Ve Sunday, September 11, 2005 PAGE 9 Tue POST Sports Week Dallas girl meets legend Getting the ride of a lifetime Junior Mounts tame Wildcats The Dallas Junior Mounts football pro- gram coasted to a sweep of Duryea in the Wyoming Valley West Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference last weekend. The B, C and D division teams combined to outscore the Wildcats 100-20 in the three games. The Junior Mounts host the Swoyers- ville Sailors on Sunday, Sept. 11. The D team plays at 11 a.m.; the C team plays at 12:15 p.m.; and the B squad takes the field at 1:45 p.m. B DIVISION Led by a dominating performance by o- ’ *2005% his offensive line, Brett Wanek rushed for - Hon NaH 1H mM EET more than 150 yards and three touch- downs as Dallas posted a 38-6 win against the Duryea Wildcats. Ryan Hanson added two touchdowns of more than 40 yards and Garrett Artsma ran for a 21-yard score. Billy Dixon scored the two-point conversion for Dallas. The offense line led by E.J. Costantino, Jere- my Geisinger, Sal Moran and Chase Ben- son opened huge holes for the backs. The stingy Dallas defense held the Wildcats to one touchdown, led by Dylan Pilger, Artsma, Eric Anderson, Donnie Behm, Brian Stepniak, Shane Jacobson and Jordan Visneski. Wanek and Mike Mulea each recorded an interception. Stepniak also did a nice job on special teams with several long punts. Amy Polachek is interviewed by a track announcer while harness race driver John Campbell looks on. BY GENELLE HOBAN camper was chosen to move on to the fi- Post Correspondent nals at The Meadowlands racetrack in New Jersey. “I was picking out people who I thought it was going to be,” Polachek las resident’s love for horses. And inthe said. “When they said it was me I was in process, she was able torace withahar- shock. Iwas so excited, I couldn’t believe ness racing legend. it.” Amy Polachek was one of the dozen At The Meadowlands, Polachek was participants at the PoconoDownscamp ~~ Paired to race with legendary harness who were chosen from a pool of appli- driver John Campbell. Campbell was the cants via an essay contest. youngest driver ever inducted into the “I already work at the Dallas Equine Harness Racing Hall of Fame at 35 in Center cleaning stalls and stuff,” she 1990. He has driven the winners of more said. “I love being around horses. As than $3 million annually every year since I got the job at the stables 1 1979: or a ” PRO uk Sani “Before camp I had never even heard of The daughter of Larry and Cathy Po- him,” Polachek said. “He told me when lachek found out about the camp from and Bow he Stayted hamess racing. He Jeff Wainwright, the man she works for ~~ a> JUS 80 €asy 10 0. i Aside from her love for horses, Pola- oy oe Do Eine Collier Who also. yer ts Involved In the school's Key Clgh She applied to the camp because she and plays soccer. in the Back Mountain wanted to be able to experience racing Youth Sogest League, ds. Polachek said and learn something new. : : f a The campisrun by Ellen Tovion execs there were four other participants be- utive director for the Harness Horse Sides her Youth Foundation of Westfield, Ind., They were from Pittsburgh, Long Is- land, Canada and Maine,” she said. Attending a harness racing camp at Pocono Downs only amplified one Dal- C DIVISION Ryan Zapoticky rushed for three touch- downs and Nick Luzetski added another as Dallas posted a 32-8 win against Du- ryea. Zapoticky started off the game with a 30-yard touchdown run on a fumble re- covery on the opening kickoff. Dallas added two points as John Hutchins ran a quarterback sneak into the end zone for the conversion. Will Akins set up Zapot- icky’s third touchdown, intercepting a : Duryea pass and returning it 64 yards to the 25-yard line. : The Dallas defense was led by Ryan Monk, Mitchell Benson and Mikey Shut- lock, who had multiple tackles. The of- fensive line led by Josh Probst, Robert McGinley and Cody Long also played ex- tremely well. Zapoticky added a 75-yard touchdown pass to Mark Michno in the fourth quarter. which conducts camps for children to “Meeting all those new people was fun, I not only learn about harness horse rac- 246 so many new friends.” D DIVISION ing basics, but life in general. On race day, the five participants raced Each day at the camp had a particular theme. They included safety, equip- ment, care, driving and success. The days began with barn work at approxi- mately 7:30 a.m. and campers didn’t