Saucon Football Team Headed to Conference Championship Game

Note: The following article was contributed by Lou Savant. Tickets for Friday's 7 p.m. game in Wilkes-Barre are available for purchase at the Saucon Valley School District Athletic Office Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Advance tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for students/seniors. All tickets sold at the gate will be $5.

Earlier this month, the Saucon Valley football team advanced to the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 40-14 win over Palisades to finish 7-3 in the Colonial League.

Saucon Valley will play for the championship at Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre Friday night at 7 p.m.

Last Friday, the Panthers advanced to the championship round by beating Jim Thorpe 35-20 with a record-breaking performance by senior running back Nick Savant and a strong second half defensive effort.

A week earlier, Savant broke Saucon Valley's single game rushing record with a 5 TD, 333-yard rushing performance against Palisades. In that game, Savant had TD runs of 65, 71 and 99 yards—the last a new school record for the longest run from scrimmage.

The senior RB followed that with 260 yards and 5 TDs on 30 carries against the Olympians at Jim Thorpe. With that performance, Nick Savant set new school records for rushing yards in a single season (1871), career rushing yards (3375) and touchdowns in a season with 26.  He hopes to add to those totals Friday night.

On Friday, Jim Thorpe struck first and quickly with a 67-yard TD pass from Ryan Saunders to Ryan Carroll on their first possession. Saucon answered with a 31-yard scamper by Savant. First quarter fireworks were not over yet, as Saunders plowed over the goal with 2:33 left, to go ahead 14-7.

Saucon started to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in the second quarter and scored twice on 5 and 1 yard runs by Savant. The Panthers balanced out the rushing of Savant with key passes by senior QB Keith Mosher to Michael Kane, Josh Shuck and Nate Harka. Harka also had a 31-yard run on a nifty reverse that brought Saucon fans to their feet.

The second TD was set up when Jim Thorpe fumbled a towering punt by senior Chris Fiegel that was recovered by Saucon's Evan Culver. Saucon led 21-14 at the half.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second half until Savant broke the stalemate with a 29-yard TD run with 2:50 left in the 4th quarter. That run was set up by key first down runs by senior fullback Andrei Gossling.

Gossling came off a 100-yard, 1 TD rushing performance at Palisades to continue keeping defenses guessing.

Mosher hit sophomore TE Kane with first down passes to soften up the defense for Savant and Gossling. Mosher, who was 6-12 passing for 87 yards, also ran 9 times for 55 yards.

Savant sealed the game with a 62-yard TD burst with 2:22 left in the game, to put Saucon up 35-14. It came on the first play following a diving interception on a tipped ball by sophomore safety Zach Thatcher. A workhorse between the tackles, it was Savant's ninth TD run this season over 50 yards.

The Panthers' defense came up with big plays of their own in the second half.

In the 3rd quarter, Jim Thorpe got into the red zone twice, once advancing inside the 5-yard line. Big hits behind the line of scrimmage by Kane, Brandon Blobe, Matt Ehritz, Tyler Kehs, Romario Headley and Tommy Misiak stopped deep threats by the home team. Thatcher also had two fourth quarter interceptions.

Senior DE Misiak recorded 3.5 TFL, 1 sack and 6 tackles. Marco Santiago (5 tackles) and Ehritz (6 tackles) kept the pressure up in the middle to force the Olympians to throw the ball. Junior safety Justin Propsner also knocked down a pass in the end zone on fourth down.

Junior kicker Giacomo Pazzaglia converted all 5 PATs.

The win was a total team effort for Coach Matt Evancho's Panthers (8-3), who won three straight games to finish the season on a roll.

Photo: The senior members of the Saucon Valley High School football team after their most recent win (provided by Gary Fiegel).