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