By Tom Robinson, NEPAFootball.com
PECKVILLE – Jordan Chmielewski never got to finish his senior season.
The Mid Valley graduate, however, made sure to put the finishing touches on the 90th annual Scranton Lions Club Dream Game Thursday night.
After accounting for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns, Chmielewski helped clinched a 35-28 County victory over the City with an interception at the 9 with 1:56 left.
“I wasn’t able to finish my senior year because I broke my wrist,” Chmielewski said. “I knew I had one more game for my high school career, so I just wanted to show out.”
Chmielewski started the County response from the City scoring on the game’s opening possession, then produced consecutive touchdowns in the last 2:18 of the first half to put his team in front to stay.
The City rallied within a touchdown twice, then made a defensive stop to get a shot at the tying score and set out on a patient drive over the game’s final seven minutes.
Nine straight runs moved the ball from the City 18 to the County 30 before needing to go to the air.
That’s when Chmielewski stepped in front of a pass on the deep corner route.
Old Forge’s Joe Granko, who made a tackle for a loss on the play before Chmliewski’s second-and-12 interception, carried on the next play.
Riverside’s Reese Gaughan then ran four straight times, picking up two first downs to run out the clock and seal the win for the team led by his high school coach, Harry Armstrong.
The game, presented by Northeast Rehab, is for recent graduates of Lackawanna Football Conference programs. It drew an announced crowd of 7,164 to Valley View’s John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium.
That crowd was treated to a contest that featured 35 first downs and 704 yards total offense in an even statistical battle in which the three interceptions by the County secondary were a much bigger a factor in the outcome than the team’s slim advantage of 355-349 in total offense.
Honesdale’s Cameron Hedgelon was the game’s top defender. He had the first two interceptions, broke up a deep pass as the last man back, made five tackles and assisted on two others.
The game’s two leading rushers established themselves early on the way to the 100-yard mark in the first half.
Lackawanna Trail’s Lukas Gumble carried 4 times for 35 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown in the opening drive as the City marched 65 yards in 11 plays, 10 of them runs.
Gumble finished with 114 yards on 16 carries to lead a ground game that churned out 277 yards on 44 carries.
“We definitely wanted to run the ball,” Gumble said, “but we also wanted to pass it just as much.
“It didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted.”
Exactly halfway through the first quarter each team had a score and the City was in front, 7-6.
Chmielewski answered the early City touchdown with a 55-yard run up the middle from shot-gun formation on fourth-and-two. He went on to finish with 123 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries while going 4-for-11 through the air for 78 yards and another touchdown.
“Most of the line was Valley View and Riverside,” said Chmielewski, who got the call as a starter at both quarterback and safety. “I knew how good they were from playing against Riverside and from hearing about Valley View. They were always good.
“So, I knew the holes would open up and I could trust them.”
Valley View’s Jerry Wasilchak started at center with teammates Steven Halloran and Logan Smith forming the left side while Riverside’s Ed Snee and Chad Hoskins were on the right side.
The winning team was made up of players from Abington Heights, Carbondale, Delaware Valley, Lakeland, Old Forge Western Wayne as well as Valley View, Mid Valley, Honesdale and Armstrong’s Riverside group.
Kevin McHale from Dunmore coached the City team and his all-state linebacker, Nick Donvito, led the team with seven tackles and an assist. The City got big contributions from players from two other championship teams, Scranton Prep and Lackawanna Trail, and drew the rest of its roster from graduates of Holy Cross, North Pocono, Scranton, Susquehanna, Wallenpaupack and West Scranton.
The County took its first lead 9:07 before halftime when Western Wayne’s Frankie Leyshon hit Delaware Valley’s Jayden Ramirez for the first of his two touchdown receptions, a 38-yarder on third-and-five. Gaughan ran for the two-pointer to make it 14-7.
Gumble ran for 51 yards and 3 first downs on the ensuing possession. Dunmore’s Danny Pigga then ran for 19 yards and a 6-yard touchdown on the last two plays of the drive that created a 14-14 tie with 5:03 left in the half.
The scoring kept up before the break in which Dunmore graduate Vic Fangio, the former Denver Broncos head coach and current Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator, was honored as Lions Club Man of the Year. Fangio played in the Dream Game in 1976 and served as an assistant coach in 1981.
Ramirez returned the kickoff 32 yards following Pigga’s touchdown.
Chmielewski hit Gaughan to convert third-and-10, then scored on an 8-yard keeper on the next play to put the County in front.
Hedgelon’s interception with 15.7 seconds left in the half set up Chmielewski’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Ramirez on third-and-10 as time expired.
Under all-star game rules with a team trailing by nine or more points, the City received the kickoff again to start the second half and took advantage.
Pigga and Scranton quarterback Billy Maloney kept the drive moving until Barrett reached back to make a one-handed catch in the end zone on a back-shoulder throw from Maloney on a fade pattern.
The County used 7:34 off the clock on a 14-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Third- and fourth-down conversions led to Gaughan’s 1-yard touchdown for a 35-21 lead.
Maloney found Scranton teammate Elijah Ortiz for 50 yards, then ran 14 yards for a touchdown with 9:48 left.
Scranton Prep’s Andrew Summa and Dunmore’s Chris Conte made tackles for losses to force the only County punt and give the City one last chance.
BY THE NUMBERS
While the City relied heavily on its ground game, the County had the more balanced attack with 178 yards passing and 173 rushing. The County used 10 runners and 4 passers and had 5 players catch passes. … Ramirez had 3 catches for 101 yards and Valley View’s Kyle Rupp (30 yards) also had 3 catches. … Maloney ran for 64 yards on 11 carries and went 2-for-4 passing for 76 yards. Pigga added 59 yards for the City on 8 carries. … Delaware Valley all-state linebacker Justin Kalitsnik had seven tackles, one for a loss, and two assists. Riverside’s Robby Garvey added six tackles, including one for a loss, and two assists while the county also got strong defensive efforts from Old Forge’s Joe Granko, Western Wayne’s Carter Mistishin and Gaughan. Granko had five tackles and two assists; Mistishin four tackles and four assists; and Gaughan four tackles, two assists and a broken-up pass. … Summa and Conte joined Donvito as the City defensive leaders. Their late tackles for losses gave Summa four tackles and three assists and Conte three tackles and three assists. … The City led in time of possession, 25:40-22:20, and first downs, 19-16
