North Pocono vs Valley View Football Rivalry

Valley View and North Pocono started the series in 1972. A Sept. 13, 2023, Times-Tribune story says that in the 1970s and 1980s Valley View won nine of the first 10 by lopsided scores. North Pocono beat the defending Eastern Conference Class A champion 14-0 in 1983, then won 6-0 in 1984, Valley View’s only loss in an Eastern Conference Class A title season.

The 1991 meeting was the closest game of the 12-0 season, 19-15, and it was for the Big 11 title. It was moved from Friday night to Saturday. Scot Wasilchak, an all-state defensive back, played in it. A 2011 lookback put the crowd at 5,500, had a Scott McGee punt pinning Valley View at its 1, B.J. Gallis scoring from the 1 with 10 minutes left, and McGee intercepting in his own end zone.

The next year Valley View went 15-0 and won the PIAA Class 2A title, and North Pocono lost 22-21. The Sept. 28, 2017, Times-Tribune calls it the final week of the regular season and a 16-point comeback in the final 11 1/2 minutes. Mike Shemonski returned a kickoff 74 yards, Mike Conaghan scored from 19 yards with 1:32 left, and George Howanitz threw two 2-point passes. A Nov. 12, 2013, account says Valley View trailed 21-6 in the fourth quarter. In 1994 the teams split two meetings. North Pocono’s 19-14 win was the District 2 Class 3A semifinal. Since 2010, that 2023 story counts postseason meetings in 2016, when North Pocono avenged a regular-season loss and won District 2 Class 4A, and in 2021, when Valley View won the final. As of Sept. 13, 2023, Valley View had won the last five.

On Sept. 14, 2023, before that Friday’s game, the Times-Tribune wrote that Valley View led all-time, 33-16. In the years since that line, Valley View won 14-7 in 2023 and 21-14 in 2024, then won 42-10 in 2025 and 27-14 in 2026. On Sept. 18, 2026, before that Friday’s game, a Times-Tribune preview printed a later snapshot: Valley View leads 35-17.

A Sept. 22, 2012, Times-Tribune lookback, in the items from 30 years earlier, has Valley View winning 42-0 in September 1982. Bob Castellani scored three touchdowns and rushed for 108 yards. A Nov. 24, 2018, lookback, in the items from 30 years earlier, has North Pocono winning 40-0 in November 1988. Brad Smith rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown. A Nov. 23, 2019, lookback, in the items from 30 years earlier, has North Pocono winning 22-18 in November 1989. Brad Smith returned a kickoff 80 yards for the touchdown with 54 seconds left.

On Nov. 6, 2015, at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville, No. 10 North Pocono beat No. 5 Valley View 24-0. Senior Matt Kelly rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. North Pocono was 5-5 and 2-5. Valley View was 6-4 and 3-4, held to 161 total yards and 25 in the second half. Dallas’s win over Lake-Lehman knocked Valley View out of the District 2 Class AAA playoffs.