman 2/6 16 yards 0 TDs 1 INT

Rushing
Owen Grigas 8 carries 24 yards
Brandon Brozena 5 carries 7 yards
Chase Passman 10 carries 19 yards
Pat Rother 10 carries 19 yards

Receiving
Kyle Richards 1 catch 19 yards
Pat Rother 1 catch -3 yards

Difference A Week Can Make

Well we are almost at the halfway point and we can see that some teams have separated themselves from the others. Meanwhile, some are still trying to figure out their identity. 4A is going to be one of the more interesting playoff races with 8 teams making the playoffs. Some teams will be tested this week which will mark the midway point of the season.

WYOMING AREA AND NORTH POCONO REMAIN UNDEFEATED
Wyoming Area stayed undefeated with a 38-14 victory over Coughlin. Brian Miles rushed for 190 yards and 4 TDs. They play host to Scranton Prep on Friday. North Pocono took a 33-7 victory over Scranton. Donny Blaine threw for 161 yards and an 87 yard touchdown pass to Matt Craig. North Pocono hosts Delaware Valley on Friday.

HOLY REDEEMER FORFEITS GAME TO WESTERN WAYNE
Due to a lack of healthy players, Holy Redeemer decided to forfeit their Friday night game against Western Wayne. The first time in quite a while a team has forfeited due to lack of players.

HIGH SCORING AFFAIR
Delaware Valley and West Scranton played a pretty high scoring game on Friday night at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Delaware Valley came out on top with a 63-32 victory. Del Val scored double digit points in all four quarters.

HANOVER AREA SNEAKS OUT A VICTORY
Hanover Area took down Mid Valley 36-35. Brandon Chafin threw for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown. The Hawkeyes are a very surprising 3-1.

WILLIAMSPORT TAKES DOWN VALLEY WEST
Williamsport took down Valley West on Friday night 35-22. Trey Potts had 231 yards and 2 touchdowns. Valley West has lost 2 straight games, however I will say there is no need to panic because their two losses came to 6A Delaware Valley and now to Williamsport.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP
-King's College fell to Delaware Valley 49-14. Zach Whitehead threw to Mike Palmer for a TD and Alvonte Thompson ran in for the other score for King's.

-Wilkes knocked off Misericordia 46-23 for their first win of the season. Ryan Dailey threw for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jacob Brook ran another one in for Wilkes. Will Deemer caught both touchdown passes, along with 9 catches and 168 yards. Brandon Leap threw for 2 TDs for Misericordia.

-Bloomsburg fell to Gannon 30-27. Lawrence Elliott Jr ran for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chris Palubinsky threw for 224 yards for Bloomsburg.

Berwick at Crestwood football

Crestwood looked to snap a two game losing streak as they return home to take on Berwick. The Bulldogs were looking to get back on track after losing to Wyoming Area. Berwick started with the ball and on the first play, Mike Force ran into Crestwood territory with a 23 yard gain, on a third and 7, Lenny Wyda got a gain of 13 but the next three plays went for negative yards and were forced to punt and would pin Crestwood at their own 1, but an offsides got the ball to the 6 but a false start moved it to the 3 but the Comets would go 3 and out and on the punt, the punter would go out of bounds and the Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead. Berwick would get the ball at the Crestwood 38. After Wyda ran for a first down on second and 1, Berwick had a 4th and 8 and went for it but Jeff Schmude sacked Force giving Crestwood the ball. On the drive, Rother got the Comets to midfield on a 12 yard run, and they finished the drive with 6 yard touchdown run by Pat Rother. PAT was good and lead 7-2 and would lead by that score at the end of the first quarter. Berwick on the next drive, moved the ball down to the field all the way to the Crestwood 7 but the Comet defense denied them the end and the Dawgs had to settle for a 25 yard Field Goal attempt by Kenny Marshman and made the field goal to make it 7-5. Berwick would force a three and out on the next Crestwood possession. Berwick moved the ball once again into Crestwood territory and got it the 24 on a 4th and 7 but Crestwood's Nate Smith sacked Force to cause a turnover on downs. Crestwood and Berwick traded three and outs before going into halftime. Crestwood and Berwick traded three and outs on their first two drives of the second half. Berwick would pin the Comets at their own 7 yard line and would get to their own 34 before they were forced to punt. On the ensuing Bulldog possession, Berwick had a 3rd and 4 at the Crestwood 42 and Lenny Wyda ran for a gain of 29 to the Crestwood 13, but couldn't get much and had to settle for a 29 yard FG attempt for Kenny Marshman and he would make it to give the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead with 1:21 remaining in the third quarter. On the kickoff, Kevin Klusewitz had a big kick return and got it to the Crestwood 43. On 2nd and 9, Chase Passman had a broken play and ran for 31 yards to the Berwick 25 to end the third quarter, after a 3 yard Klusewitz run, a holding penalty killed them on the drive, eventually forcing a 4th and 16 and Passman's pass was intercepted by Evan Klinger at the 2 yard line. On the first play of the Bulldog drive, what looked like a play just to get yardage by Mike Force turned into a 48 yard gain to midfield, almost zigging and zagging all over to get there. Three plays later, after the Comets got a big loss of 10, Mike Force found Lenny Wyda for a 49 yard touchdown. PAT is good and lead 15-7 with 6:17 remaining in the game. Crestwood would need a touchdown and a 2 point conversion to tie the game. Passman and Rother led the charge by getting all the way to the Berwick 36 on 3rd and 1 but the Bulldog defense gave Rother a loss ofn1 and on 4th and 2, Passman attempted to run but was stripped of the ball and had to dive on it but the Bulldogs took over and all they had to do was take a knee and Berwick held on to take the victory 15-7.

Thoughts on the game: One of the more interesting Berwick/Crestwood games I've seen. Crestwood's defense improved from last week but still gave up several big plays. I was impressed by Crestwood's pass rush, in the first half, they got to Mike Force 3 times, twice on fourth down. Berwick's defense played very well, only giving up the touchdown in the first quarter but denied them the end zone after that.

Berwick

Passing

Mike Force 8/15 81 Yards 1 TD 0 INTs

Alex Force 0/1 0 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs

Rushing

Mike Force 20 carries 93 yards

Lenny Wyda 20 carries 91 yards

Alex Force 1 carry -9 yards

Receiving

Matt Champ 2 catches 7 yards

Denver Knorr 1 catch 1 yard

Lenny Wyda 3 catches 46 yards 1 TD

Anthony Cincini 1 catch 7 yards

Harrison Kichka 2 catches 20 yards

Defense

Evan Klinger 1 INTs

Crestwood

Passing

Chase Passman 2/3 30 yards 0 TDs 1 INT

Rushing

Kyle Richards 1 carry 2 yards

Chase Passman 4 carries 30 yards

Brandon Brozena 4 carries 6 yards

Alex Despirito 1 carry -5 yards

Pat Rother 21 carries 69 yards 1 TD

Owen Grigas 10 carries 21 yards

Kevin Klusewitz 1 carry 3 yards

Receiving

Kyle Richards 1 catch 20 yards

Kevin Klusewitz 1 catch 10 yards

Class is in session

Well, this week had a few games that would go in and test these teams and see how good they are. Some have passed with flying colors and others have some work to do. Well, with enough said, here are a few highlights from this week's games

WYOMING AREA KNOCKS OFF BERWICK AT THE DAWG POUND
Wyoming Area beat Berwick on Friday night 34-20. Brian Miles had 102 yards and 2 TDs. Berwick came in outscoring their opponents 83-0. I thought this was more of a test for Wyoming Area than it was for Berwick but the game proved that Wyoming Area is for real. No rest for the Warriors however as they host Coughlin and Scranton Prep in the next two weeks.

