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Nanticoke wins the Eastern Conference 3A Championship over Schuylkill Valley

Tagged under: District 2, District 3, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| November 6, 2021


After an 0-3 start, the Trojans could’ve very easily have given up and called it a lost season but they ended up winning 4 of their last six games gave them a chance of playing for the Eastern Conference Championship game at home. In front of their home crowd, Nanticoke would use their running attack en route to an Eastern Conference Championship in a 28-21 victory over Schuylkill Valley. Trojans Head Coach Ron Bruza on his team finishing the season winning five of their final seven games after an 0-3 start. “It comes with a young team and we had a tough schedule the last two years and these guys pulled through. You just keep believing and good things will happen.” “We got pushed harder in practice and coach didn’t like the 0-3 start but we came back to win a Championship.” Trojans quarterback Payton Kepp said.

Nanticoke started with the ball and on the second play, Kepp’s pass ended being intercepted by Colby Crills at their own 35. Schuylkill Valley faced a third and 7 and Drew Campbell went for 10 yards for a first down. The Trojans defense ended up forcing a punt on the drive. Nanticoke drove down the field as the first quarter came to an end. Four different Trojans carried the ball as Kepp scored from two yards out for a 7-0 Nanticoke lead with 11:52 remaining in the second quarter.

The Panthers faced a fourth and 4 at their own 42 yard line. They gambled and went for it and was rewarded as Campbell just barely got the first down. Campbell found Julian Kemmerer for 11 yards on second and 11. They faced a fourth and 3 at the Nanticoke 31 yard line and Michael Goad’s pass fell incomplete and the Trojans took over. Nanticoke used their running attack of Zach Fox and Mykal Julian to drive down the field and ended with a three yard touchdown run by Fox for a 13-0 Trojan lead with 50.1 seconds remaining in the first half. Schuylkill Valley attempted to get points on the board before half and got all the way to the Nanticoke 39 with 0.1 seconds left. The pass fell incomplete as we got to halftime.

The Panthers started with the ball to start the second half. They faced a fourth and 6 at their own 38 yard line and gambled once again. Campbell found Crills behind the Trojans secondary for a 62 yard touchdown pass to cut the Nanticoke lead to 13-7 with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter. The Trojans got two straight first down on a 10 yard run by Julian and a 30 yard run by Kepp. Nanticoke faced a third and 3 at the Schuylkill Valley 28 yard line. Kepp got four yards to keep the drive going. The Trojans faced a fourth and 8 at the SV 22 yard line. Nanticoke ran some trickery where lineman Ryan Wiaterowski threw a pass to Payton Kepp in the end zone and it looked like he could come down with it but it fell incomplete and the Panthers forced a turnover on downs.

Schuylkill Valley got a first down on a second and 2 on a Campbell run but the drive stalled and punted the ball away. The Trojans took over at their own 48 yard line. After a six yard run by Fox, he went for a 40 yard run to the six yard line and finished the drive on the next play with a six yard touchdown run for his second score of the game. He also got the two point conversion to make it 21-7 with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter.

The Panthers on the next drive faced a fourth and 1 at their own 44 yard line and Campbell went for 17 yards to the Nanticoke 39 yard line as we headed to the fourth quarter. Schuylkill Valley faced a fourth and 5 at the Nanticoke 34 yard line. Campbell’s pass fell incomplete as the Trojans took over. Nanticoke went fourth and out after a fake punt ended up being one yard short and the Panthers took over at the Nanticoke 44.

Campbell went for 11 yards on second and 4 for a first down. Schuylkill Valley faced a fourth and 1 at the Trojan 19 yard line and Campbell gained three yards. They faced a fourth and 12 and Campbell’s pass incomplete but Nanticoke was called for pass interference which made it fourth and 4 at the Trojans 10 yard line. Michael Goad went to Campbell for a 10 yard score to cut the Trojan lead to 21-14 with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans got the ball back after Schuylkill Valley’s onside kick attempt didn’t go ten yards. Zach Fox sealed the game with two first downs as Nanticoke took the 3A Eastern Conference Championship with a 21-14 victory over Schuylkill Valley.  It was the second Eastern Conference title in four years for the Trojans. Trojans Offensive Lineman and captain Braden Zaremba was part of both Championship teams. “I’m just happy to finish my career the same way I started.” Zaremba said. “I’ve been smiling from ear to ear since the clock ran out. I’m just overwhelmed. It feels great.”

Sophomore QB Payton Kepp on winning the Eastern Conference Championship. “We worked as a team all season. Coming in at quarterback as a sophomore. It just feels great.” Sophomore running back Zach Fox on winning the Eastern Conference title and his breakout season. “We were working hard all season and I started picking up in practice doing good and got the starting position and started going crazy.” Fox finished with 167 yards on the ground,

Nanticoke ends their season at 5-6 on the season and Bruza talked about how it was important for their program to have this extra week. “We got alot of young guys playing. Our top three rushers are all sophomores. It was nice to have an extra week and play a competitive program.” Schuylkill Valley ends their season at 2-9.

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