Forest City’s Jennifer Korty won invitational titles on consecutive weekends to lead another strong start to the cross country season by Susquehanna County runners.
The Elk Lake girls won the team title at Saturday’s 23rd annual Lackawanna County Commissioners Invitaitonal at McDade Park in Scranton with Justine Jones finishing second to Korty. The Montrose boys team finished second to defending state champion Dallas at the Cliff Robbins Sr. Memorial Invitational Sept. 3 at Misericordia University’s Letterkenny Fields where Lady Meteors freshman Hannah Perkins was placing second behind Korty.
Korty started her season by running the Robbins Invitational in 19:27 to win by 43 seconds.
After finishing more than a minute ahead of the pack in the seven-team Lackawanna League cluster meet opener on her home course Wednesday, Korty put together a similar effort Saturday.
Korty, Forest City’s only entry in the race, finished the 3.1-mile McDade Park course in 19:00.40 to win by 39.96 seconds. She was first in a field that included eight teams and individual entries from nine other schools.
Elk Lake finished first out of eight full teams, beating out Wallenpaupack, 38-43, for the title.
Johns led the way, placing second out of 75 runners. Keri Jones was fourth, Shyanne Bennett ninth, Sadie Bosscher 12th and Lydia Ofalt 27th.
Blue Ridge and Susquehanna entered individuals in the race.
Karris Fazzi led the way for Blue Ridge finishing seventh while teammate Jessie Purdum was 15th.
Susquehanna’s Taylor Huyck was 29th.
Elk Lake was also third in the Lackawanna County Commissioners boys race that featured 14 teams, entries from four other schools and a total of 108 runners.
The Warriors scored 95 points, just six behind second-place North Pocono.
Blue Ridge was ninth with 281 points, Forest City 12th with 321 and Susquehanna 14th with 371.
Cody Oswald led Elk Lake, placing eighth. Peyton Jones followed in 10th and Seth Owens in 12th.
Travis Hickling from Blue Ridge was 13th.
One week earlier, Montrose scored 67 points to finish 25 behind defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA boys champion Dallas at the Robbins Invitational.
The Robbins drew 20 teams plus runners from eight other schools.
Susquehanna was 18th and Forest City 20th.
Zack Mead led Montrose, finishing seventh. Teammates Owen Brewer, Brandon Culp and Liam Mead were 11th, 13th and 17th.
Forest City’s Korty and Montrose’s Perkins finished 1-2 in the girls race despite not having a full team with which to run.
Georgia Smith from Montrose was 13th.
Susquehanna was last in the 15-team girls field.
The defending champion Montrose boys got their Lackawanna League season off to a strong start by going 2-0 in the first cluster meet Sept. 7.
Montrose defeated Scranton Prep, 18-41, and Holy Cross, 25-45.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Games at Susquehanna’s William Emminger Memorial Field on consecutive Saturdays produced rare numbers.
First, Susquehanna threw Holy Redeemer for losses totaling 125 yards in an 8-0, non-league shutout Sept. 3.
Then, Riverside scored 37 points in the first 6:43 to hand the Sabers their first defeat, 51-0, in Saturday’s Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 game.
The Sabers held Holy Redeemer to minus-55 yards rushing and minus-13 yards total offense while making it to 2-0 to start the season.
“We had a lot of young kids go in the game because of injuries and our linebackers played phenomenally, filling gaps,” Susquehanna coach Kyle Cook said.
That allowed the Sabers to get creative up front.
Shaun Andersen moved from cornerback to defensive end and 140-pound sophomore Billy Perry played at defensive tackle. Both used their quickness to disrupt the backfield of a wide-open Holy Redeemer offense.
Chris Graf, a regular in the interior of the defensive line, made a team high seven tackles, including two for losses, while adding an assist.
Andersen came up with sacks for losses of 17 and 12 yards. He also made another tackle and assisted on two other sacks.
“We wanted to contain their quarterback because he rolls out a lot,” Cook said. “We thought we needed a little speed there.”
Perry provided a little more. He came up with one sack for a 15-yard loss while forcing a fumble and assisted on four other sacks.
Susquehanna finished with seven sacks as a team.
The strong defensive effort was needed because the offensive woes, which showed themselves in the blowout loss to Riverside began to crop up against Holy Redeemer.
The Sabers crossed midfield seven times and move into the red zone on four of them, but scored just one touchdown.
