Anthony Donato

Anthony “Dip” Donato came back to North Pocono in 1996 after Nick Donato resigned. A 2015 Times-Tribune profile, written when the Scranton Lions Club named him Man of the Year, gives him six seasons, a 38-26 record, and the Lackawanna Football Conference Division II North title in 2001.

He had already spent 16 years as an assistant for his cousin Nick Donato, including the 12-0 Eastern Conference championship season in 1991. In between, he was the head coach at Abington Heights and won a Big 11 title there in 1995.

The 2000 season has its own page. The Times Leader has North Pocono at 1-4 after a loss to Abington Heights and at 5-5 after a win over Tunkhannock. The 1999 Eastern Conference title is on that season’s page. The 2001 season has its own page. The Times Leader has a 28-6 win over Delaware Valley, a 21-15 win at Berwick, and a 24-0 win at Tunkhannock, and it calls the coach Tony Donato. The Tunkhannock story prints North Pocono at 6-4 after that win and says both teams finished the regular season 4-1 in the division. The Sept. 26, 2020, champions list prints 2001 Division II North as West Scranton and North Pocono.

A Sept. 20, 2026, Times-Tribune lookback has the Sept. 20, 1996, game with Dunmore at 26-21 for North Pocono. Garrett Swartz scored on a 15-yard interception return, making it 26-14, and on a 5-yard catch. After Joe Ralicke hit Paul Gianzanti for a 44-yard touchdown, Dunmore got inside the 30 twice. Swartz batted down a third-and-6 pass, and the last drive ended on downs at the North Pocono 21 with 13 seconds left.

The Dunmore game, and West Scranton’s 25-0 win earlier that September, are on the 1996 season page.

1997 has its own page. Andrew Magnotta threw three touchdown passes in a 47-8 win over Lakeland, West Scranton won 14-7, and Magnotta had five interceptions in a 21-13 win over Honesdale. The Times Leader, which calls the coach Tony Donato, says the Honesdale win briefly put the Trojans in the District 2 Class AAA field before a 3-2 appeal vote put Berwick back in and North Pocono out.

September 1998 brought a 21-14 win over Honesdale, with Tony Shields catching two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. The 1999 Eastern Conference title game was 17-14 over Milton. His 38-26 covers 1996 through 2001. The 1998 season page has the Honesdale win and the Eastern Conference playoff games.

An Aug. 30, 2001, Times Leader preview, before that season, printed him at 46-30 in his eighth year, and printed the 2000 season at 5-5.