NANTICOKE UPSETS GAR
Nanticoke beat GAR at home 16-13. Eric Jeffries returned a fumble 73 yards and the defense gave up 62 yards totals. Justin Casey also added 3 sacks for Nanticoke. Surprising result for Nanticoke, after losing to Tunkhannock, I did not see them beating GAR.

DUNMORE WINS BATTLE OF THE BEST
Dunmore beat Lakeland 32-21 in a matchup of highly ranked teams. Colin Holmes ran for 2 touchdowns and caught another. Kyle Lasher ran for 125 yards and a touchdown. Mike Lowry had a 71 yard touchdown run for Lakeland.

HANOVER AREA TAKES DOWN MEYERS
Hanover Area took down Meyers 20-14 in overtime. Brandon Chafin had 147 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game-winner. Hanover Area came back from 14-0 down to force overtime.

DELAWARE VALLEY TAKES VICTORY
Delaware Valley beat Valley West 29-13. Matt Cavalaro threw for 263 yards and 3 TDs and Ryan Obiso ran for 131 yards and a touchdown. After their opening night loss, Del Val has proven they are the best team in 6A.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP
-Penn State fell to Pitt 42-39. Saquon Barkley had 5 total TDs for Penn State in the loss.
-King's defeated Lycoming 41-28. Zach Whitehead threw for 423 yards and a touchdown pass to Trey Campbell. Tyler Marroni had 10 catches for 170 yards.
-Wilkes fell to Lebanon Valley 38-20. Jose Tabora ran in for a touchdown for Wilkes.
-Misericordia fell to Delaware Valley 49-7. Clayton Vleck ran in for a touchdown for Misericordia.
-Bloomsburg went to 2-0 with a victory over Clarion 35-20. Lawrence Elliot Jr ran for 134 yards and a TD and Joe Parsnik ran for 90 yards and a touchdown for Bloomsburg.

Improvements

With the second week of the HS Football season upon us, several teams were looking for their first win of the season and some were looking to improve on their opening night victory. The college teams started their season this weekend.

BERWICK WINS IN A LANDSLIDE TO GO TO 2-0
In a matchup of former local college head coaches, Frank Sheptock came out on top in a landslide fashion.

WYOMING AREA GOES TO 2-0
Wyoming Area went surprisingly to 2-0 on the season and have started off well by shutting out Wallenpaupack and beating Crestwood and only giving up an opening drive touchdown. This week, they take on Berwick which should be a good test for both teams.

NORTH POCONO SHUTS OUT ABINGTON HEIGHTS
North Pocono improved to 2-0 by beating Abington Heights 20-0, which is surprising because Abington Heights knocked off Scranton Prep.

LOCAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP
Wilkes fell to Muhlenberg on Friday night 29-22. Ryan Dailey threw for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns. Aaron Coyne and Will Deemer caught touchdown passes.

King's fell to Moravian 50-35. Zach Whitehead threw 4 touchdown passes and ran another in, throwing for 391 yards. Mike Palmer had 11 catches for 120 yards. Matt DeMarco caught 2 touchdown passes.

Misericordia fell to Utica 40-6. Brandon Leap threw for 139 yards and a touchdown to Ryan Kurtz.

Bloomsburg knocked off Stonehill College 24-20 on Friday night. Lawrence Elliot, Jr ran for 107 yards and 3 touchdowns including a 75 yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter.

Penn State knocked off Kent State 33-13. Trace McSorley threw for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns and Saquon Barkley ran for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Scranton Prep at Coughlin Football

Scranton Prep traveled to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night to take on Coughlin. Scranton Prep came in looking for their first win of the season whereas Coughlin was looking to go to 2-0 on the season. Scranton Prep started the game with the ball and moved the ball to their own 48 but a loss of 5 on second down and a pass short of the first down forced the Cavaliers to punt. Coughlin would get the ball with good field position after Scranton Prep had a bad snap and the Crusaders got it at the Scranton Prep 33 but couldn't capitalize and had to punt and pinned the Cavaliers to their own 10 yard line. They converted a 3 and 4 with Jake Ryan throwing to Tom Doherty for 10. On the next set of downs on 3rd and 14, Jake Ryan threw to Mario Giannone and got 37 to get to the Coughlin 41. Ryan then connected to Jake Grady for 18 on 2nd and 15. Coughlin looked like they would hold Prep to no points after Jake Cole sacked Ryan on 3rd down but Jake Ryan went on Jake Grady for a 30 yard touchdown pass, they missed the PAT and it was a 6-0 Scranton Prep lead. Coughlin looked to answer and got into Scranton Prep territory but Kyle Polishan sacked Kevin Kozerski and on the next play Kozerski was intercepted by Jake Ryan to end the drive. Scranton Prep looked to capitalize but couldn't and was forced to punt. Scranton Prep then forced a Coughlin 3 and out. Scranton Prep on the next two plays got big runs from Ricky Morgan and Braden Burrier who got 15 and 20 respectively getting to midfield. Ryan then connected with Giannone on a diving catch for 33 yards to the Coughlin 16 but couldn't move it past the 14 and attempted a field goal and made it to make it 9-0 Cavaliers with 2:10 remaining in the second quarter. On the next possession, Kozerski went to Melvin Robinson for 11 on 3rd and 7 but Kozerski would be intercepted by Jake Grady and we would go to halftime with Scranton Prep leading 9-0. The opening kick of the 2nd half was misplayed by the Crusaders and the Cavaliers took over at the Crusader 17. The Crusaders looked like they would force a field goal attempt on 4th and 3 at the 11 but jumped offsides on to give Prep a first down and two plays later, Ricky Morgan would score from 3 yards out and the PAT would be made to make it 16-0 with 10:01 left in the 3rd. Scranton Prep and Coughlin traded three and outs on their possessions. Coughlin started off by going to Melvin Robinson for 8 and then Jake Cole ran for 8 on 2nd and 2 for a first down, but ended up short on 3rd down and tried to go for it on 4th down but a false start forced them to punt. Scranton Prep started by gaining 6 yards on the first two plays from Morgan and Ryan, after a Coughlin offsides, Ryan connected with Grady on a 41 yard pass play to the Coughlin 10. Three plays later, Ryan went to Braden Burrier for a 7 yard Touchdown pass and with the PAT made it 23-0 with 39.5 to go in the third quarter. Coughlin went 3 and out on the next possession and looked like they would get a chance to score after Jervone Young picked off Ryan and returned it to the Scranton Prep 29. The Coughlin possession had a heavy dose of Jake Cole and had a first and goal at the 9, but on 3rd and goal, Kozerski was sacked by Anthony Rossi and on fourth down, the pass was deflected and went incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs. Ricky Morgan started the drive with an 11 yard run but the Prep offense couldn't get another first down and were forced to punt but the snap went out of the end zone and made it 23-2. On the Coughlin, Kozerski went to the end zone and was intercepted by Jake Ryan to seal the victory for Scranton Prep.

