On the GEFA Trail: Coal County Nightmare. On the WFA Trail: Harrisburg Havoc
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, GEFA, News
Guy Smith | May 14, 2024
2024 Episode 8. That’s a wrap. Eight straight weekends of spring football in the books. And this one was a double. In the afternoon we headed to Saint Clair to see the GEFA Coal County Nightmare, and in the evening to Palmyra for the WFA Harrisburg Havoc. The pair of Saturday games were sandwiched between a trio of NCAA National Championship Tournament stops, D3 Men’s Lacrosse at the University of Scranton on Wednesday, D2 Softball at East Stroudsburg University on Thursday, and D3 Women’s Lacrosse at Franklin & Marshall College on Sunday. Races at Evergreen Raceway on Friday were a washout.
This was our first trip to see the Coal County Nightmare, the sixth different GEFA team we have seen play at home this season. Unfortunately, the Somerset County Miners played their final home game last Saturday, so we will miss out on that team, as well as the Monroeville Titans, who folded. But the Indiana County Crusaders, Williamsport Wildcats, and Moshannon Valley Vikings are still on the spring GEFA football radar as well as their Keystone Bowl and All-Star Game.
Between the six regular season games and the three games in the Kickoff Classic, we have seen nine of the 11 GEFA teams play this year. We have seen the Buffaloes, Warriors, and Comanche play three times; the Titans, Raptors, and Mustangs twice; and the Miners, Wildcats, and Nightmare once. The only two teams we have yet to see play are the Vikings and the Crusaders.
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024. GEFA BEDFORD COUNTY BUFFALOES @ COAL COUNTY NIGHTMARE, VETERANS MEMORIAL STADIUM, SAINT CLAIR, PA. We had been to this field before, to see the Nativity BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) Green Wave PIAA District 11 1A high school team. Nativity is the smallest of the 47 D11 schools offering football. Last year, the Wave played their home games at North Schuylkill, as this stadium was not available while paving work was completed.
The Nightmare entered the contest with a record of 3-2, solidly in the playoff hunt. The Buffaloes were undefeated at 6-0. Bedford has won their games by 43, 15, 46, 71, 62(F), and 16. Yet on the GEFA website homepage in the on-line poll as to who is the favorite to win the championship, the Buffaloes are not even one of the three teams selected to vote for. Talk about bulletin board material!
Admission was free, the fifth of the six teams we have visited during the year that offered free football. As this is a stadium that hosts high school varsity games, there are plenty of seats with a great view of the field. Also, for the fifth time in six there was a working scoreboard to show the game score, but as at Koons Park, the Comanche home, the clock was not operating and time was kept on the field.
Perhaps there are precedents behind the skepticism regarding the Buffaloes chances of going all the way. According to their page on the GEFA site, the team, formed in 2022, has an overall record of 23-4 but are winless in two postseason games.
The three times we saw Bedford County play (Kickoff Classic, home game, and away game) they have displayed an option run game that is very, very hard to stop. This game turned out to be a nightmare for the Nightmare, who only had a single one of their coaches attend the game, as the Buffaloes were up 30-0 and it was still the first quarter. By halftime they had 58 on the scoreboard. The running clock that takes effect in GEFA once a team has a 42-or-more-point lead very much mitigated the Buffaloes’ possessions in the second half, holding their final score to 80. The Nightmare didn’t quit, and by the end of the game had put 20 on their board. Still, a 60-point loss for a team that entered the game with a winning record is not a lot to celebrate. As Don Gillett said: “If that score was in a basketball game you would call it ugly. Football has no word to describe it.”
Everyone is looking forward to June 8 when the Buffaloes visit the Moshannon Valley Vikings, the other unbeaten team in GEFA. The Nightmare are still in the thick of the playoff picture, but have a tough road as their last four regular season games are all against teams with better records.
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024. WFA New York Knockout @ Harrisburg Havoc, Palmyra High School, Palmyra, PA. The Harrisburg Havoc play in the Women’s Football Alliance. The WFA is a full-contact league and is the largest 11 on 11 women’s league in the world. The league began in 2009 with 36 teams nationwide. By last season, they had 60 teams competing.
The league has three levels: Pro (Division 1), Division 2, and Division 3. The Harrisburg Havoc play in Division 3. D3 has 27 teams split into four geographical areas: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific. The Havoc play in the six-team Northeast. The other teams are Upstate Predators, New Hampshire Rebellion, New York Knockout, Maine Mayhem, and Connecticut Ambush.
