Ruby Review: Crestwood 28, Wyoming Valley West 14; Scranton Prep 28, Abington Heights 0

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, District 4

Joe Ruby | October 15, 2014

They should change Frank Aigeldinger’s name to Frank Aigel-Ding!Ding!Ding!-er, because whenever he touches the ball, Crestwood hits the jackpot.

Now, that might have been the worst joke about anything ever, but I firmly believe the underlying sentiment: The Crestwood Comets have themselves a special player in #3. After his performance Friday night, I think that everyone who’s seen him is a believer.

Crestwood 28, Wyoming Valley West 14

This one was billed as the game of the year in District 2, and it certainly had that pedigree. Any way you slice it, these are two of the four best teams in the District, and some would argue that they’re both among the top three. The game was at Spartan Stadium in Kingston, a large, gorgeous venue lined with pine trees and rocking with excited fans. Crestwood entered undefeated, having scored just under 50 points per game. The Comets’ offense had been based, of course, around RB Frank Aigeldinger, but QB Jay Popson and RB Matt Bobeck (all three Seniors) each had over 400 yards rushing on the year as well. The home Spartans, whose only loss was to a very good Delaware Valley team in Week 2 (covered in these here Ruby Rankings), featured a truly balanced offense; indeed, they’d been scoring over 40 points per game themselves, and hadn’t been held below 31 all season (not even Crestwood could make that claim). If anyone on Crestwood’s schedule would be able to keep up with the Comets’ offense, it would be Wyoming Valley West.

By the end of the night, it was clear: no one on Crestwood’s schedule would be able to keep up with the Comets’ offense.

In a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreline indicated, Crestwood converted their first three possessions – turning a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter into a 21-7 advantage at the 8 minute mark of the second – and absolutely flummoxed the Spartans’ offense, only allowing a 62 yard JerMichael Bunch touchdown with a minute left to close the scoring.

In fact, Crestwood’s defense was clearly the most impressive unit in this game. Valley West’s second drive went 52 yards for a TD, and their last drive went 84 yards for a TD after the game was decided. Other than those two drives, the Comets only allowed the Spartans 25 yards total. Spartan Senior QB Brady Davison managed 133 yards on 6-for-15 passing; both the yardage total and the .400 completion percentage were season lows. Like he did the first time I saw him (back in Week 1), Sophomore Safety Lance Blass impressed with keen instincts; Blass snagged his 5th interception of the year, returning it 31 yards to the Valley West 9 yard line to set up Crestwood’s second score.

It didn’t take long for Aigeldinger to put his stamp on the outcome of this one: his first touch – a 22-yard run – was followed on the next play with a 24 yard score. As he is wont to do, Aigeldinger spun out of and ran through tackles all night, consistently turning would-be no-gains and 2 yard losses into 5 or 8 or 12 yard gains and first downs.

You know what’s really, really scary? Crestwood even moves the ball when Aigeldinger’s out. Case in point: up 28-7, the Comets got the ball on their own 31 yard line with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. A full nine minutes and twelve seconds later, they turned the ball over on downs on Valley West’s 5 yard line, but not before eight runs by Bobeck, three by Popson, and one by Junior FB Tanner Kahlau had effectively drained away any home remaining for the home squad.

This Wyoming Valley West team is good, although with this loss they could theoretically win out and still miss the playoffs (they absolutely need Delaware Valley to beat Scranton next week, which would allow the Spartans to pass the Knights for the second and final playoff spot with a win in Week 9; if Scranton beats Del Val and Valley West beats Scranton, they’ll all likely finish 8-2, with the Spartans on the wrong side of the playoff points system). There are very few teams out there with more exciting offenses, very few teams out there with the skill to dominate Wyoming Valley West for 48 minutes. They just happened to run into one this past Friday night.

For Crestwood, this win should cap off a perfect regular season (although next week has some added intrigue – more on that later). With their last two games against Williamsport and Pottsville (who are a combined 1-13), one more win will have the Comets focused squarely on the playoffs. This team clearly has the talent to make a run deep into the PIAA AAA playoffs (I’m thinking semi-finals; their main stumbling block will be Bethlehem Catholic. If those two teams play in Week 13, FIND A WAY TO GET THERE).

