Sam Cosmello surpassed 100 yards rushing in both games and Travis Craig led a defensive effort that forced 155 yards in losses when the Susquehanna Sabers went on the road to win two football games in seven days and improve to 3-0 on the season.

The Sabers defeated Holy Redeemer, 54-21, Sept. 2 in a non-league game at Lake-Lehman’s Eddie Edwards Stadium, then edged Riverside, 19-18, Friday in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 game.

Despite missing almost the entire second half of the opening win over Montrose, Cosmello has already run for 280 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Craig has 7 sacks for 91 yards in losses and a total of 9 tackles for 97 yards in losses, along with forcing three fumbles.

SUSQUEHANNA-RIVERSIDE FOOTBALL

Susquehanna stopped Riverside three times on pass attempts for two-point conversions and held on for the 19-18 victory Friday night in Taylor.

After Riverside opened the scoring in the second quarter, the Vikings had trouble with the snap on what originally was going to be an extra-point kick attempt. Riverside manage to complete a pass, but Billy Perry and Garrett Decker were there to stop the receiver short of the goal line and a possible two points.

Riverside scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Each time, the Vikings came within one point and decided to try for two and the lead. C.J. Stone and Devon Dubanawitz provided the coverage on the receivers as the attempts both fell incomplete.

Stone also threw two touchdown passes to Mason Deakin and hit the kick for the game’s only successful extra point, deciding the outcome.

The Sabers dominated some parts of the game, but gave up big plays in the second half and had to turn away a threat late in the game.

Susquehanna outrushed Riverside, 245-35, and had first down advantages of 11-4 for the second half and 16-9 for the game.

The Vikings countered with the passing combination of Brayden Thiel to Noah Zippitelli.

Thiel went 11-for-23 for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns and also ran 54 yards for a score. Zippitelli had both touchdown receptions among his 7 catches for 153 yards.

Cosmello and Adam Roe led the Sabers ground game. Cosmello ran for 126 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Roe had 111 yards on 9 carries.

After holding Riverside to two yards total offense in the first quarter, the Sabers had to stop the Vikings four times in Susquehanna territory in order to emerge with the win.

Deakin had an interception at the 7 and later forced a fumble that he also recovered. Eli Aldrich batted down a fourth-down pass.

The final stop came when Craig sacked Thiel and forced a fumble that Garrett Decker recovered with just over two minutes left.

Thiel’s 24-yard pass to Zippitelli and Stone’s 10-yarder to Deakin created a 6-6 halftime tie.

The Sabers took the lead for good when they drove 76 yards in 10 plays following Deakin’s fumble recovery.

Roe started the drive with runs of 21 and 10 yards and Cosmello picked up 48 yards on 6 carries. Cosmello finished it off when he kept his legs driving and managed to get into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the third quarter.

Stone’s kick made it 13-6 going to the fourth.

Thiel passed 30 yards to Zippitelli four plays later and ran for his score on the first play after Susquehanna’s final touchdown.

In between, the Sabers built another lengthy scoring drive. They used up half the time in the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in Stone’s 18-yard pass to Deakin.

Cosmello ran 7 yards to convert fourth-and-two on the play before the touchdown.

Deakin, Decker, Roe and Perry led a defense that threw Riverside for 60 yards in losses.

Deakin had four tackles and broke up a pass to go along with the two turnovers he forced. Decker added four tackles and six assists to his late fumble recovery.

Roe and Perry each had five tackles, including one for a loss. Roe also had two assists. Perry broke up a pass.

SUSQUEHANNA-HOLY REDEEMER FOOTBALL

LEHMAN TWP. – Cosmello ran for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns and provided an early momentum boost on the defensive side of the ball during the 54-21 win over Holy Redeemer.

The Sabers opened a 34-0 lead by halftime and won by a comfortable margin, but it was not easy early.

After shutting down Susquehanna’s first possession, Holy Redeemer drove to second-and-goal from the 5.

From there, Craig rushed the passer and C.J. Stone deflected a pass in the end zone. Cosmello picked it off near the end line and took off on a 99-yard return to the Holy Redeemer 10.

“The interception really saved us,” Sabers coach Kyle Cook said.

Holy Redeemer coach Dwayne Downing agreed.

“That was a big turn,” Downing said. “They had a short field and they took advantage of it.”

Cosmello scored from the 5 on the second play for a 7-0 lead with 6:24 left in the first quarter.

