SLATINGTON – Football games occasionally start with one team running back the opening kickoff for a score.
Mountain View brought its own twist to the opening kickoff in soccer Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles ran in the opening kick, racing half the length of the field to score on a Colby Thomas goal just nine seconds into the game on the way to a 4-1 victory over Biglerville.
“I took a picture of the clock because I don’t know if anybody has scored in nine seconds off the kickoff,” said Mountain View coach Roger Thomas, Colby’s father.
The Eagles barely slowed down.
After assisting on the opening goal, Zeb Cross scored twice for a 3-0 lead after just 7:21.
“Obviously, you want to come out and score first,” Cross said. “We have a lot of fiery kids on the team and we came out strong.”
The unbeaten defending state champion Eagles immediately jumped on District 3 champion Biglerville, which had ripped Wellsboro, 7-1, in its state opener.
Chris White tapped the ball to Cross, who angled a pass to the right as Thomas raced past the midfielders.
Thomas received the pass and dribbled past the only two remaining defenders before launching the shot for a 1-0 lead.
After beating Biglerville quickly on the ground, Mountain View won the battles in the air the rest of the way to remain in command.
The Eagles scored 4:31 into the game on their first corner kick.
Ed Bognatz sent a strong kick from the left corner to the area in front of the goal where Cross was able to head it in for the 2-0 advantage.
“Part of it is testing the defense to see where it’s weak,” Cross said. “This game it was header. Last game, we were shooting from a distance from 35 or 40 yards out.
“We have a lot of guys on the team who can score in many ways.”
A throw-in from the right side, just steps away from the corner took on the same look as the corner kicks.
Chad Schmidt made a strong throw, which Thomas got a piece of with his head, skipping the ball into the middle where Cross headed it in on the next touch.
Mountain View had some problems early in the second half.
Colby Thomas drew a yellow card with 34:32 left after being dragged down in the penalty area, then questioning the officials.
Fearing a potential second card and ejection, Roger Thomas kept his son out of the game for almost 17 minutes.
“We wanted him on the field, but we kept him off the field,” he said.
During that time, Biglerville cut the deficit to 3-1 when Armando Rojo knocked in a rebound with 25:51 left.
Mountain View restored its two-goal lead on another corner and header with 7:51 remaining.
Bognatz again put the ball high and in front where Matt Heller knocked it in for the final goal.
Bobby Phafl faced increasing pressure from Biglerville in the second half, but finished with 11 saves in goal for Mountain View.
“Bobby has that potential to be a college-level goalkeeper right now,” coach Thomas said. “Every now and then he has a glitch. He had his glitch about three games ago.
“That’s what happened last year. He had his glitch in the semifinal and the team had his back and then in the state final, he won the game for us basically.”
The Eagles reached the quarters when they topped District 11 champion Schuylkill Haven, 3-1, on the same field Nov. 5.
Colby Thomas had a goal and an assist in that game. He sent a shot high into the corner of the net to open the scoring.
Schuylkill Haven rallied to tie before Cross converted a White pass with six minutes left for a 2-1 lead at the half.
Nick Jarrow knocked in a rebound of a Thomas shot to close the scoring.
WEEK IN REVIEW
LEHMAN – Susquehanna put up an early fight defensively, but eventually had its football season come to an end with a 35-0 road loss to top-seeded Lake-Lehman in the District 2 Class A semifinals.
Despite again playing shorthanded after a series of late-season injuries, the Sabers made it to halftime down just, 13-0, against the Black Knights, who had been averaging more than 30 points in the first half during their 10-game winning streak.
“We played really well defensively, especially in the first half,” said Kyle Cook, who had his first season as Susquehanna head coach come to a close with a 5-6 record. “We had three turnovers and we were losing just, 13-0, because of our defense.
“We held them down on a couple of fourth downs. We were playing without a couple of key defensive players, but the kids played up.”
