Saturday was the most successful day of the fall sports season to date for Susquehanna County high school teams.
Susquehanna made sure a championship will be decided at William Emminger Memorial Field on the final day of the regular season in football when it pulled off a mild upset, opening a 20-point lead and knocking off visiting Lackawanna Trail, 34-19.
Two county soccer teams locked up their regular-season titles during a tripleheader at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
The Montrose boys started and Mountain View girls ended the tripleheader with 2-1 wins over Lakeland teams to take Lackawanna League Division 3 titles after those teams had tied for first place.
Earlier in the week, the Elk Lake girls wrapped up an unbeaten cross country regular season to take the Lackawanna League championship.
The success was not limited to teams.
Montrose’s Austin Smith made it through East Regional qualifying to land a Class AA boys’ spot in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Golf Championships.
FOOTBALL
Susquehanna jumped on Lackawanna Trail early, then held off second- and fourth-quarter surges by the Lions for the 34-19 victory, the fourth straight by the Sabers to improve their record to 3-0 in Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 play and 6-2 overall.
The Sabers maintained a share of the lead with unbeaten Old Forge, which will come to Susquehanna Nov. 1.
Sabers quarterback Austin White had his biggest game of the season, rushing for 207 yards and three touchdowns while hitting six of nine passes for 100 yards.
Susquehanna started the game shorthanded, but White was a big part of the reason that had little impact.
Starters Brett Hepler, Evan Aldrich and Austin Darrow sat out the first quarter for a team disciplinary matter, but the Sabers dominated the quarter, outgaining the Lions, 108-2, and taking the lead.
The Sabers took 7:54 off the clock in a game-opening, 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive. White went 3-for-3 for 58 yards passing in the march. He took a hit while finding Wes Richardson for a 16-yard screen pass on third-and-eight, then connected with Steve Jesse for 21 yards on a crossing pattern on third-and-four.
“As long as we can pass, it makes it a lot easier for us to run and it makes us dangerous,” White said.
Brady Towner went up high to take the ball away from a defender on a 21-yard completion to the Trail 3.
White then carried the ball in on an option play on fourth-and-goal from the 5.
“We had a bunch of starters out for the first quarter because of team rules so we tried to drag the clock out in that first drive,” Sabers coach Kyle Cook said. “It really put us in gear, then we got a stop and a big run on fourth down.”
White threw Jared Phillips for a 4-yard loss on third-and-four to put an immediate stop to Lackawanna Trail’s first drive.
Nolan Hausser ran 20 yards on the first play and the Sabers were back on the move for a 75-yard scoring drive.
White’s 46-yard quarterback sneak on fourth-and-inches produced the second touchdown and a 14-0 lead on the opening play of the second quarter.
At that point, the Sabers had a 154-2 yardage advantage, but they saw the ball for just 25 seconds the rest of the half.
Lackawanna Trail overcame four penalties on a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive that lasted more than nine minutes. Vic Mallory passed 14 yards to Phillips on third-and goal to cut the lead to 14-7.
An interception on the next play had the Lions threatening again but Craig Stanley helped break up a fourth-down pass with 10.9 seconds left in the half.
The Sabers regained command, scoring on their first two possessions of the second half for a 27-7 lead.
Michael Vaccaro and Zach Conrad led the pass rush that forced the Lions into three straight incompletions, ending a drive that had reached the Sabers 37 to open the second half.
White ran or passed the ball on the first seven plays before Austin Felter broke one tackle in the backfield and another at the 1 on a 6-yard touchdown run with 3:21 left in the third quarter. White was 2-for-2 for 23 yards passing and ran five times for 34 yards on the drive.
“Our line being healthy finally helps,” Cook said. “(White) has some time to throw. He’s not running for his life and we have found our best three receivers to have on the field.”
Following a Stanley interception, the Sabers moved 80 yards on nine plays in a drive that carried into the fourth quarter.
On fourth-and-one from the 2, Luke Brinton bounced off hits that could have stopped him short and made his way into the end zone for a 27-7 lead.
The Sabers came up short of adding to their lead when they stalled at the Lions 35 with seven minutes left.
Lackawanna Trail then put together a comeback, racing 88 yards in less than two minutes and scoring again just 1:54 later.
Ross Fauquier ran 22 yards for the first touchdown, then Mallory ran 15 for the next after the Lions recovered an onside kick.
Conrad covered the next kickoff and White broke the game open two plays later, going around left end for a 53-yard touchdown and the final points with 1:20 left.
“(White) is a very good player,” Lackawanna Trail coach Steve Jervis said. “Several times, we had him corralled, but we just didn’t tackle very well.”