Thoughts on the game: Scranton Prep looked really good. Jake Ryan looked like the best player on the field on both sides of the ball. Picking off two passes on defense and throwing 2 touchdown passes and had 212 yards. Coughlin's penalties killed them during the game. They could have had Prep settle for a field goal but go offside and then score 2 plays later.

Stats

Scranton Prep

Passing

Jake Ryan 14/21 212 Yards 2 TDs 1 INT

Rushing

Ricky Morgan 25 carries 60 yards TD

Jake Ryan 4 carries 20 yards

Braden Burrier 3 carries 24 yards

Receiving

Sam Dickson 2 catches 10 yards

Jake Grady 4 catches 95 yards TD

Tom Doherty 1 catch 10 yards

Mario Giannone 3 catches 71 yards

Matt Gilmartin 2 catches 5 yards

Cree Coccodrilli 1 catch 19 yards

Braden Burrier 1 catch 7 yards TD

Defense

Jake Ryan 2 INTs

Jake Grady 1 INT

Coughlin

Passing

Kevin Kozerski 3/10 22 yards 0 TDs 3 INTs

Jake Cole 0/1

Rushing

Kevin Kozerski 4 carries -13 yards

Vincent Todd 4 carries 2 yards

Jake Cole 14 carries 55 yards

Jervone Young 1 carry 1 yard

Receiving

Melvin Robinson 2 catches 19 yards

Vincent Todd 1 catch 3 yards

Defense

Jervone Young 1 INT

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.

The End of the Season

Well, here we are, the end of the spring sports season and with that, high school sports comes to a close til August. It has been a crazy baseball and softball tournament hasn't it? Well here are some of the highlights of the District 2 teams in Districts and in States.

The craziest win goes to....

The Crestwood/Coughlin 1st Round District 2 baseball matchup. Crestwood was trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th. Crestwood would then tie the game on a wild pitch and then eventually win on a wild pitch a few batters later for a 3-2 win. Crestwood would get past Berwick in the quarters before falling to Valley View in the semis.

There's a first time for everything

Northwest would win their 1st District Title and yet it was the most improbable run to the Finals. As the 7 seed, they had to face defending champion Montrose in the quarterfinals and Lackawanna League Division 3 champ Holy Cross in the semis before having to face WVC Dovision rival Hanover Area, who was making their 3rd straight appearance in the finals. It seemed like they were underdogs in every matchup from the quarterfinals on but they prevailed each time.

State Playoff Runs

Last year, Valley West and Abington Heights baseball proved that District 2 teams can go very far in the State Playoffs. North Pocono proved it again this year when they advanced to the State semifinals and only lost 1-0 to Susquehanna Twp. On the softball side, 3 teams from District 2 advanced to the semifinals in Holy Redeemer, Abington Heights and Hazleton Area. Valley West and Forest City baseball also made a nice run, advancing to the state quarterfinals.

Back-to-Back

Congrats to the Holy Redeeemer Royals softball team for winning back-to-back State Championships. Their run was just really impressive considering in the District 2 tournament, they had to fight in their quarterfinal matchup against Elk Lake and won on a walk-off and then in the District Finals, were trailing 3-0, then tied and in extras trailed again and won in the bottom half to win the District title. To mention, they trailed their first round state matchup and their quarterfinal matchup before dominating their semifinal and Championship game. The run they had was just incredible and we'll see what happens next year with this program and hopefully they can go for the 3peat

And Finally.....

I want thank anyone who has been reading the blog this year. Whether it was a game article or just the weekly ones. Stay tuned over the summer as I may have a few things up my sleeve and Inwill definitely be up and at it when August comes around and then football season is right around the corner. Well, with that, the 2015-2016 High School Sports season comes to a close. Congrats to all the seniors who graduate or already have graduated and good luck with whatever you have planned.

District 2 A Title Game (Forest City vs Blue Ridge)

Forest City and Blue Ridge played deep into the night on Monday. Blue Ridge was looking to take back to back titles whereas Forest City is coming in avenging their loss in the title game a year ago. Forest City sent Mitch Blake to the mound and Blue Ridge answered with Jordan Goff. Goff started off with a 1-2-3 inning in the first. Jordan Goff led off the inning with a double and would move to third on the overthrow. Jake Decker would bring him home on a sac fly RBI to make it 1-0 Red Raiders. Derek Stento would reach on an error but after a flyout , he would be caught stealing for the final out of the inning. Mitch Blake lead off by reaching on an error, then advanced to third on a single by Adam Kowalewski then Blake scored on a sac fly by Clift to tie the game at 1. Jake Decker came in to pitch for the Red Raiders. Jordan Hicks-Cook then drew a walk but Decker would settle in, striking out the next 2 to keep it tied. Mitch Blake threw a 1-2-3 2nd inning for the Foresters. Kyle Shema reached on an error to lead off the 3rd but would be forced out on a fielder's choice then Dakota Knehr-Cook singled to move Dylan O'Dell to second. Adam Kowalewski then singled to score O"Dell to give the Foresters a 2-1 lead. In the the bottom of the third, Jeff Zawiski reached on an error with one out, but would be forced out on a fielder's choice and then a strikeout ended the 4th inning. Decker threw a 1-2-3 5th inning for the Red Raiders. Eric Peters would draw a one out walk for the Red Raiders, after a lineout, Goff then singled, moving Peters to second and Decker drew a walk to load the bases. Derek Stento would then drive in Peters and Goff to give Blue Ridge a 3-2 lead at the end of 5. Adam Kowalewski hit a one out single and Tyler Clift reached on an error, moving Kowalewski to third, but a popout and a fielder's choice ended the threat. RJ Kuruts came in to pitch for the Foresters and would strike out the side in the 6th. RJ Kuruts would lead off with a walk, then Kyle Shema singled to move Kuruts to second. O'Dell would then drive in Kuruts to tie the game at 3, then Mitch Blake drove in Shema to give the Foresters a 4-3 lead. O'Dell and Blake would both come around to score on wild pitches to make it 6-3 in favor of the Foresters going into the bottom of the seventh. Eric Peters and Jeff Zawiski each off no out walks and would advance to second and third on a wild pitch. Jordan Goff would bring in Peters to cut the Foresters' lead to 6-4, after a Jake Decker single, Derek Stento would drive in Zawiski on a sacfly to make it 6-5. Decker would eventually go to third on a balk and a wild pitch and Evan Aldrich would draw a 2 out walk but a strikeout would give the Foresters the District title with a 6-5 victory over the defending champs.


