The J-Man’s View of District 2: Championship week!!

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, pfn

Jared Samuel | November 5, 2025

It was a wild opening week for the District 2 playoffs. We had 3 teams who came in with 5-5 records that advanced to the championship game! If you have read any of my articles up to this point, then you probably already know why that happened….but if not, here’s the secret sauce: the programs that challenge themselves with tough schedules, especially early in the year, are seeing success later in the year. Scranton Prep has embraced this over the last 2 seasons, Delaware Valley has done this for as long as I can remember and Dallas had the toughest rated schedule in all of District 2. The result? All 3 teams are playing for a District Championship. Things that make you go “Hmmmmmmmm”.

The outlook from up on the mountain: Here’s a look at what Championship week offers, and regardless of the weather (rain incoming!) the action should be great!

Class 1A (sub-regional with District 11)

#3 Tri-Valley (7-4) at #1 Lackawanna Trail (10-1, PFN #6): District 11 champ Tri-Valley comes in off of a 3-0 win over Marian Catholic. Yes, 3-0 and it was a 50-yard field goal. Wow. District 2 champ Lackawanna Trail, meanwhile, beat Nativity BVM 50-6. RB Isaac Ryon tallied 212 rushing yards but only carried the ball 10 times in the game, and 6 of those carries were for TD’s. Another WOW. The Lion defense held Nativity BVM under 150 total yards in the game and forced 2 turnovers, so they are still rolling. I do not believe it will stop this week either.

The winner of this game will face the winner of Montour and Line Mountain.

———–

Class 2A

#3 Dunmore (8-3) at #1 Lakeland (10-1, PFN HM): The Bucks showed up in Taylor last Friday and thumped Riverside 27-7 in a game that was never really close. QB Weston Yannone had a nice game with a mix of run and pass plays early, and the Herd of Bucks defense kept the Vikings off the board until less than 2 minutes left in the game. The Chiefs had no issues with Holy Redeemer as they scored 7 TD’s in the 1st quarter (yes, 7) and the Chiefs defense had 3 of those scores. The Lakeland defense has been solid all year and the Dunmore defense is peaking at the right time. It will likely come down to who can stop the run as we are expecting rain in this one. The last time I covered a Dunmore/Lakeland game was a District championship up there on the hill, and I cannot wait for this one.

The winner of this game will face the winner of Bristol and Lansdale Catholic.

———–

Class 3A

#3 Scranton Prep (6-5, PFN HM) at #1 Berwick (11-0, PFN #7): Scranton Prep dominated Wyoming Area in all phases of the game last week in a 42-0 win. The Cavaliers are clicking on all cylinders and are healthy, with QB Will McPartland had an outstanding game as he went 11 for 13 passing for over 200 yards and a TD, plus 2 rushing TD’s. The Cavalier defense also played big, stopping the Warriors multi-faceted offensive attack. On the other end of this matchup, Berwick easily handled Hanover Area 49-9. Superstar RB Ty’Meere Wilkerson added to his already mammoth season with 283 yards and 5 TD’s, increasing his season totals to 2,706 rushing yards and 39 TD’s and is now Berwick’s all-time single season leader in both categories. The Bulldog defense continued their domination as well, and the line played a significant role once again in the dominating effort. The game this Friday will be historic one way or the other, as Scranton Prep is the 4-time defending District 2 3A champ and Berwick is 5-1 all time against the Cavaliers. All of this and a 90+% chance of rain at game time. Buckle up!

The winner of this game will face the winner of Montoursville and Mifflinburg.

———-

Class 4A

#3 Dallas (6-5) at North Pocono (11-0, PFN #7): Dallas got themselves into a tight contest at Valley View, and the game was scoreless until Dallas finally broke through late in the 3rd quarter as they shutout the Cougars 17-0. The Mountaineer defense may be peaking at the right time as they held Valley View to only 115 yards. The Dallas offense will need to step it up though as North Pocono’s defense continues to dominate. The Trojans offense is really on fire right now, as they rolled out to a commanding 28-0 lead on the way to defeating Crestwood 42-21. RB Josiah Gray is healthy and running well, and WR Cole West is continuing his great play on both sides of the ball. North Pocono defeated Dallas 35-14 earlier in the year in a game where Dallas was able to move the ball early on the Trojan defense. The Mounts will have their hands full, but I have a feeling the Trojans will as well. It could be an interesting one with the rainy weather that is expected.

The winner of this game will face the winner of Pope John Paul II and Bishop Shanahan.

———-

Class 5A

#3 Delaware Valley (6-5) at #1 Abington Heights (8-2, PFN HM): Delaware Valley played a slugfest against Pittston Area and escaped with a 7-6 win on the road. The Warrior defense is playing well, especially the linebackers and secondary. RB Mike Iuzzolino is a dangerously quick runner and can score at any time, and QB Colin McGarvey continues to impress with his efficiency, decision making and incredible rapport with WR Trey Newton. And the Warriors have the best kicker in District 2 with K Reagan Decker. Abington Heights is back though, and ready to avenge an earlier season loss to the Warriors. The Comets easily dispatched Wyoming Valley West 53-7 last week and they are ready to defend their District title from a year ago. RB Jayden Anglin had 189 yards rushing and QB Nick Bradley played a very solid game to get the Comets on top early. WR Gavin Anders had 2 more TD’s and 125 receiving yards. This might be the game of the week in District 2.

The winner of this game will face the winner of Hollidaysburg and DuBois.

———-

Class 6A (sub-regional with District 4)

#2 Williamsport (6-5) at #1 Wilkes-Barre (7-4): The Millionaires defeated Scranton 43-16 and the Wolfpack defeated Hazleton 46-20. Good, we’ve gotten that out of the way. The game that both teams remember right now was 2 weeks ago when Wilkes-Barre was driving inside the Williamsport 20 late in the game trying to tie it up only to fumble into the endzone and the Millionaires recovered to escape with a 28-21 win. Williamsport QB Tevin Williams has been the difference-maker the last few games, and last week against Scranton he had 3 rushing TD’s and a passing TD. Wilkes-Barre QB Jake Howe had 3 passing TD’s and 2 rushing TD’s last week and has now passed for over 7,000 yards in his career. RB Davon Underwood caught 2 TD passes and ran for 2 scores against the Cougars. The Wolfpack have been tough when their defense doesn’t make mistakes, and they will need to play mistake-free when a red hot Williams comes to town with the Millionaires seeking another win over Wilkes-Barre. This one should be awesome.

The winner of this game will face the winner of Erie McDowell and State College.

Where we are headed Friday 11/7: Sherryl and I head on on the hill to see Dunmore at Lakeland for the District 2 Class 2A championship. This matchup has been one of the best around in recent years and this week’s edition should be no exception.

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