Kyle Donovan’s 2-yard run with 4:53 left in the first quarter gave Susquehanna a 6-0 lead. The score was set up when Eric Peters blocked a punt and Adam Rockwell recovered it at the Holy Redeemer 42.
The only other points came in the second quarter when a Holy Redeemer punt snap went through the back of the end zone for a safety.
Riverside scored points seven different ways, including six in the first 6:43, Saturday.
The Vikings led, 23-0, with 8:36 still remaining in the first quarter before their offense touched the ball the first time. By then, Riverside had scores on a kickoff return, fumble return, blocked punt return and safety.
The first-quarter outburst ended after a touchdown run and pass.
Riverside then added a punt return for a score 20 seconds into the second quarter, making it 44-0.
Paul Coleman scored three touchdowns for Riverside, running for the last score with 4:13 left in the third quarter after scoring the second and third touchdowns on a fumble return and a return of a punt that he blocked.
Susquehanna did not have a first down and finished the first half with negative yardage total offense. The Sabers ended the day with just 3 first downs, 18 yards rushing and 30 yards total offense.
The Sabers defense held Riverside to 155 yards and 6 first downs.
Susquehanna went into the game without two-way starters Adam Roe and Jarred Roe because of injuries, then played much of the game without Logan Conrad and Graf.
Montrose dropped two more games to fall to 0-2 in LFC Division 2 and 0-3 overall.
The Meteors kept both games competitive.
Meyers needed to rally from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Meteors, 20-10, in a Sept. 2 non-league game in Wilkes-Barre.
Then, Old Forge needed two fourth-quarter scores to beat Montrose, 24-9, in Friday’s LFC Division 3 game.
Montrose took advantage of four first-half fumbles to build a 10-0 lead in the Meyers game.
Chris Lewis kicked a 25-yard field goal and Colin Mondi scored on a 13-yard run, with both scores coming early in the second quarter.
The Meteors rallied from a 12-point deficit to get within 12-9 of visiting Old Forge in the third quarter Friday.
PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders followed up the best regular-season in franchise history by producing the franchise’s first playoff series sweep.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won three straight games from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the International League semifinals.
The sweep was completed Friday night at PNC Field in Moosic with an 11-3 romp by the RailRiders.
The RailRiders outscored the IronPigs, 20-3, in the series to reach the IL’s Governors’ Cup Championship Series for the sixth time.
Cito Culver hit a three-run to highlight an eight-run fourth inning in the clinching win.
The championship series was scheduled to begin Tuesday against the Gwinnett Braves.
Mason Williams went 7-for-12 (.583) with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored during the series.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna and Montrose each have Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 games Friday night.
Susquehanna (1-1 in the division, 2-1 overall) is at Old Forge (2-0, 2-1). The Blue Devils have won 27 straight divisional games.
Montrose (0-2, 0-3) is home against Holy Cross (0-2, 0-3).
Our high school football predictions were 10-1 (90.9 percent) last week after being 9-3 (75.0) for the second weekend of the season. That makes the season record 29-8 (78.4).
Predictions for this week’s games, with home teams in CAPS: OLD FORGE 20, Susquehanna 6 … MONTROSE 39, Holy Cross 15 … DUNMORE 19, Riverside 13 … Lakeland 34, CARBONDALE 26 … LACKAWANNA TRAIL 23, Northwest 21 … MID VALLEY 21, Hanover Area 3 … NORTH POCONO 36, Scranton 26 … Delaware Valley 40, WEST SCRANTON 14 … WALLENPAUPACK 30, Honesdale 13 … Valley View 18, PITTSTON AREA 11 … Western Wayne 14, HOLY REDEEMER 6 … ABINGTON HEIGHTS 26, Hazleton Area 0 … SCRANTON PREP 29, Dallas 14.
In girls’ volleyball, Forest City is at Blue Ridge Friday. Both teams entered the week 2-0 and tied for first place in the Lackawanna League with Dunmore.
In girls’ soccer, Montrose is home with Lakeland Monday, Sept. 19. Montrose entered this week in first place at 2-0 in Lackawanna League Division 3. Lakeland, which beat Montrose in a playoff for a division title last year, started the week at 1-0.
In professional baseball, Game Two of the International League Governors’ Cup championship series is scheduled for PNC Field Wednesday night between the Gwinnett Braves and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The series then moves to Georgia.
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.
