2024 Face In The Crowd – Week 9

A FACE IN THE CROWD – WEEK 9

Here in the Mobile FITC Command Center, located this week in the 8-car garage at the palatial home of Old Forge Head Coach Mike Schuback, high in the hills of the Austin Heights section of Pizza Town, Sparky and I are combing over scouting reports and stat sheets in an attempt to forget last week’s 4-2 showing in the Fistfight Picks. That performance brings our season number to 33-8. Still better than 80%, but not good enough. Sparky claims to be related to the veteran Old Forge mentor, but I don’t think trolling the coach on Instagram counts. We’re here because it’s Rivalry Week in the Triboro. The frost is on the pumpkin, the Harvest Moon is full, and my Revello’s pizza is getting cold. So let’s get to the five lessons. Sparky has found no shortage of bookmakers here in Old Forge, so we need to finish our business and be on our way before the muscle arrives to “settle up”. Here we go.

LESSON 1

In the Wyoming Valley Conference, in the final week of the season, Pittston Area and Wyoming Area renew pleasantries. Dallas and Lake-Lehman face off in their rivalry game for the Old Wooden Shoe, or the Old Oaken Bucket, or the Old Mossy Stump. Anyway, they’re traditional rivalry games that BELONG in the season’s last weekend. So why can’t games like Old Forge vs. Riverside or the Bell Game between the two city institutions be played in Week 10? Is it too difficult to figure that out? Long before the days of computers and spreadsheets, we got West vs. Dunmore, Central vs. Tech, and Old Forge vs. Riverside as the periods on the sentence that was the Big 11 season. I don’t want to hear excuses about divisions and odd numbers. If the WVC can pull it off, so can the LFC. Figure this out. It’s good for high school football. Period.

LESSON 2

Few programs have reached the level to which Terry Gallagher has lifted his program at Scranton Prep. For that reason, the Cavaliers’ head man has replaced some of the also-rans on his schedule with monsters like Loyola Blakefield, Canisius High School, and this week’s opponent, Jersey Shore. There is one incredibly meaningful reason for that choice. When a program rises to the stature like the one on Wyoming Avenue, while league and district titles remain important in the short term, the focus is on the gleaming trophy to be won in Mechanicsburg in December. Prep’s eyes are on a state title. Coach Gallagher has won everything else, and has built a program that is the envy of so many in District 2. So far, the Cavaliers have been 1-1 in those “big boy” contests, with another one coming on Friday night. Though losing is agony to any coach worthy of his whistle, these games, win or lose, are absolutely the best preparation for the gigantic tilts that lie ahead. Kudos to Coach Gallagher in finding the best way to prepare his group for the road they may soon travel.

LESSON 3

Congratulations to Coach C.J. Curry and the Berwick Bulldogs on their victory last weekend at Williamsport. After four losses to begin his inaugural campaign as head coach, Curry has circled the wagons and led his Dawgs to wins in three of their last four. Last week’s win over the Millionaires signaled their resurgence to the rest of the Wyoming Valley Conference. I don’t know that anyone will be thrilled to see Berwick show up opposite them in the district playoff bracket in a few weeks. As a fan of high school football, I can say that the world is a better place when the Dawgs are barking. So much history was made at Crispin Field, and it would be great to see that fanbase energized again. And I am sure that, last Friday night, somewhere, the legendary architect of that incredible dynasty was smiling about the huge triumph of his grandson and the program that he built.

LESSON 4

There should be no doubts still lingering about the Valley View Cougars, including any in my own Mallo-Cup addled brain. Some have questioned my unwillingness to put the Cougars in my Power 5. Well, if you scan to the bottom of this piece, you will certainly find the Blue and Gold. I was never very bright. It’s my contention that Valley View will finish their slate at 9-1 and be ensconced as the top seed in the 4A bracket, exactly where they belong. Last weekend’s win over Delaware Valley was a statement win. Those are hard to come by, which is what makes them most impressive and meaningful. Just as I mentioned with Berwick above, the blue blood programs are so crucial to high school football. Valley View is the bluest of the blue.

LESSON 5

Speaking of my tardiness when it comes to learning valuable lessons, I chose Crestwood over Dallas last week. I have requested that, the next time I pick against the Mountaineers in a WVC Division I contest, Sparky hide my fourteen copies of Tiffany’s Greatest Hits. It’s quite brief, but I love it. But I digress. Dallas is still the bully on the block in the big-school division in Luzerne County. Their winning streak is at 5 games. It will grow to 7. The Mountaineers are looking acrimoniously up Route 81 at the Valley View Cougars. My guess is that those two will have a date in a few weeks.