The Sabers starting rolling from there, gaining 213 yards and holding Holy Redeemer to minus-15 over the final 19 minutes of the half while building the 34-point lead.

Roe took a Stone pass 63 yards to set up a Cosmello 6-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.

Holy Redeemer punter John Sartin struggled to handle a snap and was tackled by David Armitage and Peyton Cowperthwait at the 15.

One play later, the lead was at 20-0 on a 15-yard, Stone-to-Deakin pass.

Craig had two straight sacks forcing Holy Redeemer to punt from its 17 and Susquehanna added to the lead on an 8-yard run by Roe.

Roe scored on a 40-yard run with 1:13 left in the half.

After throwing the Royals for 125 yards in losses in a shutout win last season, the Sabers got them for 95 more yards this year.

“Those guys were quick,” Downing said. “They were in our backfield.

“We couldn’t get them blocked,”

Craig led the way with four sacks for 45 yards in losses while also batting down a pass, forcing a fumble and adding a pass rush on the game’s biggest defensive play.

“Our game plan was to make sure he had to throw the ball quick because they have some good receivers and the quarterback’s really talented with his feet, too,” said Craig, a 145-pound senior defensive end.

Holy Redeemer moved the ball more effectively and scored three touchdowns in the second half, including one on a 62-yard James Cunningham run, but never got closer than 26 points.

Cosmello was happy to still be going strong in the second half when he added a 13-yard touchdown run. He had trouble with cramps and feeling ill in the second half of the opener.

“I was a lot better hydrated this week,” he said after the win. “I was just not hydrated enough and it was a little over-exertion.”

Deakin returned a punt 40 yards and Anthony Dolfini had a 1-yard run for Susquehanna’s other second-half touchdowns.

WEEK IN REVIEW

In cross country, Elk Lake finished third out of 13 boys’ teams and had two of the top four individual girls’ finishers Saturday at the 24th annual Lackawanna County Commissioners’ Invitational.

Peyton Jones finished first and Cody Oswald was third to lead Elk Lake, which finished with 81 points. Scranton defeated Lakeland, 31-73, for the title.

Brett Carney added a 15th-place finish for the Warriors.

Forest City finished 12th in the team standings.

There were not any complete varsity girls’ teams from Susquehanna County, but Shayanne Bennett and Sadie Bosscher did finish second and fourth behind Scranton’s Katie Shea.

Hanover Area won the team title.

Blue Ridge’s Karris Fazzi was 12th.

Forest City’s Rachel Korty was first and Elk Lake’s Danica Wagner was third in the junior high girls’ race.

Elk Lake placed fifth of 14 teams.

In high school football, Montrose dropped to 0-3 with a 48-0 loss at Old Forge in an LFC Division 3 game Friday night.

Senior Brendan Mozeleski carried 12 times for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns while freshman Dante Lucarelli was 9-for-16 for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns passing to lead the Blue Devils offense.

Old Forge went 6-for-6 on 2-point conversion attempts in the win.

In other high school sports, Blue Ridge finished the week tied for first place in Lackawanna League girls’ volleyball at 3-0 and tied for first in Lackawanna Division 3 boys’ soccer at 2-0.

The Montrose girls and Forest City boys were each 2-0 to share Lackawanna Division 3 soccer leads.

In professional baseball, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders won the last three games of their International League semifinal series with the rival Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The start of the series was postponed by rain Wednesday.

Lehigh Valley, the top farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies, then defeated the RailRiders, 6-5, Thursday.

The RailRiders, the New York Yankees’ top affiliate, recovered to allow just three more runs total while winning the next three days, 4-2, 6-1, and 1-0.

The 3-1 win in the best-of-five series was clinched when Nestor Cortes struck out eight in seven scoreless innings and Mike Ford hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh Sunday.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies won their final eight regular-season games and first playoff game, but were eliminated from the Eastern League playoffs with three straight losses.

The Trenton Thunder won, 3-1, in the best-of-five series, giving the Yankees the edge over the Mets in the series between the Double-A affiliates of the two New York Major League Baseball franchises.

Binghamton won the opener, 4-1, but then lost, 9-6, 2-0, and 9-1.

Trenton got a combined no-hitter from Justin Sheffield and Taylor Widener Friday, then held Binghamton hitless for the first four innings in Saturday’s clincher.

Thomas Nido reached on what was originally ruled as an infield single during the second inning Friday, but before the game was over, it was changed to a throwing error.

Sheffield pitched four innings, then Widener struck out seven over the final five innings.