Game Notes

On a lot of other teams, Tanner Kahlau would be amassing yards left and right. He’s more than talented enough to keep defenses from keying in on Aigeldinger and Bobeck (as though keying in on them could stop them). Look for him to do big things when he’s handed the keys next year… I was not expecting the slice of cheese pizza I got at Spartan Stadium to be nearly as good as it was. It wasn’t Old Forge good, but it was very good… Maybe I should just start going to every game at Spartan Stadium. It’s minutes from my apartment, parking’s plentiful if you’re willing to walk a few blocks, and I can’t get enough of the Burgundy and Gold color scheme… Speaking of color scheme, though, I’m not sold on WVW’s home uniforms, which are mainly gray. Their away whites are very nice….

Scranton Prep 28, Abington Heights 0

The second of this weekend’s two games was a little less high profile, but its playoff implications were just as big. A win for Prep would effectively clinch a D2 AAA playoff berth for the Cavaliers, while an Abington Heights victory would vault the Comets over the Cavs and render the race for the postseason a veritable logjam. The contest took place at The Pit in Clark’s Summit, which is sunk deep into the side of a hill and lined with tall trees on two sides. There was remarkably little space around the sides of the field; there couldn’t have been more than ten feet from the uprights to the main entrance (a nice brick archway), meaning that any solidly-struck but off-center PAT on that side of the field would fly into the parking lot. Although I never felt cramped, I did get the feeling that the rows in the stands were a little closer together than normal.

The only time I had seen Scranton Prep before was in Week 4, when the Scranton Knights kicked them around the field to the tune of 44-19, so I was hoping I’d be able to see the Cavaliers’ offense get in tune and show what they could do. Senior QB Nick Solfanelli came into the game averaging 220 yards per game through the air, so it was pretty clear what the Cavaliers were going to try to do. Abington Heights planned to respond on the ground, as Senior RB Perry Williams had done all year (to the tune of 118 per game).

Through the course of the game, it was clear that Scranton Prep was the better team, but these squads were not as far apart talent-wise as the scoreline might indicate. Rather, this game was a prime example of how, when you’re facing a good, disciplined, well-coached team, little mistakes start piling up into big ones and big mistakes quickly turn into touchdowns. Sure, individual efforts can make up for the occasional error in the short-term, as was demonstrated in the punt game early on: Sophomore Everyman Colin McCreary (he’s listed as QB/WR/DB/PK/P on the Comets’ roster) pinned Scranton at their own 8 and 5 with two beautiful kicks on his first two chances. If you give a good team enough chances, though, the floodgates are going to open.

And open they did after Abington Heights’ third drive, when Scranton Prep blocked a punt to set up a short field and marched 34 yards in 9 plays – including a 4th down conversion to Senior WR Dan Timlin – to go up 14-0. From that point on, the Comets’ offense seemed to come apart at the seams against a strong, strong Prep unit, throwing four interceptions (QBs Nick Emmett and Jordan Hollander each had a pair) and failing to convert on their best chance, a fumble recovery at the Cavaliers’ 15-yard line with 1:26 to go in the first half. A conversion would’ve put them back in the game, down just two scores going into the half, but 1st and 10 turned into 2nd and 18, then 3rd and 28, and then 4th and 29. A 10-yard completion was little consolation as the ball went to the Cavs, who kneeled and took a 21-0 lead into halftime.

Game Notes

Scranton Prep WR Dan Ryan caught 2 TDs, and now has 8 on the year. He is not flashy but is very reliable and can break tackles in the open field… Neither offense was particularly successful in this one: Prep managed 194 yards, and Abington Heights mustered 123. Prep rushed 28 times for 39 yards (1.4 per carry), and the Comets had 27 rushes for 55 yards (just a tick over 2 per)… When they were on the right hash mark, Abington Heights liked to use an unbalanced line, sliding their top lineman, Senior Left Guard Chase Wickenheiser, between the Right Guard and Right Tackle, giving them an effective wall to run behind to the short side… Once again, it seemed like Solfanelli had an easier time with difficult throws downfield than he did with lobs to the flat, although he had quite a bit of success on both….

