Springsteen signs Philadelphia fifth-grader's absence note

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Greatest successes of late Berwick coaching legend George Curry brought to life on film

Halfway through the Wyoming Valley Conference football season already. Time flies when you&#8217;re having fun.Well, some teams are. Others aren&#8217;t as the final push to the postseason begins Friday.The new PIAA six-classification format means every WVC team is within striking distance of a playoff berth. Mathematically, that is. Reality has begun to set in for some squads.Here&#8217;s a peek at the 17 WVC teams midway through the season and what to expect over the final five weeks.BERWICK (3-2)The first five: After outscoring its first two opponents 86-0, the offense bogged down in losses to Wyoming Area (4-1) and Selinsgrove (3-2) and a win against Crestwood (1-4). Injuries have played a part, especially on the offensive line. The defense&#8217;s only hiccup was against Wyoming Area.The next five: A little more pop from the offense would be welcomed. The defense will be tested big time in the regular season finale against Williamsport (5-0). The Dawgs will likely end up the third seed in the D2-4A playoffs.COUGHLIN (3-2)The first five: The losses have come against opponents a combined 9-1; the wins against opponents a combined 2-13. The offense has run the ball decently, posting a 100-yard rusher in all but the Scranton Prep game. The passing game hasn&#8217;t done much. Opponents have been able to pass on the defense.The next five: Since eight of 11 D2-4A teams make the playoffs, Coughlin isn&#8217;t in danger of sitting home Week 11. If the Crusaders want to be playing beyond the first round, they need to start being more efficient on both sides of the ball.CRESTWOOD (1-4)The first five: Crestwood suffered plenty of injuries last year, forcing guys on the field who weren&#8217;t expected to play much. Same thing is happening this year. The offense has scored just three touchdowns in the last four games.The next five: The schedule softens somewhat with only one 2015 playoffs team among the last five games. So if the Comets can get to the .500 mark, they might be able to get into the bloated D2-4A playoff field with a 5-5 record.DALLAS (1-4)The first five: Dallas had 2,341 yards of offense during the 2015 regular season. The skill guys on the field this year accounted for 114 of them, so struggles were expected. The Mountaineers have been shut out three times, the same amount through five games in 2013 when they finished 1-9.The next five: The schedule isn&#8217;t as harsh, except for the Wyoming Area game Week 7, so the offense might be able to get on track. The mettle of the team will be displayed on how it handles these games.GAR (2-3)The first five: There were three hard-luck losses in the first five games. The Grenadiers trailed by one point in the final minutes in a 20-11 loss to Western Wayne. They lost by three to Nanticoke and Lake-Lehman, with the latter game going overtime.The next five: GAR really needed to win those early games because the schedule becomes much tougher starting with road games at Athens (3-2) and Wyoming Area (4-1). A winning record and a D2-3A playoff berth could come to the last game against rival Meyers (3-2).HANOVER AREA (4-1)The first five: The Hawkeyes are off to their best start since beginning 2008 with a 5-1 mark. They need to keep things in perspective because the four wins include one in overtime, another by one point and another by three points. So this could have been just as easily a bleak start.The next five: The 2008 lost three in a row after the midway point. Hanover Area is an underdog Friday against Wyoming Area (4-1) and the final four games look like toss-ups right now. Not sure how things are going to play out.HAZLETON AREA (0-5)The first five: The Cougars closed out 2015 by going 3-3, but the momentum hasn&#8217;t carried over despite having a decent group of returning starters. The situation looks like early in the 2015 season. The offense can&#8217;t score; the defense can&#8217;t stop anyone.The next five: It&#8217;s doubtful Hazleton Area will break into the win column the next two weeks as it plays Delaware Valley (3-2) and Scranton (2-3). After that, the Cougars play three teams with similar offensive issues, so a few victories are possible.HOLY REDEEMER (1-4)The first five: New coach, same problem. If a team can&#8217;t block, it can&#8217;t run the ball. If it can&#8217;t run the ball, it can&#8217;t win. The Royals have rushed for minus-63 yards in their last three games. Plus, a lack of healthy players led to a forfeit loss to Western Wayne.The next five: The focus should be getting better, especially along the line of scrimmage. The only game that could result in a win comes in the season finale at Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (1-4).LAKE-LEHMAN (2-3)The first five: The Black Knights graduated plenty of talent from last year&#8217;s 10-2 team, so no one was really expecting a repeat performance. Then injuries started piling up, forcing guys into the lineup sooner