The J-Man’s View Of District 2: 2 games in before Labor Day!

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

Jared Samuel | August 27, 2025

Who else remembers the days when the season started later?  I remember, and though I might be dating myself a bit I recall those were the days before the State playoff system began.  I’ll gladly take the trade-off!  And now it means teams will have 2 games in before Labor Day — that will sure make for some great conversation around the Labor Day cookouts.

We have some interesting match-ups this week in/around District 2, so let’s get right into it!

The outlook from up on the mountain:  I was a bit surprised by a few performances this week, but that only makes for a very interesting season ahead.

• Pittston Area got off to a very strong start with 46-9 win over Mid Valley, and they will have their hands full when North Pocono comes to town Friday — the Trojans put up 333 yards on the ground along with 6 rushing TD’s last week as they shutout Nanticoke 56-0.  I knew the Patriots would be better this season, but exactly how much better may be on display against the Trojans.
• Scranton Prep is dealing with injury and will need to continue to adjust as they dropped a close one to Valley View 14-10.  Coach Terry Gallagher knows what needs to happen as he has been in this position before.  Things get tough for the Cavaliers, who host Loyola-Blakefield from Maryland this Friday night.
• Riverside escaped with a 17-14 OT win over Dunmore, but something tells me that these 2 teams haven’t seen the last of each other for this season.  The Vikings put up only 96 yards of offense but it was enough as they also got a huge 90-yard kickoff return TD from Brayden Rose that kept things close.
• Is Lakeland for real?  Maybe.  They ran all night on Carbondale in a 52-14 win, with 5 different players scoring on the ground for the Chiefs.  We will see if Lakeland can make a statement in the Class 2A race, but for now they will head home to face Holy Cross, who got a 32-6 win over Montrose this past week.
• West Scranton got off to a nice start with a 20-7 win at Old Forge.  Things will get hard for the Invaders however, as Abington Heights pays a visit this week fresh off a 21-13 road win at East Stroudsburg South.  Watch out for that Comet defense.
• Western Wayne got a 32-0 win over Susquehanna and looked impressive, but this sets up an interesting match-up this week as the Wildcats will host Lackawanna Trail who defeated Tunkhannock 35-21 last week.

Where we are headed Friday 8/29:  Sherryl and I are headed just a few miles away as Wilkes-Barre plays host to Stroudsburg in a D2/D11 matchup.  The Wolfpack struggled against Whitehall in a 38-14 road loss, while the Mountaineers beat Wallenpaupack 28-7.  Wilkes-Barre has the speed, and they will need it as Stroudsburg used a balanced offensive attack to defeat the Buckhorns.  Wilkes-Barre has taken the same tactic that other teams have, in scheduling out of district opponents early in the season to test their squad and grow stronger.  This week is one of those games, and it should be a good one!

PFN’s District 2 coverage this week, follow these on ‘X’ for updates:

• 8/29 7pm — Stroudsburg at Wilkes-Barre  @jaredsamuelpfn
• 8/29 7pm — Mid Valley at Berwick  @Mason_PFN
• 8/29 7pm — Carbondale at Nanticoke  @NEPASportsPage
• 8/29 7pm — Loyola-Blakefield (MD) at Scranton Prep  @teejaypr
• 8/29 7pm — Holy Redeemer at Tunkhannock  @nepayinzer
• 8/29 7pm — North Pocono at Pittston  @BPtashinski

You can find the District 2 schedule page here:  District 2 Schedules

Sherryl’s “Sure Shot” of the week:  (follow her on ‘X’  @sasimagerypfn )

From Riverside at Dunmore 08/22/25, the Vikings Brayden Rose celebrates after a 90-yard kickoff return TD

Feel free to reach out to me via DM on ‘X’ @jaredsamuelpfn  or email me at nepafootball71@gmail.com

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