The J-Man’s View of District 2: Bring on the Fall Weather!

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Jared Samuel | September 3, 2025

The J-Man gives his thoughts, a recap of last week’s games and a look ahead at key matchups this week in District 2!

I don’t know about you, but feeling that cool breeze on Friday night got me wanting the Fall weather. These football games are always so much better when the cooler, fall weather is upon us and adding to the overall experience. It also helps to put an end to all of the heat cramping that delayed so many games in that opening week of the season. Hopefully teams are getting more conditioned and healthy as we march on into our third week of PA High School Football.

The outlook from up on the mountain: We learned a few things this week. Some teams are gaining momentum, some are inconsistent and some are on a downward swing. Let’s dive into the D2!

North Pocono (2-0) is a pretty good team and their stock is soaring right now. They came down to Pittston Area (1-1) and took care of business 34-21, and with the win the Trojans have certainly solidified themselves as leading contenders in Class 4A. The Patriots have a favorable schedule in the near future though so they should be able to bounce back and make some noise in 5A. I’d say their stock is still up.
Lakeland (2-0) continues to pour on the points, and they are definitely on the upswing. The Chiefs rolled over Holy Cross (1-1) 53-6 and are heading to Riverside (2-0) this Friday with something to prove to the rest of the 2A teams. A great early matchup this Friday in Taylor!
Valley View (2-0) continues to get early wins, this time a 24-13 win at Crestwood (0-2). I wondered how the Cougars would fare after some significant losses to graduation, but so far they have played the same tough ball they always seem to do. A significant test may be coming this week though…..
….as Wilkes-Barre (1-1) is coming off a huge 48-42 overtime win over D11 Stroudsburg (1-1) and will now pay a visit up to Archbald. The Wolfpack are surging as RB Davon Underwood hung up 4 TD’s and QB Jake Howe put a poor first game performance behind him in a big way as he surpassed 5,000 passing yards for his high school career. This could be a big one Friday night!
Lackawanna Trail (2-0) is putting the doubters to shame right now as they got another 4 TD’s from RB Isaac Ryon in a 35-3 win over Western Wayne. A big test is on the horizon though, as the Lions head down past the power plant to visit Berwick (2-0) , who had a statement win of their own in a 42-0 defeat of Mid Valley (0-2). The Bulldogs have a powerhouse RB of their own named Ty’Meere Wilkerson….maybe you’ve heard of him. This game should be a good one!
Some early season struggles continued for Scranton Prep (0-2) as they fell to Loyola Blakefield (MD) 45-13. That trend will continue as they head off to play Canisius (NY) this Saturday. The Cavaliers are certainly gaining some experience this season playing stronger teams in the beginning, and as they get healthy look for them to play a significant role down the stretch.
Facing tougher competition early on has been a recipe for success for Delaware Valley (0-2), who is showing some signs of life as they fought right to the end before falling 49-42 to Jersey Shore (2-0). The Warriors keep with their cadence this week as they head out on the road at Central York (2-0).

Where I am headed Thursday 9/4: I’ll be heading to Mount Pocono as Scranton (1-1) plays D11 Pocono Mountain East (2-0). The Knights handled the Cardinals rather easily last year up at Pen Fed Field, but this one could be different. Scranton RB Reece Whitman and QB Brody Coyle are off to a pretty good start this season, so we’ll see what happens. This one is a 6pm start, so take note! And we might get a special guest appearance from PFN’s own Traveling Matt!

Where we are headed Friday 9/5: Sherryl and I are going to drop in at John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium for Wilkes-Barre (1-1) at Valley View (2-0) in what should be a nice matchup. The Cougars have a nice 1-2 punch going with RB Tyler Muchal and FB Jeffrey Wasilchak, while the Wolfpack have the speedy Underwood to go along with WR Kevon Creech and WR Treyvon Gembitski. This should be interesting. Kickoff is slated for 7pm.

Where I am headed Saturday 9/6: Tentatively, I am planning on heading to the Pit as Dallas (0-2) looks to get on track in a tough one at Abington Heights (2-0). For the Mountaineers, it’s Coach Rich Mannello’s squad looking to get things going against Comets QB Nick Bradley, WR Gavin Anders and RB Jaydin Anglin. Kickoff is at 1pm in this one. Could we also get a 2nd appearance of PFN’s Traveling Matt in this one? We’ll have to see…..

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