hit the hay until 10 p.m. At the camp Polachek — a freshman at Dallas High School — said she learned a lot, including how to drive the horse. “Racing gives you such a rush and around a half-mile stretch of the track. “I started out the race in fourth place,” she said. “We just started giving the horse more of the line and it flew around the corner. Around the back stretch we moved up to second. John told me to let the horse go and we won.” After her recent racing experiences Polachek, who wants to be a veterinar- ian, said she plans to continue with har- Justin Sweeney, Paul Zablotney and Chad Phillips each rushed for touch- downs as the Junior Mounts defeated Duryea, 30-6, for their second win of the season. Matt Harrison caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cole Dixon, who ran for the first of his two 2- point conversions. Colin Ryniec, Eric George, Jackson Shaver, Stone Manello, Justin Hutchins, your heart just races,” the 14-year-old ness racing in the future. Cotneron Brean and tacoh Corey FH ; : : said. “I want to get licensed once I turn 16,” ed In Stellar detensive periormances Ual- | amy polachek holds a trophy she won at The Meadowlands Race Track. At the weeklong camp, a single she said. las (2-1). DALLAS WINS SEASON OPENER Offensive lines dominate as Raiders win two games 1 TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/CLARK VAN ORDEN Dallas wingback Nick Samanas (11) picks up some tough yardage during the Mountaineers’ season-opening win against Coughlin. At press time, Dallas was getting ready to take the field against GAR, while Back Mountain rival Lake- Lehman was preparing to play Pocono Mountain West in a non-conference game. The Kingston Township Raiders youth football program won a pair of games last weekend against Edwardsville in Wyoming Valley West Youth Football and Cheerlead- ing Conference action. The C and D division teams improved to 3-0 with 22-0 and 30-6 wins, respec- tively. The Raiders A team lost, 14-6, against the Eagles while the B team fell 14-6. Kingston Township continues its season at Kingston on Sunday, Sept. 11. The D team plays at 11 a.m.; the C team plays at 12:15 p.m.; and the B squad begins play at 1:45 p.m. B DIVISION A couple of big plays by the Eagles were costly for the Kingston Township. The Raiders were led by the inside running of Robby Boedecker, who scored his team’s only touchdown. Another Raider scoring opportunity was lost when a fumble at the Eagles’ 1-yard line went through the end- zone for a touchback. The Raiders will try to even their record Sunday at Kingston. C DIVISION Corey Patrick, Jesse Shaffer, Omar Nij- meh, Robert Wargo, Jake Rome and Matt Doggett combined to rush for more than 225 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders C team remained in first place of its division. Omar Nijmeh capped a 10-play scoring drive on the Raiders first posses- sion with an 8yard touchdown burst be- hind the blocking of Joe Stier, J.T. Carey and Jason Morgan. Jesse Shaffer added a 33-yard touchdown run on the Raiders second possession while Corey Patrick went 62 yards on the first drive of the third quarter to close out the scoring. Patrick and Doggett added the two- point conversions. Defensively, the Raiders posted their second straight shutout. Stier, Kevin La- zarowicz and Ryan Boedecker con- tained Edwardsville’s passing attack with pressure all day. Joey Kimble and Chris Knecht captured defensive Player of the Game honors with strong efforts at safety and cornerback, respectively, while Mike Olenginski and C.J. McCau- ley were named offensive Player of the Game awards for terrific play at end and offensive tackle, respectively. D DIVISION Tanner Gattuso used the blocking of his offensive line to score on runs of 37, 63, 45 and 48 yards as the Raiders re- mained in first place. Brett Storrs scored on the opening play of the game with a run of 70 yards. The defense played extremely hard with excellent performances by Peter Capitano, Ryan Martin, Ricky Morgan, Mitch Kelly, Ray Anthony Ostroski, Ja- son Anderson, Collin Pertyl and Tommy Kulikowski. The Raiders were also able to create two fumbles that were reco- vered by Jason Anderson and Gattuso. ™ Kingston Township's Peter Capitano makes a tackle during a D team game against Edwardsville. Kingston Township's Omar Nij- meh scores a touchdown during the C team game last weekend.
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