Thoughts on the game: Kinda of a sloppy game defensively. One of the more dramatic games, especially at the end. Congrats to Forest City on winning the District title.


Forest City 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 6
Blue Ridge 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 5


Forest City
SS/P Kuruts 3 1 0 0
1B/SS Shema 4 1 1 0
C O'Dell 4 2 1 1
P/1B Blake 4 2 0 1
3B Knehr-Cook 4 0 1 0
CF Kowalewski 3 0 3 1
2B Clift 2 0 0 1
LF Hicks-Cook 3 0 0 0
RF O'Neill 4 0 0 0


Blue Ridge
P/CF Goff 3 2 2 1
SS/P Decker 3 0 1 1
C Stento 3 0 1 3
1B Aldrich 3 0 0 0
CF/2B Armondi 4 0 0 0
3B N Folk 3 0 0 0
LF KFolk 0 0 0 0
DH Conrad 3 0 0 0
LF Peters 1 2 0 0
2B/SS Zawiski 2 1 0 0


Pitching
Forest City
Blake 5 IP 3 R 3 ER 3 H 7 K 2 BB
Kuruts (L) 2 IP 2 R 2 ER 1 H 4 K 3 BB


Blue Ridge
Goff 2.1 IP 1 R 0 ER 1 H 3 K 0 BB
Decker (W) 4.2 IP 5 R 3 ER 5 H 9 K 4 BB  

District 2 4A Title Game (Valley West vs Delaware Valley)

Valley West and Delaware Valley came in looking for a District title. Valley West looked for back-to-back titles while Delaware Valley was looking for it's first title since 2006. Valley West sent Tyler Yankosky to the mound while Delaware Valley countered with Trevor Bertsch. Ryan Hogan drew a two out walk for the Spartans in the top of the first. Justin Vought would reach on a error then Tyler Yankosky drove home Hogan and Yankosky to make it 2-0 Valley West going to the bottom of the 1st. Yankosky threw a 1-2-3 1st for the Spartans. Eric Raitter drew a 2 out walk but a strikeout ended the threat. Yankosky threw another 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd. Rich Sott drew a leadoff walk then Ryan Hogan singled, then Justin Vought walked to load the bases. Mike Pollick would then draw a bases loaded walk with two outs to make it 3-0 then Dave McCue made it 4-0 on another bases loaded walk. Matt Cavallaro came in to pitch for the Warriors and induced a grounder to second for the last out of the top of the third. Then there was an hour and a half rain delay but after, Ryan Simpson hit a one out single for Delaware Valley's first hit of the game but a pop out and a strikeout ended the inning. Lawrence Cicileo just missed a home run by a foot in the third. Rich Sott and Ryan Hogan each hit one out singles then Vought drove home Sott and Hogan on a double to right center to make it 6-0 Spartans. Yankosky would then throw another 1-2-3 inning with some help from the defense behind him. Bertsch looked like he would have a hit but Sott dove and make the catch for the first out of the bottom of the 4th and for the final out, Popson dove for the ball and threw to Eric Raitter for the final out of the 4th. Eric Raitter and Justin Montalvo each hit two out singles but a strikeout ended the top half of the 5th inning. Matt Cavallaro hit a one out single but a fielder's choice and a groundout ended the inning. Ryan Hogan drew a leadoff walk then Peyton Baker came in to pitch for the Warriors then Justin Vought singled to move Hogan to second. Tyler Yankosky hit a ball deep to right center to score Sott and Hogan on a triple to make it 8-0 Valley West. Dillon Petzold came in to pitch for the Warriors. Dominick Bayo singled home Yankosky to make it 9-0. Mike Pollick walk to move Bayo to second, after a popout, Eric Raitter drew a walk to load the bases, after a strikeout, Rich Sott drove in Bayo to make it 10-0 and they would go to the bottom of the 6th to potentially take the District title. Tyler Yankosky would then strike out the side in the 6th and the Spartans would take the District title 10-0 in 6 innings.


Thoughts on the game: Tyler Yankosky was magnificent on the mound and at the plate. Delaware Valley had some issues on the mound today, issuing 12 walks altogether. Valley West looked like they were focused on getting back to back titles and now they focus on the possibility of reaching the State title game for the second straight year.


Valley West 2 0 2 2 0 4 10
Delaware Valley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


Valley West
CF Montalvo 5 0 1 0
RF Sott 3 2 1 1
SS Hogan 2 4 1 0
C Vought 3 2 2 2
P Yankosky 4 1 2 4
LF Bayo 4 1 1 1
2B Popson 0 0 0 0
DH Pollick 2 0 0 1
3B McCue 3 0 0 1
1B Raitter 2 0 1 0


2B: Vought 3B: Yankosky


Delaware Valley
CF Cicileo 3 0 0 0
P/2B Bertsch 3 0 0 0
C Klapak 3 0 0 0
3B/1B Kain 2 0 0 0
LF Cerberville 2 0 0 0
2B/P Cavallaro 2 0 1 0
P Baker 0 0 0 0
P Petzold 0 0 0 0
1B/P Jorgenson 2 0 0 0
RF Simpson 2 0 1 0
SS Smith 1 0 0 0


Pitching
Valley West
Yankosky (W) 6 IP 0 R 0 ER 2 H 8 K 0 BB


Delaware Valley
Bertsch (L) 2.2 IP 4 R 2 ER 2 H 3 K 6 BB
Cavallaro 2.1 IP 2 R 2 ER 4 H 3 K 1 BB
Baker 0+ IP 3 R 3 ER 2 H 0 K 1 BB
Petzold 0.2 IP 1 R 1 ER 1 H 1 K 3 BB
Jorgenson 0.1 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 1 K 0 BB 0 ER

District 2 3A Championship (North Pocono vs Valley View)

