Somewhere across the state, there's always that upset. One team that no one expects sends shock waves through the district.
With all the premier matchups District 2 had in the first round of playoffs, few would have pointed out Riverside. While the Vikings have gone through some growing pains in the 2009 season, Riverside was lining up across from local rival Old Forge.
In Week 1, the Blue Devils smashed the Vikings, 43-12. In Week 11, it was Riverside’s turn for revenge. And it was the end of Old Forge’s perfect season.
Riverside held OF running back Brian Morris in check and only allowed 200 yards of offense in the 30-14 victory in the Single-A semifinals. The Vikings, who only had three wins in the regular season, take on Northwest Area (8-3) in the championship.
Riverside ran all over the Blue Devils’ defense to the tune of 319 yards on 43 carries. Corey Talerico had 157 yards and three touchdowns, while Paul Lassiter had 157 yards, as well. Talerico missed the first game with Old Forge because of a one-game suspension.
"Corey was looking forward to this game all week, and he had a heck of a week of practice and it showed," Riverside head coach Harry Armstrong told the Scranton Times-Tribune. "We’re a much better team than our record has shown. We just haven’t been able to click this year for four quarters of football."
While Old Forge was able to score in the first and fourth quarters, the Blue Devils got shut out in the middle portion of the contest.
"They capitalized on all our mistakes," OF head coach Michael Schuback said to the Scranton newspaper. "We got to hand it to them. Their kids up front played better than ours."
While the Triple-A bracket played out according to plan – with No. 1 seed Abington Heights smashing Berwick 53-19 and No. 2 seeded Dallas edging past North Pocono by seven – there was a slight upset in Double-A. But it comes as no surprise that Lakeland pulled it off.
Chief Al Tuzze ran for 66 yards and two scores and Lakeland scored three times in the second quarter en route to a 26-21 victory over Wilkes-Barre GAR.
"We kind of lost focus in the middle of the second quarter," GAR coach Tony Khalife told the Wilkes-Barre Citizen’s Voice. "They drove the ball on us, we didn’t cover a kick and they seized the momentum in a short period of time."
It was a typical Lakeland game, pounding out 183 yards on 51 carries and building a 26-14 lead. The Chiefs now play undefeated and state-ranked Dunmore, which rode the legs of Michael Perry’s 162-yard, three-score night over Mid-Valley, 34-6.
In District 4, the upsets were few and far between as some heavyweight matchups are set up this week. The lone surprise, although it probably didn’t shock some, was how Loyalsock was able to hold Danville in check en route to a convincing 35-3 Double-A quarterfinal victory. Stephen Stopper threw two touchdowns passes to Frankie Pagana in the victory as the Lancers face one-loss Hughesville in the next round. The Spartans dispatched of Northern Tier foe Athens.
"We knew we'd be able to throw the ball against them," Stopper said to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. "When I was running back, I got to carry the ball a lot, so I kind of wanted to throw the ball."
Loyalsock put the game away in the fourth quarter with 21 points.
"They have some outstanding linebackers that get to the ball well and they did a nice job," Danville head coach Jim Keister told the newspaper.
Lewisburg’s season is also moving forward, outgaining Montoursville 337-139 in total yardage and eliminating the Warriors, 21-10. It was the first time Montour lost an opening-round playoff game since 2004.
"We talked in the locker room about firing off the ball and getting the momentum back," said Lewisburg’s Merle Moscarello to the Sun-Gazette. "Our line, as usual, came out and fired off the ball. Me and the other running backs ran hard and in the end I think we wore them down. That's kind of what we've done all year and it worked again today."
The Green Dragons will face top-seeded and undefeated Towanda next.
In the Single-A championship, Southern Columbia will go for another district crown, but will need to beat top-seeded Line Mountain (8-3). The Eagles blanked Montgomery, while Southern avenged an earlier-season loss to Bloomsburg. Selinsgrove kept its dreams of a December date in Hershey alive, rolling past Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, 54-0. Up next for the powerful Seals is Shikellamy, which cruised past East Juniata. Earlier in the year, Selinsgrove fought off a valiant Shik effort for one half before rolling to a victory.
Switching to District 6, the Quad-A subregional championship – which embraces four districts – will be determined this week as State College faces off with Erie McDowell. State took care of business at Memorial Field, eliminating Central Mountain, while McDowell – out of District 10 – disposed of DuBois Area, 49-13.
The Triple-A championship will also be decided as Hollidaysburg and Greater Johnstown Area meet up for the title. Each team received a bye directly in the title tilt as Bellefonte and Indian Valley decided to opt out of the postseason with less than .500 records. There are two intriguing matchups in Double-A. Richland will try to derailed Forest Hills’ perfect season. The Rams beat Huntingdon 52-21, while the Rangers – undefeated at 11-0 – blanked Central Cambria.
The other semifinals pits Central Martinsburg and Tyrone Area. The two proud programs met up in the final week of the regular season with Central edging Tyrone. Central has been ranked in the state this season, and is led by all-everything Lucas Runk, while Tyrone brings a tough-nose defense and a talented sophomore quarterback in Steve Franco.
In Single-A, three undefeated teams remain, but only two have the chance of moving forward. Both Portage and Bellwood-Antis will put the perfect marks on the line this week, while the other undefeated, Bishop McCort, faces 10-1 Penns Manor – which slipped past United, 20-13, in the quarterfinals.
Tom Fox is sports editor at the Lock Haven (Pa.) Express and covers Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania for MaxPreps. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.
