Hittin’ The Road With Travelin’ Matt – Week 2 (Cavaliers, Pioneers, Cougars & Hurricanes)
Tagged under: District 11, District 3, News, pfn
Matt Herring | September 9, 2024
Each week Travelin’ Matt traverses Pennsylvania attending the hottest high school football games and best match ups in the Commonwealth. Follow his exploits each week as he documents his journey from Week Zero to the Pennsylvania State Football Finals!
Thursday, September 5
5A East Stroudsburg South (1-1) vs. 5A #Whitehall (0-2)
Friday, September 6
4A #7 Lampeter-Strasburg (2-0) vs. 5A Cocalico (1-1)
Saturday, September 7
6A #7 State College (1-1) vs. 6A #8 Harrisburg (1-1)
6A Bethlehem-Liberty (2-0) vs. Stroudsburg (2-0)
ROUNDTRIP – 602 MILES
Thursday, September 5
I had high hopes this week of getting out of Eastern and Central PA to catch some games in Western PA but the threat of adverse weather in the Pittsburgh area was too great to risk a four hour drive for a suspended or canceled game. Sometimes a disappointment can turn into a blessing and this was the case for my Thursday night as I was able to witness a tremendous athletic performance by a player at a stadium I had never visited when I traveled to East Stroudsburg South High School to watch them play Eastern PA Conference foe Whitehall.
The East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers aren’t usually on my radar of teams each season but this year their two-way standout Xzavier Pusateri caught my attention in the first two weeks of the schedule and my cancelled trip to the Pittsburgh area lended itself the perfect opportunity to venture outside the box to see him play. To say I wasn’t disappointed is an understatement as the Senior WR/DB put on a spectacular show beginning with a 56 yard interception for touchdown just 15 seconds into the contest. Pusateri would add two more touchdowns on offense with five and 67 yard receptions. To top it all off he added a bone jarring hit on defense en route to a convinccing 38-7 victory for his home side Cavaliers.
Check out some highlights of Xzavier Pusateri from his game vs. Whitehall…
First play from scrimmage and @zay_pusateri9 gets the pick 6 to put @ESSCavalierFB up 7-0 early over @ZephyrsFootball 1Q 11:45 @PaFootballNews @coschwalters81 pic.twitter.com/USMDvU2OJg
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 5, 2024
Lay. The. Wood. @zay_pusateri9 @ESSCavalierFB vs @ZephyrsFootball @PaFootballNews pic.twitter.com/9qou4beA7m
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 5, 2024
Friday, September 6
Corn fields, corn fields and more corn fields…that’s what I see when I travel to Lampeter-Strasburg High School and it’s well worth my time to make the trip there each season. Mix in a waft of freshly-fertilized fields and a matchup with Cocalico and it’s the recipe for a solid Friday night contest.
Lampeter-Strasburg and Cocalico have played some highly-competitive games the past two years and both fan bases turn out in very respectable numbers to support their teams. This year’s version of the matchup resulted in a lopsided 35-14 victory for LS although the game was tied 14-14 at halftime. Most notable from the game were several big hits on both sides of the ball that brought “oohs and aahs” from the viewing faithful.
Click the links below for some game highlights from Lampeter-Strasburg vs. Cocalico…
The Eagles strike first as QB @Josh_myer12 bounces it outside and gallops 32 yards for a TD and 7-0 lead for @CocalicoSports over @LSFootball1 1Q 4:08 @PaFootballNews @coachstrohl@beppinette8@danehorning pic.twitter.com/pBuEvjUhFU
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 6, 2024
Make it 14-7 @LSFootball1 on a 5 yard jaunt by @BrownDominic07 2Q 9:25 @PaFootballNews @CocalicoSports @keeganwcurtis@collinshelley56@wolfthad67 @carsonzook60@hudsoncrutch55 pic.twitter.com/5T9wn7A5ve
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 6, 2024
Saturday, September 7
For the second week in a row my Saturday doubleheader began with a contest featuring the 6A Harrisburg Cougars that were fresh off a big win vs. Bishop McDevitt last week. The State College Little Lions brought their undefeated record to Severance Field in Harrisburg to challenge the uber-talented Cougars in a District 3 Mid-Penn Conference tilt.
The defenses would reign supreme in this contest as Harrisburg and State College battled for four quarters to a 7-6 score. State College managed just two field goals on the day and a potential game-winning third split of the uprights was blocked by Harrisburg star Elias Coke to hand the Cougars a victory on the day. Harrisburg’s only score came on a TD pass from QB Jaiyon Lewis to Penn State commit Messiah Mickens.
Check out the blocked field goal in the video below and click on the game story link for all the details…
Blocked field goal and @HBGCougar_FBall takes over on their own 20 yard line with a 7-6 lead over @statehighfball 4Q 2:25 @PaFootballNews @hbgcougarcoach pic.twitter.com/6s43KwE4IZ
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 7, 2024
Harrisburg Defeats State College in Chaotic Defensive Battlehttps://t.co/asCaWLTnqx@statehighfball @scasdathletics @HBGCougar_FBall @hbgcougarcoach @SCCoachLintal @Eddie_Corkery2 @EliasCoke1 @cbwood_21 @MarkowskiShane @MichaelGaul20 @Messiah_1M @dantaesheffey
— Pennsylvania Football News (@PaFootballNews) September 8, 2024
My quadruple-header and 600 mile round-trip week wrapped up in Bethlehem as Liberty High School welcomed Stroudsburg to town for a matchup of early-season undefeated squads. The hometown Liberty Hurricanes held a narrow 10-7 advantage at the half but put their stamp on the contest scoring 21 second half points for a 31-14 victory over the Mounties of Stroudsburg.
Here’s a couple highlights from Liberty’s win over Stroudsburg…
It’s @AFontanez1_ to @Jakepuks for the TD and @LIBERTYATHCLUB jumps back on top 10-7 over @Sburg_Fb 2Q 7:43 @PaFootballNews @coachdaignault @brayden_mck36 @gabegreen_22@longschenks @_coledaignault@b_bart30 @j_serranoross pic.twitter.com/VDsLWytmzi
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 7, 2024
RB @GabeGreen_22 puts this one away with a TD run from 23 yards out and it’s 31-14 @LIBERTYATHCLUB over @Sburg_Fb 4Q 1:09 @PaFootballNews pic.twitter.com/osXNJZ7QVZ
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 8, 2024
I’d be remiss if I didn’t take some space to shine a light on what is easily one of the most impressive high school bands I’ve seen…The Grenadiers of Liberty High School. The squad features 175+ students complete with tremendous uniforms and a full bagpipe brigade. I would imagine even if the Liberty football team isn’t victorious on a given night the band always gets the win.
Check out The Grenadiers in the videos below…
One of the greatest high school bands in the land! Tremendous pregame show by the Grenediers of Liberty High School! @LHSGB @PaFootballNews @LIBERTYATHCLUB pic.twitter.com/7JIEc27AWL
— CC Hastings (@CCHastings1863) September 7, 2024
A full weekend of PA high school football games complete and more than 600 miles driven I wrapped up my third week and headed home to plan for next week’s schedule of contests.
Follow along next week as Travelin’ Matt takes you on another PA High School Football journey.
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