2024 Face In The Crowd – Week 11

A FACE IN THE CROWD – WEEK 11

Here in the Mobile FITC Command Center, parked outside Senunas’s Bar and Grill on Main Street in Wilkes-Barre (the Paris of Luzerne County), Sparky and I are talking playoff matchups and wing bites. The female bartender (her name tag says “Blue” – the color of her hair, incidentally) is either flirting with Sparky or having some sort of anaphylactic response to pickled eggs. Wilkes-Barre is our temporary home since the Diamond City is the site of this week’s top Fistfight, a clash between the high schools from our two urban centers. The Knights and Wolfpack go at it on Friday night in one of the more interesting contests of a weekend that promises to be rather forgettable in terms of matchups. But we’ll get to that later. For now, let’s see what we’ve learned. Sparky has learned not to ply Blue with FITC merchandise. It appears she’s using one of our t-shirts to clean the drains. Ain’t love grand?

LESSON 1

This is my request for sanity in District 2. There are no fewer than 4 teams in the district playoffs with fewer than 4 wins, including winless Wyoming Valley West. Why? I just want an answer to that question. Quite simply, the four teams of which I speak have no business in the tournament. It is not in the best interests of the four schools, their opponents, or the fans. None of those four teams have even a puncher’s chance this weekend. They are games that will be played for no apparent reason. Let’s try this. If a team cannot win 40% of its regular season games, they should not be invited to the tournament. Let Abington Heights and Delaware Valley line up this weekend and decide matters in the 5A final. It’s exactly what we will see next weekend. All we’re doing is putting student-athletes in harm’s way for no good reason. Give the Jesuit Giants a bye in 3A. Same with the Quick-Strike Vikes in 2A. Does anyone doubt the outcome of their games this weekend? No one has ever confused the decision-makers in the PIAA or in District 2 with Mensa members. So I expect no answer to be forthcoming.

LESSON 2

The 6A tournament features four 5-5 teams. The seeding was decided by a rousing game of rock-paper-scissors.

LESSON 3

My selections for Coach of the Year in the two conferences in District 2 are not surprising. I’ll take Shane Grodack of Western Wayne in the LFC. His Wildcats are co-champions of Division 2 with only one blemish on their slate, a week 9 loss to Mid-Valley, the program with whom they share the title. Coach Grodack is in his second year at the helm in Varden, a job he took over from Randy Wolff, the former mentor who built the program into what it is today. There has been no hiccup for the Dub-Dub Cats, who played in the district final last year. Congratulations to Western Wayne and Coach Grodack. In the WVC, I like Randy Spencer of Wyoming Area. There is something to be said for sustained excellence. The only loss for the Warriors was a heart-stopper to the aforementioned Wildcats. My guess is that the two programs will renew pleasantries next weekend. It will be a well-coached football game between two character-filled programs.

LESSON 4

The Eastern Conference will crown champions this weekend with two games that feature LFC schools. Old Forge hosts Holy Cross while North Pocono will roll out the welcome mat for Hamburg High School. Gone are the days when the words “Eastern Conference Champion” were spoken with puffed-out chests and celebrated with parades. Today, we get bloated district tournaments filled with nonsense. Alas, I miss the good old days.

LESSON 5

There are nine games on the weekend that feature games between teams from the LFC and WVC. That means there will be nine games with split officiating crews. It’s always interesting to watch the push and pull when this occurs. I’ve never felt it was a good idea to do this. Keep crews together who have worked side by side all year long. Sometimes the steps that are taken in the interest of fairness result in unintended consequences. Enough said.

Those are the lessons. Learn them the way Blue has learned to deliver to the patrons the list of different sauces for the wing bites. There is something about the way she says “Garlic Parmesan” that gets me way down deep, much like the sauce itself.

Time to find five fistfights. I’m just choosing the games that I think will be closest. Don’t judge me.

