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Wallenpaupack outlasts North Pocono in a thriller

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

| September 14, 2024

About 30 miles from “The Electric City” of Scranton PA lies Lake Wallenpaupack. The host Buckhorns, off to a good 2-1 start to the season, were coming off of a nice road win up at Honesdale. The North Pocono Trojans had some good momentum with a 3-0 start to their season.

Tonight, all of the electricity was on display up at the lake.

Trailing 14-7 entering the 2nd half, Wallenpaupack played great defense down the stretch and got a key touchdown and 2-point conversion courtesy of the Kiesendahl cousins, then stopped North Pocono on a 4th down inside the 5 yard line with only seconds to play to get the win 21-14 at Wallenpaupack Stadium.

The Buckhorns won the toss and chose to receive. Starting out at their own 31, it was Senior QB Drew Kiesendahl and his cousin Sophomore RB Ed Kiesendahl who started getting the ground game going for Wallenpaupack. In a combined effort, they gained 21 yards into Trojan territory but Drew Kiesendahl was stopped for no gain on a 4th-and-1 at the North Pocono 48. The Trojans took over there and it was Sophomore QB Chase Zimmerman and Freshman RB Joe Briskie who literally hit the ground running for North Pocono. Briskie caught a pass for 9 yards and ran 3 times for 37 yards, and Zimmerman capped the drive with a nice 2-yard keeper for the opening score that gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead with 4:59 to play in the 1st quarter.

As Wallenpaupack started their next drive at their own 21, Ed Kiesendahl gained 3 yards before Drew Kiesendahl hit WR Mason Gonzalez for a huge 63-yard gain down to the North Pocono 13. 4 plays later, Ed Kiesendahl hit paydirt on a great 3-yard stretch play run to tie the game at 7 with 1:51 left in the 1st quarter.

The Trojans had a quick 3-annd-out as the 1st quarter ended, and they punted it back to the Buckhorns to start the 2nd quarter. Starting at their own 41, Wallenpaupack gained only 5 yards in 3 plays, but on 4th-and-5 from their own 46 they employed the hard count and the Trojans jumped offsides to give the Buckhorns a 1st down at the North Pocono 49. Unfortunately, they lost yardage on the next 2 plays and then Drew Kiesendahl threw an interception to DB Cole West of North Pocono at the Trojan 44 yard line.

North Pocono then started an inspired drive fresh off of the turnover, and it was Briskie who ran it 3 straight times for a total of 22 yards. RB Josiah Gray then subbed in and ran it 3 straight times totaling 18 yards. 3 plays later, Zimmerman hit FB Michael Stout for an 11-yard TD. With Only 3:05 left in the half, North Pocono had the lead back at 14-7.

Wallenpaupack had one more chance before halftime as they started their next drive at their own 20. RB Logan Caruso was the main workhorse on the drive as he gained 23 yards on 4 carries before the Kiesendahl cousins connected again, this time on a catch and run that Ed Kiesendahl gained a nice 21 yards down to the Trojan 41-yard line. Unfortunately, the drive stalled there and at halftime it was still 14-7 in favor of the Trojans.

Receiving the 2nd half kickoff, North Pocono started at their own 21. Briskie again carried the main load as he ran it 6 times totaling 19 yards. The Trojans would only make it to the Wallenpaupack 30 though, and on a 4th-and-4 there Zimmerman was sacked by LB C.J. Doty for a 7-yard loss and forcing a turnover on downs. The Buckhorns started out on offense there but had a mistake-filled drive. There were 3 runs that resulted in negative yardage and there were also 2 fumbled snaps as well. The Buckhorn Special Teams unit came up big though, downing a punt at the North Pocono 4 yard line.

The Trojans continued their ground attack, as Briskie ran it 4 straight times for a total of 14 yards as the 3rd quarter ended. The drive stalled as the 4th quarter began, and the Trojans punted it away. Taking over at their own 25, Wallenpaupack had the momentum back and used a mix of passes and runs effectively. Drew Kiesendahl and Logan Caruso had 3 runs totaling 13 yards to start things off, then 3 plays later Kiesendahl hit WR Michael Passenti for a big 39-yard gain down to the Trojan 13. North Pocono though they had stopped the Buckhorns but a critical face mask penalty gave Wallenpaupack new life. They capitalized on it 3 plays later when Drew Kiesendahl ran it around the left end for a 5-yard scoring run. Unfortunately, a bad snap on the PAT resulted in a failed attempt and the score was 14-13 in favor of North Pocono with only 5:54 left in the game.

With time running short, Wallenpaupack had a huge defensive stand on the next drive. The Trojans started at their own 29 but only gained 6 yards before they were forced to punt it away. The Buckhorns started out at their own 30 on their next drive, and went to the air. QB Drew Kiesendahl hit big on 3 straight plays, the first being a nice 14-yard strike to Caruso. The next was a great run by Kiesendahl for a huge 29-yard gain to the Trojan 26, and then a quick pass to TE George Rafferty for 7 yards. Ed Kiesendahl ran it for 3 yards, then hit it big on a 16-yard run to glory for the score. Drew Kiesendahl then ran in the 2-point conversion, and the Kiesendahl family connection had given the Buckhorns the comeback lead 21-14 with 2:24 to play in the game.

North Pocono started at their own 32, and Zimmerman was determined to carry his team to the endzone. He had a nice keeper out to the Trojan 46, then hit WR Anthony Santaniello for 7 yards to the Buckhorn 47. On 2nd-and-11 from the 47, Zimmerman broke free on a run down to the 24. 2 plays later, Zimmerman hit Briskie for 10 yards to the 14 with only 40 seconds left. 2 straight incomplete passes drained 9 seconds off the clock, and then on 3rd-and-10 from the 14 Zimmerman ran it again for 9 yards down to the 5 yard line. North Pocono called timeout with 19 seconds to go, and faced a 4th-and-1. The handoff went to Briskie but the Buckhorns read it perfectly and hit him immediately for a 4-yard loss and a turnover on downs to seal the win.

After the game, Wallenpaupack Head Coach Matt Nawrocki told his team “If you have resiliency, you have a chance in football, and you also have a chance in life.” I also had the opportunity to speak to the Kiesendahl cousins, Drew and Ed, about the huge Wallenpaupack win. Drew, although I told him Ed was his “brother” (correction: these guys are cousins!), was very emphatic about his team’s preparation this year: “This year we had a main emphasis on playing 4 quarters and that’s what we did. The first half wasn’t perfect but we came out in the second half, coaches just instilled that in us and we’re one big family.” Ed spoke about how the Trojans came after them on defense: “Well they sent out a lot of blitzes, they were pinching a lot, they knew we were gonna try and hammer them with the run so they came out trying to stop that. In the second half we made a couple of adjustments and it worked.”

Wallenpaupack improved to 3-1 and will head just up the road next week to face the Delaware Valley Warriors. North Pocono fell to 3-1 and will head home to face the Abington Heights Comets.

Check out the photo gallery from tonight’s game, courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  PHOTO GALLERY

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