Susquehanna used a pair of strong defensive efforts to win two football games in six days while Montrose was losing twice in the same period.
Flooding and evacuations altered the early-season high school football schedule, forcing the Sabers and Meteors to play Monday afternoon, Sept. 12 before returning to action Saturday.
The defense made sure Susquehanna thrived in those circumstances.
The Sabers held Holy Redeemer to negative rushing yardage in a 32-22 victory then kept Nanticoke from producing a touchdown offensively during a 26-7 win.
During the same stretch, Montrose lost to Northwest, 30-8, and Western Wayne, 54-6.
Holy Redeemer threw for 330 yards to try to mount a comeback, but Susquehanna came up with eight sacks for 57 yards and three interceptions to help offset some of that damage.
In all, the Sabers threw the Royals for 15 losses, totaling 80 yards and leaving Holy Redeemer with minus-45 yards net rushing.
Tackle Gage Piechocki and 150-pound defensive end Anthony Stark did the most damage up front. Piechocki was in on six of the tackles for losses, making four for 16 yards and assisting on two more for 11. Stark had sacks for losses of 11 and 10 yards, including one that forced a fumble.
Sean Stanley, James Murnock and C.J. Monks all came up with interceptions.
Stanley and Murnock were also part of a running game that produced 297 yards for the defending Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 champion Sabers.
Jesse Pruitt ran for 131 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries to lead the way. Stanley, the quarterback, added 77 yards while Murnock, a sophomore making his first offensive start in place of Greg Price, added 60. Stanley and Murnock each ran for a touchdown.
Susquehanna opened leads of 14-0 in the first quarter, 26-8 in the third quarter and 32-14 in the fourth quarter.
Eric Kerr did his best to try to help Holy Redeemer avoid its 13 straight loss by making nine catches for 215 yards.
After Susquehanna had already turned to its reserves for one offensive possession, Holy Redeemer scored against many of the back-up defenders to get within, 32-22, with 1:09 left.
The Sabers then covered an on-side kick and ran out the clock.
Stanley hit seven of 15 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He gave the Sabers a 14-0 lead after one quarter with a 13-yard touchdown run and a 13-yard touchdown pass to Austin Cowperthwait.
Stanley found Jon Michael Marino with a 20-yard score for a 20-8 halftime lead.
Pruitt ran 35 yards in the third quarter and Murnock ran 2 yards in the fourth quarter for the other touchdowns.
The Sabers fumbled the ball eight times, but did not lose any.
Price returned to the lineup Saturday and scored two second-quarter touchdowns to give the Sabers as 12-0 halftime lead.
Nanticoke sophomore Pat Hempel returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown, but that was the only score the Trojans (1-1) could produce.
Stanley again threw for two touchdowns.
After hitting Price with an 8-yarder on the first play of the second quarter to open the scoring, he found Cooper Quick for a 16-yard score in the third quarter.
Thomas Maby’s interception set up the score.
The Sabers stopped the Trojans with a fourth-down sack after a Nanticoke drive reached the Susquehanna 15 in the fourth quarter.
Pruitt, who carried nine times for 85 yards, then added the clinching, 46-yard touchdown with 2:28 left.
The Sabers held Nanticoke to just 60 yards total offense in the first half and 150 in the game. They limited Brian Maslowski to 67 yards on his 30 carries.
Price carried 13 times for 57 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown with 7:44 left in the half, and caught two passes for 16 yards.
Tony Politz rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns to lead Northwest past Montrose earlier in the week.
Politz opened the scoring on a 3-yard run after a Tyler Kishbaugh fumble recovery at the Montrose 31. He added a 57-yard run early in the second quarter.
Montrose got back in the game when Brenton Warner intercepted a screen pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown. John Lawson ran for the two-pointer to cut the gap to 14-8.
The Rangers came back with a drive for Gunner Majer’s 1-yard touchdown and a 21-8 halftime lead.
Northwest added its final touchdown on the opening drive of the second half.
Montrose moved inside the Northwest 30 twice after that, but the only scoring in the final 18 minutes was a 45-yard field goal by the Rangers.
Lawson led the Meteors with 58 yards rushing on seven carries and also caught a pass for 19 yards.
Western Wayne used a 35-point second quarter Saturday night to run away from Montrose.
The loss was the 21st straight by the Meteors, who have allowed 132 points in three games, the second-highest total among 20 LFC teams.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Blue Ridge boys and Elk Lake girls captured team titles Saturday in the Lackawanna County Commissioners Cross Country Invitational at McDade Park in Scranton.
