By: Edward Kiesendahl
Heading into the game last Friday night Wallenpaupack was riding high after three straight games in the win column. The team just came off their first Lackawanna Football Conference (LFC) win since 2021. Delaware Valley came into the matchup hungry, having started their season 0-4 and 0-1 in the LFC. But with the quality of teams DV had played this record left lots of questions about how talented they really were. This game had the potential to really boost the Buckhorns with a 2-0 start in the LFC. It also had the potential to set DV back to a 0-5 start. Wallenpaupack had a few issues heading into the game. Starting left tackle, senior, Logan Lemin was out due to injury, and starting center and defensive tackle, senior captain, Conan Kier was out for the first half due to illness. This meant some younger players had to step into larger roles than they were used to for Paupack.
The game started fast for the Buckhorns with junior running back Logan Caruso making an eighteen-yard grab for first down which led to a sixty-yard Eddy Kiesendahl run. After Kiesendahl got hawked around the three yard-line senior quarterback Drew Kiesendahl threw a three-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Xaiden Schock. With that the Buckhorns took a 6-0 lead until the PAT. Then the score became 7-0.
On the ensuing drive the Warriors stalled out on fourth down giving the Buckhorns prime field position, but a fumbled snap exchange gave the warriors the ball right back. Once again, the defense held the offense on fourth, but a quick three and out gave the Warriors the ball right back once again.
DV finally hit pay-dirt on this drive with a nine-yard touchdown run from Michael Iuzzolino. Wallenpaupack’s following drives led to punts. DV had all the momentum driving to score after the second punt, but an interception from freshman safety Jake Rafferty gave the ball back to the Buckhorns offense. The offense couldn’t move the ball past the markers and had a quick three-and-out. On just a short three plays after the punt the Warriors punched in their second touchdown with a twenty-yard reception from Colin McGarvey. Wallenpaupack followed with a punt and a fumbled handoff exchange deep in their own territory on two consecutive drives. These led to two field goal tries from Del-Val. DV made one out of two of these field goal attempts. With that, a chaotic first half ended with a score of 17-7.
The Warriors came out the half ready to prove they were better than their record showed. They took the opening drive of the second half sixty-five yards in twelve plays capped off by a five-yard touchdown reception from freshman receiver Trey Newton. The Buckhorns turned the ball over again after a strip-sack which led to another DV touchdown run this time from Justin Estevez. Estevez’s run extended the lead to 31-7. A dormant Buckhorn offense finally showed some signs of life with a fifteen-yard carry from Eddy Kiesendahl. It was however, quickly erased after a Warriors interception. DV was held to a field goal attempt to start the fourth
quarter, but it fell short. Following this the Buckhorns showed a lot of grit and toughness by driving eighty yards down the field with Logan Caruso finishing the drive with a touchdown run. The game ended with a score of 31-14 in the Warriors favor. Lack of effort was not the issue for Paupack in this one with injuries and illness holding some starters out. The team showed a lot of resilience with the ability to continue to fight through many tough breaks throughout the game. Wallenpaupack moves onto another tough LFC opponent in Scranton Prep, Friday night, at 7:00, at Dunmore High School.