North Pocono and Valley View looked for a District Championship on Monday afternoon at PNC Field. North Pocono was looking for it's first District title since 2012. Valley View was looking for it's first since 2000. North Pocono sent to the mound freshman Ryan Deom. Valley View sent in Virginia recruit Max Kranick to the mound. Patrick Kravitz hit a one out single for the Trojans and stole second but Kranick would strike out the next 2 to go to the bottom of the 1st. Brandon Peters hit a leadoff single and would eventually be caught stealing second, then Deom retired the next two to end the first. Gary Woloszyn hit a two out single but a flyout ended the top of the second. Mason Black led off with a single but after a strikeout, Deom induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the second inning. Kranick threw a 1-2-3 3rd inning for the Cougars. Rocco DePietro hit a one out double then moved on a Kyle Barrett sac fly. However, DePietro would be picked off at third to end the inning. Kranick threw another 1-2-3 in the 4th by striking out the side. Max Kranick and Mason Black each singled with two outs but a groundout ended the 4th. Woloszyn reached on an error with one out in the top of the 5th and Sean Haddock singled to move Woloszyn to second and then Blaine laid down a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third but a popout ended the top of the fifth. Mitch McHale led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt, but a strikeout and a popout ended the fifth. Kranick threw a 1-2-3 6th inning. Max Kranick hit a two out single but a flyout ended the inning. Josh Misiura hit a one out single then came out for a pinch runner in Angelo Wrobleski but Wrobleski attempted to steal, the ball was popped to second and threw to first to get the double play to end the top of the 7th. Deom threw a 1-2-3 7th to force extra innings for the second game on the day. Pat Noon hit a two out single and would advance to second on a steal and would try to score on a single by Kravitz but would be out at the plate on the throw from left field. After DePietro drew a lead off walk, North Pocono went to Cory Wall to pitch in the bottom of the 8th. Barrett laid down a bunt that moved DePietro to second but a flyout and a groundout ended the 8th.  Mason Black came in to pitch for the Cougars. Matt Fisch and Mark Cicerini each hit one out singles but a strikeout and a flyout ended the top of the 9th. Wall threw a 1-2-3 9th by striking out the side. Tim Blaine got hit by a pitch with one out but would be out when he got caught in a pickle for the second out then Noon singled but a flyout ended the top of the 10th. McHale led off by getting hit by a pitch but a failed bunt attempt was popped and caught the runner off base to force the double play and a strikeout ended the 10th. In the 11th, it looked like JP Walsh would be out but the right fielder lost the ball and a few pitches later, he hit a ball deep to left center into the bullpen for a home run and the first run of the ballgame, a 1-0 North Pocono lead. Black would retire the next 3 to keep it 1-0. Charlie Lamparter came in for the Trojans. The first out was a line drive that was caught by a diving Tim Blaine for the first out. Brandon Peters and RJ Kilmer each drew walks, but a flyout to center and a strikeout give North Pocono a 1-0 victory over Valley View and the District 2 3A Title


Thoughts on the game: One of the best District title games I have seen. It had great performances pitching, especially by freshman Ryan Deom who was toe to toe with a Division 1 pitcher and potential MLB Draft pick in Max Kranick. JP Walsh's home run was the first by a HS player at the new PNC Field. Most of all congrats to North Pocono on the District Title.


North Pocono 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Valley View 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


North Pocono
CF Noon 3 0 2 0
SS Kravitz 5 0 3 0
RF Walsh 5 1 1 1
C Fisch 5 0 0 0
3B Cicerini 5 0 1 0
P Deom 0 0 0 0
P Wall 0 0 0 0
P Lamparter 0 0 0 0
DH Misiura 5 0 1 0
DH Wrobleski 0 0 0 0
1B Woloszyn 4 0 1 0
LF Haddock 4 0 1 0
2B Blaine 2 0 0 0


HR: Walsh


Valley View
SS Peters 4 0 1 0
3B Kilmer 4 0 0 0
P/1B Kranick 5 0 2 0
1B/P Black 5 0 2 0
LF Brezenski 2 0 0 0
LF Tini 2 0 0 0
C McHale 3 0 1 0
2B Castellani 2 0 0 0
PR Mostisko 0 0 0 0
RF DePietro 3 0 1 0
CF Barrett 2 0 0 0


2B: DePietro


Pitching
North Pocono
Deom 7+ IP 0 R 0 ER 7 H 3 K 1 BB
Wall (W) 3 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 4 K 0 BB
Lamparter (S) 1 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 1 K 2 BB


Valley View
Kranick 8 IP 0 R 0 ER 6 H 12 K 0 BB
Black 3 IP 1 R 1 ER 4 H 2 K 0 BB

District 2 2A Final (Hanover Area vs Northwest)

Hanover Area and Northwest came to PNC Field on Monday morning to vie for the District 2 2A Title. Hanover Area looked to win a District Title after falling in the last two years. Northwest came in looking for their first District 2 title in baseball. Hanover Area sent Kevin Rimmer on the mound and Northwest countered with Brian Hardiman. Kyle Kowalski reached on an error with two outs in the top of the first but a fielder's choice ended the top half for Hardiman. Eric Evans led off the bottom of the first with a single then advanced to second on a passed ball. After a popout and a strikeout, Doug Campbell singled home Eric Evans to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead after 1. Austin Gately led off the top of the 2nd with a single back to the pitcher, but Hardiman recovered to retire the next 3. Kevin Rimmer had a 1-2-3 2nd for the Hawkeyes. Brian Hardiman threw a 1-2-3 top of the 3rd for the Rangers. Rimmer threw another 1-2-3 inning for the Hawkeyes in the 3rd. Kyle Kowalski led off with a walk but after a fielder's choice by Kevin Rimmer, Hardiman induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the top half of the 4th. Kevin Rimmer threw another 1-2-3 4th to make it 10 in a row retired with a little help from his defense. For the last out in the 4th, Mike Piscotty had to dive for the final out. Mike Piscotty led off the 5th by reaching on an error, after a flyout, would be out on a fielder's choice and would move to third on a single by Kyle Windt but a groundout to second ended the top half. Rimmer would throw his 4th straight 1-2-3 inning. Kyle Kowalski would hit a one out single in the 6th, then went to third when Austin Gately reached on an error but a groundout ended the top of the 6th. Rimmer's streak ended when Eric Evans singled but Rimmer induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Jake Peters led off the top of the 7th with a walk, then Wasickanin laid down a sac bunt to move Peters to second, after a flyout, John Morgan then singled home Peters to tie the game at 1 but a popout ended the top of the 7th. Bryce Harrison had a two out single and then Austin Ford drew a walk but a strikeout ended the inning to force extra innings. Reese Godfrey comes in to pitch for the Rangers. Austin Gately drew a two out walk then Mike Piscotty reached on an error but a flyout ended the top half. Dave Piestrak hit a one out single but a flyout and a lineout ended the inning to go to the 9th. Brandon Hardiman entered the game to pitch for the Rangers and threw a 1-2-3 9th. Andrew Boberick drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Doug Campbell bunted and was out at first but Boberick tried to go to third and does after the ball was overthrown and Boberick would score to give Northwest their first District title in baseball 2-1 in 9 innings.


Thoughts on the game: Really good game, kinda ended in a weird way but that's how some games do end on the high school level. Great game by both teams, both starting pitchers pitched well. Great fight by the Hawkeyes in the 7th inning, when it looked they would fall 1-0 in back-to-back years, John Morgan came in and tied it on an RBI single. Most of all, congrats to Northwest on winning their first District title in baseball.


