Scranton Prep at Delaware Valley

Recap

SCRANTON PREP 28, DELAWARE VALLEY 25

The Scranton Prep Cavaliers rebounded from their first loss of the season by hanging on to beat winless Delaware Valley in a topsy-turvy affair in Milford. The Warriors came up short in their first game against a District 2 opponent this season.

After the Cavaliers went three and out on their first possession, the Warriors drew first blood. Senior quarterback Logan Olsommer found junior Colin McGarvey in the middle of the Scranton Prep secondary for a 25-yard touchdown, putting Delaware Valley ahead 7-0 less than 5 minutes into the contest. Neither team could mount a scoring drive and the first quarter ended with the Warriors holding their one-score lead.

Prep mounted a march that saw them score on the first play of the second period. On third and goal from the Delaware Valley 6-yard line, Will  McPartland took a Wildcat direct snap and skirted the right side of the Warrior line to the end zone. Tyler Bianchi’s placement tied the game at 7-7 with 11:54 left before halftime.

After a Prep turnover, the Warriors got back on the board, this time courtesy of a 39-yard field goal off the foot of junior Regan Decker. The Warriors led 10-7 with 8:50 left in the half, a lead that would be their final advantage of the afternoon.

Prep drove methodically on the ground and scored on a play nearly identical to their first score. With just 12 seconds left before intermission, McPartland again scooted around right end, this time from 5 yards out and, with Bianchi’s kick, Prep took a 14-10 lead into the locker room.

After forcing a Delaware Valley turnover on the first drive of the second half, Prep utilized the big play to extend their lead. Senior scatback Treyvon Dickey outran the Warrior defense on a 44-yard scoring jaunt, staking Prep to a 21-10 spread with 8:03 left in the third period.

The Warriors then mounted a sustained drive which took them inside the Prep 10, but were finally stopped on downs. McPartland broke up a pass from Olsommer to tight end James Dabney.  Prep took over deep in its own territory with 3:32 left in the quarter. Four plays later, Dickey struck again, this time taking a handoff and setting sail for 75 yards to push Prep’s advantage to 28-10 with just 44 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Delaware Valley raced down the field to narrow the Prep lead early in the final frame. Olsommer and Dabney connected on a 3-yard pass and then added the two-point conversion to chop the Cavalier lead to 28-18 with 11:07 left in the contest, plenty of time to provide the Warriors with an opportunity to win the football game.

After forcing Prep to punt on its next possession, the Warriors continued to take advantage of a Prep defense that was clearly tired. Sophomore tailback Devin Estevez bulled over from 4 yards away and the successful extra point cut the Prep lead to 3 with 6:44 left in the game, 28-25.

The Cavaliers mustered a strong ground game on their final drive, forcing Delaware Valley to empty their time outs. A Louis Paris run of 15 yards on 4^th and 1 was perhaps the crucial play in the drive, allowing Prep to keep the Delaware Valley offense off the field. McPartland then broke tackles on a 9-yard run for a first down that allowed Prep to kneel on the football to conclude the contest and their third win in four games.

Delaware Valley (0-4, 0-1) will host Wallenpaupack next Friday night in a crucial Division 1 encounter for both teams. Scranton Prep (3-1, 2-0) will travel to Memorial Stadium to face the undefeated Scranton Knights in one of the signature contests of the season’s fifth weekend.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

DV – Colin McGarvey 25-yd pass from Logan Olsommer (Reagan Decker kick) – Delaware Valley 7-0

2nd Quarter

SP – Will McPartland 6-yd run (Tyler Bianchi kick) – Tied 7-7

DV – Decker 39-yd field goal – Delaware Valley 10-7

SP – McPartland 5-yd run (Bianch kick) – Scranton Prep 14-10

3rd Quarter

SP – Treyvon Dickey 44-yd run (Bianchi kick) – Scranton Prep 21-10

SP – Dickey 75-yd run (Bianchi kick) – Scranton Prep 28-10

4th Quarter

DV – James Dabney 3-yd pass from Olsommer (Justin Estevez pass from Olsommer) – Scranton Prep 28-18

DV – Estevez 4-yd run (Decker kick) – Scranton Prep 28-25