Fall Car Care Special Running October 25th

Please visit our kind sponsor

HEADLINES:
Local Sports Scene
NASCAR Racing
Forest City's Ian White Named Athlete Of Month

Graytock Places 10th In Steamtown Marathon
By Tom Robinson

Forest City native Jesse Graytock was the 10th overall finisher Sunday in the Steamtown Marathon, which started in his hometown and finished in downtown Scranton.

Graytock, who now lives in Washington, D.C., finished in 2:38:45 to place first among men in the 25-29 age group.

The race was a success for hometown runners.

Matthew Byrne, a Scranton native who now lives in Philadelphia, became the event's first two-time winner, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:21.50.

Michael Wardian of Arlington, VA was second in 2:22.29.

More than 2,000 runners started and 1,676 finished the marathon.

Erica Riecke, 22, of Great Bend was the first finisher among current Susquehanna County residents. Riecke finished 209th overall and second among women 24 and under  with a time of 3:16:42.

Fred Bostrom of Brackney won the 65-69 men's division in 3:52:05.

Donald Teague, 76, of Forest City was the oldest runner to complete the race. He beat six other runners to the finish line, making it in 6:07:44.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Old Forge – The opening games of Lackawanna Football Conference Division III play unraveled on both Susquehanna County teams during difficult second quarters.

Old Forge scored the first 21 points of the game Friday night during the second quarter on the way to a 31-0 romp over visiting Montrose.

Susquehanna led by a touchdown after one quarter but also gave up 21 second-quarter points while falling to defending champion Lackawanna Trail, 28-21, at home Saturday.

Old Forge built statistical advantage of 8-1 in first downs and 138-48 in total offense during the second quarter. The Blue Devils led just 10-7 in first downs and 173-128 in total offense during the rest of the game.

Trail only outgained Susquehanna by 17 yards and each team had three first downs in the second quarter, but the Lions came up with the big plays necessary to turn the game around. The Lions blocked a punt, recovered a muffed punt, returned an interception for a touchdown and broke a 37-yard touchdown run in the decisive quarter.

Old Forge turned the momentum after stopping Taylor Smith one yard short on a fourth-and-three play to finish the first quarter.

The Blue Devils then went 55 yards in 10 plays with the help of two third-down conversions to score on Anthony Cusumano's three-yard run.

Cusumano hit Chris Kaville with a 29-yard screen pass for another touchdown less than three minutes later.

The game-breaking score came on a one-yard run by Eli Arce with 22 seconds left in the half.

Montrose reached Old Forge territory twice in the second half, but never got closer than the Blue Devils’ 27.

Nick LaBarbera hit eight of 17 passes for 89 yards. Bud Roszel carried twice for a team-high 29 yards.

Guy Roszel led the Montrose defense with 12 tackles, including two for losses, and one assist.

Susquehanna came out on Homecoming Day and made a bid at upsetting Trail.

The Sabers moved 69 yards on 12 plays on the game-opening drive, despite losing starting quarterback Anthony Dorunda to an injury along the way.

Christopher Felter ran 17 yards to convert third-and-nine and back-up quarterback Cody Scepaniak passed 16 yards to Cameron Arthur on the next play.

Felter then scored on a seven-yard run and Nick Ott added the kick for a 7-0 lead.

Arthur recovered a fumble on Trail's second play and the Sabers ripped off first downs on each of their next three plays.

Felter had a pair of 13-yard runs sandwiched around a 10-yard run by Julian Andujar before a penalty helped Trail hold at its 17.

The Sabers had an 8-3 lead in first downs and a 118-39 lead in total offense after one quarter.

Trail quarterback Richard Fricke ran 37 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter but the extra point was no good and Susquehanna still led, 7-6.

That lasted just more than three minutes until Josh Dixon intercepted a pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.

Fricke scored on a 1-yard run with 12 seconds left in the half then passed 41 yards to Dixon for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

The Sabers lost their fourth straight despite outgaining the Lions on the ground and picking up 16 first downs. They continued to struggle with turnovers, losing five.

