10 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, November 3, 1999 Old Shoe Game is about more than the trophy this year (continued from page 1) it may be kicker Matt Douglas, who booted a 54-year field goal earlier in the season, and who usually pins opposing teams in the end zone with booming kick- offs. “Douglas is a major factor,” says Gorgone. But the Lehman coach knows there's always more to worry about when he goes up against the Mountaineers. “They're super. Theyre big. They have a lot going for them,” he says. To beat them, “You've got to play great defense, and mix up the offense.” That's something Lehman hasn't needed to do often this year, as a solid running at- tack has lessened the need to pass. Three-year starting quar- terback D.J. Kapson is throwing the ball less this year than in the past as backs Travis McRoy, Rich Patton and Josh Kuwaye have been pounding out the yardage. McRoy and Kuwaye combined for nearly 300 yards against Crestwood last week, and the Black Knights’ top-rated defense shut down the Comets’ high-pow- “ered passing attack to preserve a 21-19 win. Dallas is coming off a 48-0 thrashing of Meyers in which Matt Jackson reached the 4,000 yard ‘Dallas holds big lead in Old Shoe Games There have been 51 Old Shoe Games, starting in 1948, when three Back Mountain high schools played. The trophy originally was presented to the team with the best record. Only later, particu- larly after school consolidation, did a single game determine the holder of the Old Shoe trophy. There have been three ties, in 1956, 1982 and 1988. More than half the time, the losing team has not scored, and there was a streak of eight shutouts from 1989 to 1996. Three games have been decided by a single point; 1953, 1977 and 1980. The largest win- ning margin was a 50-0 victory by Dallas in 1972. In the 13 years during which three teams played, Dallas won only once. Since then, Dallas has won 30 times, Lehman eight. Scores of the Old Shoe Game 1948-1997 1948 Kingston Twp. 14, Dallas 0 1949 Lehman 7, Dallas 0 1950 Lehman 20, Dallas 0 1951 Dallas 20, Westmoreland 19 1952 = Westmoreland 19, Dallas 0 1953 Lehman 21, Dallas 20 1954 Lehman 12, Dallas 0 1955 Westmoreland 6, Dallas 0 1956 Tie, Lehman, Westmoreland and Dallas each suffered one loss against the other teams. 1957 Lehman 13, Dallas 6 1958 Lehman 26, Westmoreland 6 1959 Lehman 37, Westmoreland 0 1960 Westmoreland 20, Lehman 7 1961 Dallas 18, Lehman 7 1962 Dallas 14, Lehman 0 1963 Dallas 19, Lehman 0 1964 Dallas 18, Lehman 6 1965 Dallas 31, Lehman 0 1966 Dallas 35, Lehman 14 1967 Lehman 25, Dallas 0 1968 Lehman 23, Dallas 0 1969 Lehman 28, Dallas 8 1970 Dallas 24, Lehman 14 1971 Dallas 45, Lehman 0 1972 Dallas 50, Lehman 0 1973 Dallas 34, Lehman 6 1974 Dallas 12, Lehman 7 1975 Dallas 15, Lehman 7 1976 Dallas 13, Lehman 7 1977 Dallas 7, Lehman 6 1978 Lehman 42, Dallas 14 1979 Lehman 14, Dallas 7 1980 Dallas 20, Lehman 19 1981 Dallas 34, Lehman 6 1982 Dallas 16, Lehman 16 1983 Dallas 16, Lehman 0 1984 Lehman 33, Dallas 0 1985 Dallas 7, Lehman 0 1986 Dallas 15, Lehman 2 1987 Dallas 27, Lehman 0 1988 Dallas 21, Lehman 21 1989 Dallas 6, Lehman 0 1990 Lehman 7, Dallas 0 1991 Dallas 42, Lehman 0 1992 Dallas 21, Lehman 0 1993 Dallas 21, Lehman 0 1994 Dallas 19, Lehman 0 1995 Lehman 9, Dallas 0 1996 Dallas 21, Lehman 0 1997 Dallas 20, Lehman 12 1998 Dallas 20, Lehman 0 “There's a lot riding on B's game, There's a lot of scenarios Rich Gorgone Lake-lL.ehman head coach milestone in rushing. Jackson ran for 116 yards and a touchdown in the first half before sitting out the rest of the game with a sore shoul- der. But Gorgone isn’t intimidated, even if he is a little surprised with this team’s performance this year. “We're pleased to be here,” he says, knowing that the Knights weren't that highly regarded when the season began. But he’s been here before, and so have many of his players. “They've had some playoff ex- perience,” Gorgone says, espe- cially his seniors, most of whom played on the 1997 district cham- pionship team. Jackson says his teamwork has put his squad on top of the Divi- sion II standings. “It's a good bunch of kids, very close-knit,” he says. “That's our strength; they all want each other to do well.