Football division leads and control of titles races will be on the line in a series of games Friday night.
The Lackawanna Football Conference has a pair of first-place showdowns between divisional unbeatens while Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference has a three-game combination to try to sort out its five-team title race.
There are also games that could help thin out what remains as a five-team race in LFC Division 1.
At minimum, shares of division titles – and, in all likelihood, ultimately the championships – will be decided when Western Wayne goes to Lakeland in LFC Division 2 and Riverside visits Old Forge in Division 3.
All four teams are 3-0 in their divisions where the five-game schedules take place over the second half of the 10-game regular season. All four are also ranked among the Small Schools in the Gaughan Auto Super Six Power Ratings of District 2 teams, compiled by our partners at NEPAFootball.com.
No. 2 Western Wayne (7-1) takes a six-game winning streak to Lakeland (8-0) to face the top-ranked Chiefs.
Luke Janiszewski has run for 1,241 yards and 17 touchdowns to lead Western Wayne, which will need its strong line to develop an advantage to help offset Lakeland’s formidable team speed. Janiszewski also leads the Wildcats in tackles, tackles for losses and sacks.
Sean Owens has a team-high four interceptions and is Western Wayne’s leading receiver.
Lakeland has multiple weapons, led by Dominico Spataro, Lacota Dippre and Jon Seamans, and has been forced to punt just nine times in eight games.
Spataro has completed 60 percent of his 160 passes for 1,593 yards and 25 touchdowns with just 3 interceptions. He also has 627 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing.
Dippre has a team-high 37 catches for 501 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also leads the team with 7 sacks, 16 total tackles for losses and 3 interceptions and is second in total tackles behind Andrew Gelderman.
Seamans has 23 catches for a team-leading 563 yards and 9 touchdowns. In addition to averaging 24.5 yards per catch, he averages 42.9 yards on kickoff returns.
Kevin Snyder averages 20.5 yards on his 16 catches and 14.6 per punt return.
No. 6 Riverside and No. 5 Old Forge have matching 5-3 overall records.
The Vikings are led by Reese Gaughan, District 2’s leader in receptions and receiving yards and co-leader, with Dippre, in touchdowns. Gaughan, believed to be the LFC’s all-time career leader in receptions, has 48 catches for 830 yards this season.
Quarterback Chase Taddonio is coming off a game in which he passed for 343 yards and 3 touchdowns while running for 2 other scores. He has 1,721 yards and 19 touchdowns passing on the season.
The Vikings have won four straight.
Josh Spindler has rushed for 743 yards and 10 touchdowns while ranking second on Old Forge in tackles. James Sobol has thrown for 1,149 yards and 16 touchdowns with just 2 interceptions.
The WVC Division 1 lead is currently shared by Crestwood and Dallas, but as many as five teams could wind up tied for first if those two lose tonight. That scenario would also open the door for a Berwick championship, but only if the Bulldogs could follow up tonight’s game with a win over Hazleton Area.
Crestwood (4-1, 7-1) is at Berwick (3-1, 4-4). Dallas (4-1, 7-1) is at Wilkes-Barre Area (3-2, 4-4) and Williamsport (1-4, 3-5) is at Hazleton Area (2-2, 6-2).
Crestwood can take the title with a win and a Dallas loss to Wilkes-Barre Area.
The Comets have won six straight. Their ground game is averaging 9.7 yards per carry and 375.6 per game.
Noah Schultz leads the way with 1,239 yards and 20 touchdowns.
The Bibla brothers, Magnus and freshman Lincoln, sons of former National Football League lineman Martin Bibla, has combined for 11 sacks and 25 total tackles for losses.
Berwick’s defense has been tough against the run and the Bulldogs offense put up 39 points while handing Dallas its only loss.
Dallas can claim the division with a victory and a Crestwood win over Berwick. That would set up a definite two-way tie and the WVC is breaking two-way ties with head-to-head results, but using District 2 ratings in the event of a tie involving three or more teams.
Parker Bolesta has run for more than 1,500 yards for Dallas and sophomore quarterback Brady Zapoticky, who has been intercepted just twice, went over 1,000 yards passing last week.
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Mekhi Nelson has run for 1,276 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 24.9 yards on his 13 catches.
Delaware Valley and Valley View each have a chance to move into a first-place tie with Scranton Prep in LFC Division 1 with victories tonight. The Warriors (3-1, 4-4) are at Scranton (2-2, 6-2) and the Cougars (3-1, 6-2) host Wallenpaupack (0-4, 1-7).
Wins by either would also eliminate the two-loss teams, Scranton and Abington Heights, from division contention.
Abington Heights (2-2, 2-6) is at North Pocono (1-4, 3-5) in the other division game.
Honesdale (2-1, 5-3) can keep alive hopes of a tie for the LFC Division 2 title when it plays at Dunmore (1-2, 5-3).
Also in LFC Division 2, West Scranton (0-3, 1-7) is at Mid Valley (0-3, 2-6) in a game to escape the cellar.
Hanover Area (0-4, 1-7) is at Lake-Lehman (2-3, 2-6) in the other WVC Division 2 game.
The remainder of the schedule is non-league games involving teams outside the district.
Wyoming Area (5-3) is at Southern Columbia (5-3), Nanticoke (4-4) is at Shamokin (4-4), Towanda (2-6) is at Tunkhannock (1-7) and Lansing, N.Y. (2-4) is at Montrose (3-3).
There are also light schedules in boys soccer, field hockey and girls volleyball.
MOVE COVERAGE
Predictions on Friday’s football games: Tom Robinson’s high school football predictions: Week 9 – NEPA Sports Nation.
