Problems in the punting game put Susquehanna behind and the Sabers wilted late in the heat of the afternoon sun while falling to Carbondale, 30-15, in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 game Saturday, spoiling Homecoming Day at William Emminger Memorial Field.
The Sabers outgained Carbondale, 213-194, in the first three quarters, but trailed 24-15 because of the Chargers’ field position advantage off of punts and their ability to make two-point conversion attempts.
After turning away Susquehanna inside the 10 late in the third quarter, Carbondale had 83 yards in the fourth quarter while holding the Sabers to minus-7 yards.
Sabers coach Kyle Cook said his team got tired.
“I just think they were in better shape than us,” Cook said. “I don’t think they’re a much better team than us. I think we can compete with them.”
The Sabers did that for three quarters, but, after falling behind 4:02 into the game, never caught up.
Carbondale scored three of its four touchdowns following punts.
The Chargers opened the scoring after a 16-yard punt. They scored their second touchdown after a blocked punt set them up at the Sabers 10. The clinching score in the fourth quarter came after forcing the Sabers to punt from the end zone and getting a 32-yard Adam Rossetti punt return to the 15.
Susquehanna averaged 18.3 yards on its four punts.
Carbondale, with Forest City’s Noah Yates handling the punting duties, averaged 39 yards on its three kicks, two of which pinned Susquehanna inside the 20.
Yates, who was grandfathered in to play for the Chargers as part of a former cooperative sponsorship of football between the two schools, was also his team’s leading receiver with three catches for 47 yards. Already committed to play football for Army at West Point, Yates, a prospect at linebacker, also had a tackle for a loss.
After the short punt, Carbondale raced up field 57 yards in 4 plays to begin the scoring. Frank Burke, who had a 29-yard run on the second play, scored from the 7.
What followed kept Carbondale ahead – and Susquehanna chasing – the rest of the day.
Jordan Tolerico hit Anthony Bucklaw for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead with 7:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Susquehanna needed only 40 seconds to match the touchdown, but trailed, 8-7, after choosing to have C.J. Stone kick the first extra point.
The Sabers started at the Chargers 49 after a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff.
Sam Cosmello ran for 14 yards on the first play.
C.J. Stone then hit Mason Deakin on a touchdown pass for the sixth time this season. Deakin pulled in the deep pass as he crossed the goal line for the 35-yard touchdown.
Stone broke up a fourth-down pass at the goal line early in the fourth quarter to give Susquehanna possession at its 16.
A busted play on first down, the second in three offensive plays at that point, helped lead to a punt.
“There are simple things that we have to clean up,” said Cook, who also said personnel changes may be needed in the offensive line. “It’s Week Five, they shouldn’t still be happening by now.”
Steve Martin blocked the punt and Troy Rogers fell on the ball for Carbondale at the Susquehanna 10.
Adam Roe made a tackle for a loss on second down, but the Chargers scored on fourth-and-goal from the 6 when Nick Vadella ran through a big hole off left tackle. Vadella went the other way for the two-pointer and a 16-7 lead with 6:05 left in the half.
That started a stretch of touchdowns on three straight possessions before halftime.
Susquehanna drove 60 yards in nine plays.
Stone, who hit his first seven passes, found Deakin for 11 yards on a third-and-five slant pattern with an accurate throw and a tough catch in tight coverage. He completed two more passes on the next two plays with Brock Blodgett reaching low to pull in a 7-yarder in the flat and Roe taking short pass 21 yards into the Red Zone.
Roe scored on a 3-yard touchdown, then got his foot down while catching a two-point conversion pass from Stone near the sideline in the end zone.
After cutting the deficit to 16-15 with 1:47 left in the half, the Sabers fell back behind by nine before the break.
Carbondale coach Larry Gabriel III said he was glad he second-guessed himself after originally deciding to head to the locker room when Roe and Garrett Decker stopped a draw for no gain on the first play.
Instead of running out the clock, Gabriel decided to see if the Chargers could score in a hurry-up offense. Yates caught a 21-yard pass on the next play, then Tolerico scrambled away from the pass rush to find Vadella alone on the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Tolerico hit Vadella again on the two-pointer 33.9 seconds before halftime for a 24-15 lead at the break.
The Sabers fought back in the third quarter, but could not score.
After allowing just one first down, then forcing what turned into a 43-yard Yates punt, the Sabers needed to drive 86 yards for a score. They made it 81 yards with the help of 3 straight Sam Cosmello runs that covered 44 yards.
Kevin Kelly broke through the line on two straight plays to halt the last serious Susquehanna scoring threat. He had a sack for a four-year loss, then forced a fumble that that Shawn Connolly recovered.
Carbondale dominated from there.
The Chargers drove into Sabers territory, then punted.
Carbondale pushed Susquehanna back with the help of a penalty and two tackles for losses, one by Yates.
The Sabers punted from deep in the end zone and Rossetti returned it 32 yards to the 15.
Burke’s 12-yard run on a third-and-seven dive play with 4:48 left broke the game open and closed the scoring.
Susquehanna crossed midfield one last time, but the Carbondale pass rush kept the Sabers from getting closer than the 27.