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have two of the league's best run- ners and a sophomore quarter- back who can throw or run with equal ease. “We've thrown the ball more than we have in the past,” Jackson says, because not only can quarterback Chuck Suppon - only a sophomore - handle the ball, he has a couple of good tar- gets in Randy Knappman and Jason Race. Still, in games like the Old Shoe, “Not beating yourself is the key.” What the players think They may be fierce opponents when they take the field in the 52nd Old Shoe Game, but three local high school seniors worked together seamlessly at Grotto Pizza Sunday night. The trio, Matt Douglas of Dal- las and Dave DeLong and Matt Kehler of Lake-Lehman, were on the evening kitchen shift Hallow- een night. Kehler has been work- ing at Grotto for about a year; Douglas and DeLong have been working together for about four months. “We get along pretty well,” says DeLong. Douglas has had a memorable season already. Aside from get- ting the chance to play outside linebacker in place of injured Jeff Parrish - “It’s fun,” says the Dal- las senior - Douglas booted a 54- yard field goal that set a confer- ence record and was only four yards short of the best ever by a high school player. His advice for the Mountaineers? “Watch out for McRoy,” the big (5-10, 225 1b.) fullback. 3 Kehler was quick to point out there's a lot more to the Black Knights than big, tough running backs. The team is the top-ranked defense in the Wyoming Valley Conference. Beating Wyoming Area “pretty good” was a highlight for the 250 1b. tackle. This season’s success has come about through hard work, he said. Kehler was a sophomore when Lehman won the district champi- onship in 1997, and remembers giving that team’s seniors a good workout in practice. He sees the same thing this year; a good group of sophomores who put the up- perclassmen through their paces during the week. DeLong has been the starting POST FILE PHOTOS Travis McRoy, left, has been nearly unstoppable out of the Lake-Lehman backfield. But so has Matt Jackson, right, who set the Dallas all- time rushing record, and topped 4,000 yards last week. They know how to win Head coaches, Ted Jackson of Dallas, left, and Rich Gorgone of Lake-Lehman. center for two years, and also was on the district championship team. He thinks the Black Knights need to “keep pounding the ball” as they have all year to have a shot at winning Saturday. Kapson hasn't taken a snap in the shot- gun position all year, DeLong says. Douglas echoes his coach when asked what it will take to keep the Old Shoe trophy at Dallas. “Low turnovers, and a good solid game,” he says. Lehman will have one advan- tage; the game will be played on their field. “Home field will help out,” says DeLong. “It’s going to be a good game,” says Randy Knappman, a two- year starter at split end and de- fensive back. “They don’t pass too much. We've got to stop the run before we stop the pass.” Knappman thinks the Moun- taineers have some work to do in that area. “We've been letting Ticket information people score too many points,” he said, although that wasn’t the case Saturday. “We've become more of a team by overcoming adversity,” he says, especially filling the gap left when veteran linebacker Jeff Parrish was lost to injury for most of the season. Matt Jackson is a three-year starter in the Dallas backfield, and the leading rusher in the con- ference this season. The son of the Dallas coach is diplomatic when asked about the Old Shoe matchup. “They're a good team. I hope we can be a little better that day,” he says. Jackson shares the credit for his success with his key blockers, especially fullbacks Matt Acri and Jeff Mattie. A safety on defense, Jackson says he won't key on anyone in particular on the other side. “You have to look out for everybody,” he says. Tickets for the Dallas vs. Lake-Lehman game to be held Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m. at Lake-Lehman will go on sale at times listed below: Dallas High School - Athletic Office, Thursday, Nov. 4, 11 a.m.