Sports

William Marcy's running punished the Old Forge defense in more ways than one Saturday afternoon.

Not only did Marcy churn out 254 rushing yards on 31 carries, but he did so while often delivering hits, instead of taking them, knocking over defenders along his path.

While Marcy piled up the yards and moved the chains, Weston Yannone took care of the points in a 42-27 victory over the Blue Devils at William Emminger Memorial Field.

Yannone accounted for 34 points with three touchdown runs while passing for two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions.

Parker Overbaugh scored two touchdowns, including a 63-yard run on a reverse for the game's longest score. Mason Keyes and Overbaugh caught the Yannone touchdown passes.

All Marcy did was move the Sabers up and down the field throughout the game. He gained at least 10 yards on eight of his first 14 carries, then put the game away by carrying 14 times for 107 yards in the fourth quarter.

Susquehanna improved to 1-1 in Division 3 of the Lackawanna Football Conference and 5-2 overall. Old Forge fell to 0-2 and 3-4.

The Sabers had three scores of at least 56 yards, but also moved the ball consistently. They had 22 first downs, including 14 in the first half when they gained 308 of their 527 yards.

Nathan Oropallo, William Hobart and Caden Williams led a defensive effort that held Old Forge to 36 yards on the ground. Yannone added an interception.

A fumbled snap and an errant pitch, neither of which were recovered by Old Forge, halted the first two Susquehanna drives.

The Sabers then scored on five straight possessions to open leads of 28-7 at halftime and 36-14 in the third quarter.

Yannone broke a 56-yard touchdown run, then hit the first of his two conversion passes to Rykin Hobart for an 8-0 lead after one quarter.

The Sabers gained at least 11 yards on five of six plays to race through a 72-yard drive to a 14-0 lead.

Marcy's runs of 15, 18 and 12 yards led to Yannone's 11-yard touchdown.

Old Forge's T.J. DiMattia, who also had two short touchdown runs, hit Cael Krushnowski with a 25-yard touchdown pass, but Susquehanna added to its lead.

Keyes took a short pass and turned it into a 57-yard touchdown. Marcy ran for the two-pointer to make it 22-7.

Yannone scored from the 1 late in the half after combining with Marcy to move the ball on a 62-yard drive. Marcy had runs of 23 and 12 yards, caught an 11-yard pass from Yannone and threw one to the quarterback for 17.

Old Forge drove for a score to begin the second half, but the Sabers scored on their first play after the break on Overbaugh's sprint down the left sideline behind a Williams block.

The Blue Devils got back within 15 before the Sabers scored again with 4:22 left.

Marcy's 54-yard run set up the 8-yard, Yannone-to-Overbaugh pass.

Yannone carried 12 times for 103 yards, went 4-for-7 for 84 yards passing and had the 17-yard catch.

Krushnowski closed the scoring with an 83-yard kickoff return for Old Forge.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Julio Sena-Clavijo ran for both touchdowns Friday night when Montrose won its first game under first-year coach George Petrak by defeating visiting Holy Redeemer, 13-0, in a meeting between District 2's two independent football programs.

The Meteors shut out the Royals with the help of three interceptions.

The game was scoreless at halftime before Sena-Clavijo ran for one score each in the third and fourth quarters. Two other possible Meteors touchdowns, on runs by Jamier Robinson, were nullified by penalties.

Cy Gibbore, Cason Petrak and Weston Nabywaniec made the interceptions.

Petrak credited the play of the linebacker combination of Gibbore, Petrak and Hudson Aukema with leading the defensive effort.

In boys' golf, defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state champion Nick Werner won the District 2 Class 2A boys' individual golf title Sept. 30 at Elkview Country Club with a 66.

Scranton Prep had the next four state qualifiers, including Jack Pavuk and Ben Walsh, who broke par with a 70 and 71.

The top six finishers made the state tournament.