Lackawanna Trail’s fourth-quarter comeback evened out the final statistics and gave the Lions a 17-12 lead in first downs.
Susquehanna had yardage advantages of 256-240 rushing, 100-97 passing and 356-337 total.
Mallory carried 11 times for 107 yards for Lackawanna Trail and passed for 97 more, but was just 8-for-24.
Jarred Mills, Christian Miller, Conrad, Stanley, Hausser, White and Vaccaro all had busy days defensively for the Sabers.
Mills made five tackles, assisted nine others and forced a fumble.
Phillips had three tackles and an assist while rushing the quarterback into three incompletions, batting down another pass and blocking an extra point.
Conrad had seven tackles, three assists and a pass rush.
Stanley made four tackles and assisted three others along with the interception and two broken-up passes.
Hausser had three tackles, three assists a fumble recovery and a pass rush.
White had five tackles, including the one for a loss, and three assists.
Vaccaro had three tackles, four assists and three pass rushes.
Hepler made three tackles and assisted on four others despite only playing in the second quarter before leaving to be evaluated for a possible concussion.
SOCCER
SCRANTON – Montrose overcame an early deficit to defeat Lakeland, 2-1, in a playoff for the Lackawanna League Division 3 boys’ title Saturday morning.
Mike Tomczyski converted a Michael Besten pass to put Lakeland in front midway through the first half.
Montrose's Kyle Watkins scored, off a Mike Henry assist, with 10:08 left in the half.
Troy Ely scored the game-winner on a Giovanni Amato assist with 13:57 remaining.
Montrose led in shots, 10-7, and corner kicks, 5-3. Brendan Buck made six saves in the win.
The playoff was needed after the teams finished tied for first.
The final standings were: Montrose 10-1, Lakeland 9-0-2, Mountain View 8-1-2, Dunmore 7-3-1, Holy Cross 7-3-1, Elk Lake 6-5, Blue Ridge 5-6, Forest City 5-6, Mid Valley 3-8, Old Forge 2-9, Carbondale 1-10, Riverside 0-11.
Ali Showalter and Makenna Whitaker scored goals, both on assists from Hannah Richner, in the final game of the tripleheader, to lift Mountain View to a 2-1 victory over Lakeland.
Mountain View had been one win from completing its fourth straight unbeaten Lackawanna League season before falling to Montrose in the final game, forcing a playoff.
The Lady Eagles opened a 2-0 lead, then held on for the win.
The final standings were: Mountain View 7-1, Lakeland 7-1, Montrose 6-2, Forest City 5-3, Dunmore 4-4, Holy Cross 4-4, Elk Lake 2-6, Carbondale 1-7, Mid Valley 0-8.
GOLF
Smith shot 80 October 14 at Golden Oaks Country Club in Fleetwood to finish tied for 10th and land one of 14 Class AA boys’ eastern berths at the PIAA Championships.
Montrose teammate Kory Morrison shot 85 to finish tied for 19th in the 30-player field.
Lauren Wallis, a Scranton Prep golfer from Clifford, shot 100 to finish last among the 13 Class AA girls playing for seven state spots.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Elk Lake girls closed out their latest championship Lackawanna League cross country season by beating five teams that had all won at least two-thirds of their other meets during the final two weeks of the season.
The Lady Warriors finished unbeaten with victories over North Pocono, Abington Heights and host Valley View in an October 14 cluster meet. A week earlier, they defeated Wallenpaupack and Delaware Valley.
The final standings: Elk Lake 19-0, Holy Cross 18-1, Scranton Prep 17-2, Wallenpaupack 16-3, North Pocono 14-5, Abington Heights 14-5, Delaware Valley 13-6, Honesdale 12-7, Valley View 12-7, Montrose 9-10, Susquehanna 9-10, Mid Valley 7-12, Dunmore 6-13, Riverside 6-13, Lackawanna Trail 5-14, Lakeland 4-15, Western Wayne 3-16, West Scranton 2-17, Scranton 2-17, Mountain View 0-19.
The Elk Lake boys finished third in the league.
The final standings: Scranton Prep 21-0, North Pocono 20-1, Elk Lake 19-2, Abington Heights 18-3, Lakeland 17-4, Valley View 16-5, Wallenpaupack 15-6, Scranton 14-7, Honesdale 13-8, Montrose 11-10, Holy Cross 11-10, Western Wayne 10-11, Delaware Valley 10-11, West Scranton 8-13, Forest City 7-14, Lackawanna Trail 6-15, Mountain View 5-16, Dunmore 4-17, Mid Valley 3-18, Blue Ridge 2-19, Susquehanna 1-20, Riverside 0-21.
