An Overtime Thriller in the 89th Annual Scranton Lions Dream Game (Gallery included)

Tagged under: All-Stars, District 2, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

Jared Samuel | July 20, 2023

On the outside, it seemed like just another football night up in Peckville, home of John Henzes Memorial Stadium where the Valley View Cougars play in the fall. And on a night where these graduated seniors had nothing left to prove, they showed once again why they love to play.

After all, they don’t call it the Dream Game for nothing.

In one of the more entertaining off-season all star games, the County team came back from a 20-7 4th quarter deficit to force overtime and won it with a field goal in the extra frame over the City team. The final was 23-20.

The City squad got off to a very fast start when North Pocono’s Michael Blaine scored on a 75 yard TD run on the second play from scrimmage. With 11:28 to go in the 1st quarter, it was City with the 7-0 lead. The County team had trouble getting momentum in their first drive and were forced to punt, but the punt was muffed and County recovered deep in City territory at the 13 yard line. Several tough short runs by Delaware Valley’s Paulie Weinrich got County inside the 1 yard line, and Lakeland’s Dominico Spataro scored on a QB keeper to knot the score at 7 with 6:47 to go in the 1st quarter.

After a short drive and punt by the City team, County had several bad snaps in a row which pushed them back to their own 15. After a punt, the City team continued possession into the 2nd quarter. Michael Blaine came up big again as he scored on a 14 yard run, and with 10:21 to go in the 2nd quarter it was City with the lead at 14-7.

As County started their next drive, a holding penalty on City gave County better field position at their own 45. On the ensuing play, Old Forge QB James Sobol was sacked by Scranton’s Dohnavin Laybourn-Boddie for a loss. Sobol then hit Valley View’s Taheed Jewell for a nice 27 yard reception to the City 28. The drive would stall, and a costly delay of game penalty on 4th down contributed to the missed 52 yard field goal attempt by Riverside’s Nick D’Amico.

City would take full advantage of this mishap, and their next drive was capped with a 33 yard TD catch by Scranton Prep’s Aidan Colleran.

The PAT was missed, and City increased their lead to 20-7 with 1:35 to go before the half. County could not get anything going on offense and turned the ball over after an incomplete pass on 4th and 5 from their own 43. City attempted attempted 2 plays conservatively and time expired in the first half.

County came out in the 2nd half and drove down to the City 43 yard line, but Spataro’s 4th down pass fell incomplete. The teams traded possessions 3 times, with County taking over on their own 20. Sobol hit Jewell on a nice 19 yard completion to the 41. On the next play, Sobol threw over the middle to Lakeland’s Jon Seamans who took a very dangerous hit to the head and an ejection on the City side. At the City 44 due to the penalty, Sobol would scramble for 13 yards and a mix of runs by Weinrich and Mid Valley’s Zachary Popko would take the County squad down to the City 12 yard line as the 3rd quarter expired.

After a Weinrich 6 yard gain, it was Taheed Jewell with a 7 yard TD catch to pull County to within a touchdown, and City led 20-14 with 11:05 to go in the game.

City would then use runs by Blaine, Laybourn-Boddie, North Pocono’s Zach Benzie and Dunmore’s Josh Malone to take time off the clock and drive down near midfield. County’s defense then made a huge statement, with Honesdale’s Max Mickel and Valley View’s AJ Kucharski making huge defensive stops on back-to-back plays to force a punt and fire up the County side crowd.

Spataro then came back in at QB for County, and on a 3rd and 10 from their own 13 he hit Honesdale’s Kage Southerton for a big 29 yard gain on a tremendous catch in tight coverage. After a personal foul penalty on City and 2 short runs, Spataro hit Jewell for his 2nd TD of the game, a 39 yard catch and run with 1:13 left in the game.

However, the PAT attempt was a fumbled snap and the game was tied at 20. City committed 2 false start penalties on their next drive and time expired with the game tied and headed to overtime.

County won the toss and deferred, giving City the ball first at the County 10 yard line. A 1 yard gain and 2 incomplete passes forced City to attempt a field goal, but the attempt was no good. County then took over at the City 10, and after a net of no gain on 3 plays it was Riverside’s D’Amico avenging his earlier miss and hitting the game winning field goal to give County the 23-20 win.

After the game, Dominico Spataro of Lakeland said of the comeback: “We figured out a couple things at halftime and then we came back and just had fun playing football.” Valley View’s Taheed Jewell said of their strong second half: “We got it together in the second half and we knew what we had to do.”

City team schools (White/Blue Uniform): Dunmore, Holy Cross, Montrose, North Pocono, Scranton, Scranton Prep, Wallenpaupack, West Scranton

County team schools (Red/White Uniform): Abington Heights, Carbondale Area, Delaware Valley, Honesdale, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Old Forge, Riverside, Western Wayne, Valley View