Two-way lineman Lyle Lawson missed the game with an illness, linebacker and second-leading tackler Lewis Esposito missed the game with a shoulder injury and running back/defensive end James Murnock played sparingly with a knee injury.
Safeties Brett Hepler and Austin White led the defensive effort.
Hepler had five tackles and seven assists in the first half and finished with 13 tackles, including one for a loss, and five assists. White was in on 11 tackles in the first half and finished with eight tackles, including one for a four-yard loss, and eight assists.
Peter Borum, Lake-Lehman’s 315-pound, two-way tackle, also had a big start defensively. He got help from the rest of the unit, which forced five turnovers.
The running of Dustin Jones and Joey Vigil also helped put Lake-Lehman in the final against, Lakeland, which dumped host Carbondale, 13-9, in the other semifinal.
Jones carried 20 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns while also running for a two-point conversion. Vigil set up two of those scores with 51-yard runs on the way to 124 yards rushing on just seven carries while also returning an interception 44 yards.
Borum had tackles of five of Susquehanna’s first seven plays and went on to finish with nine tackles and two assists while batting down one pass and rushing the passer into an incompletion on another.
Lake-Lehman converted three fourth-down situations on a 16-play drive with its first possession to score with 48 seconds left in the first quarter. Kody Pachamovitch pulled in a tipped pass from Antonio Ferrari for a 19-yard touchdown on fourth-and-five.
A Ferrari interception and Vigil 51-yard run set up a 10-yard touchdown by Jones with 10:52 left in the second for a 13-0 halftime lead.
Lake-Lehman was able to take charge and score on its first three possessions of the second half to put the game into the Mercy Rule with 9:23 left.
“That was a little scary,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “We had to get our adjustments down. We had to calm our kids down.
“Once we made our adjustments at halftime, it was off to the races. They did a good job scheme-wise in the first half.”
Trailing, 21-0, in the third, Susquehanna put together its best drive. The Sabers moved to the Black Knights 10 before being hurt by a penalty on a White scramble that would have put the ball inside the 5. The threat ended when a desperation fourth-down pass under pressure was intercepted.
Lake-Lehman controlled the ball, building a 24:53-13:44 time of possession lead up to the point where the Mercy Rule kicked in.
The Black Knights finished with 355 yards rushing on 48 carries.
Susquehanna gained 208, including 145 rushing. White carried 13 times for 68 yards and Hepler carried seven times for 58 yards.
Zach Conrad and Curtis Mills added to the Susquehanna defensive effort. Conrad had five tackles and six assists while breaking up a pass and recovering a fumble. Mills had four tackles and seven assists.
In girls’ soccer, Mountain View was eliminated from the first round of the state Class A tournament with a 2-0 loss to Halifax Nov. 5 at Wallenpaupack.
Kayla Kelley scored goals less than two minutes apart in the first half to help Halifax bounce back from its first loss of the season in the District 3 final.
The Lady Eagles produced several chances but Brianna Turner made 12 saves in the shutout.
COLLEGE CORNER
Dan Kempa became the first King’s College player to post more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season during Saturday’s 52-20 loss to Widener that edited a five-game King’s winning streak.
Kempa caught seven passes for 156 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown. He pushed his season total to 1,044 yards on 56 catches, breaking the school yardage record of 993 set by Blake Letchford in 2005 and moving within one catch of Mike Verbitski’s 2009 record.
The Blue Ridge graduate and former Susquehanna quarterback will try to lead King’s past rival Wilkes Saturday in the Mayor’s Cup Game in Wilkes-Barre.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The PIAA Class A state soccer championship game is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 at Hersheypark Stadium.
If Mountain View made it past New Hope-Solebury Tuesday night, it would face the North Star/Sewickley Academy winner in the final.
Mountain View already beat Biglerville one of last year’s semifinalists. The Eagles beat New Hope-Solebury, 3-2, in last year’s semifinals and Sewickley Academy, 1-0, in last year’s final.
In high school football, the District 2 finals are set for this weekend.
