Meet Me Halfway

As the High School Football season is at the halfway point, the playoff races are starting to heat up. Most of the teams are looking to get in position for playoff positioning or to get into the postseason. In this article, we will discuss all six classifications and the games that were this past week. First, let's discuss the six classifications and then we'll go about the games this past week.

Playoff Picture
6A: Everyone makes the playoffs but several teams are looking at playoff positioning. Scranton and Delaware Valley are currently at 5-0 and Williamsport is at 4-1. Hazleton Area is currently at 3-2 and might have a tough time with the other three teams but they proved they can play with the better teams after almost knocking off Williamsport. This could be an interesting race going forward.

5A: This one is interesting cause all of the teams are under .500. All the teams make the playoffs in this classification. Wallenpaupack is 2-3 and Valley West and Abington Heights are 1-4 at the moment. All three will play each other in the second half of the season so it could very well come down to those games and who will get the automatic bid to the Championship game.

4A: Eight teams make the postseason. Berwick is currently on top with a 4-1 record and there are several 3-2 teams vying for positioning in Dallas, Coughlin, North Pocono and Valley View. There are also three 2-3 teams that round out the six, seven and eight seeds in Crestwood, Honesdale and Pittston Area. Coughlin has been impressive since they started off 0-2. Dallas had an impressive win at Valley West on Friday. North Pocono may be 3-2 but they ended up playing Scranton and Delaware Valley in consecutive weeks. Valley View is in the same boat as North Pocono as they lost to Scranton and Delaware Valley. Crestwood after an 2-0 start has lost three straight and lost their starting QB for the season. They are just hoping to get back on track. Honesdale has had the best improvement from last season.  Pittston Area are hoping to get back into the postseason for the first time since 2008. Wyoming Area is on the outside looking in after losing four straight games after winning on opening night. Tunkhannock could prove interesting if one of the 2-3 teams were to struggle.

3A: Scranton Prep looks like the clear favorite in 3A after blowing away their first five opponents. Western Wayne is also undefeated at 5-0 but have several tough tests down the stretch. Three teams will vie for two spots in Lake-Lehman, Meyers and Nanticoke. Lake-Lehman after a rough start has righted the ship and are looking to get back into the postseason. Meyers is 4-1 and has won four straight after losing on opening night. Nanticoke needs to take one game they aren't expected to win and win the ones they are expected to. If they are to do that, they should make the postseason.

2A: Another classification where there looks to be a clear cut favorite. Dunmore is 5-0 and is 200 points ahead of Carbondale for the top seed in 2A. Carbondale and Susquehanna are separated by 20 points for the two and three seeds. Mid Valley is currently the fourth seed with a 2-3 record. Riverside, Lakeland and Montrose all are 1-4 and can make a run at Mid Valley for the last spot.

A: Only two will qualify for the District Title game. Old Forge and Lackawanna Trail are currently the one and two seeds right now. Old Forge is 5-0 and Lackawanna Trail is 4-1. Northwest is currently 2-3 and are 170 points behind Lackawanna Trail for the second spot. Northwest did get beat by Lackawanna Trail earlier in the season and it might be an uphill climb for the Rangers.

With the playoff stuff out of the way, let's get into the games that happened this past week.

Lake-Lehman 28 Hanover Area 14
Black Knights RB Matt Kurtz had 170 yards and two touchdowns and Trey Borger had 101 yards and a touchdown as Lake-Lehman took down the Hawkeyes. Josh Jopling had 82 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes.

Northwest 20 Nanticoke 15
Jake Anderson ran for 127 yards and David Piestrak threw for 114 yards and a touchdown and also ran one in as the Rangers handed Nanticoke their second straight loss. Colby Butczynski would run in for a touchdown and Keanu Ammons had an 87 yard punt return for a touchdown for the Trojans.

Pottsville 13 Crestwood 7
Siminitus ran for 118 yards and a touchdown as the Crimson Tide took a home victory over Crestwood. Garrett Swank threw for 91 yards and a touchdown to Brandon Brozena for the Comets.

Selinsgrove 17 Berwick 6
The Seals Logan Leiby threw for 169 yards and a touchdown as Selinsgrove handed Berwick their first loss of the season. The Bulldogs Kenny Marshman would hit two field goals. One from 38 yards out and another from 36 yards.

Dunmore 41 Holy Cross 0
Caleb Klimer ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns as the Bucks stayed unbeaten with a victory over Holy Cross. The Crusaders Dom Possanza ran for 33 yards in the loss to Dunmore.

