The fall high school sports season came to an end in Susquehanna County November 17 when Mountain View lost in the state Class A boys’ soccer championship game and the winter sports season opened three days later with the first official practices in basketball, wrestling and swimming.
Teams were allowed to begin scrimmaging Friday as they continue preparation for their Dec. 6 non-league openers.
None of the county teams will have any divisional competition until after the New Year.
All six county school are grouped with Lackawanna Trail in Division 4 of the Lackawanna League in basketball. They begin league play January 2 with Susquehanna at Forest City, Elk Lake at Mountain View and Blue Ridge at Montrose on the boys’ side and the same match-ups with opposite home teams on the girls’ side. Elk Lake is the defending boys’ champion. Montrose went unbeaten in the division while winning the girls’ title.
Blue Ridge, Elk Lake and Montrose are in Lackawanna Division 2 in wrestling along with Scranton Prep, Lackawanna Trail and Western Wayne. Blue Ridge finished second last year.
The division competition begins January 4 with Blue Ridge at Elk Lake and Montrose at defending champion Western Wayne.
Elk Lake competes in the Wyoming Valley Conference in swimming.
Teams have crossover meets during December, but only the Division 2 meets that begin after the New Year count in the standings.
Elk Lake is one of 10 teams in Division 2 in both boys’ and girls’ swimming. Division competition begins January 2 at home against Valley View in both.
WEEK IN REVIEW
KINGSTON – District 2 teams went 2-1 in the first round of the state football playoffs.
A pair of teams that ended Susquehanna’s title hopes split their games.
Lake-Lehman, which eliminated Susquehanna on the way to the District 2 Class AA title, lost to Catasauqua, 33-21, at Wyoming Valley West’s Spartan Stadium in Class A.
Old Forge, which won the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title outright by beating the Sabers in the regular-season finale, knocked off the state’s top-ranked Class A team with a 19-14 victory over Southern Columbia at Shamokin.
Catasauqua opened a 14-0 lead in the first 4:41 and Lake-Lehman could not overcome four lost fumbles in a game that matched the Rough Riders’ fast-paced, no-huddle offense with the Black Knights’ punishing ground game.
Zach Bradley went 11-for-22 for 260 yards and five touchdowns passing, including six passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns to Paryss Marshall.
Dustin Jones, Lake-Lehman’s 250-pound fullback, surpassed the 2,000-yard mark on the season by carrying 37 times for 206 yards and all three touchdowns.
“Turnovers killed us,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “In this type of offense, you can’t have it.”
Both Catasauqua and Old Forge produced the first state football playoff wins in school history.
The Blue Devils also fell behind, 14-0, early, but they worked their way back.
Brandon Yescavage ran for three touchdowns, starting the comeback with an 80-yard run, then running another 50 yards for the game-winning score.
Old Forge made several key defensive stops, including one on fourth down at the 15 in the final minute.
Southern Columbia came in to the game unbeaten, looking to pursue its record 14th state championship game appearance and seventh title.
Berwick also rallied in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs, who share the record for state titles with Southern Columbia, defeated Bethlehem Catholic, 29-27, in a Class AAA game in Allentown.
Quarterback C.J. Curry ran for one touchdown to erase a 20-14 deficit. Jordan Stout then ran 4 yards and added a two-point conversion with 4:18 remaining before the Golden Hawks added a late score.
COLLEGE CORNER
Dan Kempa set his second school record in as many weeks Nov. 16 while helping King’s College to a 35-28 victory over Wilkes University in the 18th annual Mayor’s Cup to give the Monarchs their first winning season since 2006.
King’s rallied from a 21-0 deficit in the third quarter to pull out the win in a game that saw the teams combine for 28 points in the final 4:20.
Kempa, a Blue Ridge graduate while played quarterback for the Susquehanna Sabers while in high school, had already established a school record for receiving yards in a season. Although Wilkes held the junior wide receiver to his lowest statistics of the season, Kempa still extended his yardage record to 1,057 while setting a record for receptions a season with 58.
King’s finished 6-3 in the Middle Atlantic Conference and 6-4 overall.
Kempa ranked 16th in the nation among National Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III players in receiving yards, 17th in all-purpose yards at 168.9 per game and 18th in average receiving yards per game.
On the season, Kempa scored nine touchdowns, carried twice for 11 yards, returned 28 kickoffs for 488 yards (17.4 average), returned 17 punts for 133 yards (7.8) and made a tackle.
Kempa, who ranked in the top 40 in the nation in all-purpose yards and punt return average as a sophomore, has 88 career receptions.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Rivals meet when the Binghamton Senators play at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Friday night at 7:05 in an American Hockey League game.
In high school football, Old Forge (11-1) will play District 11 champion Schuylkill Haven (9-3) Friday at 7 p.m. at Blue Mountain in a state Class A quarterfinal.
The Blue Devils are the last LFC team still playing.
Last week’s prediction was correct. After going 1-0, our predictions are 8-5 (61.5 percent) for the postseason and 105-30 (77.8) for the year.
This week’s prediction: Old Forge 41, Schuylkill Haven 18.
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.