The Thunder handed the Rumble Ponies their worst defeat of the season in Saturday’s clincher.

LOOKING BACK

DALLAS TWP. – Montrose got the cross country season off to a successful start in the Sept. 1 Cliff Robbins Invitational at Misericordia University’s Letterkenny Field.

Sophomore Hannah Perkins won the varsity girls’ race.

Although the event is officially an individual competition only, the unofficial computerized scoring by runhigh.com shows Montrose outperformed every boys’ team in the event, including Dallas.

If it had been a team event, the defending Lackawanna League and District 2 Class A champion Meteors would have won over the Mountaineers, who have swept Wyoming Valley Conference, District 2 Class 2A and state Class 2A championships the last two seasons.

Montrose had 6 of the top 17 runners in the field of 233 runners from 25 schools at the prestigious season-opening event.

Brandon Curley was second to Jack Zardecki from Dallas.

Liam Mead was eighth, Eric Bixby 13th, Colin Spellman 14th, Max Brewer 16th and Nick Coy 17th.

Perkins, who was second in the event a year ago as a freshman, won by 12 seconds, completing the 3.1-mile course in 19:32.

Teammate Georgia Smith was 12th in the 170-runner field.

Forest City eighth-grader Rachel Korty was second out of 151 in the junior high girls’ race.

In high school football, Meyers scored twice in a span of 1:16 late in the first half Sept. 1 to pull away from host Montrose on the way to the 500th win in school history, 28-6.

The Mohawks followed a safety with a touchdown three plays later to expand their lead to 16-0 with 1:23 left in the half.

Janssen Wilborn helped Meyers outgain Montrose, 419-110. He hit 7 of 9 passes for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns while carrying 9 times for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Montrose closed within 16-6 going into the fourth quarter when Makeela Fabrizio recovered a Wilborn fumble in the end zone for the only Meteors score.

John Herman led the Montrose offense with 72 yards on 14 carries.

COLLEGE CORNER

Elk Lake graduate Randi Teed is a sophomore forward/midfielder on the Misericordia University field hockey team.

Teed appeared in three games last season. She did not play during the Cougars’ 0-4 start this season.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Susquehanna and Montrose have Saturday afternoon games on opposite ends of the LFC Division 3 standings.

Susquehanna is home Saturday against Old Forge. The two teams are 2-0 in the division and 3-0 overall, sharing the division lead with Dunmore.

Montrose is at Holy Cross. Both teams are 0-2 in the division and 0-3 overall to join Riverside in a tie at the bottom of the 10-team division.

Our high school football predictions were 8-4 (66.7 percent) last week and 9-3 (75.0) in the second week of the season, which included an exact score prediction of Western Wayne’s 34-0 win over GAR. Our season record is now 26-11 (70.3).

The third week predictions were made before second-week results were available because of the early deadline for Labor Day Weekend.

This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Old Forge 35, SUSQUEHANNA 23 … Montrose 39, HOLY CROSS 0 … Dunmore 33, RIVERSIDE 0 … Carbondale 27, LAKELAND 21 … NORTHWEST 24, Lackawanna Trail 12 … Mid Valley 28, HANOVER AREA 6 … SCRANTON 48, North Pocono 29 … DELAWARE VALLEY 46, West Scranton 0 … HAZLETON AREA 31, Abington Heights 0 … HONESDALE 20, Wallenpaupack 17 … VALLEY VIEW 35, Pittston Area 14 … Scranton Prep 23, DALLAS 17 … WESTERN WAYNE 39, Holy Redeemer 6.

In professional baseball, the Triple-A National Championship game is scheduled for PNC Field in Moosic Tuesday, September 19 at 7:07 p.m.

The defending national champion Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have a chance to play on their home field in that game.

The RailRiders need to win the International League’s Governors’ Cup final to reach the game against the Pacific Coast League champion.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hosts the Durham Bulls Thursday at 6:35 p.m. in Game Three of the best-of-five series.

The fourth and fifth games, if necessary, also will be played in Moosic, Thursday and Friday.

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.

Larson Wins; Chase Field Is Set

2017 NASCAR Chase Field: Back Row, L-R: Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman; Front Row, L-R: Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson Furnished by NASCAR

RICHMOND,Vir.--A late-race caution and fast work by his pit crew helped Kyle Larson win Saturday night's Cup Series race.