“I thought we could throw on them, but we just didn’t protect late in the game when we needed to,” Cook said.
Vadella carried 19 times for 96 yards and 1 of his 2 touchdowns for Carbondale, which won its third straight. Burke ran for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries. Tolerico was 6-for-12 passing for 95 yards and a touchdown.
Cosmello carried 14 times for 85 yards for Susquehanna. Stone finished 8-for-13 for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Billy Perry led the Susquehanna defense with five tackles, including one for a loss, and six assists.
Travis Craig, Roe and Eli Aldrich all had at least four tackles, at least one for a loss, and a pass rush.
The game trimmed the list of teams tied for third place in LFC Division 3 from three to two teams and allowed Carbondale (3-1 in the division, 3-2 overall) to pass Susquehanna (2-2, 3-2) into second place in the District 2 Class 2A playoff race. The top teams earn home fields for the district semifinals and the top four make the playoffs.
Montrose also lost at home.
Riverside scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to pull away and post its first win, 40-10, Friday night.
Both teams are 1-3 and 1-4.
The Vikings scored the game’s first 13 points before the Meteors closed to within 3 at halftime on an Ethan Cina touchdown and Bryden Jerauld field goal.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Elk Lake’s Shayanne Bennett finished 10th out of 165 runners in the Girls White race at the PIAA Foundation Cross Country Meet Saturday at Hershey.
The meet, which is run on the Parkview Course that is used for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships, is used as a tune-up for the state championships for many of the top teams and runners around the state. The White race is for Class A teams.
Elk Lake did not enter a complete girls team.
All three Lady Warriors did, however, finish in the top half of the field.
Sadie Bosscher was 28th and Lydia Ofalt placed 73rd.
Elk Lake placed 17th of 27 teams in the Boys White race with 346 points.
Penns Valley beat out Winchester Thurston, 50-87, for the team title.
Peyton Jones led the Warriors, finishing 15th of 193 with a time of 17:43 for the 3.1-mile course.
Cody Oswald was 24th.
Also in boys’ cross country, two-time defending champion Montrose had its 50-meet Lackawanna League winning streak snapped in a 25-32, home-course loss to Wallenpaupack Sept. 19.
The Meteors (8-1) defeated Delaware Valley, 15-49, as part of the same cluster meet. They had last lost in the final meet of the 2014 season.
In golf, Jason Mowry from Elk Lake shared Class 2A medalist honors by shooting a 4-over-par, 76 Wednesday at Elmhurst Country Club in the Lackawanna League Qualifier for the District 2 Individual Boys’ Championships.
Mowry matched Scranton Prep’s Jack Habeeb for the best score.
Montrose’s Riley Brown (90) and Isaac Walker (93) and Forest City’s Henry Nebzydoski (92) also advanced.
They were among the 26 players who met or beat the maximum qualifying score of 93 with up to 30 spots available for the district tournament.
In boys’ soccer, Forest City and Blue Ridge entered the week tied for the Lackawanna League Division 3 lead at 5-1.
In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge and Dunmore were each 7-0 to share the Lackawanna League lead going into their match, which was scheduled for Monday.
COLLEGE CORNER
Hannah Richner had goals in three straight games for the Keystone College women’s soccer team, including a hat trick Sept. 16 in a 3-2 win at Rosemont to open Colonial States Athletic Conference play.
Keystone is 3-0 in the conference and 4-3-1 overall.
Richner is the team’s second-leading scorer with six goals and three assists.
The midfielder from Mountain View, where she earned all-state recognition, was a second-team all-CSAC choice last season as a freshman.
Richner led Keystone in points last year with 18 by sharing the team lead in goals (6) and finishing second in assists (4).
She was also selected to the 2016 CSAC Fall Academic Team.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna will play its annual home football game under portable lights Friday night when it hosts Lakeland in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 game.
The Sabers are 2-2 in the division and 3-2 overall. The Chiefs are 1-3 and 1-4.
Montrose (1-3, 1-4) is home Friday night against division co-leader and defending champion Dunmore (4-0, 5-0).
Our high school football predictions last week were 9-3 (75.0 percent), bringing our season record to 46-16 (74.2).
This week’s predictions, with home teams IN CAPS: SUSQUEHANNA 32, Lakeland 22 … DUNMORE 27, Montrose 0 … CARBONDALE 25, Lackawanna Trail 13 … Old Forge 44, RIVERSIDE 8 … Mid Valley 46, HOLY CROSS 3 … NORTH POCONO 42, West Scranton 13 … WESTERN WAYNE 45, Honesdale 6 … SCRANTON PREP 35, Valley View 15 … SCRANTON 47, Williamsport 35 … Wyoming Valley West 37, WALLENPAUPACK 18 … Pittston Area 35, ABINGTON HEIGHTS 23 … DELAWARE VALLEY 24, Hazleton Area 3.
The LFC Division 2 schedule will be played, beginning Friday, over the final five weeks of the season.
Our prediction for the division standings: Scranton Prep first; Western Wayne second; Valley View third; North Pocono fourth; Honesdale fifth; West Scranton sixth.
In golf, the District 2 individual championships are scheduled for Monday, October 2 at Fox Hill Country Club at 9 a.m.
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.
