The Dallas Post Tie SDALLASCP0ST —- — —— a Als cmmalanr 4d 4000 412 Dallas, PA Wednesday, November 4, 1992 9 Vol. 103 No. 45 . Wednesday, November 4, 1992 Sports\Week on Mounts shut down Hanover to win 7-zip ‘By DAVE KONOPKI 1 Sports Correspondent Ted Jackson is a man of few words. Kind words, intelligent words, @ ughtiul words, but few words ‘nonetheless. But following his team's impressive 7-0 win over Hanover -Area, the raspy orator and head coach of the Dallas High School football team was a human thesaurus. “I can't say enough about this iteam,"” said Jackson, whose Mounts moved into a three-way tie with Nanticoke and Hanover for ifirst place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II. “I'm very proud of the way we played. We thought that if we scored twice we would have a good chance of gine the game. But who would e thought that we'd shut them out? To shut out Hanover is quite an accomplishment. We're thrilled to death.” The win raised the Mountaineers’ overall record to 8- 1 and their WVC mark to 5-1. The win keeps their Eastern Conference and state playoff hopes alive and a win over Back Mountain rival Lake- Lehman in their final regular Joan game assures Dallas of at east a tie for the WVC Division II LS yamuel runs ‘down district title 1 DAVE KONOPKI ‘Sports Correspondent \ If Matt Samuel was an ordinary e: school athlete, he'd be almost approachable this week. But Matt Samuel is no ordinary ‘high school athlete. Success on the field of oo mpetition sometimes gets the est of the egos of high school thletes. § But Matt Samuel is no ordinary thigh school athlete. The Dallas senior capped off a idominating season in the Wyoming Valley Conference cross-country league by winning the District 2 Class AA championship last Thursday at Kirby Park. Samuel will now compete in the state meet, this Saturday in State College. But instead: of talking about himself, Samuel talked about the team. He talked about the tradition of Dallas cross-country and the self-imposed presssure he placed yon his narrow, 17-year-old LT over the last two seasons. In a sport considered by laymen {to be an individual event, Samuel is the consumate team player. t “Icanhonestlysay that I've never run a race just for myself,” said Samuel, son of Earl and Pam Samuel of Demunds Corners. “I run for the team. I would much rather have a team championship than an individual championship.” Samuel found out early about fthe pressure of putting on the Dallas cross-country uniform. Like P quarterback at Brigham Young, ithe postition comes with high Jisibility, and expectations. ) When Samuel was in eighth igrade he watched as former Dallas istandout Hugh Mundy dominated jthe WVC and District 2. Then he looked on the next two years as iteammate Steve Oliver pounded {the opposition, winning two iconsecutive District 2 ichampionships and earning All- i State honors. With a three-year streak on the line, Samuel put needless pressure on himself during his junior year, but finished with a more than respectable silver medal at districts. i “Ifeltalotof pressure,” admitted i Samuel. “There's a great tradition | at Dallas when it comes to cross- i country. I knew that I had to finish in the top one or two for our team | tobe successful. Thisyear| tried to relax and run my own kind of race. Senior tailback Brian Burd led the Dallas offensive attack against Hanover, gaining 116 yards on 30 carries. The WVC's leading rusher also scored the game's lone touchdown, a five-yard pass reception from junior quarterback Brian Brady. Senior Todd Paczewski kicked the extra point. Brady turned in another steady performance for the Mounts, completing nine of 15 passes for 95 yards and one touchdown. But the story of this game was defense and the Mountaineer squad rose to the occasion. “I'm very proud of our defense,” said Jackson. “Our kids really played hard when they had to. Chris Updyke (14 tackles), Rich Butcofski (11 tackles) and Joe Kelley played great. I think that, offensively and defensively, Greg Nazdan played his best game of the season.” The Mountaineers host non- conference foe Tamaqua this Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. It's a team that Jackson has seen three times this season; twice on film and once in person. “They like to throw the football,” explained Jackson. “They have two outstanding receivers, including one who was nominated for the Big 33 game. They also have a nice running back and a quarterback who can throw the ball. They play some unconventional defenses and NO GAIN - The