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Schuylkill Haven Rides Strong Second Half To 43-29 Victory Over Williams Valley

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 27, 2025

WILLIAMSTOWN – Last night’s game marked the fifth time in past three seasons that these two teams have met, and to the surprise of no one, this time around treated us to another heavyweight back and forth clash. This game was highly contested in the first half, until the Hurricanes took over and pulled away in the second half. Schuylkill Haven (6-0) outscored Williams Valley 22-7 in the second half en route to a 43-29 victory.

Plenty of statements were being made to start this game, as the opening drive featured a big fourth down stop at midfield for the Williams Valley defense, setting the Vikings up in great position to build some early momentum. That was until Brady Shomper’s first pass of the game was intercepted by Schuylkill Haven’s Chase Leibensperger and returned 52 yards to the end zone, giving the Hurricanes a very early 7-0 lead.

Those turnovers ended up being a huge part of this game for both sides. The Vikings next drive began from their own 41 yard line, and this time they found their stride and made their way all the way down the field, capping off the 9 play, 59 yard drive with a 2 yard carry from Brady Shomper. The Vikings defense was put in a big spot again on the next drive, with the Hurricanes offense staring at a 2nd & 6 at Williams Valley’s 39 yard line. That Vikings defense once again came through, forcing three consecutive incompletions, and a turnover on downs. Just four plays later, the offense capitalized off the turnover on a 10 yard carry from Fletcher Thompson, giving the Vikings their first lead.

The next drive, Schuylkill Haven for the third time in a row found themselves staring at a fourth down. However as the saying goes, third times the charm, the offense this time was able to convert on 4th and 1 thanks to a quarterback sneak by Max Heim, and on the very next play, Heim connected with Niko Castillo from 48 yards out giving the Hurricanes the lead once again.

Now finding themselves trailing once again, the Vikings offense took the field once again and executed exactly the way they needed to, driving 67 yards in only 6 plays. Two of those being big pass plays to wide receiver Evan Achenbach. The first of them was a 25 yard connection that moved the Vikings into opposing territory, and the second one being a 27 yard touchdown strike which was the play that capped off the drive.

With a five point lead and just under five minutes to go in the first half, the Vikings defense had a chance to make another statement and possibly shift the momentum even more in their favor. The Hurricanes offense once again were staring at a fourth down, this one being a 4th and 4 from the the Williams Valley 37 yard line, and before they could get a snap off, an illegal procedure penalty backed the offense up five yards, forcing them to have to throw for it on fourth down which ultimately fell incomplete.

It seemed like that fourth down stop was just what Williams Valley needed to steal the momentum and pull away, unfortunately for the Vikings, the offense gave the Hurricanes the ball right back after a fourth down attempt of their own came up just inches short. This allowed Schuylkill Haven to recover and drive 51 yards to the end zone, taking the lead back on a 27 yard connection with Colton Reber with just 37 seconds left in the half.

Down by two points with just about 30 seconds left until halftime, the Vikings offense took a chance to try to score one more time before the clocks hit zero. A 19 yard scramble by Shomper followed by a 34 yard connection to Fletcher Thompson set the Vikings up at the 10 yard line with 10 seconds to go, where they opted to take the 26 yard field goal that gave them a 22-21 lead going into halftime.

PHOTO BY DAWN DAUB

Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr mentioned at halftime how he wants to show their ability to play power, ball-control football in the second half, and they were able to do that. After an opening drive interception by Niko Castillo, the very next play was a 44 yard touchdown carry by Colton Reber giving the Hurricanes the lead back, and ultimately they ended up holding onto this lead for the rest of the game.

As mentioned earlier, the turnovers were a big part of the game for both sides, in the second half they were specifically huge for Schuylkill Haven. The next drive was one of the biggest turning points of this game, as the Vikings offense were staring at a 3rd and 6 from the Hurricanes 36 yard line. Brady Shomper took the snap and swung it out wide to receiver Evan Achenbach who got drilled at the line of scrimmage by Adam Balulis and only gained a yard on the play. The gain wasn’t the important part of the play, it was the hit as it knocked Achenbach out of the game for good, taking away a key part of the Vikings offense.

That same drive for the Vikings ultimately came up empty as Shomper’s pass fell incomplete. Schuylkill Haven took full advantage of this opportunity to seize momentum, taking over at their own 35 yard line and began running the ball down the Vikings defense throat. Their drive began to stall at the 29 yard line, after an incomplete pass and a false start penalty backed the Hurricanes offense to a 4th and 14 at the 34 yard line. With their backs against the wall, Max Heim dropped back and threw a perfect strike over the middle to Blake Rossi for 33 yards, setting the Hurricanes up at the goal line.

The very next play Heim took it into the end zone himself, putting the Hurricanes up by 14 points with 1:22 to go in the third, and capping off the 11 play, 65 yard drive that took up almost 5 and a half minutes of the game clock.

That drive took the life out of the home crowd and it continued into the fourth quarter. Another fourth down stop near midfield gave Schuylkill Haven the ball right back, where they took advantage once again, scoring on a 12 yard carry by Colton Reber, giving him his third touchdown of the night, and putting the Hurricanes up by 21 points with 8 and a half to go in the game.

Williams Valley was finally able to answer on the following drive, driving 47 yards to the end zone in just 4 plays, pulling the Vikings a little closer with around 7 minutes to go. Following that score, the Hurricanes were able to do what they had hoped to do in the second half, and that was drain the clock. Schuylkill Haven ran almost 5 minutes off the clock on the drive before the Vikings were able to get a stop. On fourth down the snap went over the head of Hurricanes’ punter Colton Reber, and rolled back to their own 35 giving the Vikings a small bit of hope. Unfortunately the Vikings could not make a late rally as Shomper’s last pass to the end zone fell incomplete with just a minute to go, sealing the victory for the Hurricanes.

“We executed to the plan, I thought we did a great job up front, Colton [Reber] early wasn’t trusting the block scheme so we made a change, and then he understood it,” Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr said after the game. “No one thought we could, even though we were the number one ranked team, no one thought we could pull it off which is cool.”

Schuylkill Haven with the victory moves to 6-0 on the season, they’ll be back at home next week against the currently undefeated Marion Catholic Colts. Williams Valley falls to 5-1 with the loss and next week they’ll have a home date with Panther Valley.

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