Lackawanna Trail 34 Lakeland 20
The Lions Jeffrey Resto had a monster game with 230 yards and four touchdowns as Lackawanna Trail took down Lakeland. Chiefs quarterback Nico Piraino threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns and wideout Thomas Pidgeon had 14 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns.

Old Forge 36 Mid Valley 14
Blue Devils RB Brendan Mozeleski ran for 238 yards and two touchdowns as the Blue Devils improved to 5-0 with a victory over Mid Valley. Colin Hazelton ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns for Mid Valley. He also had two catches for 39 yards.

Riverside 40 Montrose 10
Vikings RB Chase Briskie ran for 259 yards and four touchdowns as Riverside got their first win of the season over Montrose. The Meteors Tyler Dovin ran for 30 yards and Ethan Cena ran for a touchdown.

Scranton 35 West Scranton 20
Rheyse Green ran for 170 yards and a touchdown and Jerrod Brown ran for 164 yards and a touchdown as the Knights won the Bell Game over West Scranton. Invaders Andre Cholette ran for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Hazleton Area 34 Wallenpaupack 13
Cougars QB Sparky Wolk threw for 210 yards and a touchdown as the Cougars went to 3-2 as they took down Wallenpaupack. Wolk also ran in for two touchdowns. The Buckhorns Joe Ingulli ran for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Coughlin 28 Honesdale 13
The Crusaders Vincent Todd went for 175 yard and three touchdowns as the Crusaders took down Honesdale for their third straight victory. Jake Cole rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown for the Crusaders. Garyn Barnes rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns for the Hornets.

Western Wayne 32 Tunkhannock 24
Western Wayne QB Matt Valanda threw for 160 yards and Benjamin Burkhardt ran for 75 yards and a touchdown as Western Wayne stayed unbeaten with a victory over Tunkhannock. Tunkhannock's Logan Cywinski continued his amazing season with 127 yards and a touchdown.

Valley View 48 Abington Heights 13
Cougars RB Seth Vernon ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and Chandler Fuller ran for two touchdowns as Valley View took down Abington Heights. Kaleb Sherman ran for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Comets.

Pittston Area 35 GAR 13
Patriots QB Walter Coles threw for 199 yards and four touchdowns and two went to Andrew Krawczyk as the Patriots took down GAR. Keemar Woodruff ran for 116 yards and a touchdown. GAR's Will Johnson had a touchdown catch.

Delaware Valley 41 North Pocono 0
Del Val's Josh Balacarcel ran for 125 yards and a touchdown and Ryan Obiso ran for 100 yards and a touchdown as the Warriors took down North Pocono to stay undefeated. North Pocono's JC Gaughan ran for 72 yards.

Meyers 30 Holy Redeemer 9
Mohawks QB Janssen Wilborn threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns and Kevin Dessoye ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns as the Mohawks took their fourth straight victory. Royals quarterback JD Turosky threw for 136 yards and ran in for the Royals lone touchdown.

Carbondale 30 Susquehanna 15
Chargers RB Nick Vadella ran for 90 yards and a touchdown. He also added a 39 yard touchdown catch as Carbondale took down Susquehanna on the road. Sabers QB CJ Stone threw for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Scranton Prep 24 Wyoming Area 0
Cavaliers QB Leo O'Boyle threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Gilmartin ran for 109 yards and a touchdown as Scranton Prep stayed undefeated and knocked off the Warriors. Warriors QB Dominic Deluca threw for 132 yards in the loss.

Lycoming 44 King's 41
Lycoming QB Chase Williams threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns and ran another one in as Lycoming took down King's on the road. King's QB Zach Whitehead threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns and he also rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Misericordia 43 Wilkes 14
Brady Williams threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns as the Cougars got their first win of the season. Wade Rippeon threw for 269 yards and a touchdown for Wilkes.

Bloomsburg 48 Cheyney 19
Bloomsburg RB Qmac Quiteh ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns and QB Chris Palubinski threw for 150 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies took down Cheyney. Cheyney QB Dominick Trautz threw for 269 yards and a touchdown.

Penn State 21 Iowa 19
Penn State QB Trace McSorley threw to Juwan Johnson for the game-winning touchdown with no time left as the Nittany Lions survived on the road against Iowa. Hawkeyes QB Nate Stanley threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.