Susquehanna took on a state-ranked opponent Saturday and battled the Lackawanna Football Conference’s highest-scoring team before falling, 33-0, to Dunmore at William Emminger Memorial Field.

The Bucks, the only unbeaten football team in District 2, are ranked third in the state in Class 2A by the Pennsylvania Football News.

Dunmore had scored 41, 61 and 55 points in its previous three outings and came into the LFC Division 3 game averaging 39.5 points per game.

The Sabers also held the potent Bucks running attack below its averages. Dunmore, which averaged 312.2 yards per game and 8.1 per carry prior to the game, controlled play with its ground game producing 265 yards and an average of 7.2 per carry.

Ian Townend led the Susquehanna defensive effort with six tackles and five assists.

Tyler Williams, Shaun Andersen, Jarred Mills, Billy Perry and Logan Conrad also had strong games defensively.

Williams had six tackles and four assists. Andersen had four tackles, an assist, an interception and a broken-up pass. Mills had five tackles, an assist and a fumble recovery. Perry and Conrad each had five tackles and three assists.

Kyle Bayle intercepted a pass while also contributing a tackle and four assists.

The Sabers took the opening kickoff and moved across midfield with the help of an 11-yard run by Mills.

Dunmore took away fumbles on the first two possessions and converted each into scores in five plays to take a 13-0 lead with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

Andersen’s interception helped the Sabers reach the Bucks 38 in the final minute of the quarter before punting.

Dunmore then put together a 10-play, 84-yard scoring drive to take a 20-0 lead, which held up through halftime.

The first-place Bucks (6-0 in the division and 7-0 overall) needed just eight plays total to turn the first two possessions of the second half into touchdowns for a 33-0 lead with 6:50 left in the third quarter.

Mills recovered a muffed punt at the Dunmore 20 later in the quarter and the Sabers got as close as the 3 before being pushed back.

Susquehanna also got inside the Dunmore 10 on an impressive drive by the second unit, which picked up four first downs on the game’s final possession.

The Sabers fell to 2-4 in the division and 2-5 overall.

Mid Valley used a 47-28 victory at Montrose to pass Susquehanna in the race for the fourth and final berth in the District 2 Class 2A playoffs.

Sophomore Joe Chylak ran for four touchdowns to lead the Spartans.

John Herman and Maverick Tims each scored two touchdowns for Montrose.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Mary Ann Lawrenson from Thompson won the Female 50-54-year-old division at the 21st annual Steamtown Marathon Sunday.

The race course begins at Forest City High School and continues into downtown Scranton.

Suleman Abrar Shifa won the title by more than nine minutes, completing the 26.2-mile course in 2:17:29.76.

Caitlin Phillips was the women’s champion in 2:41:34.14.

Lawrenson was 446th overall out of 1712 runners, finishing in 3:37:20.16.

Paula Fitch from Brackney placed second in the Female 65-69 Division in 4:13:19.54.

In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge swept three straight opponents to remain on top of the Lackawanna League standings at 13-0.

The Raiders defeated Mountain View, 25-8, 25-10, 25-9; Susquehanna, 25-17, 25-18, 25-21; and Forest City, 25-20, 25-5, 25-18.

They have swept six straight opponents since beating defending champion Dunmore and 11 of 13 league opponents on the season.

In boys’ cross country, unbeaten Montrose and Elk Lake each went 3-0 in a Lackawanna League cluster meet at Abington Heights by beating the host Comets and North Pocono, which each had only one previous loss.

Montrose is alone in first place with a 16-0 record.

Elk Lake is sixth at 13-3.

In girls’ cross country, Elk Lake swept three opponents at Abington Heights to improve to 15-1, tied for second in the Lackawanna League.

In girls’ soccer, Montrose is 8-2 and in second place in Lackawanna League Division 3, but needed a big game from Madison Gilhool to get past Mountain View Thursday.

Gilhool had a hat trick, including the game-winner with 34 seconds left, to lift the Lady Meteors to a come-from-behind, 4-3 victory.

Gilhool had scored twice in the first half to wipe out Mountain View leads.

Annalise Ely scored the other Montrose goal to force a 3-3 tie in the second half.

Lucy Adams scored two goals and Sam Jones one for Mountain View.

In boys’ soccer, Blue Ridge improved to 9-0 to maintain its Lackawanna League Division 3 lead.

Division 2 leader Scranton Prep needed overtime to remain undefeated with a 2-1 win over Elk Lake.

In girls’ tennis, Montrose finished sixth out of 10 teams in the Lackawanna League Class 2A Division and fell short of making the District 2 tournament.

The final division standings were: Scranton Prep 13-1, Holy Cross 10-4, Valley View 10-4, Mid Valley 7-7, Western Wayne 7-7, Montrose 4-10, Honesdale 3-11, Riverside 2-12, Dunmore 1-13, West Scranton 0-14.

COLLEGE CORNER

Hannah Richner is a freshman midfielder who has started 10 games for the Keystone College women’s soccer team.

