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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’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’s stadium in West Pittston and all proceeds go to local charities.
“We’ll have fun,” said Labatch, who also coached the game last year. “We have a lot of kids representing Meyers so that’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’s a good number for the last year of it.”
Labatch will coach the Pioneers, which also will have players from Berwick, Hanover Area, Holy Redeemer, Northwest and Wyoming Area. Hazleton Area’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’t have any representatives. There will be no players from Pittston Area as the school’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.
“Not much,” Labatch said. “Kids have awards and all that kind of stuff. You’re limited with that. You’re on a skeleton crew. We’ll make the most of it.”
Here are breakdowns based on rosters submitted by UNICO. Rosters are subject to change.
SCOUTING THE MINERS
The 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 – Wyoming Valley West’s Carson Canavan and Nanticoke Area’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 – 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’s Jake Shusta and Crestwood’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 – Hazleton Area’s Mike Fuchick and Dallas Michael Anderson.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers don’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’t have huge statistics, but that’s mainly how they were used.
Meyers has three strong runners who split time. Nazir Dunell led the Mohawks’ 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’ 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’s Jared Kishbaugh (16-373-4) and Meyers’ Reese Patronick (13-150-0). The team has a pair of 1,000-yard passers scheduled to play – Northwest’s Dave Piestrak and Hanover Area’s Aaron Hummer.
A pair of Times Leader All-WVC selections – Wyoming Area’s Cameron Carr and Matt Wycoski – will anchor the lines.
MINERS ROSTER
Coach: Mike Brennan, Hazleton Area
Kevin Frisbee`OL/DE`Crestwood
Chase Passman`QB`Crestwood
Michael Anderson`OL`Dallas
Matt Ferrara`OL/LS`Dallas
Christian Motley`DB`Dallas
Michael Fuchick`OL`Hazleton Area
Josh Hedrington`OL`Hazleton Area
Damon Horton`RB`Hazleton Area
Jacob Hunsinger`WR`Hazleton Area
David Smith`WR/DB`Hazleton Area
Dallas Solomon`DL`Hazleton Area
Sparky Wolk`QB`Hazleton Area
Josh Durling`TE/DE`Lake-Lehman
David Horgerbe`WR/LB`Lake-Lehman
Frank Kutz`OL/LB`Lake-Lehman
Matt Kurtz`FB/DL`Lake-Lehman
TJ Meehan`OL/DL`Lake-Lehman
Elmer Souder`OL/DE`Lake-Lehman
Justin Timonte`K/P`Lake-Lehman
Joe Ammons`RB/DE`Nanticoke Area
Austin Cheslaud`OL/DL`Nanticoke Area
Trevor Grohowski`OL/DL`Nanticoke Area
Shane Repasky`TE/DE`Nanticoke Area
John Shoemaker`OL`Nanticoke Area
Dylan Szychowski`WR/DB`Nanticoke Area
Garrett Hopkins`WR/RB`Tunkhannock
Sergey Montross`OL`Tunkhannock
Tyler Peterson`OL`Tunkhannock
Matt Ramey`FB/DL`Tunkhannock
Zach Rogers`TE/LB`Tunkhannock
Nate Baranski`WR`Wyo. Valley West
Quaid Braddy`LB`Wyo. Valley West
Carson Canavan`RB/LB`Wyo. Valley West
Harunah Jallow`TE/DE`Wyo. Valley West
Jake Shusta`QB`Wyo. Valley West
Jayden Watkins`LB`Wyo. Valley West
Dave Wildey`OL`Wyo. Valley West
PIONEERS ROSTER
Coach: Jeff Labatch, Meyers
Will Decker`TE/DE`Berwick
Alex Force`QB/WR`Berwick
Jarret Groshek`WR/DB`Berwick
Ben Peck`DL`Berwick
Jake Seeley`DB`Berwick
Owen Shoemaker`RB`Berwick
JJ Snyder`DL`Berwick
Xayvion Procter`WR/LB`Coughlin
Jervone Young`FB/DL`Coughlin
Ben Yozwiak`TE/DE`Coughlin
Rafael Amigon`K`GAR
Peter Genao`WR/DB`GAR
Juan Vicioso`DE/LS`GAR
Matt Beecham`OL/DL`Hanover Area
Aaron Hummer`QB/LB`Hanover Area
Jared Kishbaugh`WR/DB`Hanover Area
James McCabe`RB/DB`Hanover Area
Gavin Fincke`OL/DL`Holy Redeemer
Tom Hajkowski`OL/DE`Holy Redeemer
Josh Kodish`OL/DL`Holy Redeemer
Kevin Dessoye`RB/LB`Meyers
Nazir Dunell`RB/DB`Meyers
Najese Hood`WR/DB`Meyers
Michael Horvath`OL/DL`Meyers
Ryan Maffei`OL/DL`Meyers
Reese Patronick`WR/LB`Meyers
Darrian Tyson`WR/LB`Meyers
David Kasper`P`Meyers
Lucas Acornley`TE/LB`Northwest
David Piestrak`QB/DB`Northwest
Michael Amato`OL/DL`Wyoming Area
Jacob Busch`WR/DB`Wyoming Area
Cameron Carr`OL/DE`Wyoming Area
Dimitri DePietro`WR/DE`Wyoming Area
Aleah Kranson`K`Wyoming Area
Jacob Mikolychik`OL/DE`Wyoming Area
Pat Nelson`OL/DL`Wyoming Area
Anthony Scalzo`DL`Wyoming Area
Stephen Sokach-Minnick`OL/DL`Wyoming Area
Matt Wycoski`OL/DL`Wyoming Area
