Hollywood’s Cutting Room Floor-Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Week 1

Tagged under: District 11, News

Brian "Hollywood" Ptashinski | August 29, 2024

New look Eastern Pennsylvania Conference lineup gives teams more freedom to play schools outside the conference.

With the EPC going into a three division setup in 2024 there is more openings for those teams to play teams not just outside District XI in Pennsylvania, but also to play outside the state as we. Take for instance Bethlehem Freedom going over to Staten Island, NY to face a Torrey Pines team from Southern California and bringing home win.

Overall the EPC teams went 10-5 on opening week against outside opponents on the first weekend of high school football across the Commonwealth.

With 18 teams comprising the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and three divisions, Lehigh, Northampton and Pocono, each has six teams from those areas making up the league. Teams will have to face all five opponents within the division and one game with a team from each of the other divisions. That leaves a team with three games to be filled by other EPC members or can be played any team of their choosing. Most chose the later, giving us a whole new list a out of conference games. Let’s take a look back at how this past weekend worked out for the conference:

Louis Dieruff 46 Pocono Mountain East 21
William Allen 57 Dobbins-Robin Vo-Tech 0
Bethlehem Freedom 17 Torrey Pines(CA) 14
Bethlehem Liberty 40 Pennridge 14
Bethlehem Catholic 28 East Pennsboro14
Parkland 62 George Washington 12
Central Bucks West 21 Easton 12
Northampton 24 Pennsbury 2
Allentown Central Catholic 18 Trinity 0
Wilkes-Barre Area 27 Whitehall 19
Nazareth 42 Hazleton 7
Neshaminy 20 Emmaus 17 OT
Honesdale 33 East Stroudsburg North 16
Governor Mifflin 35 Pleasant Valley 0
Scranton 14 Pocono Mountain West 7
Stroudsburg 30 Wallenpaupack 10
East Stroudsburg South 33 Abington Heights 14

Not a bad showing at all for the EPC. A 10-6 out of conference record in week one. (Dieruff and PME played in a crossover) Looking ahead to week 2 set of games, again, we have some teams playing out of the region schools:

BELMONT CHARTER TIGERS (0-0) at POCONO MOUNTAIN WEST PANTHERS (0-1) FRIDAY 7PM

Freshman RB Christian Stiehler had a big night for the Panthers scoring the teams’ only touchdown against Scranton in a 14-7 loss. A late fourth quarter touchdown by Scranton and a last-play interception by the Knights sealed the win for the District 2 school.

PLEASANT VALLEY BEARS (0-1) vs LOUIS E DIERUFF (1-0) HUSKIES SATURDAY 7PM

Governor Mifflin exacted some revenge on Pleasant Valley Friday night, after losing to the Bears in 2023 Eastern Conference Championship game 28-19, giving up 28 unanswered points. Mifflin shutout the Bears 35-0 holding PV to just 183 yards in total offense and just 40 of those yards via the airwaves. Dieruff used a balance attack against Pocono Mtn East in a 46-21 win. Riyell Wann rushed for 150 yards and made four tackles on defense. QB Jack Herter threw for almost 190 yards on 8-for-12 passing and three touchdowns also ran for one.

HONESDALE HORNETS (1-0) at POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST CARDINALS FRIDAY 7PM

HONESDALE is coming off a win against another EPC team East Stroudsburg North 33-16 last Friday. The PME Cardinals had some bright spots with QB Rocco DelGuidice passed for over 200 yards and two scores against Dieruff. RB Stephon Bethea rushed for over 100 yards and also found the end zone once in the 46-21 loss. Mistakes were costly for the Cardinals two turnovers and a couple of missed field goals and 15 penalties is something they’ll need to clean up against the Hornets.

EAST STROUDSBURG NORTH TIMBERWOLVES (0-1) at WALLENPAUPACK BUCKHORNS (0-1) FRIDAY &PM

The Timberwolves were more competitive in their opener with Honesdale falling 33-16. Wayne King was the Timberwolves bright spot on offense while putting up sixteen points in the loss was nearly as good as any game in 2023 where they only managed to score 18 in a game with Willima Allen.