In high school golf, Montrose's Devlin Conrad made his move on the final nine holes and qualified for the first Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Eastern Regional at Golden Oaks Golf Club.

Conrad was in a three-way tie for 14th when the District 2 boys' golf tournament cut the field to the top 16 players after 18 holes. Those players then played nine more holes for 12 berths at regionals.

Conrad jumped all the way up to a tie for sixth place when he shot 37, the third-best score in the field, for the final nine holes to finish at 118.

Matt Baker of Abington Heights shot 104 for an eight-shot victory over Jeff Clemente of Bishop Hoban.

Kyle Kilmer of Mountain View qualified for the extra nine holes but shot 124 and finished 15th.

Forest City's Wade Malicky was among the group at 82, one shot out of the extra nine. He finished tied for 17th out of 91 golfers in the field.

Eight other county golfers had reached the tournament by finishing in the top one-third of the field in a qualifying event for Lackawanna League golfers.

Forest City's Chris Nebzydoski finished tied for 23rd with an 83 that included a 37 on the front nine at Fox Hill Country Club.

Montrose's Jonathan Lodge was tied for 27th with an 84.

Susquehanna's Dusty Barton and Forest City's Brad Sparks were in the tie for 35th after shooting 86s.

Other county scores were: Susquehanna's Bill McHale, 88; Montrose's Chris Maxey, 89; Montrose's Pete Maxey, 91; and Forest City's Steve Beautz, 96.

Montrose reached the Lackawanna League golf semifinals before falling to North Pocono, 6-3.

Forest City had been eliminated by eventual finalist Abington Heights on a tiebreaker in a quarterfinal match.

In boys' soccer, county teams are leading two of the three divisions of the Lackawanna League.

Mountain View moved into first place in Division I while Forest City remained unbeaten and in front of Division III.

In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Binghamton Senators each won their season openers before falling in the second game.

The Penguins won the league's season opener Wednesday when Erik Christensen scored with 17 seconds left in overtime for a 3-2 victory over the Manitoba Moose.

The win was the debut for coach Todd Richards.

Defending Calder Cup champion Hershey scored four straight third-period goals to rally past the defending East Division champion Penguins, 7-4, Saturday night.

Kelly Guard stopped 25 of 26 shots as Binghamton beat the Syracuse Crunch, 4-1, in its season opener Saturday at the Broome County Arena.

The Senators fell behind, 3-0, in the first period on the way to a 5-3 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday.

COLLEGE CORNER

Blue Ridge graduate Brooke Hinkley is the leader of a University of Scranton women's volleyball team that went over the 20-win mark by sweeping three matches, all in three straight games, Saturday.

Scranton defeated Marywood, Lycoming and Susquehanna to improve its season record to 21-5.

Hinkley, a junior middle blocker, leads the team in kills per game and blocks.

Heather Bradley, another Blue Ridge graduate, is an assistant coach with the team.

Bradley completed her career last year and was honored for her charitable work, receiving the Willensky Award, which honors a Scranton student-athlete who consistently undertakes to understand and improve the human condition. Bradley won three letters for the Lady Royals and was named Most Valuable Player of the 2005 MAC Freedom Conference Tournament.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Carbondale (0-1 in division, 3-3 overall) is at Montrose (0-1, 3-3) and Susquehanna (0-1, 1-5) is at Old Forge (1-0, 4-2) in Friday night LFC Division III games.

Last week's high school football predictions were 7-3, dropping our season record to 51-16 (76.1 percent).

This week's predictions, with home teams in CAPS: OLD FORGE 35, Susquehanna 12; MONTROSE 22, Carbondale 20; WEST SCRANTON 20, North Pocono 7; VALLEY VIEW 21, Scranton 20; DELAWARE VALLEY 46, Wallenpaupack 6; Dunmore 14, LAKELAND 10; Mid Valley 27, SCRANTON PREP 21; RIVERSIDE 48, Western Wayne 0; ABINGTON HEIGHTS 33, Honesdale 7; LACKAWANNA TRAIL 20, Bishop O'Hara 14.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.

