Scranton Prep Rides Strong Defensive Performance To 14-7 Victory Over Delaware Valley

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Davin Ridall | September 20, 2026

MILFORD – In an good old fashioned slugfest, defense proved to be key for both teams in this matchup. Ultimately it was the Cavaliers of Scranton Prep who emerged victorious, earning an hard fought 14-7 victory over fellow District 2 rival Delaware Valley.

This game marked the fifth straight season that these two teams matched up against each other, with the previous four games all being decided by no more than seven points. Last season when these two teams met, Delaware Valley jumped out to a 31-7 lead, before Scranton Prep stormed back and won by a final score of 49-44.

“They’re a really good team, [Olsommer] has been doing a really good job for a long time, I think our kids get excited to come up here and play a big school like that,” Scranton Prep head coach Terry Gallagher said about their rivalry with Delaware Valley. “They always are obviously well coached, it’s just one of those exciting things for our guys.”

While last season’s game featured plenty of offensive firepower, this season’s contest was the yin to that yang if you will. The two teams combined for just 21 total points, all of which came in the second quarter. Both teams relied heavily on the rushing attack to move the ball on offense.

Early on in the game, the Cavaliers leaned on Braedon McPartland to power the offense. McPartland tallied 88 yards on the ground in the game on 17 carries, including 51 yards on their second drive of the game alone. Even with Scranton Prep’s running game penetrating the Warrior defense, Delaware Valley stepped up when it mattered most. That promising drive was eventually halted thanks to a forced fumble by Dylan Bannon that ended the Cavaliers’ drive at the 15 yard line.

McPartland was the one who coughed up the football on that drive, his first of two fumbles in the contest. If it hadn’t been for smaller mistakes like that during the game, Scranton Prep might have had a chance to run away with the game.

“You can’t have those kinds of mistakes, I think because of that we left a bunch of points on the board,” coach Gallagher said. “You’re never as bad as you think you are, but you’re also never as good as you think, so you’ve just got to get back on the film, watch it, and correct it.”

While several mistakes from Scranton Prep kept the game within reach for Delaware Valley, it was the defense that shined for the Cavaliers, holding the Warriors’ offense to one lone touchdown early in the second quarter from Devin Estevez. After that 85 yard touchdown drive, Delaware Valley only made it back inside of Scranton Prep’s 40 yard line one time for the rest of the game.

“We’ve played some pretty good defense for most of the year, we had our hands full down at Loyola, but even then we obviously did some good things,” coach Gallagher said.

Even with the two fumbles in the game, Scranton Prep did not go away from McPartland, and on their next drive he capped it off with a touchdown run that evened the score at 7. McPartland also contributed in the receiving game on that drive with a 20 yard catch and run that kickstarted the drive. In total, McPartland hauled in 3 passes for 38 yards in the game as well.

The biggest key offensively for Scranton Prep in this game was their physicality. All game long, Delaware Valley struggled to bring down Scranton Prep’s ball carriers, including quarterback Owen Jeffers who had a handful of big runs in the game. Jeffers scored the game’s next touchdown on a 16 yard run where he was able to break away from defenders at the line of scrimmage, something that Jeffers was able to do very effectively all afternoon.

Jeffers’ touchdown came right after a takeaway by the Cavalier defense, where Lucas Petersheim launched a pass into double coverage that was picked off by Noah Krzyweic. Krzyweic returned the interception all the way inside the red zone, which set up Scranton Prep with very favorable field position that ultimately led to the game deciding score.

While Jeffers had a good performance on the ground, he also had a couple nice throws in the game. However, the majority of Scranton Prep’s passing offense came from their other quarterback Oliver Swingle.

“They’re both really good kids, Oliver threw the ball around the first two games and last week we were like ground and pound. This week we obviously wanted to run the ball a little bit more with Jeffers and throw a little bit more with Oliver, but we try to keep people honest at times,” coach Gallagher said about the quarterback duo. “They’re both trying to do the best that they can for their team, we’re fortunate to have two kids that don’t care about anything other than winning.”

As mentioned earlier, Scranton Prep made some mistakes that really prevented them from running away with the game. The Cavaliers had two different touchdowns taken off of the board due to penalties. Towards the end of the first half, McPartland intercepted a pass from Petersheim near midfield and returned it all the way for a touchdown, but had it called back due to a defensive pass interference.

Late in the third quarter, Noah Krzywiec took a pitch from Jeffers, ran to the left and sprinted down the sideline for an 85 yard score, buit as they were celebrating, they noticed the penalty flag that was laying on the field back at the line of scrimmage. The 85 yard score was ultimately erased due to an offensive holding penalty.

Thankfully for Scranton Prep, none of those mistakes cost them a win, as the defense held strong all the way to the final whistle, including a pick from Finn Mulligan with 20 seconds left that sealed the 14-7 win for the Cavaliers.

“We’re obviously happy that we won, I don’t think anyone’s satisfied with the performance of it,” coach Gallagher said following the win. “We have to continue to improve and it’s good to get the win so that you don’t have to be upset on the hour ride home.”

With the victory, Scranton Prep improves to 3-1 on the season, and they will have a home date with West Scranton next week. Following the loss, Delaware Valley falls the 1-3 on the year, and they will be on the road next week against Wallenpaupack.