September Rising

With Week one in the books, we know look ahead to Week 2 of the high school football season and week 1 of the college football season for most. Most coaches do go and say the best adjustments from made from Week one to week two. Well, with that being said, here are the games for Week 2 (and Week 1 of the college football season).

Abington Heights vs North Pocono
Time: Fri 7 PM

The Comets are coming a bad loss to Scranton Prep. North Pocono is coming off a victory over Riverside. George Tinsley threw for 25 yards for Abington Heights. The Trojans offense was led by JC Gaughan who rushed for 112 yards and four touchdowns. With the open tournament format of the 5A District Tournament, Abington Heights doesn't need to win but it would build momentum for the rest of their season. For the defending District 2 4A Champions, the Trojans look to keep their momentum going as they try to go to 2-0 on the young season.

Prediction: North Pocono

Dallas vs Berwick
Time: Fri 7 PM

Dallas is coming off a big victory over Coughlin. Berwick is coming off a road victory over Hazleton Area. The Bulldogs open up at Crispin Field for the first time this season. The Mountaineers Leonard Kelley rushed for 206 yards and four touchdowns and returned an interception for a touchdown for five overall touchdowns on the game. Berwick's Evan Klinger rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown against Hazleton Area. Both teams are much different than last season but who will come out on top?

Prediction: Dallas

Old Forge vs Carbondale
Time: Fri 7 PM

Old Forge is coming off a shutout of Hanover Area. Carbondale is coming being shutout by Western Wayne. Freshman quarterback Dante Lucarelli threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Blue Devils. For Carbondale, Nick Vadella rushed for 34 yards in the loss to Western Wayne. Both teams were in opposite directions last week but will the result be different on either side is the question.

Prediction: Old Forge

Wyoming Area at Crestwood
Time: Fri 7 PM

Wyoming Area is coming a tight win against Wallenpaupack. Crestwood is coming off a victory over Pittston Area. Wyoming Area's Marc Minichello caught 6 passes for 36 yards and Darren Rodney rushed for their lone touchdown last week. Crestwood junior QB Chase Passman threw for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Grosek ran in for two touchdowns last week. The biggest question for Wyoming Area is will PJ Angeli play. If not, it looks like the reigns will go to sophomore Dominic Deluca.

Prediction: Wyoming Area

Delaware Valley at Valley View
Time: Fri 7 PM

Delaware Valley is coming off a victory in Florida. Valley View is coming off a convincing victory over Lakeland. Delaware Valley's Nick Reilly threw for 255 yards and one touchdown. Ryan Oviedo rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown. Valley View's Seth Vernon had 138 on FIVE carries and a touchdown. The Cougars defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns. This game is definitely the game of the week as both teams won big games last week. The question will be which team will come out on top.

Prediction: Delaware Valley

Dunmore at Lackawanna Trail
Time: Fri 7 PM

Dunmore is coming off a victory over West Scranton. Lackawanna Trail won a close game against Mid Valley. Bucks freshman RB Cristian Buckley rushed for 112 yards. Gavin Darcy ran in for two touchdowns. He also threw for 72 yards. Lions QB Nathan Rolka threw for 101 yards and rushed for three touchdowns. Both teams look very promising and both look like young teams. A win here could build momentum throughout the rest of the season.

Prediction: Dunmore

GAR at Western Wayne
Time: Fri 7 PM

GAR is coming off a surprising loss to Honesdale. Western Wayne is off a shutout of Carbondale. GAR quarterback TaShawn Qualls threw for 113 yards and a touchdown. Malachai Williams had two catches for 91 yards and a touchdown for the Grenadiers. Matt Valanda threw for 166 yards and a touchdown in Western Wayne's win last week. Kobe Sauter added 91 yards and a touchdown in the victory. With GAR coming off a disappointing loss and Western Wayne coming off a big win, could it turn into a possible upset? Remember that Western Wayne last year was an underdog last year and they ended up taking a road victory.

Prediction: Western Wayne

Hanover Area at Blue Mountain
Time: Fri 7 PM

Hanover Area is coming off a loss to Old Forge. Blue Mountain is coming off a loss to Muhlenberg. Hanover Area senior wide receiver Sean Coleman had six catches for 61 yards last week. Blue Mountain quarterback David Crewson threw for 212 yards and ran in for a touchdown. Eagles Wide receiver Nate Calderone had 10 catches for 179 yards. A rare out of conference game for both teams but time will tell how the teams will fare after an opening night loss.