Gehrig Dibble and Andrew Kowalewski from Blue Ridge led Susquehanna County golfers with 79s to finish as part of a four-way tie for eighth out of 43 players.

Blue Ridge's Liam Dooley and Elk Lake's Cooper Sipe were part of a three-way tie for 34th with 92s.

Mountain View's Landon Wells was 41sts with a 94 and Elk Lake's Hayden Lord was 42nd with a 98.

In boys' cross country, Kendel Jones and Parker Upright finished 1-2 to give Elk Lake an impressive, three-team sweep of Abington Heights, North Pocono and Valley View while hosting a Lackawanna League cluster meet.

In girls' cross country, Forest City's Kate Korty had a first-place finish in another strong cluster meet when Mountain View hosted Delaware Valley, Wallenpaupack and Honesdale.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Susquehanna (1-1 in the division, 5-2 overall) has a chance to remain in the LFC Division 3 title race when it plays at defending champion Lackawanna Trail (2-0, 6-1) Friday night.

Montrose (1-5) wraps up its season at home against Tunkhannock (2-5).

Last week's high school football predictions were 8-3 (72.7 percent) to bring our season record to 68-19 (78.2 percent).

This week's predictions, with home teams in CAPS: LACKAWANNA TRAIL 28, Susquehanna 16 … Tunkhannock 31, MONTROSE 18 … ABINGTON HEIGHTS 18, Wallenpaupack 15 … NORTH POCONO 26, Scranton 18 … SCRANTON PREP 35, Mid Valley 13 … RIVERSIDE 33, Carbondale 0 … Delaware Valley 24, VALLEY VIEW 12 … Dunmore 20, WEST SCRANTON 3 … WESTERN WAYNE 44, Lakeland 12 … Honesdale 43, NANTICOKE 16 … OLD FORGE 29, Holy Cross 16.

In girls' tennis, the District 2 Class 2A singles tournament will begin Friday at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.

Semifinals and finals are set for Monday, Oct. 14, 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.

Whether early or late in games, Weston Yannone has proved to be a threat to break off long touchdown runs for the Susquehanna Sabers.

Yannone's early, 91-yard run sent the Sabers on their way to a 16-6 victory over Lakeland. His three second-half touchdown runs led a rally to beat Dunmore and a comeback attempt that fell short against unbeaten Riverside.

For his efforts running, passing, tackling and defending passes, Yannone is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for September.

During the month, Yannone was a key factor in Susquehanna defeating Dunmore and Lakeland in the same football season for the first time in school history. The Bucks and Chiefs were the last two District 2 Class 2A champions.

Yannone made 100-yard games routine during the month while helping the Sabers go 3-1 with the only loss coming at Riverside, 34-26. He ran for 650 yards in four games, hitting 207 against Riverside, going over 150 in the wins over Dunmore and Lakeland and picking up 121 in just four carries against Holy Redeemer.

In the Holy Redeemer rout, Yannone went 6-for-10 for 145 yards and two touchdowns passing.

Also one of the team's leading tacklers, the quarterback/defensive back intercepted passes in three straight games.

"My line works their butt off," Yannone said. "Without my team, I'm nothing."

Yannone's 17-yard run with 48 seconds left proved to be the game-winner against Dunmore, the first by the Sabers since 1998.

The option quarterback has also turned the Sabers into a big-play attack.

The month included scoring runs of 91, 66, 57 and 55 yards and touchdown passes of 54, 44 and 40 yards.

Just a sophomore, Yannone took over at quarterback during the 2023 season after starting out as a receiver and running back.

In the spring of his freshman season, he was a sprinter and jumper on the track and field team. He placed seventh in the District 2 Class 2A Championships in the long jump and helped the Sabers win the Lackawanna Track Conference Division 3 title.

The Sabers are closing in on a possible home-field advantage for the District 2 Class 2A football semifinals.

Weston's father, Phil Yannone, is an assistant coach on the Sabers.