North Pocono Football 2019 Season

The season opened Aug. 23 with a 42-6 win over No. 4 West Scranton at Trojan Stadium. The Times-Tribune had Jacob Owens at 172 yards and five touchdowns, Gabe Hribal with a long return on the opening kickoff, and Michael Scutt making his first start at quarterback in place of Donny Blaine: 48 rushing yards and two completions for 70. Dolhon said the goal was to control the line and avenge the two 2018 losses to West Scranton, including the district playoff.

The Oct. 4 Times-Tribune game was an 18-3 win over No. 10 Wallenpaupack at Trojan Stadium, a Lackawanna Football Conference Division I game. North Pocono was 3-4 and 2-2. Wallenpaupack was 3-4 and 0-3. The Trojans ran for 260 yards and held Wallenpaupack to 133 rushing yards and 160 total. Jacob Owens had 166 yards and two scores on 20 carries, seven of them for 10 yards or more. Gabe Hribal had 43 yards and a score on nine carries. Michael Scutt added 49 on seven. Roman Levant’s 28-yard field goal was the only Wallenpaupack score, after North Pocono fumbled the opening kickoff. Wallenpaupack forced five turnovers, punted eight times, and had eight first downs, none in the third quarter. The defense had given up 90 points in the two previous losses. North Pocono sacked Alex Gardsy three times and pressured him on most of his 16 pass attempts. Shadrak Agyei led Wallenpaupack with 91 yards on 21 carries.

The Oct. 11 game was a nonconference win at Tunkhannock, 33-25, on Tunkhannock’s homecoming. Both teams were 4-4. Jacob Owens entered with 638 rushing yards and added 211. The Times-Tribune said that was all but 94 of the team’s rushing yardage. The opening drive was seven plays for the first score. Tunkhannock answered 11 seconds later, Jack Chilson to Jake Frisco for 80 yards. Frisco also intercepted a pass at the 5 to end the quarter. Chilson and Frisco combined for 236 yards and a two-point conversion late in the fourth. Chilson and Jhamal Zacharias combined for 149 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown. Gabe Hribal had 67 yards on 11 carries and a 3-yard touchdown. Robert VanBrunt scored twice, on a 6-yard run with a minute left in the first half and on a 26-yard catch from Michael Scutt late in the third.

The Oct. 18 game was a 40-7 win at Honesdale in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division I-II crossover. No. 10 North Pocono was 5-4. Honesdale was 1-8. Jacob Owens ran for 223 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. The Times-Tribune said he also had a sack and an interception, and that he had gone over 1,000 yards for the season. The sack of Pete West forced a punt. Two carries covered 40 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 5:42 left in the first quarter. The interception came back 20 yards to the Honesdale 35. Six of the next eight plays were Owens carries, 24 yards including a 3-yard touchdown, and the lead was 12-0. In the third quarter his first handoff went 38 yards to the 22, and he scored from 5 yards three plays later. Michael Scutt hit Jack Roche on a 22-yard swing pass. Roche’s knee was down at the 1, and he scored from the 1 on the next play. Owens’s 58-yard run, on the first play after a Honesdale punt, made it 33-0 with 6:17 left in the third. Gabe Hribal’s 2-yard run in the fourth was North Pocono’s last score. Jim Ludwig’s 2-yard run was Honesdale’s only touchdown. Jacob Orrick had 44 yards on three carries on that drive.

MaxPreps has the year finishing 5-6 and 2-2, third in Lackawanna 1. Delaware Valley won 48-13 and Scranton Prep won 42-7. The playoff game was a 34-0 loss at Crestwood.