The team is owned by Tiffany Thomas and her player-daughter Kaili Thomas, and coached by Tiffany’s brother Jeff Thomas. Last season they played their home games at Harrisburg High School’s Severance Field. They didn’t need a stadium that big, and this year moved to smaller Palmyra High School, a much better fit for them.
This is a lot different than the GEFA games, both on and off the field. GEFA plays 8-man football on a 50-yard field with 12-minute quarters. WFA plays 11 on 11 using the standard 100-yard field with 15-minute quarters.
Game tickets are $15. At the Havoc games, you can count on a full-working scoreboard, announcer, permanent restrooms, and seating. They have team merchandise for sale, and on this evening, they had three food trucks in attendance. Two were selling hot food, the other Kona Ice. In addition, there was a separate stand selling bags of popcorn for just a dollar with a wide variety of topping choices, as well as Bingco freeze dried snacks.
Last year the games had a 7:00 p.m. kickoff and we thought that post 10:00 p.m. conclusions were a bit late for games with 15-minute quarters if they want to attract families with younger children. This year, game time has been advanced by an hour, with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff and there were a lot of kids running around enjoying themselves.
Before the season, two Havoc players, Leah Crump and Kaeli Thomas were selected to be part of the WFA “Team United” and play in the Coffee Bowl in Bogota, Columbia.
The Havoc season was supposed to begin at home on April 27 against the Tri-State Warriors of New Brunswick, NJ, a WFA D2 team. However, a cryptic announcement by the team said they canceled their entire 2024 season “with the health and safety of our players, staff, and community in mind.”
That moved the opener to a May, 4 road game, as the Havoc traveled to Rochester, NY to take on the expansion team Upstate Lady Predators. Last season, the Havoc had their first winning season, finishing 4-2 but missing the playoffs. The Havoc emerged victorious, 16-6 to start the season 1-0. However, they lost a key player as top player Raven Veanus was injured, suffering a broken rib leading to a punctured lung. We were told she was hospitalized several days, had successful surgery, and has been released from the hospital.
May 11 thus became the home opener for 2024. The opponent was the powerhouse New York Knockout. As the Knockout are from the Albany area, people were calling this the “Capital Bowl”, as the two teams represented their respective state capitals.
One definite first for us was seeing a husband and wife both play tackle football on the same day. In the afternoon, Brent Beckley took the field for the Coal County Nightmare and in the evening his wife Ashley Beckley suited up for the Havoc.
The evening weather forecast was not good, so bad in fact that other area sporting events were cancelled. But this is football. Thankfully, we stayed dry for most of the first half. During halftime, the few drops of rain really picked up and sent many heading for their cars. During the third quarter, the scoreboard power went out. The Knockout were clearly the better team, and built up a large enough lead to initiate the running clock.
The WFA website has the final at 40-0, but we are pretty sure it was 39 and that they never got off that last extra point attempt.
The season is only six games long, which means three home games and three away, or two of each still to play. The Havoc next travel to New Hampshire to play the Rebellion this coming Saturday, before their home games the following two Saturdays, a rematch against the Predators followed by the Connecticut Ambush. Come on out and see the women at Palymra High on May 25 or June 1, 6:00 kickoff.
We definitely plan on spring football for a ninth straight weekend on Sunday with the PFSCA East-West High School All Star Games at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg. Feedback Welcome: rtryfbar@aol.com.
GUY & PAM 2024 SCORECARD (12 Games as of May 11)
Week 0—Kickoff Classic (Central Columbia High School, Bloomsburg) (3 Games)
Week 1—Bedford County Buffaloes (Claysburg-Kimmel High School, Claysburg)
Week 2—Dauphin County Comanche (Koons Park, Linglestown)
Week 3—AIF Arena Football: Harrisburg Stampede (PA Farm Show Complex)
Week 4—Berks County Raptors (Exeter Township High School)
Week 5—Hazleton Mustangs (Gene Della Croce Memorial Field)
Week 6—Wilkes Barre Warriors (Exeter Panther Junior Football Association Field)
High School–Schuylkill / Colonial All Star Game (North Schuylkill High School)
Week 7—Coal County Nightmare (Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, Saint Clair)
WFA Women’s Football—Harrisburg Havoc (Palymyra High School)
On the Spring Radar. GEFA: Indiana County Crusaders, Williamsport Wildcats, Moshannon Valley Vikings, Keystone Bowl, All-Star Game. High School All Star Games: PA East-West Small School, PA East-West Large School, Big 33 Classic. Missed: Somerset County Miners (Home season ended), Monroeville Titans (Team folded).
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