Lackawanna Football Conference is back! Let’s preview WEEK 1, or zero, or ….oh, you get the gist!

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News

PFN Staff | August 27, 2021

The Lackawanna Football Conference is back Friday and Saturday, let’s all hope for a normal season as we watch these teams’ hard work pay off this season.

First off, let’s preview my Game of the WEEK!

Williamsport at Crestwood!

7.00 PM Friday night at Comet’s Stadium in Mountain Top, two WVC powerhouses are set to battle, as the Millionaires of Williamsport take on the Crestwood Comets.

Crestwood is the defending District 2 Class 4A champions who also went undefeated in the regular season, with the only blemish on their record being a 26-14 loss to state runner-up Jersey Shore.

The Comets return 10 starters from last year’s team, which are Aiden Jardine and Jon Jones, who are two of the best Offensive Lineman in the WVC. Also returning is Safety Ethan Stoltz who is regarded as one of the hardest-hitting Safety in District 2, Head Coach Ryan Archangeli will hand the reins of the offense over to first-year starter Noah Schultz, who played a lot last season due to injuries Schultz is a dual-threat quarterback who ran for 355 yards and 5 touchdowns and threw for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Comets had one of the best rushing attacks in the district last season and expect much of the same this season, Noah Schultz and Kaleb Benjamin combined for 681 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 98 attempts last season.

There might not be a more experienced and dangerous team in the district than the Williamsport Millionaires, Head Coach Charles Crews returns a star-studded lineup of seniors who went 6-1 in the regular season and undefeated against district 2 teams, The team’s only two losses come from the hands of Harrisburg and Altoona. The Millionaires are arguably the most balanced team in the district who will be led by second-year starter Frankie Morrone who threw for 1,082 yards and 13 touchdowns, adding to that dangerous list of seniors is the Swiss army knife Keith Freeman JR who could do it all he rushed for 310 yards and 4 touchdowns and also caught 17 passes for 229 yards and 4 touchdowns. The other dangerous weapon is Cameron Sims who has 17 receptions for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns, sims will be the primary target for Morrone to throw to so expect more production.

These two teams last met in 2019 where the Comets emerged victorious in a 15-14 nail biter, this should be an incredible game Friday night and definitely, a contender for game of the year since 2008  the all-time series between these two is tied at 5-5 expect a clash between two of the best Friday night.

Final Prediction Williamsport 28, Crestwood 21

Delaware Valley at Gateway

Friday 7.00 PM

The Warriors are coming off their fifth straight District 2 Class 6A title and are looking to do the same this year, The Warriors will be led by senior wide receiver Harlem cook who had 11 receptions for 226 yards and 4 touchdowns, and division 1 recruit Aiden Black who caught 2 passes for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. Head coach Kieth Olsommer is coming off his 10th straight winning season but will have his hands full of Gateway, who is led by quarterback Brad Birch a transfer from class A state runner-up Jeannette who threw for 1676 yards and 28 touchdowns last season the gators are also led by Brads older brother Brett who caught 46 passes for 669 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Prediction Gateway 48, Delaware Valley 14

Honesdale at Wallenpaupack

Friday 7.00 PM

This is a game between two of the best running backs in district 2 Honesdale Connor Schmitt rushed for 715 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, while just 30 minutes away Wallenpaupacks rushed for 637 yards and 8 touchdowns these teams met last year with buckhorns emerging the victories 35-6. The Hornets will also be led by CJ Hinton and Kage Southerton who caught 10 passes for 143 yards on the other hand head coach Mark Watson will show his other two weapons in TJ Schmalze who caught 15 passes for 427 yards and 5 touchdowns and first-year starter Mabret Levant who will give Paupack a dual-threat look behind center.

Prediction Wallenpaupack 30, Honesdale 14

Valley View at Dallas

Friday 7.00 PM

The last time the cougars made the trip up to the back mountain it ended in defeat 29-7 in the 2019 district 2 class 4A final, but head coach George Howanitz has one of the best teams in district 2 which is led by Quarterback Adam Howanitz who threw for 435 yards and 3 touchdowns and also rushed for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns, also returning is running back Rylei Kilmer who rushed for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns and will be the cougars featured back. The Mountaineers are led by running backs Rocco Ormando and Parker Bolesta who combined for 652 yards and 6 touchdowns, and how I could not mention the inspiring and incredible story of Jake DelGaudio, Jake suffered a fracture of his right tibia and fibula requiring emergency surgery after maybe him thinking he wouldn’t be able to walk or stand correctly he is set to make his return.

Prediction Valley View 35, Dallas 17

Lakeland at Lake-Lehman

Friday 7.00 PM

It couldn’t be more fitting, Lake-Lehmans’ last football game of the season was against Lakeland in the District 2 Class 3A title game, where the Black Knights fell to the Chiefs 14-11. 294 days later the Black Knights will look for revenge Lehman was hit hard by graduation but are still led by Jeremy Scouton and 6,6 Jake Simoson who is forced to be reckoned with on defense. The Chiefs lost a lot but still return a lot and will be led by quarterback Dominico Spataro who threw for 796 yards and 11 touchdowns, the Chiefs also have weapons in Nick Mancuso who had 5 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown, and also Lacota Dippre who will be filling in his brothers’ shoes at TE expect him to shine.

Prediction Lakeland 28, Lake-Lehman 7

West Scranton at Wyoming Valley West

Friday 7.00 PM

West Scranton hasn’t won a football game in 713 days with their last win coming against Lakeland in 2019 The invaders defeated Riverside in a scrimmage 21-16 but now need to translate that success into Friday night, The Invaders under second-year head coach Dennis Hricenak will be led by quarterback Dan DenHaese and running back Joe Harris the teams featured back. Wyoming Valley West is coming off a District 2 Class 5A title where they were gifted it when Abington Heights backed out of the 2020 season, the Spartans were hit hard by graduation this year but have some bright spots especially in the defense with Josh Koval, Jaden Swainbank and on offense Left guard Evan Lord returns as well as Connor Oilsewski who had 6 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.

Prediction Valley west 28, West Scranton 7

Dunmore at Western Wayne

Friday 7.00 PM

This could easily be the best game in the LFC Friday Night Dunmore is coming off their seventh straight District 2 Class 2A title while Western Wayne is coming off a 5-1 season, one of the best in program history. The Bucks and wildcats games were never really competitive until 2018 when the Wildcats held a 9 win Dunmore team to just 9 points and the following year the Wildcats finally beat Dunmore 48-28, The Wildcats will feature two Division 1 commits in Thomas Chernasky who is a Delaware Commit at TE and Caden Brungard an Army Commit the wildcats return arguably one of the best offensive lines in the district as well. The Bucks were hit hard in graduation, but this team is still very good as usual, the Bucks will be big upfront which will help second-year starter, Thomas Bowden out last season he threw for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns also New Jersey transfer Zaaki Roasario is a tackling machine on Defense keep an eye out for him.

Prediction Western Wayne 28, Dunmore 17

Mid Valley at Old Forge

Friday 7.00 PM

The Spartans will have their handful Friday night against the third-ranked Class A team in the state the Spartans have a solid core of guys from last year’s team including Running back Devin Ayala who rushed 512 yards and 9 touchdowns last season he’s emerged as one of the best running backs in the LFC

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