Hanover Area 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Northwest 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2


Hanover Area
CF Morgan 3 0 1 1
SS Clarke 4 0 0 0
3B Kowalski 3 0 1 0
P Rimmer 4 0 0 0
1B Gately 3 0 1 0
PR Yost 0 0 0 0
RF Piscotty 4 0 0 0
C Peters 3 1 0 0
LF Wheeler 0 0 0 0
DH Wasickanin 3 0 0 0
2B Windt 4 0 1 0


Northwest
CF Evans 4 1 2 0
SS Reno 4 0 0 0
LF Boberick 3 1 0 0
3B Campbell 4 0 1 1
1B/RF Harrison 3 0 1 0
PR Gleco 0 0 0 0
C Ford 2 0 0 0
P/1B Bri Hardiman 3 0 0 0
RF/P Godfrey 2 0 0 0
P Bra Hardiman 1 0 0 0
2B Piestrak 3 0 1 0


Pitching
Hanover Area
Rimmer (L) 8.1 IP 2 R 1 ER 5 H 7 K 2 BB


Northwest
Bri Hardiman 7 IP 1 R 1 ER 4 H 1 K 2 BB
Godfrey 1 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 2 K 1 BB
Bra Hardiman (W) 1 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 1 K 0 BB

Title Fight

Well, here we are, the Baseball District Finals are finally here. 8 teams will vie for 4 Championships. This tournament has been quite interesting to say the least but I'll save those for another article. Well here are the District Final previews

2A DISTRICT FINAL

HANOVER AREA VS NORTHWEST

Well, two teams at midseason you wouldn't have thought they would be here at this point. However, Hanover Area has a group that been here twice before. Northwest is in the District Final for the first time since 2006 when they were a Single-A program. Both teams split their season record with Hanover Area taking the first game and Northwest taking the second game. This game is pretty close to call and it will be interesting.

3A DISTRICT FINAL

VALLEY VIEW VS NORTH POCONO

Valley View came into the District Tournament as the prohibitive favorite to take their first District title since 2000. North Pocono is back in the District Final for the first time since 2012 when they defeated Berwick. Valley View is led by Virginia recruit Max Kranick. Who has had several MLB scouts at his games. North Pocono is led by JP Walsh who is hitting well above .500 and has 2 home runs and 20 RBIs. This game could go either way.

4A DISTRICT FINAL

VALLEY WEST VS DELAWARE VALLEY

This might be the best game of the day. Delaware Valley comes into this game undefeated in league play where Valley West only has 2 losses on the season. Valley West is led by Tyler Yankosky, who is headed to Millersville is 5-1 and is hitting .383 with 11 RBIs. Delaware Valley is led by Lawrence Cicileo, who is hitting .490 with 3 home runs and 15 RBIs and is 4-0 on the mound.

A DISTRICT FINAL

BLUE RIDGE VS FOREST CITY

A rematch of last year's District Final, which Blue Ridge won. Blue Ridge comes in as the No 1 seed and will look to repeat as District champs. They are led by Jake Decker who is 4-1 with 81 strikeouts and has 16 RBIs on the season. Forest City is led by Mitch Blake who went 3-1 with an 0.81 ERA and 42 strikeouts.

Riverside at Hanover Area (District 2 AA Semifinal)

Riverside and Hanover Area looked to advance to PNC Field on Memorial Day. Hanover Area sent Kyle Kowalski to the mound and Riverside countered with Matt Amaral. Kyle Kowalski led off by throwing a 1-2-3 1st inning. John Morgan led off the bottom half with a walk, and stole second base but a lineout to the shortstop Nick Sottile and Morgan came too far off the base and Sottile threw to Peyton Connor for the double play. Kyle Kowalski and Kevin Rimmer each drew walks but a flyout kept the game scoreless after 1. Kyle Kowalski threw another 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd. Mike Piscotty drew a lead off walk then Jake Peters singled to center, moving Piscotty to 2nd, then Chad Wasickanin singled to load the bases. Kyle Windt would drive in Piscotty to make it 1-0 Hawkeyes and the bases would stay loaded because of an error. After a forceout at home, Matt Clarke drove in Wasickanin to make it 2-0 Hawkeyes. Kowalski threw his 3rd 1-2-3 inning in as many innings, striking out 2. Kevin Rimmer led off with a single, then moved to second after Austin Gately reached on an error, then Mike Piscotty drove in Rimmer to make it 3-0 Hawkeyes, Jake Peters would double to center to score Gately to up the Hawkeyes lead to 4-0. Then Wasickanin drove in Piscotty to increase the lead to 5-0. Peters would score after Riverside turned a double play to make it 6-0. John Morgan then singled with two outs. Tyler Quick came in to pitch for the Vikings. Matt Clarke then drew a walk but a flyout ended the threat. In all, the Hawkeyes scored 4 runs in the 3rd. Jim Muth then drew a walk to end Kowalski's streak at 11, then Phil Sottile singled up the middle but a groundout to short end the inning. Quick threw a 1-2-3 4th for the Vikings. Kowalski answered with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the 5th with some help from his defense. Mike Piscotty had to dive to make the catch for the second out of the 5th. Jake Peters led off the inning by striking out but reached on a wild pitch, but would be eliminated on a 6-3 double play. Kyle Windt then singled but a popout ended the inning. Matt Amaral drew a two out walk but a groundout to third ended the top of the 6th. Matt Clarke and Kyle Kowalski led off with singles. After a flyout, Austin Gately singled home Clarke to make it 7-0 Hawkeyes. Piscotty would single to load the bases, then Jake Peters brought home Kowalski on a sac fly to center to increase the lead to 8-0. Kyle Kowalski finished the game with a 1-2-3 inning by striking out the side and the Hawkeyes took the victory and advanced to the District Final for the third straight season. They will play Northwest, who beat Holy Cross 6-3.


Thoughts on the game: Great game by Kyle Kowalski, whose shutout streak increased to 30 innings. Only giving up 3 baserunners total (1 hit and 2 walks) and striking out 6. Overall, great game by the Hawkeyes defense. Riverside had a tough start to the game, allowing 6 runs in the first three innings.


Riverside 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hanover Area 0 2 4 0 0 2 x 8


Riverside
SS N Sottile 3 0 0 0
P/CF Amaral 2 0 0 0
1B Muth 2 0 0 0
C P Sottile 3 0 1 0
3B Bernardi 3 0 0 0
2B Connor 3 0 0 0
CF/LF Kielar 2 0 0 0
RF/P Quick 2 0 0 0
LF/RF Weisenfluh 2 0 0 0


Hanover Area
CF Morgan 3 0 1 0
SS Clarke 2 1 1 1
P Kowalski 3 1 1 0
3B Rimmer 3 1 1 0
C Gately 4 1 1 1
RF Piscotty 3 2 2 1
C Peters 4 1 2 2
LF Wasickanin 4 1 2 1
2B Windt 3 0 1 1


2B: Peters


Pitching
Riverside
Amaral (L) 2.2 IP 6 R 3 ER 7 H 0 K 4 BB
Quick 3.1 IP 2 R 2 ER 5 H 2 K 1 BB


Hanover Area
Kowalski (W) 7 IP 0 R 0 ER 1 H 6 K 2 BB

Crestwood at Berwick (District 2 AAA Quarterfinal)

