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H.S. Softball: Northwest’s season comes to end with loss in District 2 Class 2A championship

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Woman sentenced for using fake name since coming to America in 2001

For the final time, players from Coughlin, GAR and Meyers will take the football field.There will be 16 in all representing the three Wilkes-Barre city schools at Friday&#8217;s UNICO All-Star Football Classic before the athletic programs are merged for the next school year. Their coach will be the final person to lead the Meyers program, coach Jeff Labatch.Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston and all proceeds go to local charities.&#8220;We&#8217;ll have fun,&#8221; said Labatch, who also coached the game last year. &#8220;We have a lot of kids representing Meyers so that&#8217;s a good thing. Last year, even though I was coaching we had only three players representing Meyers. In the district, we have 16 representing Wilkes-Barre Area. That&#8217;s a good number for the last year of it.&#8221;Labatch will coach the Pioneers, which also will have players from Berwick, Hanover Area, Holy Redeemer, Northwest and Wyoming Area. Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mike Brennan will coach the Miners, which feature players from Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton Area, Lake-Lehman, Nanticoke Area, Tunkhannock and Wyoming Valley West.Two Wyoming Valley Conference teams won&#8217;t have any representatives. There will be no players from Pittston Area as the school&#8217;s prom falls on the same day as the game for a second consecutive year. Williamsport, which is a football-only member of the WVC, plays in a senior all-star game in District 4.Practices are always tricky for the UNICO Game with so many year-end activities taking place at various schools. The Pioneers had three practices going into Thursday. One practice was shortened due to weather and another cancelled for the same reason.&#8220;Not much,&#8221; Labatch said. &#8220;Kids have awards and all that kind of stuff. You&#8217;re limited with that. You&#8217;re on a skeleton crew. We&#8217;ll make the most of it.&#8221;Here are breakdowns based on rosters submitted by UNICO. Rosters are subject to change.SCOUTING THE MINERSThe Miners will be strong at the running back position with Times Leader Player of the Year Damon Horton of Hazleton Area along with a pair of divisional rushing champions &#8211; Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Carson Canavan and Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Joe Ammons.Horton rushed for a WVC-high 21 touchdowns and 1,135 yards despite missing time due to injury. Canavan led WVC Division 6A-5A with 1,265 yards and caught 20 passes. Ammons led the entire WVC with 1,406 rushing yards, including a 374-yard, five-TD performance against Crestwood.Versatile Garrett Hopkins rushed for 500 yards and grabbed 37 passes for eight scores, leading WVC Division 4A receivers in both categories.The top receivers are from Hazleton Area &#8211; Jacob Hunsinger and David Smith. Hunsinger earned all-state honors as he led the WVC with 46 receptions for 891 yards and 10 TDs. Smith was slowed by injuries, but managed 21 catches for 361 yards.Hazleton Area quarterback Sparky Wolk led the WVC in passing yards with 1,959 and passing TDs with 15. Also available are Valley West&#8217;s Jake Shusta and Crestwood&#8217;s Chase Passman. Shusta threw for 980 yards and nine touchdowns. Passman, a three-year starter, tossed for 840 yards and seven scores.The line will be led by a pair of Times Leader All-WVC selections &#8211; Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mike Fuchick and Dallas Michael Anderson.SCOUTING THE PIONEERS The Pioneers don&#8217;t appear as strong offensively as the Miners, but there is certainly a talented group of skill players.Berwick running back Owen Shoemaker is the only 1,000-yard rusher on the roster. He ran for 1,241 yards and 16 touchdowns, with the latter leading WVC Division 4A. The rest of the runner don&#8217;t have huge statistics, but that&#8217;s mainly how they were used.Meyers has three strong runners who split time. Nazir Dunell led the Mohawks&#8217; in rushing in their final season with 731 yards and an 10.8 yards-per-carry average. He and teammate