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City defeats County in a thriller to win the 92nd Annual Dream Game

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

| July 24, 2026

At halftime of the 92nd Annual Dream Game, Lackawanna Trail Coach Steve Jervis was honored as the Scranton Lions Club Man of the Year.  He gave a nice, complimentary speech and thanked many people who have made his journey happen and enjoyable.  It was a very nice and calm moment.

It also was the only calm moment of the evening.

Delaware Valley RB Mike Iuzzolino had a 7-yard TD run and a ridiculous 94-yard kickoff return TD for the County squad, but it was Lackawanna Trail RB Isaac Ryon who carried the City team to a 36-35 come-from-behind win in a wild game.  Ryon had rushing TD’s of 5 and 4 yards, caught a 37-yard TD pass and laid out several decimating blocks to spark his team to victory.

The City team received the opening kickoff, and they executed well.  Ryon had several hard runs including a 25-yard elusive scamper down the left sideline, but it was drive was capped when Lackawanna Trail QB Tyler Jervis hit his teammate Ryon on a 37-yard TD strike.  The PAT missed and with 6:35 left in the 1st quarter it was City with a 6-0 lead.

County got right to work on their first possession with their big guns.  Iuzzolino had 2 hard early runs, and then later in the drive Lakeland QB David Naniewicz hit Honesdale WR Kobe White for a big 31-yard gain.  Naniewicz then took to the ground for 3 hard runs that got County to the City 2.  Facing 4th down, Naniewicz then rolled right and hit Abington Heights TE Cayd Sespico for the 2-yard score which gave County a 7-6 lead with 26 seconds left in the opening quarter.

City then had a nice drive going into the 2nd quarter that stalled at the County 18, and a 35-yard field goal attempt was no good.  County took over and carried the momentum over again on a very similar drive.  Mid Valley QB Brett Yanoski came in and had success through the air as he hit Delaware Valley FB Justin Esteves for 15 yards and a nice 7-yard strike to Old Forge WR Chris Rasmus.  The drive was ultimately capped when Iuzzolino hit on a 7-yard run to make it 14-6 for County with 3:46 left in the half.

City drove quickly then with time running down and a nice drive was capped by a Jervis 1-yard keeper, and with a successful 2-point conversion it was tied at 14 with 1:06 left in the half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Iuzzolino did what he does:  long runs.  He struck on a 94-yard kickoff return TD that electrified the County side and County had a 21-14 lead wit 54 seconds left in the half.

City hoped to get on the board again before halftime, but those hopes were dashed quickly when Mid Valley DE Rhys Williams had a terrific leaping one-handed interception that he returned 16 yards for the score.  County thus had a 28-14 lead at the half.

Starting the 3rd quarter, the competitive balance rule for the Dream Game was invoked which gave the City the 2nd half kickoff.  They began a nice drive but the penalty flags began to fly, hurting both teams.  At one point, offsetting personal foul penalties resulted in an ejection for both teams.  This calmed things down a bit, and Ryon took over the City drive.  He had several strong runs and scored on a 5-yard scamper to draw the City closer, and County still had a 28-21 lead with 3:33 left in the 3rd quarter.

County got the ball back but their drive stalled, forcing the first and only punt of the game as the contest entered the 4th quarter.  City continued their strong momentum and Ryon struck yet again on a 4-yard run to tie the game at 28 with 6:24 left in the game.

County then emulated the City squad’s routine and rode Iuzzolino for a while.  He ripped off several strong runs including a big 19-yard gain.  Iuzzolino had 2 more runs inside the 10 of the City, and the drive ultimately was capped when Naniewicz powered into the end zone on a 1-yard keeper to give County a 35-28 lead with only 1:19 left in the game.

City had one final chance and executed a nice drive.  Jervis hit Wallenpaupack WR Mason Gonzalez on a huge 48-yard gain into County territory at the 27.  Jervis was then sacked back at the 35 to force a timeout.  It was then Ryon again, this time on a nice HB option pass to Scranton Prep WR AJ Croom for a 27-yard gain to the County 8.  A spike to stop the clock and 2 incomplete passes later brought up 4th-and-goal from the 8, and Jervis rolled out and hit Scranton Prep WR Mackey Lynett for the score.

City then decided to go for it all and went for the 2-point conversion.  Jervis again rolled right, and again hit Lynett who just got his feet in the end zone as he made the reception.  The call was a successful conversion, and City had a 36-35 lead with only 4 seconds left.

On the ensuing kickoff, there was a fumble recovered by City to seal the win.  Ryon had a game high 155 yards rushing and 3 total TD’s, and I spoke to him after the game:

For the County, Iuzzolino had 2 TD’s and I had the pleasure of speaking with him as well:

Check out the photo gallery from the game, courtesy of PFN’s Sherryl Samuel:  PHOTO GALLERY

 

You can also watch our video highlights here, courtesy of PFN’s Jake Mills and TeeJay Productions:

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