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WVC football Week 9 preview: GAR, Meyers to meet in final Backyard Brawl

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Distinctive Auto October 2018

Berwick (7-2) at Coughlin (0-9)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Berwick&#8217;s Frank Sheptock (25-10, 3rd year); Coughlin&#8217;s Ciro Cinti (71-70, 13th year)Last Meeting: Berwick 24-6 in 2017All-Time Series: Berwick leads 38-7Scouting Berwick: Berwick turned over the ball four times in a 13-10 showdown loss to Dallas. Part of the reason was trying to do something when nothing was there. Sheptock mentioned that as an issue in the other loss to Valley View. RB Owen Shoemaker, a 1,000-yard rusher, was held to a season-low 71 yards. The passing game is what it is, and there&#8217;s really not enough time for a massive improvement.Scouting Coughlin: Coughlin&#8217;s final season hasn&#8217;t had many highlights. The Crusaders scored a season-high 20 points last Friday, but two TDs were in the fourth quarter with Hazleton Area ahead 49-6. The season-high 219 rushing yards looks good, but 79 of them came on one gulp. The defense surrendered over 400 yards for the second time in the last four games.What To Expect: Can&#8217;t see this one being remotely close.Crestwood (2-7) at Hazleton Area (4-5)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Crestwood&#8217;s Greg Myers (81-80, 14th year); Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mike Brennan (133-94, 17th year)Last Meeting: Hazleton Area 35-0 in 2017All-Time Series: Tied 5-5Scouting Crestwood: The Comets&#8217; only hopes to be playing in Week 11 is to make the D2-4A playoffs. They&#8217;ve been eliminated from Eastern Conference contention. They must win and get plenty of help, but with an offense struggling to move the ball this looks like Myers&#8217; last game. He announced his resignation prior to last Friday&#8217;s 14-7 loss to Pittston Area.Scouting Hazleton Area: Already locked into the D2/4-6A playoffs (everyone goes), the next step is to get a home game. The Cougars could get one with a win here and a Williamsport loss, but it&#8217;s going to be close. Good news is RB Damon Horton is back on duty after an injury. He had his sixth 100-yard rushing game in a 49-20 win vs. Coughlin.What To Expect: Hazleton Area to roll past Crestwood.Dallas (8-1) at Lake-Lehman (6-3)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Dallas&#8217; Rich Mannello (23-19, 4th year); Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Jerry Gilsky (63-37, 9th year)Last Meeting: Dallas 37-6 in 2017All-Time Series: Dallas leads 46-12-2Scouting Dallas: Dallas gutted out a 13-10 win over Berwick, slamming RB Lenny Kelley a season-high 29 times at the Dawgs defense. He finished with 156 yards. The passing game was limited. Three fumble recoveries and an interception were big. All in all, it was a nice bounce-back win after a 33-0 loss to Valley View. The Mountaineers are getting healthy at the right time.Scouting Lehman: The game is big for the Black Knights, but not only because of the rivalry. They could end up with a home game in the D2-3A playoffs with a victory. The caveat is Lehman is 1-3 this season against opponents with a winning record. The offense managed just 140 yards in a 17-7 loss to Lackawanna Trail, and Dallas&#8217; defense is better than Trail&#8217;s.What To Expect: The Old Shoe Game isn&#8217;t always easy for the favorite. Expect Lehman to battle but fall.Hanover Area (3-6) at Nanticoke Area (4-5)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Hanover Area&#8217;s Mike McCree (9-30, 4th year); Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Ron Bruza (37-54, 9th year)Last Meeting: Nanticoke Area 44-0 in 2017All-Time Series: Nanticoke Area 50-38-6Scouting Hanover Area: The Hawkeyes will be in the postseason for the first time since 2014, having secured the seventh seed in the D2-3A playoffs. But things haven&#8217;t gone well the past two games. Hanover Area has been outscored 91-13 and rushed for 56 yards in those two games combined. Plus, the turnover problem has resurfaced with eight in those two games.Scouting Nanticoke Area: Having bypassed the D2-4A playoffs &#8211; and for good reasons &#8211; the Trojans&#8217; focus is making the Eastern Conference 4A title game. Everything broke the right way last weekend and a win over rival Hanover Area probably means hosting the title contest. Completely overwhelmed GAR last Saturday 35-0. It could have been worse.What To Expect: Now dubbed the Sans Souci Struggle, expect Nanticoke Area to win a close game.Holy Redeemer (0-9) at Northwest (3-6)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Redeemer&#8217;s Dwayne Downing (27-52, 8th year) Northwest&#8217;s Lon Hazlet (108-105, 20th year)Last Meeting: Northwest 42-14 in 2017All-Time Series: Northwest leads 11-0Scouting Redeemer: Somehow, Holy Redeemer managed to be tied 0-0 with Meyers at halftime last week. But then problems &#8211; two pick-6s and a punt return TD &#8211; cropped up in the second half in a 38-0 loss. Still, the Royals