TONY STEWART’S DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
Former crew chief Steve Addington and Tony Stewart in March, 2013
While Jimmie Johnson was out celebrating his sixth Sprint Cup championship this past week, most NASCAR teams were busy preparing for the 2014 season.
Tony Stewart and the four teams at Stewart-Haas Racing are especially busy. SHR has added two new drivers, a fourth team, and in addition to building new cars, they have made a ton of personnel changes.
“The guys do get a few days off at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s going to be a busy off-season for us,” said Stewart. “Obviously, there is a lot of change happening for 2014 as we grow to four teams and bring in Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. But with our new management structure and the crew chiefs we have in place, we’re well positioned to handle whatever challenges come our way.
“Collectively, we have the experience and wherewithal necessary for each of our teams to perform at the highest level possible.”
One of the biggest moves was the release of Stewart’s crew chief of two years, Steve Addington.
In 2012, Stewart won three races with Addington, but fizzled in the Chase and finished ninth in the points standings.
Addington faced a big challenge in 2013, as he had to work with four different drivers after Stewart was sidelined with a broken leg in August and missed the final 15 races of the season.
Stewart decided Addington had to go. Whether he was seen as the cause of the team’s lackluster performance, or the scapegoat doesn’t matter.
Losing your job is inevitable in NASCAR’s big leagues if you fail to win races.
Addington began his full-time crew chief career at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005 with Bobby Labonte but went three years, before he got his first Cup series win in 2008 with Kyle Busch.
He left JGR for Penske Racing, where he teamed up with J. J. Yeley. Two years later, and zero wins, he was looking for another job.
That’s when Stewart asked him to come on board.
Despite his best efforts, Addington didn’t accomplish the job that was expected of him, and was given his pink slip.
But it isn’t all bad for Addington. He has landed a job, as crew chief of the No. 51 team at Phoenix Racing, with Justin Allgaier as driver.
Chad Johnston will replace Addington. Johnston comes to SHR from Michael Waltrip Racing where since June 2011 he was the crew chief for the No. 56 team and driver Martin Truex Jr.
Greg Zipadelli, who has been with Stewart since his early days with Joe Gibbs, has been named vice president of competition. He will manage all four Sprint Cup teams, with each crew chief reporting to him.
Matt Borland has been named vice president of engineering. In this role, Borland will oversee all of the teams’ technical initiatives and various research and development projects. He will also transition from being an active crew chief to that of a mentor, specifically in regard to the crew chief position on the No. 41 Haas Automation team of new driver Kurt Busch.
Daniel Knost has been promoted to crew chief for the No. 41 with Busch.
Rodney Childers will be the crew chief for the No. 4 Budweiser team of driver Kevin Harvick. Childers joined SHR in late October from MWR, where since 2009 he was a crew chief, first with the No. 00 team of driver David Reutimann (2009-2011) and later with the No. 55 team of drivers Brian Vickers, Mark Martin and Waltrip.
No changes were announced for the No. 10 team of Danica Patrick.
While Stewart might have obtained some of the best talent in the business, the question that sticks in my mind is how well the four teams are going to function under one roof.
This entire organization needs to face the fact that, Stewart, Harvick, Busch, and Patrick can be very dysfunctional at times. All four have tempers, and have been known to go off the deep end.
With the exception of Patrick, all are great racers, but each struggles to maintain their emotional composure. Each has a huge ego. I’ve seen them fly off the handle during simple press conferences and meetings, when certain questions were asked.
Stewart has a tough row to hoe. It will require a very cool head to manage this four-team “family” operation.
RICHARD PETTY HONORED
This past Wednesday, Richard Petty was a guest of President and Mrs. Obama at a dinner at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The dinner was in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Petty was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1992 by President George Bush. He was the first motorsports athlete to be given the award. Petty attended the black-tie dinner with his daughter, Lisa, and was joined by other recipients of the highest civilian Award in the United States.
Petty keeps his Medal on display at the Richard Petty Museum which will open back in its original location, Level Cross, N.C. in early 2014 on the site of the former Petty Enterprises.
This month, the No. 43 STP Pontiac that Petty raced to his 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Victory in front of President Reagan at the Daytona International Speedway, was featured by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the 101 Objects That Made America
The 2014 Sprint Cup season kicks off Feb. 14-23 with the traditional Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The 56th Daytona 500, the first point-paying race of the season, is scheduled for Feb. 23.
NASCAR LOOKING FOR TITLE SPONSOR
NASCAR is asking $12 million to $15 million a year for title sponsorship of its Nationwide Series, according to Sports Daily News. The asking price is a minimum 20 percent increase above the $10 million in rights fees that Nationwide Insurance now pays.
Nationwide is dropping the title sponsorship after the 2014 season.
In addition to the rights fee, NASCAR is telling potential buyers they want a 10-year deal that includes a media commitment of more than $10 million and an activation commitment of more than $10 million, putting the overall annual spend at more than $30 million a year.
Racing Trivia Question: When did Tony Stewart win his three Cup championships?
Last Week’s Question: Kevin Swindell moved to the Nationwide Series this past year from what other series? Answer. He formerly raced in the World of Outlaws.
You may e-mail any questions to the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.
