The Blue Ridge boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball teams and the Montrose boys’ cross country team all completed championship seasons in the Lackawanna League with wins last week.

Axel Mejia, who also had an assist, and Tyrell Cheeseboro each scored two goals Oct. 17 when Blue Ridge completed an unbeaten Lackawanna League Division 3 boys’ soccer season with a 7-0 victory at Old Forge.

Jonathan Blewitt had a goal and two assists.

Forest City and Montrose each finished second in their divisions.

Final Lackawanna Division 3 standings: Blue Ridge 12-0, Forest City 10-2, Dunmore 6-5-1, Old Forge 5-5-2, Mountain View 4-8, Carbondale 3-8-1, Riverside 0-12.

Final Lackawanna Division 2 standings: Scranton Prep 12-0, Montrose 9-3, Elk Lake 5-7, Holy Cross 5-7, Lakeland 4-8, Mountain View 3-8-1, Western Wayne 3-8-1.

Blue Ridge came back from suffering its only loss the week before to win consecutive girls’ volleyball matches and clinch the Lackawanna League title with a 17-1 record.

The Lady Raiders swept Forest City, 25-7, 25-20, 25-15, Oct. 17.

The next day, they handled Abington Heights, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21, for a home-court victory that clinched the title and completed a 17-1 league season.

Kalynne Myers had 10 kills and 10 assists in the win. Abby Hartman had nine kills and nine service points while Megan Houlihan had eight kills.

Final Lackawanna League standings: Blue Ridge 17-1, Dunmore 16-2, Abington Heights 14-4, Western Wayne 12-6, Forest City 9-9, Montrose 6-12, Elk Lake 5-13, Susquehanna 4-14, Lackawanna Trail 4-14, Mountain View 3-15.

Zach Mead, Owen Brewer and Brandon Curley took the top three spots in a six-team meet at Nay Aug Park in Scranton to help Montrose finish off a second straight unbeaten Lackawanna League boys’ cross country season.

The Meteors defeated West Scranton, 16-47, and both Scranton and Mid Valley by the maximum, 15-50.

Cody Oswald was fourth for Elk Lake, which also won three times, and Liam Mead from Montrose was fifth.

Final Lackawanna League standings: Montrose 23-0, Scranton Prep 21-2, Elk Lake 20-3, Abington Heights 20-3, Wallenpaupack 20-3, North Pocono 19-4, Scranton 16-7, Honesdale 16-7, Holy Cross 15-8, Lakeland 15-8, West Scranton 13-10, Delaware Valley 12-11, Lackawanna Trail 11-12, Mountain View 9-14, Mid Valley 7-16, Valley View 7-16, Western Wayne 7-16, Susquehanna 6-17, Forest City 5-18, Dunmore 5-18, Riverside 4-19, Blue Ridge 3-19, Old Forge 2-21, Carbondale 0-22.

FOOTBALL

Mid Valley overpowered Susquehanna, spoiling the Sabers’ only home night game of the season under the portable lights Friday night at William Emminger Memorial Field with a 33-0 Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 romp in a steady rain.

The Spartans outgained the Sabers, 296-10, and had a 14-2 lead in first downs in the first half while taking a 27-0 halftime lead.

Mid Valley finished with statistical advantages of 18-6 in first downs, 395-50 in rushing yards, 38-minus 1 in passing yards, 433-49 in total offense and 49-37 in offensive plays.

Colin Munley took inside reverses 51 and 26 yards for touchdowns and finished with 11 carries for 150 yards.

Zach Fiume went over the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the second straight season by carrying 19 times for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Joe Chylak carried 9 times for 61 yards and another touchdown.

“The rain was in our favor,” Mid Valley coach Dave Rebar said after the Spartans (5-4) clinched the last District 2 Class 2A playoff berth and eliminated the Sabers from contention. “It would have been a much closer game.

“Their game is throwing the ball and running the option. It’s hard to run the option in the mud.”

Jarred Mills led the Susquehanna defense with eight tackles, six assists and a fumble recovery. Travis Craig had seven tackles and four assists. Sam Cosmello, who had five tackles and two assists, and Shaun Andersen, who had three tackles and two assists, each blocked an extra point. Andersen made one of his tackles for a loss.

In another LFC Division 3 game, Lakeland scored three touchdowns in the first 3:30 on the way to a 48-6 win over visiting Montrose.