Prediction: Blue Mountain

Hazleton Area at Valley West
Time: Fri 7 PM
Hazleton Area is coming off a loss to Berwick. Valley West is coming off a loss to Scranton. Sparky Wolk threw for 161 yards and Damon Horton ran in for a touchdown for the Cougars. The Spartans had a great game from Sean Mitkovitch. He rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Both teams are 0-2 but both teams made their games close in the first week and adjusts will tell who will come out on top.

Prediction: Valley West

Scranton at Honesdale
Time: Fri 7 PM

Scranton is coming off a win against Valley West. Honesdale is coming off a surprising victory over GAR. Scranton RB Rheyse Green ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns in the victory over Valley West. Knights wideout Reggie Dickey caught 4 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. The Hornets Andy Carroll ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Beau Freiermuth ran for 115 yards and a touchdown in the upset victory over GAR. Will the Knights offense be able to put up the numbers they did against Valley West or will the Hornets be able to pull off another victory at home?

Prediction: Scranton

Northwest at Lake-Lehman
Time: Fri 7 PM

The Rangers are coming off a loss to North Penn. Lake-Lehman is coming off a home victory over Meyers. Jake Anderson ran for 100 yards for Northwest and David Piestrak ran in for a touchdown. Trey Borger made a big splash in his return from injury for the Black Knights. He ran for 170 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 3 passes for 41 yards. Matt Kurtz also ran for 77 yards and a touchdown. Both these teams are coming into this game 1-0. What defense will be able to contain the running game of each side?

Prediction: Lake-Lehman

Meyers at Montrose
Time: Fri 7 PM

Meyers is coming off a loss to Lake-Lehman. Montrose is coming off a loss to Susquehanna. Meyers QB Janssen Wilborn threw for 145 yards and ran in for a touchdown. Reese Patronick caught 5 passes for 94 yards for the Mohawks. Meteors QB Maverick Tims threw for 68 yards and two touchdowns. John Herman ran for 54 yards in the loss to Susquehanna. Both teams are coming off a loss, what team will rebound and made the better adjustments going into Week 2?

Prediction: Meyers

Riverside at Mid Valley
Time: Fri 7 PM

The Vikings are coming off a loss to North Pocono. The Spartans are coming off a loss to Lackawanna Trail. Vikings RB Chase Briskie ran for 95 yards. Johnny Gilchrist threw for 35 yards and a touchdown. Mid Valley RB Joe Chylak ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Zach Cianflone threw for 88 yards. One team came off losing a close game and the other is coming off a blowout loss. Both teams have pressure to qualify for the postseason so a win here will be of most importance.

Pittston Area at Tunkhannock
Time: Fri 7 PM

Pittston Area is coming off a loss to Crestwood. Tunkhannock is coming off a loss to Nanticoke. Walter Coles threw for 95 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots. Wide receiver Kevin Krawczyk caught two passes for 32 yards. Tigers RB Logan Cywinski ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Zach Rogers threw for 68 yards last week against Nanticoke. I'm expecting a tight close game from these two teams. Both teams have some interesting pieces around each other to make an interesting run to the District 2 4A Playoffs.

Prediction: Pittston Area

Wallenpaupack at West Scranton
Time: Fri 7 PM

Wallenpaupack is coming off a close loss to Wyoming Area. West Scranton is coming off a loss to Dunmore. Tom McCormick threw for 94 yards last week for the Buckhorns. Nicholas Ruggieri ran for 59 yards. Invaders RB Kevin Williams ran for 117 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Shayne Merrifield caught 4 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. After not scoring a touchdown against Wyoming Area, the Buckhorns look to get it going against the Invaders. The Invaders are looking to get their first win of the season after losing to Dunmore in Week 1.

Prediction: West Scranton

Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech at Nanticoke
Time: Fri 7 PM

Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech is coming off a loss to Panther Valley. Nanticoke is coming off a victory over Tunkhannock. Nanticoke RB Eric Jeffries ran for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Wrubel ran in for two touchdown and threw a touchdown pass. The Trojans have typically dominated Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech since 2009 and it looks like the streak will in all likelihood continue.