Crestwood and Berwick came in looking for a trip to the District Semifinals on Thursday at North Berwick Field on Tuesday afternoon. James Graves got the ball for the Comets, meanwhile the Bulldogs countered with Jared Marshman. James Graves started off by reaching on an error with two outs in the top of the first but a strikeout ended the inning. Austin Horsefield hit a one out single to right but a flyout and a fielder's choice ended the inning. Tim Kindler led off the top of the second with a liner that Nate Laubach snagged for the first out of the inning. Jimmy Albee reached on an error with two outs but another strikeout ended the threat. Henry Novicki hit a one out single then Alec Markle hit an infield single with two outs to move Novicki to second but a flyout to left ended the threat. Derek Distasio led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch but Marshman then retired the next three to end the top of the third. Max Melito led off by doubling to right but would be out when he got caught in a rundown and was out. Casey Curtin then followed with a single to move Curtin to second, then Jared Marshman singled to load the bases. Matt Champ then gave Berwick a 1-0 when he hit a sac fly to score Horsefield but Curtin would be out at third trying to advance and that would end the inning. RJ Kresge then hit a one out single then stole second, he advanced to third on a Jimmy Albee grounder and Albee would reach safely because of an error and Kresge would score on the error to tie the game at 1 and Albee would move to second. Albee then moved to third on a grounder, then Brett Caladie singled to score Albee to give the Comets a 2-1 lead. James Graves threw a 1-2-3 4th inning by flyouts by each of the outfielders. Brandon Brozena hit a two out single then moved to second on a passed ball, then Tim Kindler singled home Brozena to give Crestwood a 3-1 lead and Kindler moved to second on an error. James Graves would throw another 1-2-3 inning in the 5th. Jared Marshman threw a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th. Casey Curtin led off with a single and would advance to second on a balk. Matt Champ then reached on an error but Graves would induce a 4-6-3 double play to end the 6th. James Graves would hit a two double and then Brandon Brozena hit a single. Austin Horsefield came in to pitch for the Bulldogs and would induce a groundout to end the top of the seventh. Jordan DiValerio hit a two out single to start a rally but Graves induced a grounder to get a fielder's choice and the Comets take the victory 3-1 to advance to the District Semifinals for the first time since 2009.


Thoughts on the game: Great game pitching by both pitchers James Graves and Jared Marshman. Marshman did well, striking out 8 and his counterpart James Graves went the distance, giving up one hit. Seems like Crestwood's experience in playing close games has payed off, grinding out two victories in the playoffs.


Crestwood
SS Distasio 2 0 0 0
3B Kovalchik 1 0 0 0
1B Chalk 4 0 0 0
P Graves 4 0 1 0
C/2B Darden 0 0 0 0
DH Macko 2 0 0 0
DH Brozena 2 1 2 0
LF T Kindler 4 0 1 1
CF Kresge 3 1 1 0
RF Albee 3 1 0 0
3B/C Tokach 3 0 0 0
2B/SS Caladie 3 0 2 1


2B: Graves


Berwick
CF Melito 4 0 1 0
1B/P Horsefield 3 1 1 0
3B Curtin 2 0 1 0
P/1B Marshman 3 0 1 0
CF Champ 2 0 0 1
C Knorr 0 0 0 0
DH Novicki 3 0 1 0
2B Laubach 3 0 0 0
SS Markle 3 0 1 0
LF Mensinger 3 0 1 0
PH DiValerio 1 0 1 0


2B: Melito


Pitching
Crestwood
Graves (W) 7 IP 1 R 1 ER 7 H 2 K 1 BB


Berwick
Marshman (L) 6.2 IP 3 R 2 ER 7 H 8 K 0 BB
Horsefield 0.1 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 0 K 0 BB

Keep it Rollin'

The playoffs officially started on Friday, with several teams' seasons ending. The most notable is Lakeland but we'll get to that shortly. 4A and 1A Baseball's playoffs start on Monday, as do 3A and 2A Softball. 3A and 2A Baseball start back on Tuesday with quarterfinal matchups and so does 4A and 1A softball. We are 8 days away from the start of the Baseball District Finals at PNC Field so by the time I post my next weekly article, it will be well known who will play for the District Title on Memorial Day. So with that said, here are a few bits from this past week.


LAKELAND FALLS IN FIRST ROUND
Well, this came to a shock for many but to be fair, Lakeland ended up playing 4 games in 5 days. Lakeland played Mid Valley on Monday and Tuesday hoping to seal up the division title, but ended up losing to Mid Valley on Monday then winning on Tuesday to have a one game playoff with Holy Cross on Thursday. Which meant they would have to play their first round playoff game on Friday. Lakeland ended up losing the Division championship game in extra innings then had to come back the next day to play a 1st round playoff game against Nanticoke and Nanticoke ended up winning 11-1. Not discrediting Nanticoke because I think Kyle Pokrinchak is a great pitcher and thought it would be a good game because of it but seeing that score.... Yeah, I think Lakeland playing 4 games in 5 days hurt them.


TUNKHANNOCK SOFTBALL TAKES WVC DIVISION 2 TITLE
Nanticoke and Tunkhannock ended up facing off for a Division title on Friday afternoon with Tunkhannock coming out on top 3-1. The win gave Tunkhannock the 2 seed for the playoffs and Nanticoke got the 4 seed, which is going to be tough for them as Abington Heights is on the same side of the bracket. In hindsight, that could be a really good semifinal matchup if it happens. They would have to potentially face Valley View which could be a tough matchup for them because Valley View is usually a very good team in District 2. Tunkhannock will not have a tough road either, as they may end up potentially with Wyoming Area in the quarterfinals and potentially North Pocono in the semis.


CRAZY ENDING
The craziest ending to a game had to come in the Crestwood/Coughlin game. Coughlin was ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th, Jimmy Albee led off with a single then advanced on a sacrifice bunt then stole third. He then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2. Then pinch hitter Brandon Brozena then drew a walk and was lifted for a pinch runner in Matt Taleroski. Taleroski then stole second, and advanced to third on Derek Distasio's infield single. Then with James Graves up with two outs, another wild pitch occurred and Taleroski scored to give Crestwood the victory and a trip to Berwick in the quarterfinals


PITCHER'S DUELs
Cody Brown of Tunkhannock and St Joe's bound Jordan DiValerio both pitched great games. Neither pitcher gave up a run in 7 innings but Berwick would score in the 8th on an Austin Horsefield RBI single to give Berwick a trip to the quarterfinals. In another game, Hanover Area's Kyle Kowalski extended his playoff shutout streak as they knocked off GAR 2-0. GAR's Chris Kolativa came into the game undefeated at 5-0 and pitched well in defeat, only giving up 2 runs.


TITLE QUEST
Holy Redeemer softball will look to defend their 2A State Title, as they start on Wednesday as they have a bye in the first round. They will play the winner of Elk Lake/Wyoming Seminary in the quarterfinals. Holy Redeemer is the No 2 seed because of a coin flip but that doesn't mean they aren't the favorite to take the District Final and possibly go deep into states.

