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Montrose’s Keihl To Coach City Team In 76th Annual Dream Game July 28
By Tom Robinson

Montrose’s Jack Keihl will have plenty of running options available when he coaches the City against the County July 28 at Scranton Memorial Stadium in the 76th annual Dream Game.

Keihl is the second straight Susquehanna County coach to lead the City.

Susquehanna’s Dick Bagnall coached the City team last year in a loss to the County.

Keihl will have three of his own players on the roster in the game, which features graduating players from Lackawanna Football Conference teams.

Running back/defensive back Dalton Smith, quarterback Rob Volk and offensive lineman/defensive end Bryan Castrogiavanni will represent the Meteors.

Two-way end Chris Kimble from Susquehanna is also on the City roster.

The City offensive backfield will include a pair of first-team Associated Press all-state runners.

Michael Perry, who ran for 6,661 yards and scored 93 touchdowns in his career at Dunmore, was a first-team pick in Class AA. Perry helped Dunmore go unbeaten in the regular season and win LFC Division 2 and District 2 Class AA titles.

Wallenpaupack’s Joe DeFebo was the LFC’s only all-state player in Class AAAA.

Perry is one of three players from Dunmore on the roster after being considered among the best in the state.

Wide receiver/defensive back Michael Ehnot, a second-team AP all-state selection on defense, and tight end/defensive end Brian Copeland, a Bucknell University recruit who played in last week’s Pennsylvania East-West all-star game, are also in the game.

In all, the Bucks lead the City with six representatives.

The other Dunmore players are fullback Frank Santarsiero, defensive end Tim Brier and kicker/punter Shawn Dente, according to rosters provided by Dream Game chairman Karl Pfeiffenberger.

North Pocono, which shared the LFC Division 1 title with Abington Heights, has five players on the City roster.

The Trojans in the game are: quarterback/defensive back Matt Smith; two-way lineman Josh Przywara, fullback/defensive end Frank Butash; wide receiver/ linebacker Mark Badyna and running back/linebacker Nick Batzel.

Scranton Prep and Wallenpaupack have four players each on the City roster, which also includes players from Scranton, West Scranton, Delaware Valley and Holy Cross.

The rest of the City team features: lineman/linebacker Kyle Shostek; fullback/linebacker Luke Walker and two-way linemen Mike Patrician and Connor Trygar from Scranton Prep; end Taylor Newcomer, linebacker Christian Capone and two-way lineman Joe Donegan from Wallenpaupack; wide receiver/defensive back Brett Sweeting, fullback/linebacker Kalvin Lloyd and linebacker Tom Desir from Scranton; wide receiver/defensive back Ethan Dunn, two-way lineman Nick Boyle and running back/defensive back Austin Eltora from West Scranton; wide receiver/defensive back Kory Wilson, two-way lineman Dan Hipsman and wide receiver Damari Roulhac from Delaware Valley; and wide receiver/defensive back Travis Graziano and quarterback/linebacker Michael Paddock from Holy Cross.

Lakeland’s Jeff Wasilchak will coach the County team and will have six of his own players from the Chiefs, the most represented team on the roster.

The Lakeland players are quarterback Ryan Kiehart, end Geoff Demming, back Brett Kuwik, two-way linemen Justin Moyle and Ryan Swift and wide receiver/defensive back Tony Peregrin.

Old Forge offensive lineman Kyle Holland, a first-team Class A choice, is the only all-state player on the County roster.

The County has four players each from District 2 Class AAA champion and LFC Division 1 co-champion Abington Heights and LFC Division 3 champion Old Forge.

Abington Heights will have fullback/linebacker Kody Pasqualichio, tight end/defensive back Sean Gretz, wide receiver/defensive back Ian Kelly and two-way lineman John Price in the game.

Holland will be joined by Old Forge teammates Brian Morris, a two-way back, and two-way linemen Mark Zambetti and A.J. Grasso.

Players from Western Wayne, Mid Valley, Carbondale, Valley View, Honesdale, Riverside and Lackawanna Trail complete the roster.

The rest of the County team features: wide receiver/defensive back Joey Vonderhey, quarterback/defensive back Joey Siclari, two-way end Brad Van Leuvan, offensive lineman/linebacker Luke Morahan and kicker Bill Gillette from Western Wayne; wide receiver/defensive back Dennis O’Hara, two-way end Gage Wormuth, split end/linebacker Tyler McDonald and guard/nose tackle Brad Hanicak from Mid Valley; two-way back Dylan Cerra, quarterback/defensive back Dominic DeAntonio, center/defensive tackle Matt DeAntonio and fullback/linebacker Dustin Mancuso from Carbondale; two-way tackle Kenny Simmons, running back/strong safety Kelly Swift, center/defensive end Joe Klinko and wide receiver/defensive back Brian Kubilus of Valley View; quarterback/wide receiver/defensive back Andrew Branning and two-way tackle Chris Henderson from Honesdale; two-way lineman Dan Davis and running back/linebacker Mike Dranchak of Riverside; and guard/linebacker Andrew Foley from Lackawanna Trail.