battled when they could have easily mailed it in the rest of the season. Incredibly, still alive for a D2-3A playoff spot in the bloated playoff field.Scouting Northwest: Now eliminated from D2-A playoff contention, the Rangers will try to get into the Eastern Conference 2A-A championship game for a second consecutive year. They need to win, which should happen, and for Palmerton to lose, which looks like a 50-50 proposition. Even that might not be enough. Plenty of scoreboard watching will be going on tonight.What To Expect: Northwest to win and keep its fingers crossed about the postseason.Midd-West (4-4) at Tunkhannock (3-6)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Midd-West&#8217;s Brad Hatter (26-36, 6th year); Tunkhannock&#8217;s Mike Marabell (3-6, 1st year)Last Meeting: never playedAll-Time Series: never playedScouting Midd-West: Midd-West, which is near Selinsgrove, is a first-year program that got its start with the help of the NFL. The results have been mixed, but pretty solid for a start-up team. The school itself is young, formed in 2004 by the merger of rivals Middleburg and West Snyder. Hatter&#8217;s previous coaching experience came as Millersburg&#8217;s head honcho.Scouting Tunkhannock: A win here could put Tunkhannock in the postseason for the first time since 2007. The Tigers are 10th in the D2-4A standings, but the three teams ahead of them are heavy underdogs this weekend. Eight teams make the D2-4A playoffs. The running game got on track last week, albeit against one-win Mid Valley, in a 34-0 victory.What To Expect: Not sure because it&#8217;s hard to get a read on how good Midd-West is.Williamsport (5-4) at Wyoming Valley West (4-5)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Williamsport&#8217;s Chuck Crews (41-44, 8th year); WVW&#8217;s Pat Keating (80-35, 10th year)Last Meeting: Valley West 48-34 in 2017All-Time Series: Valley West leads 24-18Scouting Williamsport: First Williamsport loses standout RB Treyson Potts to a knee injury. Then star QB Joe Fagnano misses last week with an injury. The result was another bland offensive output in a 36-17 loss to Wallenpaupack. The loss of two of the WVC&#8217;s best offensive players has taken its toll. So has opponents&#8217; running game against a rather small defensive front.Scouting Valley West: Since opening the season with three wins, the Spartans&#8217; only victory since has been against winless Coughlin. Even then, the game was more of a tussle than expected. The offense, minus 1,000-yard RB Carson Canavan, has its worse game in a long, long time in a 45-7 loss to Delaware Valley. The postseason &#8211; be it the D2/11-5A or Eastern Conference playoffs &#8211; is on shaky ground.What To Expect: Back in August, this looked like a premier matchup. Injuries have change that.Wyoming Area (9-0) at Pittston Area (4-5)7 p.m. FridayThe Coaches: Wyoming Area&#8217;s Randy Spencer (58-49, 10th year); Pittston Area&#8217;s Nick Barbieri (10-10, 2nd year)Last Meeting: Pittston Area 24-21 in 2017All-Time Series: Wyoming Area leads 29-24Scouting Wyoming Area: The Warriors go for their first unbeaten regular season since 1997. Even with a win, they appear locked into the second seed in the D2-3A playoffs. The defense has allowed 55 yards rushing in the last three games. Since PA doesn&#8217;t run the ball well, expect the Patriots to test the WA secondary, which hasn&#8217;t faced a solid throwing team all season.Scouting Pittston Area: The Patriots clinched a D2-4A playoff spot with a 14-7 win vs. Crestwood, but the running game produced under 100 yards for a fifth time. Aside from solid numbers against an undersized Williamsport defense, running the ball has been troublesome. Wyoming Area excels at stopping the run, so Pittston Area will probably put the ball in the air often.What To Expect: Rivalry games are tricky. Wyoming Area needs to heed the warning.GAR (1-8) at Meyers (6-3)3:30 p.m. SaturdayThe Coaches: GAR&#8217;s Paul Wiedlich Jr. (53-46, 9th year); Meyers&#8217; Jeff Labatch (25-17, 4th year)Last Meeting: Meyers 26-19 OT in 2017All-Time Series: Meyers leads 44-41-1Scouting GAR: Nothing went right in a 35-0 loss to Nanticoke Area. The blocking &#8211; to be polite &#8211; wasn&#8217;t good as QB Kam Taylor constantly faced an avalanche of pass rushers. The ground game netted 33 yards and has 71 yards and is averaging less than a yard per carry in its last three games. Guess what, though! GAR is likely in the D2-3A playoffs with a win or Holy Redeemer loss.Scouting Meyers: Meyers had a head-scratching first half against winless Holy Redeemer, going into the locker room tied 0-0. The Mohawks won 38-0, but it was defense and special teams that turned the tide. The offense can be explosive at times, yet there are those games where it hits a lull. That&#8217;s not going to cut it Week 11 in the D2-3A quarterfinals.What To Expect: The final Backyard Brawl won&#8217;t be a very memorable game in a series that started in 1931.<style>
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<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 Week 10 At A Glance