WILKES-BARRE AREA WOLFPACK (1-0) at STROUDSBURG MOUNTAINEERS (1-0) FRIDAY 7PM

Wilkes-Barre Area dominated the Whitehall Zephyrs last week 27-19. WBA had 450 yards of total offense and 25 first downs in the contest. Stroudsburg. The passing attack of Stroudsburg took it to the Buckhorns of Wallenpaupack 30-10.

NORTHAMPTON KONKRETE KIDS (1-0) vs EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH CAVALIERS FRIDAY 7PM

Northampton’s defense only allowed a single safety last week against Pennsbury in a 24-2 win. Billy Stuhldreher ran for 115 yards and a couple of scores. WR Tymir Williams coming off a season-ending injury in 2023 caught 6 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. QB Gavin Taff threw for 188 yards and a touchdown. ESS defeated District 2’s Abington Heights 35-14. The Cavs were led by Xzavier Pusateri’s 9 receptions for 151 yards and a score. RB Charles Capers rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns in the contest.

THOMAS EDISON OWLS (0-1) at WILLIAM ALLEN CANARIES (1-0) FRIDAY 7PM

The Thomas Edison Owls lost to Central Philadelphia 21-6 last week. William Allen won their first game after losing 11 straight dating back to 2022. The Canaries shutout another Philadelphia school Dobbins Tech 57-0. Allen scored in all three phases of the game offensively, defensively and had a punt block for one touchdown and another partially blocked that led to another score

NAZARETH BLUE EAGLES (1-0)vs WHITEHALL ZEPHYRS (0-1) FRIDAY 7PM

The Defending District XI champions Nazareth Blue Eagles routed Distrct 2 for Hazleton Area Cougars 42-7 last week. Peyton Falzone, a Virginia Tech commit, threw for 179 yards on 18-28 passing and two touchdowns. Caleb Newsome, who has committed to Lafayette College had six catches for 74 yards and a score. The Blue Eagles out gained the Cougars 368-88. Whitehall had decent output by sophomore QB Tanner Dogmanits throwing for nearly 80 yards in a 27-19 loss to Wilkes-Barre Area. Talon Dogmanits had 123 yards receiving on 7 receptions.

SPRING-FORD RAMS (1-0) at EASTON RED ROVERS (0-1) FRIDAY 7PM

Spring-Ford opened their 2024 campaign with a 31-14 win over Souderton Friday night. The Rovers lost a close one to CB West 21-12. Easton was led by Dorian Thomas and Will Day combing for over 130 yards rushing. Thomas found the end zone twice. The defense though allowed 250 yards of rushing to the Bucks.

BETHLEHEM LIBERTY HURRICANES (1-0) at ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (1-0) FRIDAY 7PM

Liberty took care of business with a 40-14 drubbing of Pennridge Friday. Gabe Green had two kickoff returns of 90 yards and scored four times in the game. After playing a season at Central Catholic QB Antonio Fontanez came back to Liberty and tossed the ball for 165 yards. Central Catholic’s duo running backs Grayson Schnell and Deon Johnson combined for nearly 100 yards Friday. QB Patrick Cahill rushed for 88 yards and threw for 45 more.

PARKLAND TROJANS (1-0) at BETHLEHEM FREEDOM PATRIOTS (1-0) FRIDAY 7PM

The Trojans of Parkland dismantled the team from Philly George Washington 62-12. The Trojans outgained GW by nearly 250 yards and forced five turnovers. QB Osmany Guzman was nearly perfect missing on one pass in eleven attempts and throwing for 182 yards and two touchdowns. RB TJ Lawrence picked up 119 yards and also scored twice. Freedom made the trip to Staten Island, NY to face Torrey Pines of California Friday and came away winners 17-14.

BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC GOLDEN HAWKS (1-0) at EMMAUS GREEN HORNETS (0-1) FRIDAY 7PM

The Golden Hawks coming off a 28-14 win over East Pennsboro last week. Becahi looking to avenge last year’s lost to Emmaus 10-0 which had the Hawks start their down slide after starting 5-0. Emmaus lost a tough one to Neshaminy last week 20-17 in overtime despite outgaining the Trojans in the contest Jarek Cooper ran for nearly 70 yards last week.

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