Back to Top

NASCAR Racing
By Gerald Hodges

The Racing Reporter

VICKERS Bumps His Way To ‘Dega Win, Talladega, AL – There were quite a few fans at Talladega that thought Brian Vickers stole his first career win after bumping teammate Jimmie Johnson, while others saw it as just normal Talladega racing.

Despite fan boos, a new track surface, and a smaller restrictor-plate mandated by NASCAR after practice, Vickers picked up his first Nextel Cup victory in 107 starts in Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500.

Brian Vickers celebrates his Sunday win at Talladega.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who led the most laps was the leader as the field headed for the checkered flag on the 188th and final lap. Running second was Johnson, then Vickers, Kasey Kahne, and Kurt Busch.

Johnson swerved down and began to make an inside pass on Earnhardt’s No. 8. Vickers was right on Johnson’s bumper. Earnhardt moved down a little, and Johnson swerved a little more down the track to avoid Earnhardt. Vickers was unable to slow up and hooked the rear bumper of Johnson’s No. 48, pushing him into Earnhardt. Both Johnson and Earnhardt spun down onto the infield grass.

NASCAR immediately put out the yellow, freezing the field, and since it was the last lap, Vickers picked up the win.

“It was not quite how I planned it,” said Vickers. “Jimmie had a heck of a run and I was pushing him. When he turned down, I got off of him, and he turned down to pass the eight car, and the eight just kept pushing him down. When he (Johnson) jerked to avoid the eight, I got into the back of him.

“I apologize, because that’s the last thing I wanted to do, was get into Jimmie and let all of that take place. When the eight chopped Jimmie, I swerved and got into him.”

Vickers is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the 2006 season, and has not been allowed to attend regular weekly meetings of the three other Hendrick teams.

“I got a run on the eight and got beside him,” said Johnson. “Brian turned me into the eight and everything went south. I just can’t believe it. We go all day long and have a great chance to make up some points and I just can’t believe it. I need to see the video.”

Earnhardt, who also is in the Chase, reacted in a very mature manner.

“It was just a bad deal,” said Earnhardt. “It was just racing. I hate it for the points race. It was not Jimmie’s fault, it was Brian’s. Brian was just a little eager to get his first win and just got a little itchy.

“Right there at the end, they were working really good and I knew it was just a matter of time. He went to the inside and I tried to block him a little, but once I understood he was there, I didn’t try to push the issue.

“Brian just got into Jimmie and pushed him up into me. I’m really not that upset. That’s the way racing goes. I’m glad Brian got his first win, but it’s unfortunate that our car got all tore up.”

Jeff Burton, the points leader drove a smart race, avoided two big wrecks that involved 15 cars, but had a flat right tire on his No. 31 Childress Chevrolet with nine laps remaining in the race, and finished 27th.

Jeff Gordon was caught up in the first wreck during lap 139 and lost 14 laps while his crew made repairs.

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, but right now our (Chase) chances are pretty slim,” he said.

Polesitter, David Gilliland finished 15th.

Top-10 unofficial Chase contenders after 4 of 10 races: 1. Burton-5598, 2. Kenseth-5592, 3. Martin-5584, 4. Harvick-5565, 5. Hamlin-5541, 6. Earnhardt-5498, 7. J. Gordon-5451, 8. Johnson-5448, 9. Kahne-5413, 10. Kyle Busch-5413.

Unofficial top ten finishing order of UAW-Ford 500: 1. Brian Vickers, 2. Kasey Kahne, 3. Kurt Busch, 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Martin Truex, 6. Kevin Harvick, 7. Jeff Green, 8. Bobby Labonte, 9. Mark martin, 10. Carl Edwards.