Lakeland led, 42-0, at halftime.

John Herman scored Montrose’s only points on a 31-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Elk Lake’s Justine Johns and Keri Jones finished second and third in a six-team meet behind winner Hannah Perkins from Montrose, to lead the Lady Warriors to three wins in the final meet of the Lackawanna League season at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.

Elk Lake beat Scranton, 17-44, West Scranton, 16-45, and Mid Valley, 15-50, to complete a 22-1 season and finish in second place.

Karris Fazzi from Blue Ridge was fourth and Sade Bosscher from Elk Lake was fifth.

The final Lackawanna League standings were: Holy Cross 23-0, Elk Lake 22-1, Honesdale 21-2, Scranton Prep 20-3, Abington Heights 19-4, Western Wayne 18-5, Delaware Valley 17-6, Wallenpaupack 16-7, Valley View 15-8, North Pocono 14-9, Scranton 11-11, Lackawanna Trail 10-13, Dunmore 9-14, West Scranton 8-13, Riverside 6-12, Susquehanna 7-16, Montrose 5-13, Old Forge 5-16, Carbondale 0-14, Forest City 0-14, Blue Ridge 0-16, Mid Valley 0-17, Mountain View 0-18, Lakeland 0-19.

In girls’ tennis, both Montrose teams were eliminated by seeded opponents in the District 2 Class AA Doubles Tournament Oct. 18 at Kirby Park.

Annelise Mittman-Louise Thompson defeated Riverside’s Allison Rempe-Abby Fairclough, 6-2, 6-0, before losing to sixth-seeded Libby Pinto-Jessica Smith from MMI Prep, 7-5, 6-2.

McKala Newhart-McKenzie Reeves lost in their first match, 6-4, 6-3, against eighth-seeded Alex Kester-Emily Evans from Holy Redeemer, 6-4, 6-3.

In girls’ soccer, Grace Guarino made 18 saves in the regular-season finale Oct. 18 when Western Wayne shut out Montrose, 1-0, to deny the Lady Meteors a tie for first place in the final Lackawanna League Division 3 standings.

Elk Lake also finished second in its division.

The final Lackawanna League Division 3 standings: Lakeland 11-2, Montrose 10-3, Western Wayne 7-5-1, Mountain View 5-8, Holy Cross 5-8.

The final Lackawanna League Division 4 standings: Dunmore 13-0, Elk Lake 7-6, Carbondale 4-9, Forest City 2-10-1, Mid Valley 0-13.

COLLEGE CORNER

Elk Lake graduate Randi Teed is a member of the Misericordia University field hockey team.

Teed, a freshman forward, has appeared in two games, playing seven minutes. The Cougars are 3-12.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose and Susquehanna will conclude their football seasons with LFC Division 3 games.

Montrose (1-7 in the division and 1-8 overall) is home Friday night against Lackawanna Trail (5-3 and 6-3).

Susquehanna (2-6 and 3-6) finishes on the road Saturday at 1 p.m. against Holy Cross (0-8 and 0-9).

Our high school football predictions were a perfect 10-0 last week, improving our season record to 86-20 (81.1 percent).

This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Lackawanna Trail 31, MONTROSE 17 … Susquehanna 34, HOLY CROSS 15 … DUNMORE 34, Old Forge 0 … Lakeland 28, MID VALLEY 17 … RIVERSIDE 37, Carbondale 14 … West Scranton 30, WESTERN WAYNE 12 … NORTH POCONO 20, Scranton Prep 12 … Valley View 41, HONESDALE 0 … DELAWARE VALLEY 39, Abington Heights 14 … SCRANTON 27, Wallenpaupack 18.

In cross country, the District 2 Championships are scheduled for Wednesday at Lakeland.

The Class A girls’ race is scheduled for 11:20 a.m., followed by Class A boys at noon; Class AA girls at 12:40 p.m.; Class AA boys at 1:20 p.m.; Class AAA girls at 2 p.m.; and Class AAA boys at 2:40 p.m.

The top 15 in each Class A race earn medals with the winning team and the best 5 other individuals qualifying for the state championships.

The top 20 in each Class AA race earn medals with the top two teams and the best 10 other individuals qualifying for the state meet.

Montrose is the favorite in Class A boys. Elk Lake is a contender in Class A girls where unbeaten Lackawanna League champion Holy Cross is the favorite.

