By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
In many ways, the regular season went as expected.
From here on out, in almost every case, teams take the field unaware of what’s next or if there even is a next.
The 10 weeks of the regular season served to bring an end to the season for 8 of District 2’s 33 teams. Between 12 and 14 more will finish this week. Playoff losses in the district, subregional and state systems end the season for any team that does not win a state title. In addition, Susquehanna’s appearance in the Eastern Conference championship series is a one-week deal, win or lose.
LOOKING BACK
The first weekly column of the season contained predictions on division winners. Those predictions were reviewed and slightly revised at midseason.
Both of those sets of predictions correctly projected the three Lackawanna Football Conference division winners as Valley View, Lakeland and Old Forge.
Delaware Valley was projected as the second-place team in the preseason and in a second-place tie with Scranton as of midseason. The Warriors did end up tied for second, but with Scranton Prep, the team identified as a conference dark horse at midseason.
Dunmore and Lackawanna Trail, the teams projected as second and third in Divisions 2 and 3 of the LFC, wound up third behind Western Wayne and Riverside.
Pittston Area won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title after being regarded here as a dark horse in the preseason, then projected as the second-place team at midseason. Wyoming Area, picked here as the favorite both times, wound up second.
Hazleton Area and Dallas were picked as the first- and second-place teams both times, but actually finished in a three-way tie for second with Wilkes-Barre Area behind Crestwood.
SNEAK PREVIEW
We’ll hold off on the latest interpretation of district and subregional champion predictions because, in some cases, it would reveal this week’s predicted winners before we do here.
But, to review, our preseason outlook for district and subregional championships was: Bethlehem Freedom over Emmaus in the District 2-4-11 Class 6A Subregional, with Hazleton Area named District 2 champion; Delaware Valley over Scranton in District 2 Class 5A; Valley View over Dallas in District 2 Class 4A; Scranton Prep over Lake-Lehman in District 2 Class 3A; Lakeland over Dunmore in District 2 Class 2A; and Old Forge over Lackawanna Trail in Class A.
At midseason, the predictions were: Emmaus over Northampton in the District 2-4-11 Class 6A Subregional, with Hazleton Area named District 2 champion; Delaware Valley over Scranton in District 2 Class 5A; Dallas over Crestwood in District 2 Class 4A; Scranton Prep over Western Wayne in District 2 Class 3A; Lakeland over Dunmore in District 2 Class 2A; and Old Forge over Lackawanna Trail in Class A.
Let’s just say for now that not a lot has changed.
On to the predictions, separated by tournament, for the first week of playoff games, with home teams in bold italics:
DISTRICT 2 CLASS A
With just two teams eligible, the district skips right to the final. Fortunately, it’s an interesting one with plenty of history, followed by state tournament wins from both teams in the recent past. Old Forge won the regular-season meeting and clearly has been the better team over the course of the season. Lackawanna Trail, starting four or five freshmen, is getting better. Expectations have not changed all season.
Old Forge 32, Lackawanna Trail 14
DISTRICT 2 CLASS 2A
As the semifinals open, the season-long expectation of Lakeland over Dunmore in the final remains, but Riverside’s in-season improvement has created much more suspense for one of the two semifinals and a Vikings victory would be far from shocking.
Lakeland 54, Holy Redeemer 12
Dunmore 31, Riverside 22
DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A
Over the season, Western Wayne developed first as a clear candidate for the final, then as the top seed with the advantage of playing a likely championship game at home. The loss of running back/linebacker Luke Janiszewski hurts – a lot – but Western Wayne has won us over as our current selection to take the district title. It is close enough that the pick is subject to change between now and when the teams meet next week.
Western Wayne 49, Carbondale 0
Scranton Prep 45, Lake-Lehman 0
DISTRICT 2 CLASS 4A
On a nearly weekly basis, the overall outlook of this eight-team bracket changed, but the fun is not likely to start for another week when teams battle in the most-anticipated pair of semifinals of the local postseason. We have evolved from Valley View over Dallas to Dallas over Crestwood to now seeing it as Crestwood over Valley View in the final. But, hey, that could look different a week from now.
Crestwood 47, Nanticoke 8
Berwick 36, North Pocono 9
Dallas 45, Wyoming Area 14
Valley View 26, Honesdale 10
DISTRICT 2 CLASS 5A
All you need to know about this bracket is that the teams involved have met three times this season and the lower seed has won every game, including victories by fourth-seeded Abington Heights over third-seeded Delaware Valley in a 38-13 romp last week and over this week’s opponent, top-seeded Scranton, earlier this season. There is almost no chance of this set of teams making an impact on the state level, but it should be an interesting District 2 tournament. There are no sure things here, but, as it has been from the beginning, Delaware Valley over Scranton is still the pick. After a disappointing regular-season finish, they will have to be post-season Road Warriors to make it happen.
Scranton 24, Abington Heights 13
Delaware Valley 31, Pittston Area 22
DISTRICT 2-4-11 CLASS 6A SUBREGIONAL
Hazleton Area and/or Wilkes-Barre Area could put up a fight, but it’s a tall task for a District 2 Class 6A team to go into District 11 territory and beat a higher-seeded team that has produced a quality record while the Lehigh Valley 6A teams have beaten up on each other all season. If they somehow both win, the Cougars and Wolfpack would meet in the semifinals. In a bracket that includes unbeaten Northampton, I’m looking for a mild upset of Nazareth over Emmaus in the final.
Emmaus 28, Wilkes-Barre Area 19
Bethlehem Freedom 23, Hazleton Area 22
Nazareth 31, Parkland 20
Northampton 42, Stroudsburg 15
DISTRICT 1-2 CLASS A SUBREGIONAL
Although District 2 gets to hold its own championship game, the Old Forge-Lackawanna Trail game is technically part of a District 1-2 Subregional. In the other game:
Jenkintown 14, Morrisville 8
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Susquehanna and Williamsport, a non-District 2 team listed here because of its membership in the WVC, each hit the road for one-game championship appearances in the organization that still provides opportunities for teams that fall short of the district and state playoff system.
Pen Argyl 27, Susquehanna 21
Boyertown 30, Williamsport 23
KEEPING SCORE
Both Rick Notari in The Rick’s Picks on NEPAFootball.com and I went 14-3 in the final week of the regular season, preserving my one-game advantage and repeating in the regular-season portion of our friendly competition. But, just as the teams we’re predicting are aiming at postseason success over regular-season bragging rights, the key to this competition is to finish on top for the entire season, whenever it actually concludes with the last game involving a District 2 team. My record stands at 143-34 (80.8 percent), including 77-12 (86.5 percent) during a comeback in the second half of the regular season. The Rick’s Picks is at 142-35 (80.2 percent). See where Rick and I differ and read what Rick has to say in this week’s predictions at: 2022 The Rick’s Picks – Week 11 | NEPA Football.
