North Pocono Football 2009 Season

This is the season that made Sepkowski The Times-Tribune Coach of the Year. North Pocono went 9-2 and 5-1, first in Lackawanna 1, and shared the Lackawanna Football Conference Division I title.

The regular season had one loss, 27-13 to Delaware Valley. Valley View was 19-18, Wallenpaupack was 14-13 on the road, and Abington Heights was 29-21. The District 2 Class AAA playoff game was a 21-14 loss at Dallas. It was a playoff trip, not a district championship.

The Wallenpaupack game was the Lackawanna Division I opener at Hawley. The Times-Tribune called Sepkowski a third-year coach and North Pocono fifth-ranked, and it had the Trojans at 4-0 afterward, doubling the win total of the previous two seasons combined. They trailed 13-0 in the second half. Matt Smith, a senior quarterback, ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and threw for 117 yards and another. Tyler Smith caught the first score. Michael Craig recovered a fumble. Smith scored from the 3, and Kurt Knott’s kick made it 14-13 with 8:16 left. Josh Przywara sacked quarterback Erik Kraft after that, and Wallenpaupack punted.

The Abington Heights win ended a 14-game losing streak to the Comets. The Oct. 9, 2009, Times-Tribune story has sixth-ranked North Pocono upsetting No. 1 Abington Heights, 29-21. The paper said the Comets were No. 7 in Class AAA in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, and that this was their first division loss since Oct. 26, 2007. Matt Smith finished with 171 total yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a touchdown pass to Nick Bell. On fourth-and-12 from the Abington Heights 25, he scored from 25 yards on a draw. North Pocono rushed for 206 yards on 51 carries. Nick Batzel had 84 yards and the fourth-and-goal touchdown that made it 22-21. Sepkowski’s team was 5-1 afterward.

The Oct. 16 game was 49-8 at Scranton Memorial Stadium, a Division I game. North Pocono sacked Joe McCarthy three times and intercepted him three times. Scranton had negative 8 yards of total offense in the first half. Aashon Blackwell’s interception gave Scranton the ball at the North Pocono 23, and the Knights turned it over on downs. Matt Smith’s interception return to the Scranton 11 set up Nick Batzel’s 5-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Greg Sporko returned the next interception 26 yards for a touchdown. Consecutive sacks pushed Scranton inside its 10. After the punt, North Pocono took over at the 28, and Smith hit Batzel for a 14-yard touchdown, 21-0. Michael Craig’s interception put the ball at the Knights’ 33, and Batzel scored from 9 yards, his third touchdown. Batzel finished with 70 rushing yards. North Pocono rushed for 272. Nick Reuther scored on three consecutive drives and had 58 yards on four carries.

The Oct. 30 game was 39-6 at Honesdale, a Lackawanna Football Conference Division I game. North Pocono rushed for 323 yards. Matt Smith was 6-for-10 for 60 yards, and he scored from 55 yards on the third play of the opening drive. Nick Batzel scored from 2 yards on the next possession. In the second quarter North Pocono scored on all three possessions: Frank Butash from 13 yards, Batzel from 55 on a scramble for his second touchdown, and E.J. Waldsmith from 1 yard with 1:37 left. Halftime was 32-0. Frankie DePietro’s 86-yard kickoff return opened the third quarter and made it 39-0. Andrew Branning was 2-for-6 with an interception and 98 passing yards. Pat Maher’s 90-yard catch, on the second play of the fourth quarter, was Honesdale’s only score.

On Nov. 6, North Pocono beat West Scranton 35-0 at home and clinched at least a share of the Lackawanna Football Conference Division I title. The Times-Tribune had the Trojans at 9-1, their best regular-season record since 1994, and the first division title since 2001. West Scranton was held to 67 yards. Matt Smith rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown, and his 26-yard pass to Nick Bell opened the scoring. Josh Przywara was on the line with Peter Calderone and A.J. Giombetti.