In boys’ soccer, both Blue Ridge and Forest City earned top seeds for district tournaments.

Blue Ridge is the top seed in the 16-team Class AA tournament.

The Raiders were scheduled to open the tournament Monday at home against Hanover Area. If they won, they would be home again Thursday against either Dunmore or Nanticoke in the quarterfinals.

Montrose was scheduled to be home Monday against Mid Valley. If the Meteors won, they play in Thursday’s quarterfinals at Holy Redeemer, at Wyoming Seminary or home against Western Wayne.

The semifinals are scheduled for Monday, Oct. 31.

Forest City is the top seed in Class A, earning a first-round bye, then a semifinal home game Wednesday against the winner of the Mountain View-Holy Cross game that was scheduled for Monday.

Elk Lake was trying to beat MMI Prep Monday to get into a semifinal game at Old Forge Wednesday.

In girls’ soccer, Elk Lake is the second seed in the six-team Class A tournament and will host a Thursday semifinal against the winner of the Forest City at Mountain View quarterfinal game that was scheduled for Tuesday.

Montrose has a chance to be at home Thursday in the Class AA quarterfinals as the fourth seed. The Lady Meteors were scheduled to open the tournament Tuesday against Mid Valley. If they won, they would host the Berwick-GAR winner Thursday.

In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge is the top seed in the District 2 Class A tournament and will host a semifinal doubleheader Saturday.

Mountain View is the fourth seed and will play Blue Ridge. Third-seeded Susquehanna and second-seeded MMI Prep meet in the other semifinal to start the doubleheader at 10 a.m.

Forest City is the third seed in Class AA, meaning it will get to host a quarterfinal doubleheader in the six-team tournament Monday, October 31.

The doubleheader starts at 5 p.m. and the Foresters will play in the second match.

Montrose finished 6-12 and has a shot at the sixth seed, but needs some help during the final week of Wyoming Valley Conference play.

The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, at the site of the top seed, either Holy Redeemer or Dunmore.

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.

“HAPPY” HARVICK IS A WINNER AT KANSAS

Kevin Harvick

KANSAS CITY, Kan.--Kevin Harvick is one happy driver, after powering his way to victory lane in Sunday's Sprint Cup race, and guaranteeing himself a spot in the next Chase round.

Harvick gained the lead from Carl Edwards during a restart on lap 226 of the 267-lap race and went on to win by 1.188-seconds.

The win was his fourth of the season.

“We pretty much had our backs to the wall,” said Harvick. “These races are just so hard to win, and this goes to show how good this team is. We've hit a lot of bumps in the road, but we're a no-give-up team.”

Carl Edwards, who finished second, led 61 laps, but was no match for Harvick after the race's last restart with 39 laps remaining.

“I felt like we had the race under control as long as it was under green,” said Edwards. “We raced as hard as we could, but once Kevin got out front on that last restart, we couldn't keep up.”

Joey Logano and Kyle Busch battled each other hard for several laps near the end, but it was Logano that ended up third.

“We were pretty good on the short runs, but after 10 or 15 laps, we were only a good car, and didn't have what we needed to win the race,” said Logano.

The remaining top-10 finishers: 4. Jimmie Johnson, 5. Kyle Busch, 6. Austin Dillon, 7. Alex Bowman, 8. A J Allmendinger, 9. Matt Kenseth, 10. Kasey Kahne.

Chase Elliott was running near the front when a bumping incident during lap 243 cost him a cut tire. He had to pit under green and finished 31st. The poor finish leaves him last in the current 12 driver Chase scenario.

“I got into a little racing deal and cut a tire down,” said Elliott. “We're going to Talladega and race our hearts out. The team has provided me with great cars, and hopefully, we can have a good finish.”

Brad Keselowski was another driver that had a bad day. After an ontrack skirmish, he spun down into the infield grass, knocking the front end off his car. Then with 46 laps to go, his engine expired, causing him to wind up with a DNF, and a 38th place finish.

“I don't know what happened,” he said. “Something just came loose, and it let go.”

Top-12 Chase contenders: 1. Johnson-3082, 2. Kenseth-3074, 3. Kyle Busch-3072, 4. Edwards-3089, 5. Kurt Busch-3062, 6. Truex-3058, 7. Harvick-3048, 8. Logano-3045, 9. A. Dillon-3045, 10. Hamlin-3039, 11. Keselowski-3038, 12. Elliott-3020.

