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Wilkes-Barre council approves 2016 budget, gives go ahead to create sewer authority

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Liberty is next hurdle for Valley West

<p>The last time Meyers won eight games in a season was &#8230;</p><p>Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.</p><p>&#8220;The exact year, I&#8217;m not sure,&#8221; Meyers first-year coach Jeff Labatch said. &#8220;Maybe 2005, 2004. To be honest with you, I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;</p><p>Labatch, a former Meyers quarterback and assistant coach, was close enough. It was 2004 when the Mohawks finished 8-4. Now they get a chance to tackle the nine-victory mark, which hasn&#8217;t been achieved since the 2003 team went 10-1.</p><p>To reach that goal, Meyers (8-3) will have to defeat Riverside (6-5) for a second time this season. The teams will meet for the Eastern Conference Class 2A championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re a tough team,&#8221; Labatch said. &#8220;I&#8217;m watching them on film and they&#8217;ve really improved. I expect a tight game.&#8221;</p><p>It was a tight game the first time around with Meyers winning 7-6 on Week 3. It was also a pivotal game for both teams.</p><p>Riverside&#8217;s offense hacked and wheezed to 80 total yards. Coach John Fox tried two quarterbacks, but the results were indiscernible. There seemed to be solid skill guys on offense, yet the unit produced another bland performance, something that was becoming all too common in Fox&#8217;s two years.</p><p>Meanwhile, Meyers saw a big piece of its offense &#8212; running back Mark Robinson &#8212; go down with an elbow injury on the final play of the first half. He emerged with an arm in a sling and wasn&#8217;t heard from again until a Week 9 cameo in a blowout win against Holy Redeemer. He had rushed for 407 yards in 10 quarters of work to that point.</p><p>Yet, both teams endured. Riverside&#8217;s offense woke up the next week in a 33-14 victory over Hanover Area. Moreover, running back Mikkell Green did with 184 yards and two touchdowns a week after having 24 against Meyers.</p><p>Green kept running from there to over 1,400 yards this season, including a four-touchdown performance in a 39-19 victory over Mount Carmel in the semifinals. Senior Kenny Kielar emerged as the quarterback. And while he hasn&#8217;t thrown much except in games where the Vikings needed to rally, he has brought a semblance of balance to the offense.</p><p>The results were a three-game winning streak at midseason and battling Lakeland and Dunmore down to the wire in losses to end the regular campaign.</p><p>Meyers stumbled a bit without Robinson, who won a state medal in track as part of a relay team. The Mohawks lost 24-20 to Lackawanna Trail and 41-20 to Lake-Lehman following their victory over Riverside. They recovered by winning four of their last five games with Jason Martson providing a more physical style of running and receiver Raheem Twyman becoming a big-play threat.</p><p>&#8220;I thought it was going to be tough to pull that off,&#8221; Labatch said. &#8220;We did have a couple of losses after (Robinson was hurt) against Trail and Lehman. But then we had guys step up like Jason Marston, Fahbian Biggs and Raheem Twyman.&#8221;</p><p>And, now, Robinson. He returned for the regular-season finale against city rival GAR and rushed for 112 yards and two TDs in the 28-6 win. He had 108 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown run, in last Friday&#8217;s 13-7 semifinal win against Palisades.</p><p>The Eastern Conference playoffs were viewed as the ultimate goal for decades before district tournaments took center stage in the early 1990s. Now, they&#8217;re considered extra games for teams not good enough to make districts.</p><p>For Riverside and Meyers, though, perhaps they just weren&#8217;t lucky enough to make the District 2 Class 2A field. Riverside lost two games by a point, including 14-13 to D2-2A qualifier Lakeland. Meyers had D2-2A qualifier Northwest on the ropes, only to give up a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in a 24-20 loss.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Labatch </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL090315HSF-Meyers-preview_spt_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Labatch </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL090315HSF-Meyers-preview_spt_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Robinson </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL090315HSF-Meyers-preview_spt_4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Robinson </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Marston.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Marston </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Marston.jpeg</photo2><caption2>Marston </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Meyers going for best season since 2003 in E.C. finals