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Times-shamrock communiTy newspapers 149 Penn Avenue Scranton, PA 18503 Phone: (570) 348-9185 Fax: (570) 207-3448
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lackawanna
valley
August 26, 2016
thevalleyadvantage.com
Tackling a Revamped Conference
ON THE INSIDE The latest happenings in our area Page 2
upper
Divisions change as gridiron season begins
by Dave Lauriha
SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY ADVANTAGE
A year ago, when Labor Day was at its latest possible date, high school football did not get around to opening weekend until Sept. 4. This year, high school football begins nine days earlier on the calendar, in part because of a significant change the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association made by expanding from four to six classifications in football, girls and boys basketball, baseball and softball. In addition to increasing the number of playoff games this November and December, the expanded classifications resulted in a revamped Lackawanna Football Conference (LFC). Instead of its biggest division having the most teams, it is small-school division Lackawanna III, with 10 teams, that has the most members, including Lakeland, Mid Valley and Carbondale Area. They join Dunmore, Riverside, Holy Cross, Lackawanna Trail, Montrose, Old Forge and Susquehanna in the division. Lakeland has been a constant threat in the LFC II and appears to be the top team of the three schools in the Advantage coverage area. The Chiefs have a strong running attack led by Eric Ferko, Mike Lowry and Cy Babcanec but need the offensive line to mature quickly to give their backs lanes to run through. “We need to get the offensive line to gel early,” Chiefs head coach Jeff Wasilchak said recently. “We have more people back defensively, but it’s hard to tell what you’ve got when you’re not allowed to hit. You have to stop the run, but you won’t know until you have to.” In addition to the two seniors and Babcanec, the other two-way starters for Lakeland are expected to be senior linemen Dylan Reeves and Eddie Cavalier. Along the defensive front are returning starters Rob Bomba and Kevin Johnson. At Mid Valley, Spartans head coach Dave Rebar prepares for his fourth year as head coach, meaning he has put his stamp on the
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Lakeland scrimmages as it prepares to begin the new football season.
entire program. “Keeping focused,” he said. “They know what they are doing now, it’s our fourth year now. Having coached for 10 years, you see how the key to starting your program is getting them to understand your style of coaching.” His senior class includes a bunch of twoway starters in Brandon Wallo, Zach Fiume, James Urso, Robert Powell, Colin Munley and Tom Malandri, and juniors Jason Kline and Matt Stankiewicz. A deluge of injuries plagued Carbondale Area last year, but head coach Larry Gabriel III hopes that last season’s troubles become a positive for the Chargers this time around. “We are cautiously optimistic about our season. We are returning many guys with varsity playing experience,” Gabriel said. “Last year, we were riddled with injuries. Ironically, the injuries helped us create depth for this season. The key to our season will be to stay healthy and get out of the gate quickly.” The return of Jason Jablonowski could open up the offense with back Dominic Gigliotti
PHOTO JOHN SWARTZ
and quarterback Jordan Tolerico the primary beneficiaries for the Chargers. Andrew Larson is the top lineman. The lone area team not in Division III is Valley View, a Class 4A school, paired with Honesdale, North Pocono, Scranton Prep, Western Wayne and West Scranton. The Cougars would love to claim the title and may have enough balance on the team to pull it off. “We have some pretty good skill kids, a good line,” Valley View head coach George Howanitz said. “The defense is in better shape, with seven starters back, so that means a little bit less of a learning curve, so there is a lot less pressure on a defense than on offense. You want a strong point, and this gives the offense time to catch up.” Valley View has plenty of weapons to place all over the field in senior receivers Jack Osborne and Ethan and Evan Carey, along with junior fullback Sam Pittsman and tight end Zach Duffield. Up front, sophomore Brian Durkin is joined by two-way senior starters Bryan Hudak, Angelo Mazzoni and Matt Pittsman.