A FACE IN THE CROWD – WEEK 11
Here in the Mobile FITC Command Center, parked in Taylor near the boxes of red and blue polo shirts, two sizes too small, that the ol’ ball coach, Harry Armstrong wears on game nights, I have set up shop to predict playoff games. Gino is back with Aunt Modesta in Teaneck, helping her convalesce. She’s on the mend after ending up on the business end of a rolling pin wielded by her buddy, Carmella, who was not pleased by Aunt Mo’s response to her manicotti. And so I’m flying solo the rest of the way, just me and the Econoline and the open road. Before my intrepid speculative offerings, I need to teach a few lessons. So pay attention.
LESSON 1
There seems to be an inordinate number of 300-yard rushers over the course of the past few weeks. Berwick’s Ty’Meere Wilkerson, Trail’s Isaac Ryon, and Honesdale’s Gabe Duda all blistered opposing defenses for over three bills and myriad touchdowns. Here’s a message to the defensive coordinators about to face these dudes in the coming weeks. Forget about the pass!!! Just tackle these guys. Why aren’t there 26 guys in the box? Why are you even fielding a defensive backfield? At what point does someone in the defensive huddle grab one of his teammates by the face mask and just lose his freaking mind? Guess what? When Trail lines up in the Delaware, Isaac Ryon, number 10 in your program and number 1 in your hearts, is getting the freaking ball!! Tackle him!! Even if he doesn’t have the ball. Do something! I’m no Buddy Ryan, but I know that I wouldn’t let these kids beat me single-handedly. Just sayin…
LESSON 2
The Men of Troy/Moscow/Daleville/Covington proved this prognosticator wrong. They came up big in a big spot, knocking off the Jesuit Giants and completing a magical, undefeated season. Kudos to Coach Dolhon and his fantastic hair. Kudos to King Cole West and his feats of daring do. After playing possum for three quarters, number 11 made three stupendous plays in the final quarter that absolutely won the football game. That’s why he’s atop the Henzes Award list. Stats are for suckers. Give me the kid who wins games with his presence and his poise. Or, as the young folk say these days, with his aura. The North Pocono fans waited three quarters for him to don his cape and save the day. And then he did. That’s what heroes do. Hail, King Cole!
LESSON 3
Wyoming Valley West, Hazleton, Scranton, and Unholy Redeemer have won a combined six games this season. Down years, breaks went against the boys, bad officiating, underfunded NIL collectives, acid reflux, the heartbreak of psoriasis – I don’t care what excuses you want to conjure up. These teams should not be playing in playoff games against opponents who have proven themselves to be far superior all year long. We have the Eastern Conference, a veritable NIT for high school football teams, for those programs that have not achieved winning records. Very simply, any team that cannot muster 5 wins should not proceed into the district tournament. I don’t care if you schedule the Globe Store Mannequins, St. Aloysius School for the Malnourished, and the Greater Towanda Dungeons and Dragons Club – get yourself 5 wins. Otherwise play in the NIT, I mean Eastern Conference playoffs.
LESSON 4
Speaking of the NIT, er, Eastern Conference. I love the fact that the scheduling moguls in that organization threw Wallenpaupack and Honesdale in a game against one another. While the squads played earlier in the year with the Buckhorns (a strange amalgam of deer and steer, I suppose) winning handily, it will be fun for both schools, who brandish a healthy disdain for one another, to battle it out with a title at stake.
LESSON 5
It’s time for the Henzes Award Hot List. As the regular season has ended, it seems as though we have a solid trio at the top of this list. Cole West of North Pocono, Ty’Meere Wilkerson of Berwick, and Isaac Ryon of Lackawanna Trail have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. The playoffs, the winnowing fan that removes the chaff from the wheat (that’s a Biblical reference for you – first of the year), will decide which of these immortals will emerge with the mythical award. And if you don’t like my trio, make your own list – don’t cost nuthin’.
And so the long slog of the regular season is over. We’ve reached the stage where trophies are awarded, banners are hung, legends are created, and legacies are molded. Fans become more passionate and players become hyper-focused on details during the week of preparation. It is semifinals week in District 2. I am going to pick the 5 fistfights and, with apologies to the NIT, I shall attempt to create my own legacy by correctly forecasting the winners in five District 2 playoff games.
FISTFIGHT #5 HANOVER AREA (6-4) at BERWICK (10-0)
PIAA DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A SEMIFINAL
The turnaround at Hanover Area has been nothing short of breathtaking. The Richardson’s – Coach Eric, quarterback Logan, and wideout Conor – along with the Downey’s – backs DeWayne and Dawin – have breathed life into a moribund program that had been at or near the bottom of Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference for the last several years. All of these young Hawkeyes are underclassmen, as we have mentioned in this space before. But on Friday night, they have a tall order against the monolithic, legendary program that is the Berwick Bulldogs. Coach CJ Curry has fashioned his own brand of prestidigitation by leading the Dawgs to an unblemished regular season. Berwick has been thoroughly unchallenged, with their smallest margin of victory coming in the opener against Lake Lehman – by 17 points! There are only two “signature” wins on their resume, those coming against Lackawanna Trail back in Week 3 and a 35-13 pasting of division rival Wyoming Area in Week 6. How good are the Dawgs? Good enough to win handily on Friday night. You may recall their 56-19 lambasting of these same Hawkeyes in mid season. While I don’t believe that the margin will be as messy, the Dawgs will march into the 3A finals to try to regain their birthright as District champs.
