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Hittin’ The Road With Travelin’ Matt – Week 2 (Cavaliers, Pioneers, Cougars & Hurricanes)

Tagged under: District 11, District 3, News, pfn

| 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…

 

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

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…

 

 

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…

 

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.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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