DISTRICT 2 NOTES

There were a lot of things that happened in D2 this week that we need to talk about. First and foremost is the AAA playoff race, which just got a lot more interesting because… Wyoming Area (2-5) shocked Dallas (4-3) 17-10 at Mountaineer Stadium, suddenly casting a huge shadow over the Mountaineers’ chances and simultaneously giving hope to Abington Heights, Coughlin, and Honesdale, all 4-3. Dallas remains in the 4th and final spot for now, but faces big bad Crestwood (7-0, AAA #9) next week… Because of their schedule (three AAA teams and seven AAs), Honesdale could win out to be 7-3 and be leapfrogged by one of the other teams at 6-4. Dallas, Abington Heights, and Coughlin will each be favored in exactly two of their three remaining games (Abington Heights has Scranton remaining on the schedule, and Coughlin has Berwick)… How in the world does Old Forge keep doing this? Down 14-0 after three quarters, the Blue Devils (7-0, A #7) put up 17 in the final frame to shock Lackawanna Trail (5-2) and snag their second two-TD comeback of the year. As I noted last week, Old Forge came into Week 7 having shut out their opponents for 15 straight quarters. They’ll be heavy favorites in each of their remaining games as they try for a perfect season… Dunmore (6-1, AA HM) defeated Lakeland (4-3) by a score of 28-14. Dunmore and Northwest (5-2) have separated themselves from a pack of 6 AA teams at 4-3 in the District….

DISTRICT 4 NOTES

A week after beating Wellsboro in a game attended by the Ruby Review’s handsome author, Troy (6-1) fell from the ranks of the unbeaten at the hands of North Penn (7-0, A HM)… Speaking of unbeaten teams, Southern Columbia (7-0, AA #3) and Jersey Shore (7-0) kept rolling. The Tigers beat Warrior Run (2-5) by a score of 57-0, and the Bulldogs managed a 47-0 line against Milton (1-6)… On the topic of shutouts, Selinsgrove (6-1) beat Montoursville (3-4) by the score of 35-0. The Ruby Review will be on-site this Friday as the Seals travel to Jersey Shore and battle for AAA supremacy….

DISTRICT 11 NOTES

Bethlehem Freedom entered the week 6-0, but hadn’t played anyone of Whitehall’s caliber. They exited the week 7-0, stunning the Zephyrs (5-2) 29-28… The other undefeated Bethlehem squad kept pace, as Catholic (7-0, AAA #7) ran roughshod over Pocono Mountain East 52-0… Easton (7-0, AAAA #10) sits firmly at the top of the District, having defeated Parkland (5-2, AAAA HM) to the tune of 28-21. I keep promising to get to Easton. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Bethlehem Freedom hosts Easton in Week 9. Regardless of the outcome between Freedom and Parkland next week, my seat is booked… North Schuylkill (7-0, AA #5) and Jim Thorpe (7-0) each took care of business, and will play each other in Week 8. A win would go a long way towards getting the Olympians, who’ve won their last five by a combined 36 points, some respect… Southern Lehigh (6-1) knocked Northwestern Lehigh (6-1, AA HM) from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 40-37 nailbiter….

WEEK 8

As I’ve mentioned in these pages before, I am somewhat constrained in my choice of games by the fact that two dear friends of mine are getting married in Selinsgrove on Saturday. Luckily, Selinsgrove @ Jersey Shore features two teams with a combined 13-1 record, so that is where I’ll be!

As always, hit me up on the comments here or on my Twitter (@JoeRuby1009) with questions, comments, concerns, requests, entreaties, overtures, or the like!

Ruby Review: Introduction
Ruby Review: Crestwood 28, Berwick 20
Ruby Review: Delaware Valley 43, Wyoming Valley West 35
Ruby Review: Old Forge 16, Hanover 13; Parkland 35, Allentown Central Catholic 7
Ruby Review: Mid-Season Mega-Post!
Ruby Review: Troy 17, Wellsboro 0; Wyoming Valley West 38, Dallas 14