-2 p-m.; Friday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Lake-Lehman High School Office, Thursday, Nov. 4, 11 a..m.-2 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Join us Saturday, Nov. 13th at 9:30 a.m. for our fal www.keystone.edu Ouse which of our 39 majors, in a Bachelor’s Degree, is right for you. You'll find out reer opportunities, sports, financial aid, citement of a college campus! and reservations, email us at tone.edu or call COLLEGE. Defense could do it Besides sharing the top of the Division II standings, Dallas and Lake-Lehman have a lot in com- mon this year. Both teams have one loss in the division, both rely on a potent running attack, both have quality quarterbacks who can put the ball in the air as necessary, or tuck it in and take off. But the most striking similar- ity may be the defenses. The two teams have allowed only a com- bined 204 points this year — 99 for Dallas and 105 for Lehman. The next best figure in Division II is GAR's 140 points allowed. On offense, the Back Mountain teams are the leading scorers by far, with Dallas tallying up 263 points and Lehman 243. The wild card could be Dallas kicker Matt Douglas, who has enough foot to hit a late-game field goal if one's needed. Given all this, the game could turn out any way you might imag- ine, but it's usually a good bet that defense prevails when these teams get together. The winning team hasn't topped 21 points in the past seven years, and don't be surprised if that's as far as any- one can get Saturday. Then again, if Kapson and Suppon air it out . . . Last game? (continued from page 1) according to those, Lehman would move up to AAA next year. That's because this year’s freshman class has an exceptionally large num- ber or boys, about 125 compared to 75 to 80 in past classes, said Rich Gorgone, head football coach. So, if the ranges stay about thei) same, the two schools will com- pete in the same class the next two years. Even at that, Dallas and Leh- man will have new challenges next season, because the present Wyo- ming Valley Conference will be melded into the new Northeast- ern PA Football Conference. That will mean AAA and AAAA teams in = Luzerne and Lackawanna coun- ties (plus Williamsport, which is AAAA) will play a 10-game sched- ule among the two classes. Dallas and Lehman, with just over 300 boys, would be in the same league as Hazleton, with 1,100 boys. At the same time, there would be few AA teams left in the area, so local teams would play AA and Class A teams from the Scranton area. A game like the Old Shoe, which this year matches AA Lake- 0, Lehman and AAA Dallas, would not fit in the schedule. Playoffs would still be con- ducted in each of the four classes, with post-season play determined by a points system that takes into account the strenght of schedule. “It’s just a crazy scenario,” said Wolensky. Gorgone thinks so, too, and he believes the so-called superconference won't succeed if it eliminates traditional rivalries like the Old Shoe Game. by Ronald Bartizek TURKEY SHOOT GOLF TOURNAMENTS at Four Season Golf Club, Exeter November 13th or 14th “CAPTAIN AND CREW FORMAT” Tee Times starting at 9:00 a.m., $30 per person. Incl. 18-holes, meal, beverages & all turkey prizes for Flight Winners & Contests held on the course. Call 655-8869 to reserve a tee time for your foursome. Permanent Makeup — Scar Camouflage Smoothing Fine Lines & Wrinkles CLARKS SUMMIT » 586-1960 (1 | CHANGING TIMES UNLIMITED Permanent Make-Up > © JOS. CHERMAK, INC. SUZUKI. - SAAB nf ff fren suzua Clarks Summit, PA 1-800-386-6676 Fy A J a i
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