Dallas Mountaineer defense stopped Hanover quarterback Ron Hummer, and the entire Hawk offense October 30. that can give you headaches. “They've played a very tough schedule,” added Jackson. “We saw them play Garden Spot tough for one half and Garden Spot is the number seven AAA team in the ON THE RUN - Matt Samuel was already well ahead of the second- place runner at the one mile mark of last week's district cross country championship. I like to go to the front and set the pace for the race. This time I just relaxed and focused on what I had to do.” According to his coach Bill Kvashay, that is the secret to Samuel's success. “Matt needs to relax,” said Kvashay, a native of State College and graduate of Penn State. “When he's loose going into the race, he runs well. Some kids you have to talk to a lot. With Matt, you just have to keep him loose. “Matt is right up there with the best I've ever coached,” said Kvashay. “I think that Matt is now where Steve (Oliver) was after his junior year. He's every bit as good as Steve was, just one year behind. But Matt has the potential in college to be just as good as anyone that I've ever coached.” After states and the Kinney Nationals, college is the next step for Samuel. While many student- athletes rely on their athletic skills to gain entrance into college, Samuel has attacked his grades the same way he attacks the cross- country course; go to the frontand never look back. A solid “B" student, Samuel has applied to, and visited, many colleges and has narrowed his choices to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Shippensburg and West Virginia. He will make his decision, based upon academics and cross- country, sometime this winter. A top 20 finish at State College will insure Samuel all-state honors. He ran the course earlier this year, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 16:26. Accoring to Kvashay, a repeat of that time should be enough to finish in the top 20. Matt Samuel has every reason to have a smile on his face these days. A reason to walk with a little more strut in his stride. A reason to kick back and say, “I told you so.” But don't expect those words to come from the mouth of Samuel anytime soon. After all, Matt Samuel is no ordinary high school athlete. Have information about a local athlete who's away at school? Tell us! The Dallas Post would like to let the home folks know how they're doing. Send or bring items to: The Dallas Post 309-415 Plaza P.O. Box 366 Dallas, PA 18612 state. Tamaqua also beat Elko, a very big AAAA school. We're going to have to play a very good game to beat them.” PREDICTION: This game should be surrounded by yellow caution Dallas came away with a 7-0 win on Brian Burd's touchdown. flags. It's the biggest fear of all high school football coaches; beat a conference opponent in a very big game and then play a non- conference opponent the week before playing a traditional rival. (Post photo/Ron Bartizek)” Can you say letdown? But with Eastern Conference and state playoff games on the horizon, there is no waydJackson and his staff will let this team get complacent. DALLAS 28 TAMAQUA 8. Dallas takes field hockey crown By DAVE KONOPKI Sports Correspondent During the afternoon of September 9, Ron Moran had an uneasy feeling in his stomach while pacing the sidelines of a Dallas- Crestwood field hockey game. No, it wasn't first-game jitters for the first-year coach. But with his team facing a 2-1 deficit in the second half, Moran was quietly wondering whether he had made the right decision just three weeks earlier when he took the job as Dallas High School field hockey coach. “I was thinking, ‘Maybe this was the wrong move. Am I really getting these girls ready for this type of competition?,’” admitted Moran. “I was very apprehensive about it.” Last Saturday, just seven and one-halfweeks after that game with Crestwood, the Mountaineers put those fears to rest as they downed Lake-Lehman, 1-0, to capture the District 2 Class AA championship. It's the Mountaineers third consecutive District title, having won the Class AAA titles in 1990 and 1991. Loss disappoints Lehman players By CHRISTINA CONRAD Sports Correspondent On Saturday, October 31, the Lake-Lehman Lady Knights and the Dallas Lady Mountaineers squared off to see who would bring home the Wyoming Valley Conference District 2 AA title. For Dallas it was a wonderful win, but for Lehman it was another heart- breaking loss. Dallas defeated Lehman on a single KellyJanosky goal with 6:55 left in the second half off an assist