MARTIN Switching To Chevrolets In 2007, Talladega, AL – Mark Martin still has racing fuel in his veins, and that means he isn’t ready to hang up his racing helmet. But this past weekend, he did clarify his plans for the 2007 season.

Martin was set to give up his ride in the No. 6 Roush Ford after the 2005 season, but was convinced by Jack Roush to stay another year because none of the team’s young drivers were ready to step into the ride.

In addition to running the full 2007 Craftsman Truck Series in a Ford, the 47-year old will continue in the Cup Series next season, in the No. 01 MB2 Army Chevrolet for 22 races.

That’s a big switch, because for the past two decades, he has been a devoted Ford driver for Roush Racing.

“I consider Mark Martin a personal friend and over the last 20 years we have had a fantastic relationship, professionally and personally,” Jack Roush said. “Mark will always hold a special place in my heart and a special place in Roush Racing, and I truly wish him all the best in his future plans.”

But it was NASCAR and not Jack Roush that forced Martin to make a move to another team. The limit of four teams any one company can own is a new NASCAR policy.

“NASCAR team limits prevented Roush Racing from putting together an additional team for Mark, so in the end Mark had to move on – in order to stay in the Cup series,” said Roush Pres. Geoff Smith. “He's meant a great deal to this organization and we certainly wish him the best in whatever he chooses to do down the road.”

MARTIN Wins ‘Dega Truck Race – Top 10 Craftsman Truck Series leaders: 1. Bodine-3076, 2. Benson-2963, 3. Reutimann-2821, 4. Musgrave-2795, 5. Crawford-2708, 6. Hornaday-2665, 7. Starr-2644, 8. Cook-2584, 9. Setzer-2577, 10. Bliss-2574.

The Busch Series teams had an off week.

WEEKEND RACING

The Nextel Cup and Busch Series teams have night races at the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC, while the Craftsman Trucks are idle.

Friday, October 13, Busch Series Dollar General 300, race 31 of 35, 200 laps, 8 p.m. TV: TNT.

Saturday, October 14, Nextel Cup Bank of America 500, race 31 of 36, 334 laps, 7 p.m. TV: NBC.

Racing Trivia Question: Which Cup team does David Stremme drive for?

Last Week’s Question: Nextel Cup driver Jeff Green is one of three racing brothers from Owensboro, KY. What are his brother’s names? Answer: David and Mark.

If you have any NASCAR questions, e-mail them to: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.

Back to Top

Forest City's Ian White Named Athlete Of Month
By Tom Robinson

Ian White is equally effective scoring goals or helping his teammates to score.

As a result, the sophomore striking is leading all Lackawanna League Division III players in scoring while helping Forest City continue its pursuit of a second straight perfect league record. For his effort, White has been selected as the latest Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month.

"What I usually try to do is get past my defender, then look for other guys who might have a better angle going to the goal," White said.

Forest City coach Steve Fonash said it is the way White combines skill with aggressiveness and intelligence that has helped the sophomore to 10 goals and 13 assists.

"He's the fastest player on our team," Fonash said. "He has good ball control and is very quick getting his shot off on the run or off the dribble.

"He's very aggressive and very smart. He sets players up for a move he might use later."

Fonash said White also has the toughness to succeed against older players.

"He has a tremendous desire to win," the coach said. "Being younger doesn't phase him at all.

"He's not afraid to take a hit to either score or create a scoring opportunity for the team."

White's playmaking ability has helped teammate Stanley Vitzakovitch score 13 goals. One of his responsibilities is starting corner kicks where he is responsible for getting the ball into the middle of the penalty area for his teammates to try to finish.

After contributing to a division championship last season, White is trying to help his teammates continue the league's longest active winning streak.

"We want to keep that winning streak going," he said. "We want to build off of last year and being 12-0. We want to do it again and we want to go further."

White was also a starting varsity baseball player as a freshman, working at shortstop and pitcher. He was a member of the freshman basketball team a year ago.

Ian is the son of Kevin and Kathy White of Browndale.

Back to Top

©