Pictured above: Paulie Weinrich.
Delaware Valley played itself out of a share of the title and a top playoff seed with a loss in the final week of the regular season.
The Warriors played themselves back into a shot at a different championship with an impressive effort to open the postseason.
Delaware Valley ran for 275 yards, picked off 3 passes and took control early in a 41-0 rout of host Pittston Area Friday night in the District 2 Class 5A football semifinals.
The Warriors, who won all six District 2 Class 6A football championships between the time that classification was created and this year’s drop to 5A, will play for the title Thursday night at Scranton. The championship game was moved forward a day in an attempt to avoid heavy rain that is forecast for Friday.
Paulie Weinrich and Ryder Machado each broke a long touchdown run as part of the ground game that averaged 9.2 yards on its 30 carries and was responsible for 5 of the 6 touchdowns.
Weinrich opened the scoring with a 79-yard run less than two minutes into the game. He finished with 112 yards on 12 carries.
Logan Olsommer ran 12 yards on his only carry of the night for a touchdown in the last minute for a 14-0 lead over one quarter. He also was 3-for-4 for 45 yards and a touchdown passing.
Weinrich added a 1-yard touchdown run and Olsommer threw to Bradley Coe for a 23-yard touchdown and 28-0 halftime lead.
Coe also had an interception that he returned 53 yards and broke up a pair of passes.
Machado’s 64-yard run with 6:33 left in the third quarter put the game into the Mercy Rule at 35-0. He also had an interception and finished with 95 yards on 9 carries.
Luke Brazanskas provided the last score on a 43-yard run with 9:41 left in the game.
Kolton Hardy led the Delaware Valley defense with three tackles and four assist.
Aiden Black had a sack and Jackson Corrie had the other interception as Delaware Valley held Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion Pittston Area to fewer than 60 yards passing.
Harry Pugliese led the Patriots with 87 yards on 15 rushes.
Delaware Valley won the regular-season meeting at Scranton, 28-14. Both teams were in Lackawanna Football Conference Division 1 title contention before faltering late in the regular season.
