The first step for the Susquehanna Sabers has been giving themselves shot at wins in the first two weeks of the high school football season.

The next step needs to be making the most of those chances.

Susquehanna had a comeback fall short for the second straight week when it lost its home opener, 12-7, Saturday at William Emminger Memorial Field.

“It’s frustrating to be 0-2 when we have had a chance to win the game both weeks,” said first-year head coach Kyle Cook, who is still looking for his first win. “When we came in, we wanted to play every game and play every down.

“Playing hard has given us a chance to win in the fourth quarter. Both weeks, we’ve had that so far, so it has given us a lot of positives to take away.”

The Sabers have faced two-touchdown deficits three times in the first two games, but each time they have answered with a score to get right back in the game. By being more efficient than their opponents on extra points, the Sabers have gotten into late-game situations where they were down by five points and could take the lead with a touchdown.

Susquehanna’s best two chances to complete Saturday’s comeback came in the second and third quarters. Defense kept the Sabers in the game in the fourth quarter, but an offense that managed just one second-half first down was unable to produce another threat.

Northwest used a size advantage upfront to dominate the first 16:12 of the game while taking a 12-0 lead with two touchdowns and a drive into Susquehanna territory in its first three possessions.

“In the beginning, we just missed a few tackles like we did last week,” Cook said. “It seems like then we got a little angry and we came out and made some tackles.”

The Rangers (2-0) piled up advantages of 9-0 in first downs, 126-9 in rushing yards and 178-12 in total offense to that point.

Susquehanna recovered for a 60-26 rushing advantage and 103-97 total offense advantage the rest of the way.

That was not enough offense, however, to complete a comeback.

After Nick Long’s second touchdown reception while getting one foot down in the end zone and pulling in a Logan Womelsdorf pass, the Sabers drove right down the field for their only score.

Junior quarterback Austin White ran four times for 27 yards and went 2-for-2 passing for 30 yards in the 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive.

White hit Craig Monks with a 13-yard pass on third-and-five for the team’s first first down. He ran 14 yards on fourth-and-two.

Austin Darrow scored the touchdown on a 17-yard reception. He reached above his head to tip the ball twice before pulling it in while falling to his back in the end zone.

Steve Jesse added the extra point to make it 12-7 with 2:41 left in the half.

The Sabers used a Curtis Mills sack to get another chance before halftime.

White’s 23-yard run to the Northwest 35 with 29 seconds left was the team’s longest play of the game. The drive ended with four straight incompletions as the Sabers raced the clock.

When the first drive of the second half stalled, Brett Hepler launched a 53-yard punt, pinning an opponent inside its 5 for the third time in two games.

Northwest started at its 2 and had to punt from the 4, giving the Sabers first position at the Rangers 33.

Long’s end zone interception on a second-and-nine pass from the 18 spoiled what turned out to be the last serious threat.

Hepler’s tackle stopped a 16-play Northwest drive at the 13 with 9:30 left and another drive that had reached the Susquehanna 10 was halted with 3:25 left.

Christian Miller broke in to force a 6-yard loss then assisted James Murnock’s sack before Murnock rushed an incompletion on fourth down.

The Sabers were pushed back to their 3 before punting and the Rangers ran the final 1:44 off the clock.

“We couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Cook said.

With Northwest controlling the ball for a 29:47-18:13 lead in time of possession, it was a busy day for many Sabers defenders.

Hepler made 15 tackles and assisted on seven others.

Lewis Esposito, Mills, Miller, Murnock and White were the other defensive leaders while combining for three sacks and seven other tackles for losses. They were each in on at least eight tackles.

Esposito had 10 tackles, including three for losses, and three assists. Mills had six tackles and seven assists.

In another game, Montrose also fell to 0-2.

The Meteors are scoreless after losing to Lake-Lehman, 60-0.

The Black Knights limited the Meteors to 37 yards total offense for the game. They took a 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes and built it to 41-0 at halftime.

Joey Vigil carried seven times for 160 yards and three touchdowns for Lake-Lehman. The Black Knights rushed for 425 yards, picking up 11.2 per carry.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Elk Lake girls won a meeting of defending champions Wednesday when the Lackawanna League cross country season opened.