The Scranton Lions Club-sponsored event raises funds for programs that attempt to prevent blindness.

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

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NASCAR Racing
By Gerald Hodges

You Can’t Force Winning Said Harvick

Jimmie Johnson's back-to-back wins are spurring talk that the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion is poised to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive title.

In an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Harvick said this year’s Sprint Cup title is there for the taking.

Harvick still leads Johnson thanks to consistently strong finishes through the season's first 18 races.

Kevin Harvick

“This is the best opportunity that we've ever had to win a championship,” Harvick, 34, told reporters on a teleconference Tuesday.

“Obviously you're going to have to knock off the 48, but the ball is in our court.”

Harvick's best previous point finish was fourth, in 2006 and 2008, and he and the rest of the Richard Childress Racing team have shown a huge improvement from last season. Harvick was 19th in the standings in 2009.

Johnson's wins at Sonoma and New Hampshire gave him five for the season, tying Denny Hamlin (who's fourth in points) for the series high. But Harvick said “consistency is really what we are looking for.”

The key is not “trying to force the issue,” Harvick said, adding that “I learned this lesson the hard way this year at California.”

As Harvick chased down Johnson for the lead in the waning laps of the race in February at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Harvick scraped the wall and had to settle for second behind Johnson.

“You can't force winning,” Harvick said. “You learn not to get greedy. I've been around this deal long enough to know that [if] we keep running like we are, we'll win our share of races.”

GIVE ME REAL MASHED POTATOES

The bus was late to take me to the track, so I waited on the sidewalk outside my hotel in downtown Daytona Beach, and watched people.

I couldn’t help but reflect on the restaurant food I’d eaten the last two days.

I was raised on fried chicken, turnip greens, red beans and rice, pork chops, ham, fresh vegetables, with either mother’s corn bread or biscuits. I still need that kind of food at least once a week. My wife Gloria keeps me well fed, on fresh southern staple foods, including great macaroni and cheese.

Whenever I go to races, it seems like the hotels and restaurants get together and plan menu’s that are either bland, steak with gristle, or chicken a la heartburn.

The food during this year’s trip to Daytona wasn’t much different.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of fine folks in central Florida, and they have great seafood, but somebody needs to go down there and teach them about soul food, the real down-home style of southern cooking.

The previous night, I had gone into a restaurant that advertised southern cooking. I ordered country fried steak, fried okra and mashed potatoes. I knew the okra would be frozen, but that was all right.

“Could I get some gravy along with the mashed potatoes,” I asked the waitress.

“Sure,” she answered.

The steak was passable, and the okra was O.K., but after taking the first bite of the mashed potatoes, I called the waitress back.

“Would you be perfectly honest with me,” I said. “These mashed potatoes were poured out of a box, weren’t they?”

She gave me a pretty strong look and said, “Well of course, what did you expect?”

I realized the waitress didn’t have anything to do with the fact that this restaurant, which specialized in southern cooking, served mashed potatoes out of a box.

It was blasphemy to potato lovers and all southern mothers.

When I paid the bill I did give the manager a few words about how he ruined the good name of mashed potatoes and southern cooking

I told him, “You should be ashamed.”

He looked at me kind of funny. I believe he took me for some kind of religious nut.

Instant mashed potatoes, along with silicon implants are two things I cannot tolerate.

Some things aren’t meant to be changed.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams are at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, while the Camping World Trucks race for the first time at Iowa Speedway, an .875-mile track in Newton, IA.

Fri., July 9, Nationwide Series Dollar General 300, race 18 of 35; Starting time: 7:30 p.m. ET: TV: ESPN.

Sat., July 10, Sprint Cup Lifelock.com 400, race 19 of 36; Starting time: 7:30 p.m. ET; TV: TNT.

Sun., July 11, Camping World 200, race 10 of 25: Starting time: 1 p.m. ET; TV: Speed Channel.

Racing Trivia Question: Who is the defending Camping World Truck Series champion?

Last Week’s Question: Where is Joey Logano’s home state? Answer. He is from Connecticut.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.

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