Our predictions for the first week of the playoffs were just 3-4 (42.9 percent), dropping our season record to 100-29 (77.5).
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: WYOMING VALLEY WEST 37, Scranton 22 … BERWICK 26, Abington Heights 22 … LAKE-LEHMAN 39, Lakeland 18 … Old Forge 29, DUNMORE 24 … NAZARETH 33, Delaware Valley 19.
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.
BURTON MAKES 1000TH START
Jeff Burton
While Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth were battling for the lead in this year’s championship Chase at Phoenix, Jeff Burton was making his 1,000th NASCAR start.
During a NASCAR career spanning more than 25 years, Burton has 48 wins, including victories in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The South Boston, Va., native has earned more than 250 top-five and 400, top-10 finishes; was named the 1994 Sprint Cup Series "Rookie of the Year" and co-piloted the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series owner's championship.
“It's hard for me to imagine that I have driven in 1,000 NASCAR races,” said Burton. “I've been lucky and blessed to have family and friends that have given me all this support. I also have good relationships with everyone that I've worked with over the years to show for it, which is most important to me.”
Overall, the 46-year-old driver has made 689 Sprint Cup Series starts along with 306 starts in the Nationwide Series and four starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and the Stavola Brothers. Burton is the last driver to lead 100 per cent of the laps in a NASCAR-sanctioned event, pacing the field for all 300 laps en route to victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000 and was the 2007 NASCAR Illustrated "Person of the Year." He currently sits 19th in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings on the strength of two top-five and six top-10 finishes.
While he can look back on his long racing career, the future doesn’t look that bright, because he does not have a commitment to drive for any team for next season. His racing future is unclear, and there is a good possibility that he might retire after Homestead.
Meanwhile NASCAR driver Juan Montoya, who is leaving his No. 42 NASCAR ride to drive an Indy Car in 2014 for billionaire Roger Penske, is in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.
Forbes reported the IRS is demanding $2.7 million in extra taxes and penalties from him.
Montoya, who, it asserts, had $9.5 million in taxable income in 2007 and 2008, nearly four times the $2.4 million he and his wife reported on their joint tax returns for the two years. In a previously unreported lawsuit filed in U.S. Tax Court, Montoya concedes that in those two years he had nearly $800,000 more in gross receipts, interest and partnership income than originally reported, but challenges the IRS’ other, even bigger dollar adjustments.
Montoya is a 38-year-old Colombian citizen who now lives in state and local income tax free Miami with his wife, Connie Freydell, and three children.
Another NASCAR driver whose future is in limbo is Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup champion.
Labonte's journey behind the wheel of the No. 47 Toyota with JTG Daugherty Racing came to a close this past Sunday at Phoenix.
“The last two years the team went out on their own,” Labonte said. “It was without support from being a part of a big organization and that has been tough. The choice they made to go out on their own I supported. They needed to go in that direction. The battle was still to get the team in position to go forward. We went through the trenches together to get there. At the end of the day, I was a part of the puzzle where I got to help put the pieces together where the puzzle did not fall apart. I always woke up everyday and put my best foot forward.”
Co-owner Brad Daugherty had nothing but good things to say about Labonte.
“It has been a pleasure to have Bobby in our car the past few seasons,” Daugherty said. “He is a true champion and a Hall of Famer. He is a tremendous racecar driver and person. We have leaned on him heavily, as well as, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) in testing parts and pieces. He has been a constant professional and we appreciate him and everything he has done for us.”
Labonte said earlier in the season that he might run a part-time schedule in 2014.
This year’s NASCAR season is a sports fan’s dream, a tight championship battle, going all the way to the last lap in Homestead.
Jimmie Johnson recently said a rivalry does exist; a healthy rivalry, with healthy being the key word, when the helmets go on.