Elk Lake, the defending state Class A champions, knocked off Abington Heights, the defending Lackawanna League champion.

Abington Heights handed Elk Lake its only league loss last year.

Elk Lake swept Abington Heights, North Pocono and Valley View in both the boys’ and girls’ meets.

In girls’ volleyball, Mountain View improved to 3-0 going into match against Abington Heights, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Abington Heights and Mountain View share the Lackawanna League lead with Dunmore.

In professional baseball, the Trenton Thunder ruined the most successful regular season in Binghamton Mets history with a three-game sweep in the Eastern League Eastern Division playoffs.

Trenton won at home, 6-5 in 10 innings Wednesday and 2-1 Thursday, before clinching in Binghamton with a 3-0 shutout Friday.

Allan Dykstra of the Mets was named Eastern League Most Valuable Player and Pedro Lopez was named EL Manager of the Year.

Binghamton won the EL Eastern Division with an 86-55 record for at least nine more wins than every other team in the league.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders went 68-76 to finish fifth out of six teams in the International League North Division.

LOOKING BACK

Susquehanna and Forest City opened the high school cross country season Aug. 30 by participating in the prestigious Cliff Robbins Invitational at Letterkenney Field in Dallas.

Ivy Christensen of Susquehanna finished the 3.1-mile course in 21:56 to place 26th out of 173 runners in the varsity girls’ race. Teammate Mikayla Hargett finished 47th to help the Lady Sabers finish 10th out of 16 teams with 303 points.

Council Rock North defeated Dallas, 68-85, for the team title.

Forest City did not run a complete team, but Jennifer Korty ran as one of the individuals and placed 35th in 22:34.

Dallas edged Scranton Prep, 70-71, for the boys’ varsity team title.

Susquehanna was 17th and Forest City 18th out of 20 teams.

Tyler Debrino of Forest City finished 51st of 222 runners in 19:43. Susquehanna’s Brandon Soden finished one place and one second behind Debrino.

Susquehanna eighth-grader Skyla Wilson finished 11th out of 132 in the junior high girls’ race.

COLLEGE CORNER

Bailey Hughes, a freshman from Forest City who played high school football at Carbondale, is on the Lycoming College roster.

Hughes is a 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive lineman.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose is at Tunkhannock Friday night in a non-league football meeting of teams that are off to 0-2 starts and Susquehanna is home again Saturday against Nanticoke (1-1).

Our high school football predictions were 12-4 (75.0 percent) last week to make our season record 24-7 (77.4 percent).

This week’s predictions, with the home teams in CAPS: TUNKHANNOCK 38, Montrose 14; Nanticoke 15, SUSQUEHANNA 7; DELAWARE VALLEY 29, Hazleton Area 21; Wyoming Valley West 41, SCRANTON 17; Honesdale 29, VALLEY VIEW 28; West Scranton 25, DUNMORE 15; LAKELAND 30, Hanover Area 26; Scranton Prep 14, MID VALLEY 6; North Pocono 39, RIVERSIDE 27; LACKAWANNA TRAIL 50, Meyers 18; COUGHLIN 39, Western Wayne 8; CRESTWOOD 18, Pittston Area 6; Abington Heights 22, WILLIAMSPORT 0; NORTHWEST 35, Holy Cross 0; Lake-Lehman 26, WYOMING AREA 18; Wallenpaupack 44, ALLENTOWN DIERUFF 25; Berwick 44, DALLAS 9; Old Forge 46, HOLY REDEEMER 0; Carbondale 26, GAR 0.

In girls’ golf, Lackawanna League players will try to qualify for the District 2 Tournament when they play a qualifying tournament Thursday at Scranton Municipal.

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

“COUSIN” CARL TAKES RICHMOND

Pictured is 2013 Sprint Cup Chase Field

Standing, L-R: Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kneeling, L-R: Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer.

RICHMOND, Vir. - Carl Edwards led 46 laps in Saturday night’s Cup race, en route to victory ahead of Kurt Busch.

This was the last race before the Chase begins and the field for the 10-race finale to determine this year’s Cup champion is set.

“They know we’re here,” said Edwards. “We’re going to win the championship.”

While Edwards will be going after his first championship, Brad Keselowski, the 2012 champion won’t. He led early in the race, but fell back to finish 17th, which knocked him out of one of the Chase’s wild card spots.