Coughlin at Crestwood (District First Round game)

Coughlin traveled to Mountain Top to take on the Crestwood Comets in a District 2 First round matchup. Both teams split the season series 1-1 and both were looking to take the series and advance to the next round. Chase Nowak got the start on the mound for the Crusaders. Matt Mickowski got the nod for the Comets on Friday afternoon. Eric Christian led off the game with a single to right but Mickowski retired the next 3 to keep Coughlin off the board. Derek Distasio led off the game with a liner but was caught by a leaping Leroy Fettig to make the first out. Justin Darden would then draw a walk but courtesy runner Matt Taleroski would be out at second trying to steal, then a Nowak strikeout ended the first. Dave Ceklosky started the rally by getting it hit by a pitch with two outs, then Nick Cerep walked to make it first and second but a flyout to center ended the threat. Colin Macko led off the bottom of the 2nd by reached on an error and advanced to third on an errant pickoff and would score to give Crestwood a 1-0 lead when Tim Kindler hit a ball that was misplayed and he would reach on an error. Curtis Tokach would then draw a two out walk but a groundout ended the threat. Eric Christian led off the 3rd by doubling to left, but Mickowski retired the final 3 with some help from his defense. Leroy Fettig looked like he would hit a ball in the gap to score Christian but Jimmy Albee dove to make the grab for the third out. Chase Nowak threw a 1-2-3 3rd to keep it 1-0 Crestwood. Dave Ceklosky hit a two out single but a groundout ended the top of the 4th. Tim Kindler would reach on an error with one out but would be eliminated when RJ Kresge grounded into a fielder's choice and then a flyout ended the inning. Eric Christian drew a one out walk and moved to second on a grounder to third and go to third on the throw, Christian scored when the ball was misplayed to tie the game at 1. A grounder to first ended the inning. Derek Distasio gave Crestwood their first hit of the game with a single up the middle with two outs but a groundout to second ended the threat. James Graves came in to pitch for the Comets. Dave Ceklosky would hit a two out double to right then would steal third on the next batter. Coughlin took a 2-1 lead when Nick Cerep singled to score Ceklosky. A strikeout ended the top of the 6th. Colin Macko hit a one out single but a strikeout and a groundout ended the 6th. Graves threw a 1-2-3 7th to keep the score at 2-1. Jimmy Albee led off the inning with a single, then advanced to second when Curtis Tokach laid down a sacrifice bunt. Albee would then steal third and would later score to tie the game at 2 on a passed ball. Pinch hitter Brandon Brozena then drew a walk and Matt Taleroski came in to pinch run for Brozena. Matt Taleroski then stole second to put the Comets in scoring position. Derek Distasio then hit an infield single to third that would move Taleroski to third. Distasio would move to second on an defensive indifference. Pinch hitter Corey Chalk then grounded out to third for the second out. Then with James Graves batting, Matt Taleroski would score on a passed ball to win the game and advance Crestwood to the District Quarterfinals 3-2.


Thoughts on the game: One of the more interesting playoff games I've seen. Great fight by Crestwood and Coughlin today. Looked like Coughlin might pull off the upset but things seem to fall apart in the 7th. Some great defensive plays in the game and then some not so great. Eric Christian had a great game, going 2 for 3, as did Dave Ceklosky going 2 for 2.


Coughlin 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2
Crestwood 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3


Coughlin
CF Christian 3 1 2 0
SS Wozniak 4 0 0 0
P Nowak 4 0 0 0
1B Fettig 3 0 0 0
C Dressler 3 0 0 0
RF Dougalas 2 0 0 0
RF Monaghan 1 0 0 0
3B Ceklosky 2 0 2 0
PR Chronowski 0 1 0 0
LF Cerep 2 0 1 1
2B Gartley 3 0 0 0


2B: Christian, Ceklosky


Crestwood
SS Distasio 4 0 2 0
C Darden 2 0 0 0
PH Chalk 1 0 0 0
P Mickowski 0 0 0 0
DH/P Graves 3 0 0 0
1B Macko 3 1 1 0
LF T Kindler 3 0 0 1
CF Kresge 2 0 0 0
RF Albee 3 1 1 0
3B Tokach 1 0 0 0
2B Caladie 2 0 0 0
PH Brozena 0 0 0 0
PR Taleroski 0 1 0 0


Pitching
Coughlin
Nowak (L) 6 IP 3 R 2 ER 4 H 4 K 3 BB


Crestwood
Mickowski 5 IP 1 R 0 ER 3 H 2 K 2 BB
Graves (W) 2 IP 1 R 1 ER 2 H 1 K 0 BB

End of the Line

The postseason is almost here!!! Several teams still have a chance to clinch Division Titles and lock up seeds for the postseason. Currently for baseball, Valley West, Wyoming Area and Holy Redeemer have clinched division titles in the WVC. Valley View and Delaware Valley have clinched in the Lackawanna League. For softball, Hazleton Area and Holy Redeemer have clinched their divisions in the WVC. In the Lackawanna League, Abington Heights and Montrose have clinched division titles. Division 3 in baseball comes down to Lakeland, who plays Mid Valley. Currently, Holy Cross is a game out and Mid Valley is 2 games out. Mid Valley and Lakeland face off against each other this week, while Holy Cross has finished their conference schedule. If Mid Valley and Lakeland were to split the series, Holy Cross and Lakeland would be tied for the division. However if Mid Valley were to sweep Lakeland, Holy Cross would win the Division 3 title. A Lakeland sweep gives them the title outright. Montrose is leading by a game over Forest City in Division 4. Montrose plays winless Susquehanna, a sweep or a Forest City loss gives Montrose the title. Forest City takes on Blue Ridge. In softball, Tunkhannock and Nanticoke face off on Monday but even if Nanticoke were to win, they take on Hazleton Area on Tuesday, which could help out Tunkhannock if they were to lose. Nanticoke then finishes with Wyoming Area on Wednesday and Tunkhannock ends with Dallas. North Pocono currently leads Lackawanna League Division 2 with Wallenpaupack behind by a game with 2 games in hand. Wallenpaupack plays Western Wayne in a doubleheader on Monday and Scranton on Tuesday. North Pocono takes on West Scranton on Monday, a win would clinch the division title for the Trojans. Lackawanna League's Division 3 is in a three way with Lakeland, Mid Valley and Riverside. Lakeland and Mid Valley play each other this week and Riverside takes on Old Forge. A split by Lakeland and Mid Valley and a sweep by Riverside would give the division title to Riverside. A sweep by Riverside and Lakeland or Mid Valley would cause a tie which would cause a one game playoff. A split by all three would result in a three way tie. A lot to be determined in the District bracket, but in 3A, the 3 seed is set with North Pocono, as well as the 14 and 13 seed with Tunkhannock as the 14 and Coughlin as No 13. In 2A, Holy Redeemer has clinched the No 1 seed in the postseason. Forest City has clinched the No 1 seed in the A playoffs.