Captains, including Old Forge’s Casey Holzman (3), meet at midfield for the coin toss before the first overtime in the 89-year history of the Scranton Lions Club Dream Game.
Tom Robinson | Sunday Dispatch
Nick D’Amico from Riverside (9) signals that his overtime, game-winning field goal is good for the County in Wednesday’s Dream Game.
Tom Robinson | Sunday Dispatch
PECKVILLE – James Sobol made a connection with the most dynamic player in Wednesday’s 89th annual Scranton Lions Club Dream Game.
Sobol used that connection to throw the touchdown pass that started the fourth-quarter comeback which led the County to a 23-20 win over the City in the first overtime game in the 89-year history of the all-star game for recent graduates of the Lackawanna Football Conference.
The Old Forge graduate found Valley View’s Taheed Jewell with a 7-yard touchdown pass, zipping a slant pass over two jumping defenders to Jewell, who cradled it while heading to the end zone turf with another on his back.
“It was him all the way,” Sobol said of how the touchdown with 11:05 remaining did not require any read, just execution, to cut into a 13-point deficit.
Jewell finished with seven catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including the 39-yarder from Lakeland’s Dominico Spataro with 1:13 left to send the game into overtime. Jewell caught three of the completions from Sobol, who came off the bench to play about half the game at quarterback and finished 5-for-9 for 74 yards.
“He’s a great kid; great energy; great hands; great route-running,” said Sobol, who also had runs of 11 yards in the third quarter and three yards on the play before Riverside’s Nick D’Amico kicked the winning, 27-yard field goal. “He has a lot of intelligence for the game.”
Sobol was one of three Old Forge players in the game, which was presented by Northeast Rehab.
Strong safety Casey Holzman, one of four team captains, and end Andrew Santarsiero started for the County defense. Santarsiero assisted on two tackles while Holzman was part of the pass coverage that limited the City to 2-for-11 passing.
The City led, 20-7, at halftime and had advantages of 10-5 in first downs and 221-47 in total offense. The County pitched a second-half shutout and had leads of 9-3 in first downs and 166-28 in total offense the rest of the way.
“We started off slow,” Sobol said. “We only played together a week. It was struggles with chemistry, but the second half, we came out as a whole different team.
“I’m happy that we came out on top.”
The game, played at Valley View’s John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium, drew a crowd of 7,246 that responded and added to the on-field intensity during the dramatic comeback.
“It was electric out here,” said North Pocono graduate Ty LaFave, a City linebacker who was one of the game’s top defensive players. “Fans were getting into it. Everybody was playing their butts off.
“It had some chippyness, but that’s going to come with the game of football. We were just out here competing and it was fun.”
Michael Blaine led the City with 17 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder on the game’s second play.
The win was the fourth straight by the County, tying the series at 42-42-4.
Mid Valley’s Stan Yanoski coached the County, which included his players along with those from Old Forge, Valley View, Lakeland, Riverside, Abington Heights, Carbondale, Delaware Valley, Honesdale and Western Wayne.
Wyoming Area graduate Greg Dolhon was the City head coach. Dolhon’s team consisted of his North Pocono players along with those from Holy Cross, Dunmore, Lackawanna Trail, Montrose, Scranton, Scranton Prep, Wallenpaupack and West Scranton.