“Tonight was a great night for us,” said Edwards’ car owner Jack Roush. “In this business you work behind the scenes, hard on the car, hard on the engine. Suffer through the broken parts. Sometimes it seems like there's no end to it. This is the third new configuration we've had and chassis for the cars this year.

“As late as 10:00 this morning, Carl and I sat in the motorhome and talked about whether or not we thought our car had what it needed to be competitive here.

“The car was competitive. Carl did a great job. The pit crew and the four tires at the end made the difference.”

Kurt Busch led several times, but could not run down Edwards in the final laps.

Ryan Newman needed a win to get into the Chase, and it appeared he might get it. He was leading the 400-lap race with seven-to-go, when Clint Bowyer spun out. This brought out the race’s last caution.

All the leaders pitted for four fresh tires. When Newman exited the pits, he was fifth. On the restart, Edwards grabbed the lead, while Newman wound up third.

“We didn’t expect to make up for everything that we didn’t get in the first 25 races in one race, but we were in position,” Newman said. “We were in a position to take that second wild card with two wins. It’s disappointing. But we’ll go on.”

Jamie McMurray was fourth, followed by Paul Menard, and Matt Kenseth.

Martin Truex finished seventh, one spot ahead of Jeff Gordon, and just enough to get into the Chase.

With Truex in, Gordon was out.

Jimmie Johnson wound up with a 40th-place finish. He dropped from first to second in the standings. His team has suffered through a series of major and minor problems in the last two months; from blown engines to blown tires to blown pit stops.

In the three races leading up to Richmond, Johnson finished 40th, 36th and 28th, hardly characteristic of the five-time champion. However, Kyle Busch fully expects Johnson to be a championship contender once the 10-race playoff starts.

“There’s a switch somewhere over at Hendrick Motorsports they’ll flip next week, and they’ll be just fine in Chicago (where the Chase opens),” Busch said. “I guarantee it.”

2013 Chase lineup with adjusted points: 1. Kenseth-2015, 2. Johnson-2012, 3. Kyle Busch-2012, 4. Harvick-2006, 5. Edwards-2006, 6. Logano-2003, 7. Biffle-2003, 8. Bowyer-2000, 9. Earnhardt-2000, 10. Kurt Busch-2000, 11. Kahne-2000, 12. Truex-2000.

KESELOWSKI WINS RICHMOND NATIONWIDE RACE

Brad Keselowski took the lead for the first time after a restart on Lap 240 of Friday’s 250-lap Nationwide race to beat Brian Scott, to the finish line by 1.946 seconds.

Scott, the polesitter, had led the first 239 laps before Keselowski grabbed the lead from the outside lane on the next-to-last restart and held it the rest of the way.

“This was one of those nights where it just didn’t work out for him,” Keselowski said. “The only thing that I can really tell him, with the experience that I have, is that sometimes in racing you do everything right, and you still don’t win. This sport’s very fickle like that.

“Things just didn’t fall his way. That yellow that came out (on Lap 229) just put him in a position that didn’t suit his team’s strengths, and it did suit ours, and we were close enough to capitalize.”

The victory was Keselowski’s fifth in 12 starts this season and the 25th of his career. Regan Smith ran third, followed by Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, Sam Hornish Jr., Brian Vickers, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed, and Jamie McMurray.

Top-10 leaders after 25 of 33: 1. Hornish-880, 2. A. Dillon-864, 3. Smith-854, 4. Sadler-852, 5. Allgaier-828, 6. Vickers-827, 7. Scott-819, 8. Bayne-810, 9. Larsen-799, 10. Kligerman-732.

BUESCHER TAKES IOWA TRUCK RACE

The top-10 finishers in Sunday’s Truck race at Iowa Speedway: 1. James Buescher, 2. Ross Chastain, 3. Ty Dillon, 4. Johnny Sauter, 5. Darrell Wallace, 6. German Quiroga, 7. Matt Crafton, 8. Jeb Burton, 9. Erik Jones, 10. Ryan Blaney.

Top-10 leaders after 15 of 22: 1. Crafton-569, 2. Buescher-532, 3. T. Dillon-511, 4. Burton-503, 5. Peters-495, 6. Paludo-494, 7. Blaney-485, 8. Sauter-465, 9. Wallace-465, 10. Gaughan-464.

