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Collins acquitted on all counts, calls charges against him ‘trumped up’

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Penn State’s strangest season in modern history opens with challenge at Indiana

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; The streak is over. And Holy Redeemer ended it emphatically.
				The Royals put on a dominant performance, taking control in the second quarter to defeat Holy Cross 40-7 in a non-conference game which ended their 23-game losing streak.
				Redeemer&rsquo;s last win was 27-26 over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech on Oct. 28, 2017.
				&ldquo;Incredible,&rdquo; said Redeemer&rsquo;s Alex Hajkowski, who has been with the program four years. &ldquo;I never felt like this before. A win has never felt more deserving.&rdquo;
				Redeemer narrowly missed its fourth shutout in the program&rsquo;s 14-year history when Holy Cross scored with 12.4 seconds left. The other three shutouts have come against Holy Cross.
				&ldquo;We certainly talked about (the losing streak),&rdquo; second-year Redeemer coach Tyson Kelley said. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ll be honest, I&rsquo;ve been reminding these guys about the streak the past year now. It&rsquo;s something since my first day here I&rsquo;ve said something (about), because when you get into a streak of losing games, it&rsquo;s hard for guys to get through adversity.&rdquo;
				Holy Cross knows the feeling. The school didn&rsquo;t field a team in 2019 because of a lack of players. The Crusaders have lost all four games this year to run their own losing skid to 12 games.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been our worst enemy the whole year,&rdquo; Holy Cross coach Dave Gatto said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a senior on the team and most of my kids never played before in their lives. But they play their hearts out for us every week.&rdquo;
				Holy Cross moved into the red zone on its first possession, but Redeemer blocked a 29-yard field goal. The Royals then scored seven plays later on a 35-yard pass from Catal Ormando to Jacob Hunter.
				Hajkowski then played a big part in turning a close game into a rout as Redeemer scored 19 second-quarter points to take a 26-0 lead into halftime.
				Redeemer moved to the Holy Cross 1-yard line, but Ormando fumbled on a running play. Hajkowski, who has played tight end but was at right tackle, picked up the ball, took a couple steps and lunged into the end zone.
				&ldquo;I told myself yesterday I would never try to scoop a fumble,&rdquo; Hajkowski said. &ldquo;But I saw it, and that was definitely tight end instinct.&rdquo;
				Ormando then connected twice to Zack Perta for touchdowns of 29 and 48 yards before halftime. Perta made a little jab step inside to fake the defense on the first TD catch. He raced right past the Holy Cross secondary on the second score, which was set up by an interception by Hajkowski.
				The Royals scored on their first possession of the third quarter, overcoming three penalties. Sophomore running back Josh Wesneski capped it with a 2-yard run at 1:42.
				Holy Cross&rsquo; next drive ended on consecutive sacks by Christian Leon and Hajkowski. Then on Redeemer&rsquo;s second play, Wesneski made a highlight-reel 63-yard TD run by weaving from one side of the field to the other, only to have a chunk of it wiped out by a penalty. A penalty early erased a blocked punt return for a touchdown by Caleb Hurley.
				Redeemer, though, found the end zone for a final time as Hunter made a similar weaving run for a score but from 28 yards.
				The Royals finish their regular season next Friday against Nanticoke Area, but could have another game lined up Nov. 6 although it hasn&rsquo;t been finalized. District 2 is allowing non-playoff teams to play the first two weekends November.
				<ins>Holy Redeemer 40, Holy Cross 7 </ins>
				<ins>Holy Cross`0`0`0`7 &mdash; 7 </ins>
				<ins>Holy Redeemer`7`19`7`7 &mdash; 40 </ins>
				<ins>First quarter </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Jacob Hunter 35 pass from Catal Ormando (Nick Dunleavy kick), 3:39 </ins>
				<ins>Second quarter </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Alex Hajkowski 3 fumble return (Dunleavy kick),6:01 </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Zack Perta 29 pass from Ormando (kick failed), 2:06 </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Perta 48 pass from Ormando (kick failed), 0:14 </ins>
				<ins>Third quarter </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Josh Wesneski 2 run (Dunleavy kick), 1:42 </ins>
				<ins>Fourth quarter </ins>
				<ins>HR &mdash; Hunter 28 run (Dunleavy kick), 8:06 </ins>
				<ins>HC &mdash; Gavyn Grems 5 run (Wyatt Walchak kick), 0:12. </ins>
				<ins>Team statistics`HC`HR </ins>
				<ins>First downs`12`15 </ins>
				<ins>Rushes-yards`44-230`27-164 </ins>
				<ins>Passing yards`11`142 </ins>
				<ins>Total yards`241`306 </ins>
				<ins>Passing`1-3-1`5-7-1 </ins>
				<ins>Sacked-yards lost`2-9`0-0 </ins>
				<ins>Punts-avg.`1-35`0-0 </ins>
				<ins>Fumbles-lost`3-1`1-0 </ins>
				<ins>Penalties-yards`9-66`10-65 </ins>
				<ins>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS </ins>
				<ins>RUSHING &mdash; Holy Cross, Grems 17-56, Logan Tierney 12-125, Sean Herbert 6-0, Cameron Moczulski 8-50, team 1-(minus-1). Redeemer, Zack Perta 2-12, Matt Schuler 7-48, Christian Leon 5-46, Ormando 5-58, Taden Jendrzewski 2-11, Wesneski 3-43, Hunter 1-28, Hajkowski 0-3. </ins>
				<ins>PASSING &mdash; Holy Cross, Herbert 1-3-1-11. Redeemer, Ormando 5-7-1-142. </ins>
				<ins>RECEIVING &mdash; Holy Cross, Walchak 1-11. Redeemer, Hunter 2-38, Perta 3-104. </ins>
				<ins>INTERCEPTIONS &mdash; Holy Cross, Tierney 1-23. Redeemer, Hajkowski 1-13. </ins>
				<ins>MISSED FGs &mdash; none. </ins>

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H.S. Football: Holy Redeemer wipes out 23-game losing streak with rout of Holy Cross