Elk Lake’s Luke Jones won the boys’ individual title but Blue Ridge placed five in the top 25 for a team score of 82, well in front of second-place Wyoming Valley West’s 119.
Jake Hinkley led the Raiders by finishing fourth. Michael Robbs was 15th, Ethan Mansfield 17th, Chris Carelson 21st and T.J. Loomis 25th.
Will Bennett of Elk Lake was third, helping the defending state Class AA champion Warriors finish fourth out of 17 teams. Montrose was 14th and Susquehanna 16th.
Susquehanna sophomore Brandon Soden was 19th.
Montrose was led by Thomas Lewis in 31st.
Elk Lake had three of the top six and five of the top 19 girls to beat out 11 other teams for the title.
The Lady Warriors outscored Pleasant Valley, 47-84.
Freshman Jenny Vanetten was third, Maria Trowbridge fourth and Kristen Hollister sixth. Lainey Bedell and Abby Zdancewicz were 17th and 19th.
Pittston Area’s Christine Lombardo took the individual title while helping her team place third.
Montrose was seventh and Susquehanna 11th out of 12 teams.
Montrose’s Samantha Bennicci was 15th, Susquehanna freshman Ivy Chrstenson was 16th and Blue Ridge freshman Laurren Whitney was 20th.
Elk Lake also did well on the junior high level.
The Warriors did not have a complete boys’ team, but Dalton Sherman finished seventh and Hunter Bedell eighth.
Elk Lake was second out of 19 teams, behind Danville.
Keri Jones was 11th and Katie Bennett 13th to lead Elk Lake.
The first week of Lackawanna League cross country competition included two cluster meets for most teams, who were making up postponements for a week earlier.
Elk Lake was beaten by Wallenpaupack on Opening Day, but Blue Ridge beat Wallenpaupack at the same meet. The loss was the first by Elk Lake in league competition since 2008.
Blue Ridge finished the week 6-0 and tied for second in the 23-team league with North Pocono, behind Dunmore (8-0).
Elk Lake is tied for fourth at 5-1.
The Elk Lake girls share first place with Abington Heights at 6-0. Montrose is 5-1 and tied for third.
Several other Susquehanna County teams made it through the week unbeaten and in their division leads.
Montrose is 7-0 in golf to lead the Lackawanna League Northern Division.
Susquehanna is 3-0 to lead Lackawanna Division 2 girls’ volleyball.
Mountain View, Montrose and Mountain View are unbeaten in boys’ soccer. The Eagles are 4-0 to lead Division 1. Montrose is 2-0 for second in Division 2 and Mountain View is 3-0 for second in Division 3.
Mountain View is 3-0 to lead Lackawanna Division 2 girls’ soccer.
In professional baseball, the Columbus Clippers won in Allentown Thursday and Friday to finish a three-games-to-one victory in the finals and a repeat of their International League Governors’ Cup championship.
Thompson, a Montrose graduate, started in the outfield and led off every game of the championship series for Lehigh Valley. Thompson went 2-for-13 (.154) with a run scored, three walks and three stolen bases.
COLLEGE CORNER
Joshua Pfahl, a junior forward from Mountain View, has come off the bench in three of the five games for Misericordia University’s men’s soccer team.
Pfahl scored his first career goal Saturday when he gave the Cougars a 2-0, first-half lead on their way to a 4-0 victory over Arcadia.
Pfahl played 33 games, starting three last year. For his three-year career, he has played in 36 games, including four as a starter.
In each of the first two seasons, Pfahl had one assist.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna and Montrose are each home in non-league football games Friday.
The Sabers (2-1) will have their annual night game under portable lights Friday against Lakeland (2-1).
Montrose (0-3) is home against Dunmore (3-0).
Our season record on predictions for Lackawanna Football Conference games is 36-10 (78.3 percent). We were 14-2 (87.5 percent) in Week Two and 11-4 (73.3 percent) in Week Three.
This week’s predictions, with the home team in CAPS: Lakeland 16, SUSQUEHANNA 12; Dunmore 48, MONTROSE 0; Valley View 20, SCRANTON 6; WALLENPAUPACK 20, Abington Heights 0; Scranton Prep 41, NORTH POCONO 24; LACKAWANNA TRAIL 45, Riverside 27; HONESDALE 19, Old Forge 10; Western Wayne 50, MID VALLEY 8; DELAWARE VALLEY 24, West Scranton 0; HOLY CROSS 42, Carbondale 14.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