   A caution came out on Lap 397 of the 400-lap race with Martin Truex Jr. leading. All the lead lap cars pitted for fresh tires, Larson's team was able to get him off pit road first. When the green flag was given on lap 403, Larson got a good start, and pulled away from the rest of the field.

   One lap later, contact between the two Toyotas of Truex and Denny Hamlin pushed Truex's No. 78 Camry  into the Turn 1 wall, and the race ended under caution with Larson in the lead and Joey Logano second.

   “My team was great,” said Larson. “It came down to the last restart there, and I got a good start. I spun my tires pretty bad, and I was a little nervous, but we cleared him (Truex) into (Turn) 1, and I was pretty excited about that. I'm really pumped for the playoffs. We've got a great shot at the championship, I feel like, this year. So I'm looking forward to it."

    Logano came up one spot short of the victory he needed to make the playoff, after his April win was encumbered because of a penalty for a rear suspension infraction.

   “Yeah, you said it, came up a little bit short overall,” Logano said. “Yeah, it stings a little bit. Last time we were sitting here after a race, it was after a win, and this time it's after a second, which overall if you look at our Richmond (record) for a season with the two races, you'd say, that's pretty good, a first and a second.”

   Ryan Newman was third, followed by Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones, who was trying to force his way into the playoff with a victory. Jones ran as high as third but lost positions on pit road on his last two stops and didn't have the speed to make up the difference. Daniel Suarez was seventh, while Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott finished out the top-10.

   Dale Earnhardt Jr. could have made it into the Chase with a win. He did manage to lead once for 13 laps, but finished 13th.

   “I'm disappointed,” Earnhardt said. “We had some odd luck this year. But when we didn't have bad luck, we didn't capitalize. We had a long summer. We just didn't capitalize. We didn't run like we should have. We ran like we should have tonight. If we had ran like that all year, like we did over the last several years, we would have made it. But we didn't."

   Truex led 198 laps, but after the last-lap wreck, he was lucky to finish 20th.
   “Our car was the class of the field by far,” said Truex. “Very disappointing on the way the race ended for us. I’m not really happy about what happened. It spoiled a dominating performance again by our team. It’s just a shame we got beat out of the pits. Our car was never good on restarts all night long so we were kind of a sitting duck out there.”

CHASE FIELD IS SET

   The top-16 drivers have had their points reset. The 2017 10-race Chase For the Cup Series Championship begins next weekend in Chicago.

   The Chase field: 1. Truex-2053, 2. Larson-2033, 3. Kyle Busch-2029, 4. Keselowski-2019, 5. Johnson-2017, 6. Harvick-2015, 7. Hamlin-2013, 8. Stenhouse-2010, 9. Blaney-2008, 10. Elliott-2006, 11. Newman-2005, 12. Kurt Busch-2005, 13. Kahne-2005, 14. Austin Dillon-2005, 15. Kenseth-2005, 16. McMurray-2003.

TRUEX WINS REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP

   After clinching the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship at Darlington Raceway, one might suspect the pressure was off for Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 78 team.
   “For starters, when you go to a racetrack and climb into the car you want to win, simple as that,” said Truex. “That’s what we tried to do in Richmond as we do every week on the circuit. And to get more specific about the current situation, there were seven playoff points up for grabs at Richmond and that was certainly on our minds. Bottom line, don’t expect this Furniture Row Racing team to let up. Momentum is important as we head into the playoffs. You can’t turn it off and on.
   “I am really proud of everybody on this team for an amazing season so far,” said Truex. “And to lock up the regular season points is a huge accomplishment for us, for our team. I feel like we've come a long way in just a few years together and continue to climb.”
   For the record, Truex took over the regular season points lead for good after the 18th race of the season at Kentucky Speedway. The only time he was out of the top-10 in the driver standings was after finishing 13th in the season-opening Daytona 500.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACING

Brad Keselowski won the Sept. 8 Xfinity Series race, while Elliott Sadler claimed the series regular season championship. Top-10 finishers: 1. Keselowski, 2. Kyle Busch, 3. Ty Dillon, 4. Daniel Hemric, 5. Elliott Sadler, 6. Christopher Bell, 7. William Byron, 8. Justin Allgaier, 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 10. Brennan Poole.

   Here are the 12 drivers that will compete for the 2017 Xfinity Series title: 1. Byron, 2. Allgaier, 3. Reed, 4. Clements, 5. Sadler, 6. Hemric, 7. B. Poole, 8. Custer, 9. Tifft, 10. Koch, 11. Annett, 12. Gaughan.