Richner was an all-state choice by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association in 2014.

Keystone is off to a 5-5-1 start. Richner has played in all but one game and has started every game she has played.

Richner has two goals and four assists. She has taken 36 shots, 19 of which were on goal.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Susquehanna is home against Lackawanna Trail for its Homecoming football game Saturday at 1.

Both Susquehanna and Montrose have LFC Division 3 games.

Montrose (1-5 and 1-6) plays Friday night at Carbondale (1-5 and 2-5).

The Sabers are 2-4 and 3-4 going into their game with Lackawanna Trail (4-2 and 5-2).

Our high school football predictions for last week were 9-3 (75.0 percent), bringing our season record to 67-19 (77.9 percent).

This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: CARBONDALE 29, Montrose 23 … DELAWARE VALLEY 57, Scranton 18 … WEST SCRANTON 52, Honesdale 3 … NORTH POCONO 23, Valley View 3 … Scranton Prep 23, Western Wayne 0 … DUNMORE 36, Mid Valley 12 … RIVERSIDE 56, Holy Cross 10 … Lackawanna Trail 18, SUSQUEHANNA 14 … ABINGTON HEIGHTS 25, Wallenpaupack 9 … LAKELAND 26, Old Forge 3.

In girls’ tennis, District 2 Class 2A singles play is scheduled for Thursday and Friday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

The doubles tournament begins Tuesday, Oct. 18, also at Kirby Park.

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 WINS; CHASE FIELD SHORTENED

Martin Truex Jr. Gets Dover Win (Furnished by NASCAR)

DOVER, Del.--Martin Truex Jr. dominated Sunday’s Dover Sprint Cup race as he led 187 laps of the 400-lap race. The win also assured him an automatic spot in Round Two of the Chase.

“We’re not messing around I guess. I don’t know,” Truex said. “What else can you say? We are here to get it done and golly, I’m telling you, just the best bunch of guys you could ever ask for. It’s just amazing to drive their race cars and do what we were able to do. I’m just ecstatic.”

Kyle Busch was the runner-up, but it wasn’t even close as Truex’s win margin was over seven-seconds.

Well, it was a good finish for us,” said Busch. “We would have liked to win, but that’s all we could get out of the car today.”

Chase Elliott finished third. He did not lead any laps, but ran near the front all day and had a fast car at the end.

The fourth-place finisher Brad Keselowski started on the pole, and led twice for seven laps.

Matt Kenseth was fifth, while Joey Logano came in sixth.

Jimmie Johnson finished seventh. He was given a pass through penalty by NASCAR for having crew members over the wall too soon. He led 90-laps, was fast, and the penalty might have cost him the race.

Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon, who was subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., were the remaining top-10 drivers.

Kevin Harvick was another driver that experienced problems, but his was of a mechanical nature. He had to take his car to the garage for repairs and lost 46 laps. He finished 37th.

Round Two Chase leaders: 1. Truex Jr.-2131, 2. Kyle Busch-2125, 3. Keselowski-2125, 4. Kenseth-2114, 5. Logano-2106, 6. Elliott-2106, 7. Johnson-2105, 8. Hamlin-2103, 9. Edwards-2095, 10. Kurt Busch-2093, 11.A. Dillon-2085, 12. Harvick-2075.

Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, and Chris Buescher were the four drivers eliminated from this year’s Chase.

SUAREZ GETS DOVER XFINITY WIN

Daniel Suarez won Sunday’s postponed Xfinity Series race, which was originally set for Saturday, but had to be rescheduled due to heavy fog over the track.

The remaining top-10 finishers: 2. Ty Dillon, 3. Justin Allgaier, 4. Ryan Blaney, 5. Alex Bowman, 6. Corey LaJoie, 7. Elliott Sadler, 8. JJ Yeley, 9. Brendan Gaughan, 10. Ryan Reed.

Top-10 leaders with five remaining races: 1. Suarez-2087, 2. Sadler-2085, 3. Allgaier-2071, 4. Gaughan-2068, 5. Reed-2065, 6. Wallace Jr.-2064, 7. Koch-2058, 8. Poole-2057, 9. T. Dillon-2054, 10. E. Jones-2053.

VEGAS TRUCK RACE GOES TO REDDICK

Tyler Reddick won Saturday’s Truck Series race by 1.404-seconds ahead of Daniel Hemric. Cole Custer was third, followed by Ben Kennedy, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Timothy Peters, and Grant Enfinger.

Top-8 leaders with five races left on the schedule: 1. Byron-2052, 2. Crafton-2038, 3. Bell-2025, 4. Nemechek-2030, 5. Peters-2028, 6. Sauter-2026, 7. Kennedy-2025, 8. Hemric-2005.

STEWART CAN’T WAIT TO LEAVE

Tony Stewart plans to hang up his NASCAR driving helmet, but that doesn’t mean he is leaving racing, or even NASCAR.

Stewart said when the 2016 Sprint Cup season ends, he will step out of his No. 14 car for the last time and hand the driving duties over to Clint Bowyer.