FISTFIGHT #5

Class 3A quarterfinal – #7 Berwick (4-8) at #2 Western Wayne (9-1)

Berwick is a proud program. Though a few years removed now from the halcyon days of the DAWGS, I expect this year’s version to fight valiantly on Friday night in Varden. Perhaps they catch Western Wayne looking ahead to a potential matchup against Wyoming Area next weekend. But it’s Halloween weekend in Varden. That’s when they hand out the new Levi-Garrett pouches for Trick or Treat. The Black and Gold will be ready. No tricks or treats. All Cats.

FISTFIGHT #4

Class 4A semifinal – #4 Crestwood (5-5) at #1 Valley View (9-1)

August 30, 2024 – Valley View 28 Crestwood 13. That was nine weeks ago. Week 2 told us a great deal about the Cougars as it was their first game “post-Prep”. After getting drilled in the opener, the Cougars have reeled off nine consecutive victories enroute to the top seed in the tournament. Crestwood has been stuck in the mire of mediocrity that is the Wyoming Valley Conference. We looked at that earlier matchup as, essentially, a toss-up. Not so much this time. Though the score might be a bit closer, I still like the Cougars at home. They will not be deprived of a chance at some vengeance against Dallas next weekend.

FISTFIGHT #3

Class 3A quarterfinal – #5 Lake-Lehman (6-4) at #4 Mid-Valley (7-3)

The Black Knights were a solid football team all year long, beginning with their opening-week victory over Berwick. They are one of only 3 – yes, 3 – teams from the WVC with winning records. As you stare dumbfoundedly at that number, I will add that their opponent, Mid-Valley, is red hot. The Spartans come in on a two-game winning streak, including a gigantic win on the road over Western Wayne in Week 9. Jakob Lesher will be the best football player on the field. The tailback for the Spartans is a big-time performer who can score from anywhere. Perhaps the most underrated part of his game is his ability to snag Brett Yanoski’s passes coming out of the backfield. I’ll take the Spartans, setting up a rematch next weekend with the Jesuit Giants.

FISTFIGHT #2

Class 2A semifinal – #3 Dunmore (4-6) at #2 Susquehanna (6-4)

Another rematch, but this one needs to be the Keith Jackson game. On Saturday, September 7, the Sabers dispatched the Bucks 25-21 to send Dunmore to its third consecutive loss. The game also served notice that the Sabers were a pretty good football team. Keith was a big fan of the rematch. He’d say something like, “The last two times these infantries got to scufflin’, the neighbors boarded up their windows and hid in the whiskey cellar.” Keith said stuff like that. Dunmore is coming off two ugly losses to Honesdale and Western Wayne on back-to-back weekends. I’m going with the Sabers to emerge with another win by a similar small margin.

FISTFIGHT #1

Class 6A semifinal – #4 Scranton (5-5) at #1 Wilkes-Barre (5-5)

First of all, I’m betting the winner of this win will also prevail next weekend and emerge with the district hardware. Or sub-regional hardware. Or some kind of hardware. One of these 5-5 ball clubs has to win the darn thing. Scranton’s last two weekends have been less than inspiring, particularly the beat down they received in Milford last weekend at the hands of Delaware Valley. Wilkes-Barre got drilled by Williamsport, the #2 seed in this fiasco of a bracket. Who knows what’s going to happen. Blue is a WB alum. She claims that she has a sixth sense about this one and she likes the Pack. Sparky is playing that sixth sense with every bookie in the Diamond City. I guess I’ll go along for the ride. Let’s go Pack!

Honestly, I just want to get to next weekend when the air will be colder and the football significantly less malodorous. We were 5-0 in the fistfights last week to bring the season totals to 42-9. Sparky’s five-team parlay paid off handsomely. Wing bites are on him. Literally.

Without any further jocularity, here is this week’s Power 5 heading into the playoffs.

THE POWER 5 – the five best football teams in District 2, regardless of record, classification, or pressure from our editors.