TRUEX CELEBRATES SOUTHERN 500 VICTORY
Martin Truex Jr. Celebrates Southern 500 Win (Furnished by NASCAR)
DARLINGTON, S.C.--Martin Truex Jr. led 28 laps on the way to victory in Sunday's Southern 500. The last 15 laps were spent holding off Kevin Harvick, who stayed within striking distance, but lost some of his earlier zip.
“My god, this is unbelievable,” said Truex. “I led a lot of laps, but never thought this would happen. We've had a lot of bad luck and after some things happened, you just hold your breath until the end.
“There's nothing better than a win like this to get your confidence up.”
Harvick, who led the most laps (214) dealt with highs and lows throughout the race. He could easily pull away from the field once he got to the front. But then his crew cost him positions on practically every pit stop.
During four pit stops he lost a total of 19 spots. He went in first and came out second, fourth, third, and 12th. Harvick was able to work his way back to the front each time until the last one. After brushing the wall with five-to-go in the 367-lap race, his No. 4 Chevrolet no longer had the come-back ability it had earlier in the race.
“Too many mistakes to overcome,” said Harvick. “It's the same old thing; guys in the shop and on the team do a great job. The guys in the pits do a terrible job.”
Third-place finisher Kyle Larson had a fast car and was able to lead 45 laps, but faded near the end.
Denny Hamlin was fourth, followed by Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, and Chase Elliott.
Jeff Gordon, who was subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. never led a lap and finished 14th.
It was about a normal Darlington race, with most of the cars either hitting or brushing the outside wall at least once.
Jimmie Johnson was one of those caught up in a wreck of his own making. He slapped the wall early into the race. His team made repairs, which allowed him to continue racing. He finished 33rd.
Tony Stewart was called to the NASCAR hauler after the race because of an incident between him and Brian Scott, driver of the No. 34. It appeared Stewart deliberately put Scott into the outside wall, but he denied it, and NASCAR is not expected to penalize him.
NASCAR Chase Outlook with one race remaining before the 10-race Chase begins: Note: this is the official NASCAR Chase Grid, showing number of wins: 1. Keselowski-797 (4), 2. Kyle Busch-724 (4), 3. Harvick-840 (2), 4. Edwards-746 (2), 5. Hamlin-729 (2), 6. Truex-696 (2), 7. Kenseth-669 (2), 8. Johnson-656 (2), 9. Logano-752 (1), 10. Kurt Busch-728 (1), 11. Larson-621 (1), 12. Buescher-358 (1), 13. Elliott-650 (0), 14. A. Dillon-651 (0), 15. McMurray-642 (0), 16. Newman-635 (0).
SADLER GAINS HIS FIRST DARLINGTON WIN
Elliott Sadler held off a hard charging Sprint Cup regular Denny Hamlin to win Saturday's Xfinty race. It was the first time the 41-year-old driver had won at Darlington.
“This race is for Dale Jr.,” he said. “He's helped us emotionally and financially. He means everything to this team. "I know he's going through a tough time. He's not being able to race his race car for the rest of the year. He was riding there with me today, and he's given me such a great opportunity to be a part of his race team. I know he's going through a tough time. He's not being able to race his race car for the rest of the year.
“Denny (Hamlin) really put the pressure on us and ran a hard race. We weren't able to leave anything on the table. It took all we had to keep him behind us.”
The victory was Sadler's first at Darlington in 32 starts involving all three of NASCAR's national series.
Hamlin, who led 47 laps of the 147-lap race was running second near the end. He tried twice to get around Sadler in the last two laps, but could not make the pass either time, allowing Sadler to finish .45-seconds ahead of him.
“I hit the wall and my car got tight,” said Hamlin. “There was a couple things we should have done in hindsight, but that's the way it goes.”
Daniel Suarez was third, followed by Kyle Larson, Brennan Poole, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, and Ryan Preece.
Top-10 leaders after 24 of 33; 1. Sadler-815, 2. Suarez-761, 3. Allgaier-750, 4. T. Dillon-742, 5. Gaughan-732, 6. E. Jones-713, 7. Poole-705, 8. B. Jones-684, 9. Wallace Jr.-630, 10. Reed-596.
NEMECHEK TAKES CANADIAN ROAD RACE
John Hunter Nemechek won Sunday's Truck Series race held in Ontario, Canada.