DONE IN BY DONUTS

   Daniel Suarez, driver of the Joe Gibbs No. 19 Toyota was fired by sponsor Subway for handing out donuts.

   During a prerace telecast in July at New Hampshire, Suarez was seen handing out Dunkin Donuts. The segment featured Suarez and NBC host Rutledge Wood cruising through the New Hampshire Motor Speedway campgrounds, talking with fans and handing out the donuts.

   That's a no-no.

   Subway, sponsor of the No. 19 car cried “foul”, and terminated its deal with Gibbs and Suarez.

   Joe Gibbs confirmed that the video showing Suarez giving out the Dunkin Donuts was the reason behind Subway’s move.

   “That’s my understanding. That’s what I’ve heard,” said Gibbs. “It was not a moral issue. It’s a surprise because we only heard about it (Saturday).”

   Subway doesn't sell donuts, but it does have a breakfast menu, which makes the two competitors.

   Suarez's team will now need to find a new primary sponsor for the Alabama 500 on October 15th at Talladega.

   While teams do not release how much sponsors pay per race, it is estimated that Subway would have paid Gibbs between $500,000 and $750,000 in sponsorship money for the Talladega race.

   This is one example of how demanding sponsors have become and how they monitor driver behavior and activity.  Suarez's actions were unintentional, but were not beneficial to Subway.

   In today's NASCAR, the big buck sponsors are disappearing. Several veteran drivers (Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and Kurt Busch) with big-dollar contracts have been dropped by their respective teams. The business model  of NASCAR racing is changing, and everyone is experiencing it.

Weekend Racing: There will be a full slate of racing at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway for all three of NASCAR's major series.

Fri., Sept. 15; Truck Series race 16 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.

Sat., Sept. 16; Xfinity Series race 26 of 33; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.

Sun., Sept. 17; Cup Series race 27 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.

   Racing Trivia Question: What year was the first race held at Chicagoland Speedway?

   Last Week's Question: Chris Buescher is the driver of the No. 37 JTG Daughtery Chevrolet in the Cup Series. Where is his hometown? Answer. Chris calls Prosper, Texas his hometown.

   Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR writer and author. His books may be viewed and ordered online at Amazon.com. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.

Adam Roe found many ways to contribute when the Susquehanna Sabers won the Battle for the Bluestone for the fifth time in six years since the trophy was created for the winner of the Susquehanna-Montrose football game.

Roe ran for tough inside yards on the few times he was handed the ball, served as a lead blocker to help Sam Cosmello run for three first-half touchdowns and was the team’s defensive leader while moving back and forth between linebacker and down lineman.

The versatile junior had six tackles, including two for losses, assisted seven others, forced a fumble and made the clinching interception Aug. 26 when the Sabers defeated the visiting Meteors, 32-18, in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 opener.

“I’m trying to make holes for Cosmo, making sure there’s a lane for him,” Roe said. “When I get the ball, I’m just trying to put my head down and make some yards.”

Roe did so the tough way. The 5-foot-11, 159-pound junior is accustomed to battling with bigger players as he fights for inside yards or mixes it up with opposing linemen on defense.

“The person you put at dive back in our offense needs to be tough and needs to hang on to the ball and he needs to realize he’s going to get tackled seven out of 10 times even when he does not have the ball,” Sabers coach Kyle Cook said. “He’s a real tough kid. This is his third year up here already. He played some as a freshman.

“He’s a wrestler, too. He stays low.”

Roe got the season started with an award-winning performance. He is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for August after also winning the third annual Thomas E. Robinson Memorial Award for outstanding play in the Susquehanna-Montrose game while showing respect for officials and opponents.

“I’m more of a leader this year,” said Roe, who has been contributing in the defensive line since his freshman season and spent about half of last season as the starting fullback. “We lost a lot of seniors this year, so I’ve got to step up and play hard.”

Roe, a Blue Ridge student, plays at Susquehanna as part of a cooperative sponsorship of the sport between the two schools. He is a three-sport athlete as a major contributor to the wrestling and baseball teams at Blue Ridge.

As a wrestler, Roe went 19-14 as a freshman and 20-13 as a sophomore. Wrestling at 145, 152 and 160 pounds, he was second on the Raiders in wins last season.

In baseball season, Roe was a part-time starter as a freshman before taking over the job of catcher full-time last spring on a team that finished tied for second in Lackawanna League Division 4.

Adam is the son of Tom and Kathy Roe from Hallstead.