The Chase field will be reduced to eight drivers after next week's Talladega race, and their points will be reset.

KYLE BUSCH IS DOMINANT IN XFINITY RACE

Kyle Busch dominated Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway. He won for the third consecutive year from the pole, and led 150 laps of the 200-lap race for his ninth series win of the season.

Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez, two of the eight drivers still in contention in the inaugural Xfinity Series Chase, ran second and third, respectively, putting them in a tie for the points lead.

Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Regan Smith, Brennan Poole, Brandon Jones, Blake Koch, and J J Yeley were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Chase leaders with three races-to-go: 1. Sadler-3039, 2. Suarez-3039, 3. Koch-3032, 4. Allgaier-3027, 5. E. Jones-3027, 6. reed-3025, 7. Gaughan-3010, 8. Wallace Jr.-3009.

EARNHARDT IS ALMOST  READY TO GO

There has been speculation that Dale Earnhardt Jr. might not return to racing after suffering several   , concussions, the last coming at Michigan in June, 2016.

Since that time he has followed doctors orders in an effort to rehabilitate himself so he can return to driving

This past week, Earnhardt seemed to put any retirement rumors to rest, but he did say that he still needed to find a way to deal with the stress of racing.

“I feel like I could get out there and do it,” he said. “I’m anxious for this season to get wrapped up and get to Daytona. I’m looking forward to going to Daytona and getting in the garage and getting in the suit and back in the process of being part of the team.”

So if that statement is true, then Earnhardt fans can expect him back in 2017.

In addition to performing routine mental tasks, Earnhardt has to do daily exercises as part of his recovery process, and that has resulted in a weight loss for a driver who typically only worked out in the off season.

“It has gotten me in better shape,” he continued. “When you’re racing, you don’t have to worry about weight as long as you’re not eating a bunch of junk. The only thing I ever worried about was making sure I fit in my (fire suit). Any time we had to alter the suit, I had to start watching what I was eating. Like, ‘Man, we’re getting out of control here.’ 

“Now that I’m not in the car, I enjoy all the stuff that I’m doing outside the car that I’ve always done. Getting up in the morning for race day and going to do the hospitality or coming to do (media events) here or at Talladega, I’ve really enjoyed doing those things.

“The pressure of racing made the majority of everything that came with it miserable, and I’m probably responsible for controlling that. So I think being out of the car has shown me that I’ve got to find a way that if I’m going to race more how to not feel so much pressure that it makes everything else intolerable or hard to do.’’

“I think once I get back in the car, I’ve got to have a whole new frame of mind about how I handle the pressure of driving and the pressures of performing and finishing well and all that stuff. I’m so hard on myself. If I don’t get the result I think I should get, it just ruins the whole thing, it ruins the whole experience for me. Not being in the car, not having to worry about performing, not having the stress of living up to my own expectations, I’ve enjoyed being at the track.

“Overall, I'm in better shape. So that’s good. I feel good. I feel like I can get out there and do it. I’m anxious for this season to get wrapped up and over with and get to Daytona. I’m looking forward to getting to Daytona, getting into the garage, getting into my suit, back into the process of being a part of the team.’’

That's good news Dale! All your fans are cheering for you.

LESS DOWNFORCE; BETTER RACING

NASCAR is changing the  rules for 2017.

Cars will have less down force.

Officials said it will make for better racing.

Down force helps cars go faster, because there is less drag, But with less down force, cars are forced to slow more in the corners. When cars are too reliant on aerodynamic down force, turbulent air (like when a car is following another car) can slow the trailing car so much that it’s hard to pass.

Safety enhancements were also announced and will be mandatory for restrictor-plate races in 2017 and optional for all other events. Among the improvements include a strengthened interior driver compartment, thicker anti-intrusion plating, plating in areas not currently covered, addition of toe board foam, and a roof hatch.

Weekend Racing: The Trucks and Cup teams will be at Talladega Super Speedway. At 2.66-miles, it is the longest track on the NASCAR circuit.

Sat., Oct. 22, Truck Series race 19 of 23; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: Fox.

Sun., Oct. 23, Sprint Cup Series race 32 of 36; Starting time; 2 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.

Racing Trivia Question: Which Cup team will Clint Bowyer drive for in 2017?

Last Week's Question. What is Jimmie Johnson's middle name? Answer. It is Kenneth,