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EDWARDSVILLE &mdash; The Hanover Area School District&rsquo;s decision to cancel fall sports due to COVID-19 concerns punctured several holes in the Wyoming Valley Conference football schedule. Three Lackawanna Football Conference teams helped patch some up Friday.
				Riverside, Lakeland and Holy Cross will fill five of the eight voids created when the Hanover Area school board voted 5-3 Thursday night to suspend sports until further notice.
				Riverside will play at Wyoming Area on Sept. 11, host Holy Redeemer on Sept. 18 and host Lake-Lehman on Sept. 25. Lakeland will travel to Tunkhannock on Oct. 30, which is the final day of the regular season. Holy Cross will play at Holy Redeemer in a night game on Saturday, Oct. 24.
				Three holes remain because of Hanover Area&rsquo;s decision, leaving three teams currently with seven-game schedule. Nanticoke Area has no game on Oct. 2, Wilkes-Barre Area has no game on Oct. 9 and Crestwood has no game on Oct. 16.
				Wilkes-Barre Area athletic director Mike Namey, who helped craft the fifth revision of the schedule, said the conference is working to get opponents for those teams.
				Of course, the new schedule could be obsolete by Monday morning as the Wyoming Valley West school board has a meeting to decide the fate of fall sports. A motion to approve/disapprove fall sports tied 4-4, meaning it failed and causing confusion because of the wording on the agenda. The sports teams were allowed to resume practice.
				The LFC voted to play conference-only games, but got in a bind when Abington Heights and Carbondale announced they were cancelling fall sports. Abington Heights is allowing cross country, golf and girls tennis.
				The LFC was slated to start at five-game schedule on Oct. 2, but its schedule on the District 2 website has both those schools on it.
				Riverside was a strong proponent for playing fall sports and it will be able to meet the three WVC teams before playing what will be a revised LFC schedule. Class 3A Lakeland and Class A Holy Cross were scheduled to play Carbondale on those dates. If they would have simply played Abington Heights&rsquo; opponent those dates, they would be playing Class 6A programs.
				A couple other football-related topics were addressed at the WVC athletic directors meeting.
				&#8226; Bands and cheerleaders will not travel to away games.
				&#8226; A visiting team will be required provide the home team with a travel packet listing the number of players, coaches, managers and other team personnel who will be entering the stadium. This would allow the home team to adhere to Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s guideline of 250 people maximum at outdoor events.
				&#8226; The athletic directors also want the home team to provide the visiting team safety measures such as hand sanitizer, the ability to social distance, an outdoor team area and viable locker room facilities.
				&#8226; No spectators will be allowed per Wolf&rsquo;s mandate. If there are any changes to it, each school will deal with them on an individual basis. Thus, the WVC will not be giving out passes for now.
				&#8226; All individuals entering the stadium will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms. The away team can either do this prior to leaving for the game or upon arrival.
				Barletta new president
				Hazleton Area athletic director Fred Barletta was elected the president of the WVC athletic directors.
				Barletta replaced Cliff Jones, a long-time athletic director in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District who died Aug. 16.
				Revised schedule
				All Friday night games begin at 7 p.m. Saturday games start as listed.
				WVC Division 1 will consist of Berwick, Dallas, Hazleton Area, Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area, Williamsport and Wyoming Valley West.
				WVC Division 2 will consist of Crestwood, Holy Redeemer, Lake-Lehman, Nanticoke Area, Tunkhannock and Wyoming Area. Tunkhannock moved from Division 1 where it was in the last schedule.
				There will be two sets of standings &mdash; divisional and overall. The divisional standing will determine champions. Since Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West play twice, only the first meeting will count toward a divisional championship. The second meeting would count only toward the District 2 playoff and overall standings.
				WEEK 1
				Friday, Sept. 11
				Berwick at Lake-Lehman
				Hazleton Area at Crestwood
				Riverside at Wyoming Area
				Tunkhannock at Dallas
				Williamsport at Nanticoke Area
				Wyoming Valley West at Wilkes-Barre Area
				Saturday, Sept. 12
				Pittston Area at Holy Redeemer, 1 p.m.
				WEEK 2
				Friday, Sept. 18
				Berwick at Pittston Area
				Crestwood at Tunkhannock
				Hazleton Area at Wilkes-Barre Area
				Holy Redeemer at Riverside
				Nanticoke Area at Lake-Lehman
				Williamsport at Wyoming Area
				Wyoming Valley West at Dallas
				WEEK 3
				Friday, Sept. 25
				Berwick at Williamsport
				Crestwood at Nanticoke Area
				Holy Redeemer at Wyoming Area
				Lake-Lehman at Riverside
				Pittston Area at Wyoming Valley West
				Tunkhannock at Hazleton Area
				Wilkes-Barre Area at Dallas
				WEEK 4
				Friday, Oct. 2
				Dallas at Lake-Lehman
				Hazleton Area at Pittston Area
				Holy Redeemer at Crestwood
				Wilkes-Barre Area at Williamsport
				Wyoming Area at Tunkhannock
				Wyoming Valley West at Berwick
				OPEN &#8211; Nanticoke Area
				WEEK 5
				Friday, Oct. 9
				Berwick at Hazleton Area
				Dallas at Pittston Area
				Tunkhannock at Nanticoke Area
				Williamsport at Wyoming Valley West
				Wyoming Area at Crestwood
				OPEN &#8211; Wilkes-Barre Area
				WEEK 6
				Friday, Oct. 16
				Hazleton Area at Dallas
				Holy Redeemer at Tunkhannock
				Lake-Lehman at Wyoming Area
				Nanticoke Area at Wyoming Valley West
				Pittston Area at Williamsport
				Wilkes-Barre Area at Berwick
				OPEN &#8211; Crestwood
				WEEK 7
				Friday, Oct. 23
				Crestwood at Berwick
				Dallas at Williamsport
				Holy Redeemer at Hanover Area
				Pittston Area at Wilkes-Barre Area
				Tunkhannock at Lake-Lehman
				Wyoming Area at Nanticoke Area
				Wyoming Valley West at Hazleton Area
				Saturday, Oct. 24
				Holy Cross at Holy Redeemer, 7 p.m.
				WEEK 8
				Friday, Oct. 30
				Dallas at Berwick
				Lakeland at Tunkhannock
				Lake-Lehman at Crestwood
				Nanticoke Area at Holy Redeemer
				Wilkes-Barre Area at Wyoming Valley West
				Williamsport at Hazleton Area
				Wyoming Area at Pittston Area

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