FISTFIGHT #4 DALLAS (5-5) at VALLEY VIEW (6-4)
PIAA DISTRICT 2 CLASS 4A SEMIFINAL
It is difficult to determine how Coaches Rich Mannello of Dallas and Scot Wasilchak of Valley View would classify their current campaigns. Both lost significant talent and leadership from last year’s groups that faced off in the Class 4A title game. Here they are on the same field a year later, with records that might be viewed by some as disappointing. There will be not disappointment in either locker room after a win on Friday night. Gaining the opportunity to play for a district title will wipe away any sense of chagrin over middling records. These are proud programs that are astonishingly well-coached. There may not be a more evenly matched football game anywhere in District 2 on Friday night. It is always difficult to pick against the Cougars when they are prowling in their den in the upper valley. But Mannello’s Mounts have won four straight and are feeling pretty good about themselves. They have some offensive firepower, an area where the Cougars have been lacking all year long. What to do, what to do. I’ll take Dallas on the road by a field goal, setting up a rematch for the Mounts against unbeaten North Pocono for the district hardware.
FISTFIGHT #3 DELAWARE VALLEY (5-5) at PITTSTON AREA (8-2)
PIAA DISTRICT 2 CLASS 5A SEMIFINAL
Woe be to the Red Dawn. Last weekend’s blood-letting at the hands of Wyoming Area damaged the magic carpet ride that was the Pittston Area season. While the setback cannot take away the glory of a league title for the RD, it certainly puts a damper on what lies ahead. Instead of a home date with Wyoming Valley West, a team Pittston Area slapped 64 points on just a few weeks ago, the Red Dawn will welcome the Warriors of Delaware Valley, a group that is as far from the ordinary, run of the mill 5-5 record as one can imagine. Make no mistake – Delaware Valley can play with any football team in all of District 2 and would be favored in most of those games. This is a nightmare scenario for Coach Paul Russick who saw the Number 1 seed drift into the West Pittston sky after losing to their archrivals last weekend. And now, another set of Warriors are going to stop the magic carpet ride altogether. I’ll take Delaware Valley by two scores in Yatesville.
FISTFIGHT #2 SCRANTON PREP (5-5) at WYOMING AREA (9-1)
PIAA DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A SEMIFINAL
The Jesuit Giants took one on the chin last weekend in their regular season finale against North Pocono. Their dream of ending North Pocono’s 9-game winning streak vanished into the arms of King Cole West who intercepted Prep’s long pass attempt late in the final stanza in Dunmore. At 5-5, Coach Terry Gallagher’s group saunters into West Pittston searching for their identity. Yes, you heard that right – in the 11th week of the season, the folks on Wyoming Avenue are still trying to figure stuff out. Prep began their season with 3 losses, won in a miraculous comeback over Delaware Valley in Week 4, and then beat up on Scranton and Wallenpaupack in their next two outings. But then a 2-2 finish, highlighted by a stunner of a loss at Abington Heights and a drubbing of 4A power Jersey Shore, leaves those who follow the JG’s in a state of bewilderment. Will the real Jesuit Giants please stand up. Friday night’s opponent, Wyoming Area, comes into this semifinal contest on an emotional high, having just dispatched their hated rival, the Pittston Area Red Dawn. The Warriors are 9-1, with the only spot on their record coming at the hands of the school on the other side of the 3A bracket, Berwick. This is a typical Wyoming Area team – rugged, physical, and disciplined. My guess is that the game is decided in the final period. And my guess is that there will be just the slightest hint of a grin under the wild facial hair of Coach Terry Gallagher. I’ll take the Jesuit Giants in a white-knuckler on Friday.
FISTFIGHT #1 DUNMORE (7-3) at RIVERSIDE (8-2)
PIAA DISTRICT 2 CLASS 2A SEMIFINAL
Friday, August 22nd, 2025, at Dunmore’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, Riverside defeated the Bucks of #NINESQUAREMILES 17-14 in the opener for both programs. Since that warm summer evening, both teams have recorded losses to Lakeland and Lackawanna Trail, the champions of Divisions 2 and 3 respectively of the Lackawanna Football Conference. When last we saw the Vikings, they were yielding over 500 yards on the ground to Lackawanna Trail. They surrendered the first 40 – yes, 40 – points of the football game on their home field in Taylor. Both teams have versatile, athletic quarterbacks in Brayden Rose of Riverside and Weston Yannone of Dunmore. Dunmore has emerged victorious in four straight and has certainly played a better schedule in Division 2 than the Vikings have faced in Division 3. So all of the seminal factors in deciphering the outcome of a high school football game point to the Bucks from #NINESQUAREMILES. So why am I having such a hard time with this? I don’t know – does home field advantage really have anything to do with who wins and who loses a high school football game? It’s Halloween in Taylor. The ol’ ball coach will be wearing one of those too-tight polos and gritting his teeth on the Viking sideline, regardless of the temperature. Phantoms will appear and disappear, and things will go bump in the night. I know I’ll hate myself on Saturday morning but give me the Vikings on another Santino D’Amico field goal in the waning moments. I’ll count on the paisan to make me a winner.
And now, with a nod to a portly prognosticator who also appears on this platform, let me take care of the rest of District 2’s business on semifinals weekend:
Class 6A
Wilkes-Barre over Hazleton
Williamsport over Scranton
Class 5A
Abington Heights over Wyoming Valley West
Class 4A
North Pocono over Crestwood
Class 2A
Lakeland over Holy Redeemer
Class A
Lackawanna Trail over Nativity BVM
Finally, I will put an exclamation point on this playoff edition with the Power 5!
THE POWER 5 – the five best football teams in all of District 2, heedless of record, classification, or dental health…
- BERWICK (10-0) (3A)
- NORTH POCONO (10-0) (4A)
- SCRANTON PREP (5-5) (3A)
- DELAWARE VALLEY (5-5) (5A)
- WYOMING AREA (9-1) (3A)