AROUND THE TRACK

Furniture Row Racing has been talking with Juan Montoya, who will be out of a job at the end of this season. He visited FRR General Manager Joe Garone at the team’s Denver headquarters.

“We’re down to a couple of guys,” Garone said Friday at Richmond. “It’s just a process. Part of it is you just identify where you want to go. Do you want to stay with a veteran or do you want to go with a younger rookie and bring a kid up? We’re just trying to get through that decision.”

A few weeks ago, Ryan Newman said he would leave Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the 2013 season. Based on speculation, many fans thought Newman might not have received equal treatment as his teammates, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick.

During a Richmond news conference, Newman dispelled those rumors.

“Fans have been hard on him,” said Newman. “I don't think Tony lied to me. I don't think anybody lied to me. I don't have any of that feeling or emotion. I don't think any of that matters because the plans they made are for 2014 and I'm not part of that. I knew that going in. I don't think there were any hidden agendas on Tony's behalf. I had a good relationship with him. My communication has been mostly with him in my entire relationship at Stewart-Haas Racing. No surprise.”

Stewart said he plans to return to his Cup car for the 2014 Daytona 500. In the meantime, Mark Martin will do any testing for his team that is needed.

This year’s Indy 500 winner, Brazilian Tony Kanaan, visited the Joe Gibbs Racing shop, and met with team principals. According to a JGR e-mail, that’s as far as it went.

“There is no deal,” a JGR spokesperson said. “Just had an initial meeting. Nothing even being formally discussed.”

We’ll have to wait and see what happens on this one. When a driver like Kanaan pays a visit, he’s usually not there to discuss the weather.

Weekend Racing: All three of NASCAR’s major series’; Cup, Nationwide and Trucks are at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway. It is the first race in the 10-race Chase for the Championship.

Fri., Sept. 13, Truck series, race 16 of 22; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Sat., Sept. 14, Nationwide series, race 26 of 33; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: ESPN2.

Sun., Sept. 15, Sprint Cup series, race 27 of 36; Starting time: 2 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Racing Trivia Question: Kurt Busch recently signed a contract to drive a Cup car for Stewart-Haas Racing. How many other teams will SHR field in 2014?

Last Week’s Question: Carl Edwards is currently fourth in Chase points. How many Cup wins does he have this season? He has two wins.

You may e-mail the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.

Cole Tyler

Thanks to persistent work on his short game, Cole Tyler believes his golf game is consistently 15 to 20 strokes better than a year ago.

Elk Lake’s Tyler went well beyond that lofty number when he opened the high school season at the Jackman Memorial Tournament at Scranton Municipal Golf Course.

Tyler shot 1-under-par, 71, lowering his score from the same event last year by 30 strokes, to finish second overall and win the low sophomore award at the annual preseason tournament that draws players from every Lackawanna League team.

The tournament effort combined with a pair of 36s for nine holes in Lackawanna League matches at Tall Pines to make Tyler the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for August.

Tyler was thinking about the 101 he shot in his high school debut as he warmed up prior to the Jackman on August 16.

“I was very aware,” Tyler said. “On the range, I was thinking about everything I could to make it better.

“I actually had one of the worst range sessions of my life, so to do what I did was really surprising.”

When he went out on the course, Tyler hit the ball better. And, with assistance from his play around the green, he joined Anthony Sebastianelli from Abington Heights as the only players to break par for the day.

“It’s my short game,” Tyler said when explaining his improvement. “Last year, it was kind of touchy and I wasn’t really confident.

“Now, I just go up there and hit the shots. I’ve been working on them in my backyard and I’m more confident.”

Tyler plays at Shadowbrook in the summer in addition to his team preparation at Tall Pines. He also played on the Anthracite Golf Association Junior Tour where his best round of the summer was a 77 at Elkview Country Club.

In addition to golf, Tyler was part of two other varsity sports as a freshman at Elk Lake. He got some playing time in basketball while also playing on the junior varsity team. He started at third base in baseball season.

Cole is the son of Clint Tyler, who is the Elk Lake assistant coach in golf, and Liz Tyler. He lives in Meshoppen.