Kevin Dessoye led the team with 11 rushing TDs. Dessoye added 699 yards rushing.Meyers&#8217; Darrian Tyson was a dual threat, rushing for 577 yards (12.6 ypc) and catching 18 passes for 275 yards and three TDs. He also returned two punts for touchdowns.The other top pass catchers on the Pioneers are Hanover Area&#8217;s Jared Kishbaugh (16-373-4) and Meyers&#8217; Reese Patronick (13-150-0). The team has a pair of 1,000-yard passers scheduled to play &#8211; Northwest&#8217;s Dave Piestrak and Hanover Area&#8217;s Aaron Hummer.A pair of Times Leader All-WVC selections &#8211; Wyoming Area&#8217;s Cameron Carr and Matt Wycoski &#8211; will anchor the lines.MINERS ROSTERCoach: Mike Brennan, Hazleton AreaKevin Frisbee`OL/DE`CrestwoodChase Passman`QB`CrestwoodMichael Anderson`OL`DallasMatt Ferrara`OL/LS`DallasChristian Motley`DB`DallasMichael Fuchick`OL`Hazleton AreaJosh Hedrington`OL`Hazleton AreaDamon Horton`RB`Hazleton AreaJacob Hunsinger`WR`Hazleton AreaDavid Smith`WR/DB`Hazleton AreaDallas Solomon`DL`Hazleton AreaSparky Wolk`QB`Hazleton AreaJosh Durling`TE/DE`Lake-LehmanDavid Horgerbe`WR/LB`Lake-LehmanFrank Kutz`OL/LB`Lake-LehmanMatt Kurtz`FB/DL`Lake-LehmanTJ Meehan`OL/DL`Lake-LehmanElmer Souder`OL/DE`Lake-LehmanJustin Timonte`K/P`Lake-LehmanJoe Ammons`RB/DE`Nanticoke AreaAustin Cheslaud`OL/DL`Nanticoke AreaTrevor Grohowski`OL/DL`Nanticoke AreaShane Repasky`TE/DE`Nanticoke AreaJohn Shoemaker`OL`Nanticoke AreaDylan Szychowski`WR/DB`Nanticoke AreaGarrett Hopkins`WR/RB`TunkhannockSergey Montross`OL`TunkhannockTyler Peterson`OL`TunkhannockMatt Ramey`FB/DL`TunkhannockZach Rogers`TE/LB`TunkhannockNate Baranski`WR`Wyo. Valley WestQuaid Braddy`LB`Wyo. Valley WestCarson Canavan`RB/LB`Wyo. Valley WestHarunah Jallow`TE/DE`Wyo. Valley WestJake Shusta`QB`Wyo. Valley WestJayden Watkins`LB`Wyo. Valley WestDave Wildey`OL`Wyo. Valley WestPIONEERS ROSTERCoach: Jeff Labatch, MeyersWill Decker`TE/DE`BerwickAlex Force`QB/WR`BerwickJarret Groshek`WR/DB`BerwickBen Peck`DL`BerwickJake Seeley`DB`BerwickOwen Shoemaker`RB`BerwickJJ Snyder`DL`BerwickXayvion Procter`WR/LB`CoughlinJervone Young`FB/DL`CoughlinBen Yozwiak`TE/DE`CoughlinRafael Amigon`K`GARPeter Genao`WR/DB`GARJuan Vicioso`DE/LS`GARMatt Beecham`OL/DL`Hanover AreaAaron Hummer`QB/LB`Hanover AreaJared Kishbaugh`WR/DB`Hanover AreaJames McCabe`RB/DB`Hanover AreaGavin Fincke`OL/DL`Holy RedeemerTom Hajkowski`OL/DE`Holy RedeemerJosh Kodish`OL/DL`Holy RedeemerKevin Dessoye`RB/LB`MeyersNazir Dunell`RB/DB`MeyersNajese Hood`WR/DB`MeyersMichael Horvath`OL/DL`MeyersRyan Maffei`OL/DL`MeyersReese Patronick`WR/LB`MeyersDarrian Tyson`WR/LB`MeyersDavid Kasper`P`MeyersLucas Acornley`TE/LB`NorthwestDavid Piestrak`QB/DB`NorthwestMichael Amato`OL/DL`Wyoming AreaJacob Busch`WR/DB`Wyoming AreaCameron Carr`OL/DE`Wyoming AreaDimitri DePietro`WR/DE`Wyoming AreaAleah Kranson`K`Wyoming AreaJacob Mikolychik`OL/DE`Wyoming AreaPat Nelson`OL/DL`Wyoming AreaAnthony Scalzo`DL`Wyoming AreaStephen Sokach-Minnick`OL/DL`Wyoming AreaMatt Wycoski`OL/DL`Wyoming Area<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pictured are the members of the Miners, who will play the Pioneers in the annual UNICO All-Star Football Classic at 7 p.m. Friday at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Green-Team-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pictured are the members of the Miners, who will play the Pioneers in the annual UNICO All-Star Football Classic at 7 p.m. Friday at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted Photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Red-Team-2019-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pictured are the members of the Pioneers, who will play the Miners in the annual UNICO All-Star Football Classic at 7 p.m. Friday at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Red-Team-2019-.jpg</photo1><caption1>Pictured are the members of the Pioneers, who will play the Miners in the annual UNICO All-Star Football Classic at 7 p.m. Friday at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted Photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>UNICO ALL-STAR FOOTBALL CLASSIC7 p.m. FridayWyoming Area HS stadium, West PittstonAdmission: $5 (children under 10 free)All proceeds going to local charities</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

Seniors get one last game in Friday’s UNICO All-Star Football Classic