Prediction: Nanticoke

Lakeland at Holy Cross
Time: Sat 1 PM

Lakeland is coming off a disappointing loss to Valley View. The Crusaders are coming off being shutout by Holy Redeemer. Chiefs Quarterback Nico Piraino threw for 77 yards and a touchdown. RB Giovanni Spataro ran for 92 yards and a touchdown. The Crusaders Jason Kopf ran for 63 yards and Dan Dougherty caught two passes for 14 yards. I don't believe the loss to Valley View will derail Lakeland, I believe that they are still a good enough team to make the District 2 2A Playoffs. The Crusaders look like they are too young to be competitive but are looking to the future.

Prediction: Lakeland

Coughlin at Scranton Prep
Time: Sat 1:30 PM

Coughlin is coming off a surprising blowout loss to Dallas. Scranton Prep is coming off a convincing  blowout of Abington Heights on the road.  Coughlin QB Vincent Todd threw for 82 yards and a touchdown and ran for 34 yards. Jacob Cole also added 40 yards for Coughlin. Scranton Prep RB Matt Gilmartin ran for 140 yards and five touchdowns. QB Leo O'Boyle threw for 97 yards in the victory. The Cavaliers come in as the top team in my rankings and Coughlin just had a disappointing loss. To top it off, the Cavaliers convincingly beat Abington Heights in their own place.

Prediction: Scranton Prep

Susquehanna at Holy Redeemer (at Lake-Lehman HS)
Time: Sat 2 PM

Susquehanna is coming off a victory over Montrose. The Royals are coming off a opening day victory over Holy Cross. Sabers QB CJ Stone threw for 163 yards and a touchdown in the victory over Montrose. Receiver Sam Cosmello caught two passes for 51 yards. Royals senior QB JD Turosky threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Jared Piontkowski caught four passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Royals have never started the season 2-0 and they always seem to play Susquehanna tough.

Prediction: Holy Redeemer

Moravian at King's
Time: Thurs 7 PM

King's offense is led by senior co-captain quarterback Zach Whitehead. He threw for 2,832 yards and 19 touchdowns last season and looks to improve on last season. Moravian senior wide receiver Aaron Hudson returns after catching 65 passes and 781 yards and seven touchdowns. It looks like it could be a high scoring game but we will have to see.

Prediction: Moravian
Note: If you see this on Friday, note that I put most of this together before the game on Thursday night.

Wilkes at Muhlenberg
Time: Sat 1 PM

Jose Tabora is now the full time starter at quarterback for the Colonels. He threw for 1,098 yards and eight toucchdowns. On the ground, he ran for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Tight End Garrett Armstrong returns as their leading receiver as he caught 36 passes or 390 yards and five touchdowns. Muhlenberg returns leading rusher Nick Savant. He ran for 1,589 yards and 18 touchdowns. They return several starters on the offensive line.

Prediction: Muhlenberg

Misericordia at Merchant State
Time: Sat 1 PM

Brandon Leap returns as the starting quarterback for Misericordia. He threw for 979 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Sam Gillison caught 50 passes for 582 yards.

Prediction: Merchant State

Stonehill at Bloomsburg
Time: Sat 1 PM

The Huskies return Defensive linemen Chris Gary. He had 12.5 sacks last season. Bloomsburg Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Michael Allen returns. He caught 29 passes for 464 yards and one touchdown. Stonehill returns their starting quarterback in Matt Foltz. He threw for 2,058 yards and 11 touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Andrew Jamiel returns as well. He caught 91 passes for 843 yards and seven touchdowns.

Prediction: Bloomsburg

Akron at Penn State
Time: Sat 12 PM

Akron is coming into Penn State with upset on their mind. Zips LB Ulysees Gilbert III returns after recording 122 tackles and four sacks. Penn State comes into the 2017 season with great expectations coming in. PSU Starting quarterback Trace McSorley returns after leading the team to a Big Ten Title. He threw for 3,614 yards and 29 touchdowns. Star RB Saquon Barkley also returns for the Nittany Lions. He ran for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns. Expectations are high at Happy Valley but I wouldn't be surprised if Akron makes it a close game.

Prediction: Penn State