than they should be. A rough situation all around.The next five: The Black Knights will probably need to go 4-1 the rest of the way to avoid missing the district playoffs for the first time since 2011. That task might not be possible with so many starters watching instead of playing.MEYERS (3-2)The first five: The running game has really picked up the last two games, averaging 445 yards after some offensive adjustments. The Mohawks, though, have a bad habit they need to break. They have a tendency to playing really well in either the first or second half, but rarely both.The next five: Because of a scheduling quirk, Meyers has four of its last five games on the road. It doesn&#8217;t seem that harsh because two road games are at its home field. The Mohawks need to start putting four quarters together to get a D2-3A playoff berth.NANTICOKE (2-3)The first five: The Trojans could be in much better shape if not for small segments in each loss where the wheels start to wobble. Just last Friday, they led Northwest 8-7 at halftime and then surrendered two TDs in a three-minute span of the third quarter in the 35-16 loss.The next five: If Nanticoke can straighten out those in-game lulls, it could squeeze into the D2-3A playoffs as the fourth and final seed. The team is running the ball effective and has been able to mix in the pass with some success.NORTHWEST (2-3)The first five: Most of the offense walked away with diplomas, so a slow start wasn&#8217;t really a shock. The Rangers, though, have shown some life with the ball and that could be a key factor down the stretch. Having its competition for two D2-A playoff berth struggling as of late has helped.The next five: Friday&#8217;s game against Holy Redeemer (1-4) will likely be a win, but then come four games which will determine Northwest&#8217;s playoff fate. Fortunately for the Rangers, they are trending in the right direction.PITTSTON AREA (1-4)The first five: The Patriots snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 30-28 victory over Tunkhannock in Week 2. Since then, the offense hasn&#8217;t produced points despite some solid personal performances. The defense hasn&#8217;t recorded a turnover, an astonishing statistic.The next five: The second half of the season is rougher than the first half, so finding another win could be difficult. The Patriots need to stay focused and play hard because many of them will be back next year.TUNKHANNOCK (2-3)The first five: Even in the losses, Tunkhannock battled right to the end. That&#8217;s quite a change for a program which was 6-44 over the last five seasons, with many of those losses coming by big margins. The offense is a bit top heavy, but it&#8217;s working so far.The next five: Tunkhannock can&#8217;t be counted out of any of the remaining games based on how it&#8217;s played thus far. The program hasn&#8217;t won four games in a season since 2008. The Tigers might be able to reach that mark.WILLIAMSPORT (5-0)The first five: The Millionaires have dominated everyone but Wyoming Valley West as they are off to their best start since starting 7-0 in 2002. Everyone knew the team had home-run hitters on offense, but the defense has been just as prominent.The next five: Williamsport hasn&#8217;t finished a regular season unbeaten since 1945. The talent is there to do so this year. However, the schedule is brutal down the stretch, including a long road trip to Delaware Valley. Still, it should end up the top seed in the D2-6A playoffs.WYOMING AREA (4-1)The first five: The Warriors already have topped their win totals from any of the previous three years. Going 2-1 in a stretch that contained D2-3A playoff teams from last year &#8211; Berwick, Coughlin and champ Scranton Prep &#8211; was an acceptable outcome.The next five: The schedule lightens up over the final five games. The Warriors will be favored in all but the Oct. 21 game at Williamsport (5-0). A sweep could get them the top seed in the D2-4A playoffs. An 8-2 record probably puts them behind North Pocono (5-0) in the seedings.WYOMING VALLEY WEST (3-2)The first five: Perhaps the bar was set too high after the Spartans tied the school record for wins in a season with 12 in 2015. After all, nearly the entire line had to be retooled. It&#8217;s been a slow process, perhaps slower than imagined. Mistakes and penalties have been costly.The next five: If Valley West is to grab the top seed in the D2-5A playoffs, it needs to defeat Wallenpaupack (2-3) on Friday and Abington Heights (3-2) the following week. Those teams are the only other D2-5A squads. Should be able to get a home playoff game regardless.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area running back Brian Miles (24) and the Warriors appear headed to the postseason for the first time since 2012. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_WyoArea-CoughlinFB_1-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Area running back Brian Miles (24) and the Warriors appear headed to the postseason for the first time since 2012. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

WVC football season reaches midway point