There they are. Five pearls of wisdom from the Mobile Command Center. Sparky would distribute the quiz now, but he and Coach Schuback are arguing over the aesthetic value of pineapple pizza. It’s getting a bit heated. That’s the argument, not the pizza.

Here are the Fistfight Picks for the week to come.

FISTFIGHT #5 Susquehanna (5-3) at Carbondale Area (4-4)

These two old Agway League programs have been a revelation in the LFC in 2024. Each possesses a dynamic quarterback: Weston Yannone for the Sabers and Cole Becchetti for Carbondale Area. Both have sent a scare under the visor of the Old Ball Coach in Taylor, Harry Armstrong, earlier this season. This one in the Pioneer City should be a treat. My guess is that it doesn’t get decided until late in the final quarter. Without a doubt, this is the suitcase game as the winner continues its “Season in the Sun” (apologies to Terry Jacks, one of the greatest songwriters of his or any generation), while the loser gets a one-way ride on the Agway Express, destination unknown. I’m taking the Chargers and their freshman quarterback!

FISTFIGHT #4 Hazleton Area (5-3) at Dallas (5-3)

The Cougars are the only thing standing between Coach Mannello and another conference title in Dallas. Hazleton’s gut check victory over Pittston Area last weekend was certainly a step in the right direction. The Cougars have one of the most exciting wideouts in the area in junior Yohansel Moran. All of this should lead to a close one in the Back Mountain on Friday. But I am never picking against Coach Mannello again in the WVC. I paid a pretty penny for those Tiffany albums. And a rusty one. I’ll take the Mounts by three scores.

FISTFIGHT #3 Abington Heights (4-4) at Scranton (5-3)

These are two football teams that are certainly moving in different directions. Scranton’s loss in Moscow was ugly while the Comets absolutely blistered Wallenpaupack. Right about now, Coach Repshis and his troops probably feel quite optimistic about the 5A playoffs to come. Conversely, the Knights still have a trip to Milford to face Delaware Valley looming on the horizon. Psychology and momentum are huge factors in high school football. All of the intangibles point to the Comets. So do I.

FISTFIGHT #2 Mid-Valley (5-3) at Western Wayne (8-0)

So many storylines in this one. Perhaps the best is the matchup at tailback between the Spartans’ Jakob Lesher and the Cats’ Josh Vinton. There is an argument to be made that these two road-graders are among the best trio of rushers in all of District 2, along with Lidge Kellum of Wyoming Area (a superhero of epic stature). The Spartans can spoil the undefeated march of the Dub-Dub Cats and perhaps earn a tie for the division title. Remember, Mid-Valley’s only divisional loss came at Dunmore without the services of the aforementioned Lesher. Finally, these two teams could very easily be semifinal opponents in the 3A bracket a few short weeks from now. So what happens? Games like this are won up front by guys who eat rocks for breakfast and shower bi-monthly. There is magic in Varden. The bulldozers up front have provided it. It continues on Friday. These Cats have grit.

FISTFIGHT #1 Riverside (8-0) at Old Forge (4-4)

Keith Jackson crawled out of his grave, wandered up Moosic Road, grabbed a tray at Salerno’s, and set up shop in the press box at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium for this one. I’ve heard that those meandering past the venerable gridiron on First Street (where else?) can hear the whispers of ol’ Keith on the chilly October wind. “Folks, when these two feuding neighbors cozy up against one another, don’t just throw out the records. Throw out the life vests and the small livestock.” Keith said stuff like that. And he’s ready. This is hatred, pure and simple. What the Devils wouldn’t give to knock the Vikings from the ranks of the hallowed unbeaten. First Street will be a den of iniquity and hostility on Friday night. Sparky is so fired up, he just army-crawled under the barbed wire at Coach Schuback’s mansion, jumped up, and did his best Heisman pose, knocking over a nice vase of blue and gold mums. Ok, ok. What do I see? I still see a smile on the Old Ball Coach’s face underneath that visor, wearing blue and…red. Vikings march on.

I am truly exhausted and emotionally spent. It’s time to kick back and listen to some Tiffany. Nobody rocked the malls in the 80’s like she did. And if you disagree, you are simply un-American. And now, unapologetically, the Power 5!

THE POWER 5 (the five best football teams in District 2, regardless of record or classification)