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Hittin’ The Road With Travelin’ Matt – Week Four (Tuesday Football & A Walk-Off Win!)

 
Tagged under: District 11, District 3, District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, The STATE of PA Football

| September 14, 2026

Each week Travelin’ Matt traverses Pennsylvania attending the hottest high school football games and best matchups in the Commonwealth.  Follow his exploits each week as he documents his journey from Week One to the Pennsylvania State Football Finals!

 

Tuesday, September 15

4A Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (0-3) vs 1A Northwest (3-0)

 

Wednesday, September 16

The State of PA Football Live Show

 

Thursday, September 17

6A Stroudsburg (2-1) vs 6A HM Parkland (2-1)

 

Friday, September 18

4A #5 Jersey Shore (3-0) vs 4A #1 Shamokin (3-0)

 

Saturday, September 19

4A Middletown (2-1) vs. 5A Milton-Hershey (0-3)

6A Easton (1-2) at 4A HM Bethlehem Catholic (3-0)

 

ROUNDTRIP – 468 MILES

 

Tuesday, September 15

A marathon week started with a rare Tuesday contest as undefeated Northwest (3-0) welcomed Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (0-3) for a District 4 duel.  The storylines on this day could fill a full article so here’s a couple of high-level notes to save some space…

  • According to PA Football News veteran scribe and Northwest High School graduate Brian “Hollywood” Ptashinski, the current location of the Rangers’ home artificial turf field (and smart-looking stadium) used to be referred to as “The Cow Palace” because in its former version it served as both a very natural-grass practice field and also the neighboring farm grazing half-acre for the local farmers’ cows.  Hollywood reports his team would often “work around” the cows during practice!
  • Both teams had penciled in a Philadelphia area team this season that backed out on their schedule plans.  Due to the cancellation of games, Northwest and CMVT decided to play each other on a Tuesday to squeeze in a replacement contest against each other to save losing a game on their slate.

 

As for the results of this unique early-week matchup…Northwest ran up the electric bill at their stadium as they lit every lightbulb on the scoreboard en route to a 76-0 victory against the visiting CMVT Rams.  The home-siders put up 34 points in the first quarter and 62 notches on the board by halftime before the final gun finally came another 18 points later.

Editorial Comment – The time has come for the PIAA to put into place some safeguards for blowout football games.  This writer suggests a running clock when a team leads by 35 points (regardless of quarter) and then a closing of competition when a team leads by 50 points (also regardless of quarter).  No team in the history of football (pro, college or otherwise) has come back to win from a deficit of more than 35 points across thousands of games.  The argument for a miracle comeback is absurd and any further play in a blowout only lends itself to potential injuries.

Additionally, player safety becomes an issue when both teams “let off the gas” to simply play out the remaining time on the clock.  It should be noted, in this game, with Northwest winning 76-0 and more than three minutes left on the clock in the 4th quarter the CMVT quarterback was injured and helped off the field.  The game circumstance, and player injury, were so shocking that both teams decided to kneel out their final two possessions.  While the teams had agreed to play eight-minute running-time quarters in the second half it only takes one ill-advised moment in a blowout game for a player to be injured…nothing was gained by continuing the contest after it had already clearly been decided by halftime.

Here’s some highlights from Northwest vs. CMVT…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 16

With a 76-0 game under my belt the night before, I turned my attention to the PA Football News weekly YouTube show that featured a couple of interesting topics including a rash of head coach suspensions and a visit from the owner of SAFR Sports and their innovative helmet covers.

Watch the full STATE of PA Football Show here…

 

Thursday, September 17

For those in the know, District 11 football is a gauntlet schedule and records matter little when teams meet on the field.  On this night, a 2-1 Parkland squad welcomed a 2-1 Stroudsburg team into town and a shutout win for the second night in a row was credited to the victors as the host Trojans blanked the visiting Mounties 35-0.

The talented Trojans were fueled by Villanova-commit TJ Lawrence as the Senior running back found the end zone three times in the win including a TD run, TD reception and another tally on a punt return for TD.

Here’s some highlights from Parkland vs. Stroudsburg…

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, September 18

The marquee matchup of my week featured 4A #1 state-ranked Shamokin welcoming visiting 4A #5 state-ranked Jersey Shore to Kemp Memorial Stadium for another chapter of recent epic battles between these two District 4 schools.

Fans packed the stands once again to witness the big-time game and on this night the host Indians would get the win in a hard-hitting 35-14 result.  While the 21-point spread on the final score seemed like a lop-sided affair, Jersey Shore had its share of chances in this one including five drives inside the Shamokin 20 yard line that resulted in zero points (three of which were inside the five yard line with no results).

Enjoy the highlights from Shamokin vs. Jersey Shore…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, September 19

My Saturday afternoon tilt took place on the stunning college-level campus of Milton-Hershey High School as they faced off against District 3 foe Middletown.  On paper, winless Miton-Hershey (0-3) was bolstered by Spartan Homecoming and the return of their talented QB Kamari Cooper who had been on the sidelines since an injury in Week 1.

From the opening kickoff, Milton-Hershey took control of this game as they ran it back for an early 7-0 and never looked back en route to a resounding 39-7 victory for their first win of the season.  The Spartans were solid in all three phases of the game for Head Coach Jimmy Taylor and have an opportunity to use the big win as a catalyst for the remainder of their schedule.

Check out highlights from Milton-Hershey vs. Middletown…

 

 

 

 

 

Game 5 of 5 for me this week saved the best for last as Easton faced off against Bethlehem Catholic in a District 11 EPC battle at BASD Stadium.  The visiting Rovers controlled the tempo early racing out to a 14-0 lead before BecaHi evened the score at 14-14 in the 3rd quarter.  The two teams traded numerous possessions in the final frame before Easton ended the contest with a walk-off 3 yard TD toss to capture a 20-14 victory.

Here’s how things went down between Easton and Bethlehem Catholic…

 

 

 

 

 

A jam-packed weekend of PA high school football games complete, I wrapped up my fourth of 16 weeks and headed home to plan for next week’s schedule of contests.

Follow along next week as Travelin’ Matt takes you across the state on another PA High School Football journey.

 

 

2026 SEASON RECAP – 1664 TOTAL MILES (17 GAMES)

 

Week 1

Bishop Canevin 40 –  University Prep 0

Pittsburgh Central Catholic 45 –  Bergen Catholic NJ 30

Westinghouse 20 – Hickory 6

Farrell 33 – Clairton 6

Woodland Hills 43 – New Castle 15

 

Week 2

Lehighton 35 – Pocono Mountain West 0

Notre Dame Green Pond 38 – North Schuylkill 7

Southern Columbia 30 – Williams Valley 12

 

Week 3

Pope John Paul II 26 – West Chester Rustin 14

State College 27 – Bishop McDevitt 20

Twin Valley 42 – Wyomissing 14

Montgomery 12 – South Williamsport 6

 

Week 4

Northwest 76 – CMVT 0

Parkland 35 – Stroudsburg 0

Shamokin 35 – Jersey Shore 14

Milton-Hershey 39 – Middletown 7

Easton 20 – Bethlehem Catholic 14

 
 
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