“Well, there’s still a race left and until that last lap is finished anything can happen,” said Johnson. “Last year, we were in a situation with two races to go, with the points lead. We had a seven_point lead going into Phoenix and had a very bad race and blew a right-front tire. Actually, we had a decent race going but blew out the right-front tire and hammered the wall. It really hurt our opportunity and our chance to win a sixth championship then.
“So I’m just not going to put my guard down. We need to go into Homestead and race well. We’re confident in our setup and the performance we should have there. But that doesn’t guarantee us anything, and we need to go out and have a good, strong, clean weekend.
“You know, it's hard to know what to predict in general, and I've found a lot of peace in expecting the best out of a championship contender, and that's the way it's been this year and every year to be honest with you.
“I felt like last year there could have been an opportunity to put pressure on Brad (Keselowski) and his team. We just didn't do our job, and we had our problems in Phoenix and then again at Homestead. Honestly in Homestead we had them where we wanted to put them, but then we made too many mistakes and didn't follow through on our side.
“It's really hard to know the truth in it all, but I do feel driver and team competing for their first (championship) is dealing with stress and pressure, while someone that's racing for their second, third, fourth, just don't have that same pressure. I only know that from my own experience. My first was far more stressful than anything I've done in my life.”
Weekend Racing: This is the last race of the season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Truck series’. It all ends at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Fri., Nov. 15, Truck Series, race 22 of 22; Starting time: 8 pm ET; TV: Fox Sports1.
Sat., Nov. 16, Nationwide Series, race 33 of 33; Starting time: 4:30 pm ET; TV: ESPN2.
Sun., Nov. 17. Sprint Cup Series, race 36 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: ESPN.
Racing Trivia Question: Where does the 2014 NASCAR season kick off?
Last Week’s Question: Who won the last race of the season last year at Homestead? Answer. Jeff Gordon.
You may e-mail any questions to the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.
Colby Thomas
As Mountain View extended its winning streak and began repeating the series of titles it won a year ago, Colby Thomas kept climbing through the ranks of the most productive players in the history of Pennsylvania high school soccer.
With Thomas leading the way, the Eagles repeated their unbeaten Lackawanna League Division 3 title and won their fourth straight District 2 Class A championship.
For adding to the lengthy list of accomplishments, both personal and team, Thomas has again been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for October.
Thomas followed up Athlete of the Month honors by earning Transcript Athlete of the Year for 2012 after leading Mountain View to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state Class A championship with 55 goals.
Two games, into November, Thomas has 56 goals to move to fourth in state history with 166 for his career, and Mountain View is back in the state semifinals after extending its winning streak to 34 games.
The streak shows the consistency of the excellence of the team coached by Roger Thomas, Colby’s father.
“That’s what I have to credit the coach and what I have to credit the boys for, that’s really showing up every game,” Colby said. “There’s not a game where we ever came out flat. There were a couple of games that really pushed us.
“If we came out flat when we played Holy Cross, Elk Lake or any of these teams, I told the boys ‘we’re not going to come out on top.’ If we want to go where we actually claim to want to go, where our dreams are, we can’t do that.”
Mountain View rebuilt its defense after graduation losses, allowing Thomas to continue concentrating on offense and providing a weapon that usually draws attention from multiple opponents.
“With the individual accomplishments, I’ve always been that they’re not individual things,” said Thomas, who scored 13 goals in three District 2 playoff games. “God always gets the glory. It’s always been a team thing.
“The team gets the credit. If the ball is in our end the whole time, I’m not playing forward, I have to come back and play midfield. For those reasons, it’s so much of not an individual record.
“I’m proud of our team and proud of the opportunities I’ve had the last four years.”
The success at Mountain View, and with the nationally ranked Lehigh Valley United ’95 club team, has made Thomas into a major college prospect.
Thomas has made official visits to Division I schools Boston College and Lehigh and considers them among his final options, along with Division III power Messiah College, which he says “has always held a soft spot in my heart.” He plans to study business with a possible minor in sports management.
Thomas also is an all-star baseball player at Mountain View.
Colby is the son of Roger and Robin Thomas of Harford.