COLLEGE CORNER
Dan Kempa continues to set records and land honors as his football career at King’s College nears its conclusion.
The Blue Ridge graduate and former Susquehanna Sabers quarterback was named Sunday to the Middle Atlantic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his play in Saturday’s 45-17 victory over FDU-Madison.
Kempa, who entered the weekend ranked fourth in the nation in kick return average and 25th in all-purpose yardage among NCAA Division III players, had a 90-yard kickoff return for one of his two touchdowns. Kempa finished the game with three kickoff returns for 126 yards, four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown and two punt returns for eight yards.
King’s improved to 3-2 in the MAC and 3-3 overall.
The Monarchs had a week off after beating Lebanon Valley, 10-7, Oct. 4 in a game that Kempa used to become the school’s all-time leader in career reception. He now has 123 to go along with his school record 2,212 receiving yards.
Earlier this season, Kempa was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his role in a 36-29 Homecoming win over Misericordia University.
Kempa had two kickoff returns for 100 yards, including a 57-yarder in the final minute of the first half to set up a touchdown.
On the season, Kempa has two carries for 18 yards and a touchdown, 32 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns, 12 kickoff returns for 442 yards, a 36.8 average and a touchdown and nine punt returns for 66 yards. His five touchdowns place Kempa second on the team with 30 points.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Elk Lake will again host the District 2 Cross Country Championships Wednesday.
The day starts with the Class A girls’ race at 11:20 a.m.
Elk Lake’s unbeaten championship team is in the field and could be battling defending state champion Holy Cross for team title. Blue Ridge, Forest City, Mountain View and Susquehanna are also part of the 14-team field competing for two team berths and 10 other individual spots at the PIAA Championships.
The two team spots and 10 individual spots are up for grabs in Class A and Class AA in both boys and girls.
The Class AA girls run at noon. Montrose is part of a 20-team field that also includes defending state champion and unbeaten Wyoming Valley Conference champion Dallas.
Williamsport, from District 4, joins the seven teams from District 2 for what will be a Class AAA girls’ subregional at 12:40. In both Class AAA subregional races being held Wednesday, the top team and the next five best individuals advance to the state meet.
The boys get started with Class A at 1:20. Elk Lake is again a likely contender in a 15-team field that includes Blue Ridge, Forest City, Mountain View and Susquehanna.
Montrose runs in the 18-team Class AA race at 2 along with defending state champion Tunkhannock and unbeaten conference champions Scranton Prep and Dallas.
The Class AAA boys’ subregional, which will have nine teams competing, is set for 2:40 p.m.
Unlike regular-season meets, teams must declare their top seven runners and only those runners compete in the district and subregional championship races.
Additional runners from all schools will run in a B Division (junior varsity) race at 3:20. The awards ceremonies are set for 4.
In high school football, Susquehanna needs one more win to assure that its regular-season finale will be played for sole possession of the LFC Division 3 title. Regardless, the final game will be for at least a share of first place.
The Sabers (3-0 in the division, 6-2 overall) play at Carbondale (1-2, 2-6) Friday night.
Dunmore (3-0, 7-1) will be trying to clinch at least a share of the LFC Division 2 title when it plays at Montrose (0-3, 1-7) in another Friday night game. The Bucks have won seven straight since an Opening Night loss to Scranton Prep.
Our high school football predictions last week were 6-4 (60.0 percent), bringing our season record to 75-24 (75.8 percent). This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Susquehanna 34, CARBONDALE 6 … Dunmore 55, MONTROSE 8 … Lackawanna Trail 38, MID VALLEY 14 … Lakeland 13, RIVERSIDE 8 … WEST SCRANTON 21, Valley View 18 … WESTERN WAYNE 31, Honesdale 30 … Wallenpaupack 27, WYOMING AREA 20 … WYOMING VALLEY WEST 34, Scranton 27 … ABINGTON HEIGHTS 22, North Pocono 6 … Old Forge 41, HOLY CROSS 0 … Delaware Valley 32, SCRANTON PREP 25.
In high school soccer, the District 2 Class A boys’ and girls’ tournaments open with first-round games Wednesday. The quarterfinals are set for Friday. The semifinals are Tuesday, Oct. 28.
The Class AA boys’ tournament was scheduled to open Tuesday and continue with quarterfinals Thursday and semifinals Monday, October 27.
The Class AA girls’ tournament had games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday to set up Thursday’s semifinals. The championship is scheduled for Monday, October 27.
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.
