By: Edward Kiesendahl
You couldn’t have asked for better night for high school football last Friday when the Wallenpaupack Buckhorns were pitted against the Scranton Knights. Both teams were coming off of tough losses the week prior, and this game presented the perfect opportunity to turn things around with a league win. Scranton at 2-4, had struggled with injuries throughout the season with the most prominent being their starting quarterback Brody Coyle. Wallenpaupack also stood at 2-4 before the game. While it seemed Paupack was just starting to get healthy starting center Riley Lemin went down along with starting safety, Anthony Kiesendahl, and neither would play against the Knights. The game was set-up to be a hard-fought matchup between two beat-up teams looking to get their season’s back on the right track.
The Buckhorns started the game with the ball and moved it effectively down the field. Chunk play after chunk play led the Buckhorns to there first score of the night coming from running back Logan Caruso from fifteen yards out. Scranton following drive was cut short by an interception by Mason Gonzalez. Paupack’s offense rewarded the defense for the turnover with a ten-play sixty-six-yard drive that included a forty-six-yard explosion from Logan Caruso and was culminated by a four-yard touchdown from Eddie Kiesendahl. The Knights did not back down. They pieced a long fifteen-play drive inching their way into the end zone to make the score 14-7 halfway through the second quarter. Wallenpaupack continued to bully Scranton’s defense down the field making it to the five-yard line, but their drive got cut short by the end of the first half.
Scranton started the second half with the ball trying to duplicate their last drive. They nearly did, but they were held on fourth down by Paupack’s physical defense. Once again, the offense did their duty scoring again. The drive was highlighted by a fifty-six-yard pass from Jake Rafferty to Mason Gonzalez which put the Bucks in position for a six-yard Eddie Kiesendahl touchdown run. The ensuing drives followed a similar script as Paupack shut down the Knights on fourth down with an interception from Jake Rafferty, and they scored another touchdown. This time a forty-eight-yard run from Eddie Kiesendahl making the score 28-7. As the fourth quarter continued Scranton needed to put a drive together, and they made it to the Buckhorn thirty-eight before being denied on a fourth down deep shot broken up by Jaxton Pouliot. The game was sealed by one last Eddie Kiesendahl rushing touchdown from two yards out. This made the final score 35-7.
This was a huge win for Wallenpaupack putting them in a position to make the playoffs with a winning record through their last their games. While this game seemed to be filled with big plays from the skill position players it was really won by utter dominance by the guys up front. The offensive line of Niko Bowers, Christian Gutierrez, Jamie Stiner, Tyler Gallo, and Charlie Gallagher made holes and gave the quarterback a good pocket all night. Both up front and those behind them have to play the same way this upcoming week in order for a homecoming win. Abington is coming off a win against Scranton Prep though missing their starting quarterback. This game will be a battle of who wants it more and who’s offense can sneak out more points against both teams’ stout defenses. The game is tomorrow, and it is Homecoming! Where your purple and white and come out at 7:00 to help support your Buckhorns.