by Patrice Shovlin. For the second year in a row the Mountaineers will be advancing to state playoff competition. This year the Lady Mountaineers will go to the PIAA AA state competition and play the third place winner from District 3 at a site and time to be named later. After the Janosky score, the Lady Knights came very close to scoring. Senior Cherub Honeywell took a few shots on goal that just missed the cage. “I think we didn't play in twos, I think we lost some of it after they scored and we got unaggressive. But we started to come back in the end. Their drives were really aggressive and we just couldn't stop them. I think we played well. I just think we didn't get the breaks when we needed them,” said Honeywell. The win enables the Lady Mounts to make a second consecutive run at a state championship. Dallas will play the number three seed from District 3 on Tuesday, November 10, at a site and time to be determined. Moran had no intention of coaching the Lady Mounts this season. But when a replacement for long-time coach Robyn Jones wasn't found by early August, Moran stepped forward to claim the position. The Lady Mountaineers are glad he did. “It was a very big win for us,” said Moran, who guided the Mounts to a 13-2-1 mark in the Wyoming Valley Conference. “We told the seniors that this is what they worked hard for all season long. I just asked them to give everything they had and leave everything on the field. Then, whether you win or lose, you can always say that you gave it 100 percent.” “It's an unfortunate loss for Lehman,” added Moran, who also coaches the Dallas girl's soccer team. “I'm not so sure that I like this format (only one team in Class And if “not getting the breaks they needed” was any more appropriate for the second half of the Lady Knights season nothing else would be. Junior Gretchen Dershimer said of the loss, “To win you have to have skill and a little bit of luck and we didn't have any luck. Everybody played very well and we played together. But, we just didn't score so we just didn't win.” The heartbreaking loss ends the Lady Knights season with an AA advances Wor District 2 The top two teams should be able to advance. On a given day, anyone can beat anyone.” The Lady Mounts have been playing without the services of standout Theresa Mathers, who was lost for the season with a knee injury during the Tunkhannock game. But Moran received a strong performance from underclassmen Colby Gauntlett and Bridgette Temperine on defense. Kelly Janosky, Dallas's leader on the field, had an outstanding game on both defense and offense, scoring the lone goal of the contest off an assist from Patrice Shovlin. In the playoffs, the Lady Mounts will just do exactly what they've been doing all season. “You really can't scout any teams,” said Moran. “You just have to keep doing the same things you've been having success with all season. It's hard to prepare for the other teams. But, we'll just go out there and play the way we arg capable of playing and hope everything works out for the best.” EJB SE NE CN SE TR * impressive record of 14-3, two of those losses coming in the post season. The Knights defeated Dallas by an identical score of 1- -0 in the regular season. As the Mountaineers move on they will surely take last year's experience in states with them on their journey to a try for a second state title. As for Lehman there is always next year as a strong underclassmen wave will be movin up. But as for now, Lehman wi have to start the long preparation for next year once again. ‘ ¥ Sports roundup | ‘NIKKI SENNETT TAKES 15TH AT STATES Lake-Lehman's Nikki Sennett returned from state competition with a tie for 15th place. The only girl on Lake-Lehman golf team shot a 179 in State College for a strong performance. TECH TOPS DALLAS The Dallas Mountaineers were defeated by West Side Tech on October 29 by the scores of 15-13 and 15-10. This ended the regular season for the Mountaineers with a final record of 1-14. KNIGHTS TOP ABINGTON FOR DIVISION I TITLE On October 28, the Lake; Lehman Knights defeated Abington | Heights by the score of 3-1 to obtain | the Wyoming Valley Conference Division I soccer championship: | Scoring for the Knights were Ken | Miroslaw with two goals. One goal which was assisted by Tim Norconk. Also scoring for the Knights was Brian Kelly off a Will Woronko assist. The senior goalie for Lehman, Kevin Lowery held Abington to one goal and 8 shots. f 4 ¢ ® * ¥ - . ¥ [] ¥ r [J J L) | | |
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