Pictured above: Valley View quarterback Adam Howanitz (Tim Drewes Photo)
One game in each of the top two divisions of the Lackawanna Football Conference stand out on the Friday night football schedule in District 2.
Valley View is at Delaware Valley in LFC Division 1 in the only one of 14 games that pits two teams with winning division records against each other.
Dunmore is at Western Wayne in LFC Division 2 in one of only two games that send teams with winning overall records against each other and the only one that is a divisional contest.
Valley View (3-0 in the division, 6-1 overall) has sole possession of the LFC Division 1 lead as it heads to Delaware Valley (2-1, 3-4) to face the defending division champion and one of three one-loss teams in the division.
The Cougars have won five straight and are coming off a 41-7 romp at previously unbeaten Scranton.
Connor Hilling had a streak of three straight games of at least 169 rushing yards ended last week, but he did run for 85 yards and return a kickoff for a touchdown.
In the same four-game stretch, Adam Howanitz has hit more than 70 percent of his passes (29-for-41). After missing the end of last season for knee surgery, Howanitz has increased his running the last three weeks and is coming off a game in which he carried 14 times for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Taheed Jewell has half the team’s catches, 26 for 341 yards and 5 touchdowns, and has 4 interceptions to join top tackler Dylan Walsh and sack leader A.J. Kucharski among the team’s defensive leaders.
Paulie Weinrich has run for 555 yards and 7 touchdowns while Delaware Valley won 3 of its last 4 games.
Jayden Ramirez has 27 catches for 360 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season.
Ryder Machado has 3 interceptions that he has returned for 164 yards and he ranks second on the team in tackles to Justin Kalitsnik.
Aiden Black is second on the team in receiving and leads in sacks.
Dunmore (1-1, 5-2) is at Western Wayne (2-0, 6-1) in an LFC Division 2 game.
Western Wayne has won five straight.
Dunmore is trying to shake off a 55-14 loss to Lakeland that ended a four-game winning streak.
Luke Janiszewski leads Western Wayne in rushing yards, touchdowns, tackles, sacks, fumble recoveries and quarterback hurries.
Janiszewski has averaged 9.6 yards per carry while running for 1,073 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Western Wayne is trying to set up an even bigger game next week. A win would mean the Wildcats play unbeaten Lakeland for at least a share of the division title.
Riverside is also trying to set up a championship game in Week Nine.
The Vikings (2-0, 4-3) share first place with rival Old Forge, a prohibitive favorite Saturday at Holy Cross, going into a home game with Susquehanna (1-1, 3-4).
Riverside’s Reese Gaughan leads District 2 with 41 receptions for 735 yards.
The best of the non-league games sends Berwick against an unbeaten opponent for the second straight week. The Bulldogs (4-3) knocked off Dallas, 39-22, last week, but now travel to Danville (7-0) to face the Ironmen, who are ranked second in the state in Class 3A by PennLive.com.
District 2’s last unbeaten, Lakeland, is at West Scranton (0-2, 1-6) in an LFC Division 2 game. The Chiefs are ranked fourth in the state in Class 2A.
Mid Valley (0-2, 2-5) is at Honesdale (1-1, 4-3) in the other LFC Division 2 game while Carbondale (1-1, 3-4) is at Lackawanna Trail (0-2, 3-4) in the other LFC Division 3 game.
Williamsport (1-3, 3-4) is at Wilkes-Barre Area (1-2, 3-4) in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game that has bigger implications elsewhere. The Millionaires are eighth and Wolfpack ninth, fighting for the last spot in the eight-team District 2-4-11 Class 6A Subregional playoffs.
Hazleton Area (1-2, 5-2) is at Wyoming Valley West (0-4, 0-7) in the other WVC Division 1 game.
Wyoming Area and Pittston Area are home while trying to remain on their collision course in WVC Division 2.
The Warriors (4-0, 4-3) face Lake-Lehman (2-2, 2-5) while the Patriots (3-0, 4-3) take on Tunkhannock (0-4, 1-6).
Other non-league games are: Hanover Area (1-6) at Crestwood (6-1), Wallenpaupack (1-6) at Dallas (6-1) and Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (3-3) at Montrose (2-3).
The District 2 girls tennis singles tournament has been postponed from today, but there are still other sports beyond football.
Wyoming Area (6-3, 11-4) is closely pursuing Dallas (6-2-2, 7-3-2) at the top of two tight races in boys soccer. They meet in a WVC Division 2 game that also has implications on the race for the District 2 Class 3A top seed.
Wyoming Seminary (7-1, 11-3-1) is at Lackawanna Trail (4-3, 9-4) in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 field hockey.
The schedule also includes girls volleyball and girls soccer.
MORE FRIDAY COVERAGE
Football predictions: Tom Robinson’s high school football predictions: Week 8 – NEPA Sports Nation.
