Noah Schultz carried 31 times for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns, then Crestwood held off a late charge from visiting Valley View for a 12-7 victory Friday night in the District 2 Class 4A football championship game.
Crestwood (12-1) repeated a season-opening, 20-7 victory over Valley View, last year’s champion and gave the Comets their second title in three years. The Comets (12-1) advance to face the winner of Saturday’s game between District 1 champion Interboro (10-2) and District 12 champion Bonner-Prendergast (10-1) in next week’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state quarterfinals.
Valley View, the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 1 champion, finished 10-3.
Schultz scored on a 6-yard run with 10:28 left in the first half and a 43-yard run with 10:26 remaining in the game.
After Valley View cut the deficit to 12-7, got the ball back and threatened to move in front, Crestwood came up with a stop on downs.
Schultz then took it from there, running the final 4:07 off the clock.
Valley View blocked the extra point after Schultz’s first score to stay within 6-0 at halftime.
The Cougars opened the second half with a 16-play drive. They reached first down at the Comets 11 and got as close as the 5, but the Comets held there on downs.
Schultz stretched the lead to two touchdowns when he broke the game’s longest play early in the fourth quarter.
Camryn Higgins returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Crestwood 35 and Connor Hilling scored on a 20-yard run with 9:12 left.
Taheed Jewell recovered a fumble at the Crestwood 47, putting Valley View in position to potentially pull out a victory.
Valley View got to the 26, but Crestwood held on downs at its 31 with 4:07 left and Schultz twice ran for first downs, forcing the Cougars to use their remaining timeouts.
Nick Miscavage came up with his eighth interception of the season for a Crestwood defense that also got fumble recoveries from Robert Knight and Lincoln Bibla. Knight made the final fourth-down tackle for the Comets.
Schultz ran for 128 yards on 16 carries in the second half, helping Crestwood finish with statistical advantages of 14-12 in first downs, 242-123 in rushing yards and 266-183 in total offense.
Hilling led the Valley View offense with 74 yards on 20 carries.
The win was the 11th straight for Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion Crestwood.
The Comets entered the season 0-6 all-time against the Cougars before winning the two meetings.
The game marked the finale as head coach for Valley View’s George Howanitz, who announced his impending retirement prior to the start of the season.
