North Pocono built an early lead, made its extra points and held off a Western Wayne rally Friday night for a 28-27, home-field victory in a non-league football game.
Michael Blaine opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run, then put North Pocono ahead to stay on a 29-yarder on the first play of the second quarter.
Brady Mapes went 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks, one of the reasons the Trojans had enough to hold off the Wildcats in a meeting of teams that had won their openers.
Noah West hit Ty LaFave at the left corner for a 26-yard touchdown pass and 21-7 halftime lead.
Western Wayne rallied with three touchdowns in the last nine minutes, including two by Luke Janiszewski.
Following Janiszewski’s 5-yard run, Ashton Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a North Pocono touchdown.
When Western Wayne was unable to connect on its first two extra-point tries of the fourth quarter, North Pocono had a two-score lead. The Trojans were up 28-13 after the kickoff return and 28-19 following the second miss by the Wildcats.
Janiszewski scored on a 24-yard run and added the two-point conversion run with 1:17 remaining, leaving Western Wayne a point short.
The Wildcats had tied the game, 7-7, in the first quarter when Sean Owens took a short Frankie Leyshon pass and went down the right sideline for a 77-yard touchdown.
The game matched teams ranked in the Gaughan Auto Store Super Six Power Rankings on NEPAFootball.com. North Pocono is the No. 4 Big School while Western Wayne is the No. 2 Small School.
Photo: North Pocono’s Riley Moore stiff arms Western Wayen’s Luke Janiszewski in Friday night’s game. (Tim Drewes Photo)