Top-10 finishers: 1. Nemechek, 2. Cole Custer, 3. Daniel Hemric, 4. Matt Crafton, 5. Christopher Bell, 6. Tyler Reddick, 7. Johnny Sauter, 8. Ben Kennedy, 9. Cameron Hayley, 10. William Byron.
Top-10 leaders after 15 of 23: 1. Byron-402, 2. Hemric-372, 3. Sauter-356, 4. Crafton-352, 5. Peters-350, 6. Kennedy-334, 7. Bell-333, 8. Nemechek-324, 9. Custer-318, 10. Hayley-312.
EARNHARDT OUT FOR REST OF SEASON
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will sit out the rest of the 2016 NASCAR season, and maybe beyond that.
Earnhardt has not been medically cleared to compete for the remainder of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as he continues to recover from a concussion. Earnhardt has missed the last six Sprint Cup races while undergoing treatment. He has been regularly evaluated at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program under the direction of Dr. Micky Collins and with Charlotte neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty.
“I wish I could return to the #88 team this season,” Earnhardt said. “To say I'm disappointed doesn't begin to describe how I feel, but I know this is the right thing for my long-term health and career. I'm 100 percent focused on my recovery, and I will continue to follow everything the doctors tell me. They're seeing good progress in my test results, and I'm feeling that progress physically. I plan to be healthy and ready to compete at Daytona in February. I'm working toward that.
“The support from both inside and outside the race team has been overwhelming. Everyone has been so encouraging and positive, from my teammates and sponsors to my family, friends and fans. It's motivating and humbling at the same time.”
Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman will replace Earnhardt for the season's 12 remaining races. In Earnhardt's absence, four-time Cup Series champion Gordon, 45, filled in at Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen and Bristol. Bowman, 23, drove at New Hampshire and Michigan.
“I know how hard Dale has worked and how frustrating this is for him,” said Rick Hendrick. “He wants to be back, and we want him back, but we want it to be for the long haul. We've had incredible support from everyone involved with the team, including all of our sponsors. They've put Dale's health first every step of the way.
“Jeff and Alex will give us a great opportunity over the rest of the season. Jeff is one of the best of all time and knows our system. He brings things to the table that no one else can. Alex is a young driver with a lot of talent, and he will give us a fresh perspective. We know they're not only capable of running up front and giving us a chance to win, but they'll help us get better.”
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Xfinity teams are at the .75-mile Richmond, Virginia facility. The truck teams have an off weekend.
Fri., Sept. 9, Xfinity Series race25 of 33; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.
Sat., Sept. 10, Sprint Cup Series race 26 of 36; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.
Racing Trivia Question: What year did Chicagoland Speedway open?
Last Week's Question? Who has the most Cup wins at Darlington? Answer. David Pearson tops the list with 10.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com
Kyle Donovan
The Susquehanna Sabers wanted the Bluestone Trophy back.
Kyle Donovan helped make sure they got it.
The senior quarterback carried 19 times for a game-high 127 yards and hit five of seven passes for 63 yards in the season-opening, 21-7 victory at Montrose in the annual trophy game between the only two high school football programs in Susquehanna County.
For his efforts, Donovan is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for August.
“I think it means a lot to the town and the players of Susquehanna,” said Donovan, one of the Blue Ridge students who plays football for the Sabers as part of a cooperative sponsorship between the two schools. “It was weird to everyone in Susquehanna not to have the Bluestone Trophy.”
Montrose won the trophy for the only time in its five-year existence with a 3-0 victory at Susquehanna in 2015.
Donovan hit a 16-yard pass to Adam Roe and had a 12-yard run in the only scoring drive of the first half. He carried three times for 37 yards in the second scoring drive and hit his only pass attempt in the third scoring drive, helping the Sabers build a 21-0 lead.
The Sabers won their first two games to match their win total from a year ago.
“That was really rough,” Donovan said of the 2015 season. “It didn’t go the way we wanted.
“It’s pretty exciting. We all played well as a team (in the first two games). I’m having a lot of fun with all my teammates.”
Donovan is in his third season on the team. He started one game at tight end where he was in the rotation of players throughout his sophomore year. He started at quarterback for most of last season.
In the winter, Donovan is a member of the Blue Ridge basketball team. He started as a junior after splitting time between varsity and junior varsity as a sophomore.
Kyle is the son of Tim Donovan and the late Leslie Donovan from New Milford.