Throughout his NASCAR career, he has had a love-hate relationship with the sanctioning body.

With his unpredictable behavior and mood swings, the three-time (2002, 2005, 2011) Sprint Cup champion said last week that he was tired of the fight.

“That’s part of the reason I’m retiring because I’m tired of being responsible for it,” Stewart said. “It’s somebody else’s responsibility now. I’ve had my fill of it. At some point, you say, ‘why do I keep fighting this fight when I’m not getting anywhere?’”

Throughout his racing career, he has won titles in Indy, midget, sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars. He is the only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR.

But it hasn’t been smooth riding for him, either on or off the track.

There was the deal in August, 2015 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in New York, where he struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr., a sprint car driver, that he had wrecked during a previous lap.

Three weeks ago, Ryan Newman referred to him as bi-polar, after Stewart had put him into the outside wall.

Stewart has always had problems following NASCAR rules.

During the 2002 season, he struggled to keep his anger in check. At Martinsville, he said, “It’s NASCAR’s way or no way, and I might be hitting the highway.” Two weeks later he shoved a photographer who happened to be standing in his path.

He has undergone several anger management classes, and after winning his first Sprint Cup championship in 2002, NASCAR seemed to ‘look the other way’ at his antics, and things went better for both driver and organization.

While he talks about interceding for drivers, most of his conversations and problems with NASCAR have been due to his own actions or behavior.

“You just get so frustrated you can’t see straight,” he continued. “You can only beat the drum for so long and it can only fall on deaf ears for so long before you finally say, ‘the people that need to make it better can’t make it better’

“I’m ready to do something different because I can’t make a difference anymore. I can’t do different things with my feet and different things with my hands and run a different line and fix the problem. I used to be able to do that. I can’t do that anymore.”

In 2017, he will turn his attention to Stewart-Haas Racing, which he is fifty per cent owner in. He has championship contenders in Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, who both have a Cup title to their names, along with Danica Patrick. He’s bringing in Bowyer, which may or may not prove to be a wise driver choice.

While Stewart plans to retire from Cup racing, he said he has told his sprint-car team management to be ready for him to run 40-50 races next season.

He will have to wait until February to race because he won’t have have the screws taken out of his back until December. He said his first race next year will be on pavement and he will be driving for someone else.

It is either love or hate. There is no indifference with the man.

He will go down as a great driver, but it’s time for him to leave NASCAR.

Weekend Racing: The Sprint and Xfinity teams are at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway for two night races. The Trucks do not race again until Oct. 22.

Fri., Oct. 7, Xfinity Series race 29 of 33; Starting time: 8 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.

Sat., Oct. 8, Sprint Cup Series race 30 of 36; Starting time: 7 pm ET; TV: NBC.

Racing Trivia Question: Where is Tony Stewart’s hometown?

Last Week’s Question. This is the first year Kyle Larson has made the Sprint Cup Chase. Which team does he drive for? Answer. Chip Ganassi Racing

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

Jennifer Korty

Jennifer Korty opened her cross country season by taking on most of the top runners from Luzerne County at the Cliff Robbins Sr. Memorial Invitational.

A week later, she ran against many of the top runners from Lackawanna and nearby counties in the Lackawanna County Commissions Invitational.

Before September ended, she took on some of the best small school runners in the state in her the Girls White Division at the PIAA Foundation Meet in Hershey.

Each time, Korty won. And, she won big.

After winning all three invitationals she entered and shattering a course record in a Lackawanna League cluster meet at Merli-Sarnoski Park in Carbondale, the Forest City senior has been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for September.

Korty, running as an individual because Forest City does not have enough girls to compete as a team, won her three invitationals by 43, 34 and 39.96 seconds. The closest but most impressive of the victories, considering the size and strength of the field, came in Hershey on the course where the state championships are conducted.

In the PIAA Foundation Meet, which many of the state’s top teams and individuals use as a tune-up for and preview of the state championship meet, Korty ran a time of 19:08 at the Hershey Parkview Course. She led a field of 122 runners in the White Division, which is made up of Class A schools.

Korty, a home-schooled student, continued an outstanding calendar year as a distance runner.

In the spring, Korty competed for Carbondale as part of a cooperative sponsorship between the two school districts. She was a state medalist in the 1600-meter run, a two-event district champion and a three-event district medalist while running the three longest races in high school track and field.

Korty became interested in district running on the junior high level.

“It was seventh grade when I started,” Korty said in an interview earlier this year. “I had never run prior to that, but I’ve been running ever since.”

She soon became dedicated to the sport.

“When I joined, I liked it,” she said. “By my freshman year, I realized that if I worked a little bit harder, I could have a lot of success in this.”

Korty qualified for the state cross country meet by finishing 17th in the District 2 Class A race as a sophomore. She earned first-team Lackawanna League all-star honors from coaches last season.

Jennifer is the daughter of Robert and Tammy Korty of Pleasant Mount.