PECKVILLE – Old Forge graduates Tommy Souriyavong and Anthony Rios were part of an effective and versatile passing attack that helped the County defeat the City, 14-7, Thursday night in the 85th annual Dream Game at John F. Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The County completed more than half of its passing attempts while throwing for 176 yards to outgain the City, 300-156.
The passing started immediately with the City going 5-for-6 for 89 yards while taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Souriyavong and Rios were among the five different receivers with catches in the quarter.
“The linemen were blocking, the QBs were executing and we were running precise routes,” Rios said.
On the second play of the game, Souriyavong turned a swing pass into an eight-yard gain.
Rios caught a seven-yard pass on the last play of the first quarter as part of a drive that moved the County to the City 1 with a chance to add to its 14-0 lead.
One penalty moved the County back from the 1 and another wiped out a touchdown on the next play. The County ultimately settled for a field-goal attempt, the first of two in the game that went wide left.
From there the City made the game interesting with a score early in the second half and two trips across midfield in the fourth quarter.
Old Forge had a total of five players on the winning County team.
Linebacker Adam Samitz, end Brett Wargo and lineman Cory Berrien were the others.
“I was just looking to have a fun time running up and down the field one last time before we part ways and live life and become adults,” said Rios, who was playing in his final football game.
Samitz made three tackles and assisted one. Wargo had two tackles.
Souriyavong was also part of the special teams. He made one tackle on a kickoff and had an 11-yard punt return before being tackled for a loss on his second try.
Old Forge was part of a County team coached by Honesdale’s Mike Jurkowski. In addition to Old Forge and Honesdale players, the team also had players from host Valley View, Western Wayne, Mid Valley, Lakeland, Carbondale, Abington Heights, Riverside and Delaware Valley.
“I loved all my teammates,” Rios said. “They were all cool. We came in not knowing each other, but it was a fun time.”
The City has a 42-39-4 lead in the all-star game for recent graduates of the Lackawanna Football Conference.
Prior to the game, Jack Henzes was honored as just the fourth person to receive the Scranton Lions Club/Dream Game Lifetime Achievement Award.
Henzes began his head coaching career at Wyoming Area. The bulk of his 58 total years in coaching were spent in Dunmore up until his retirement earlier this year. Henzes retires with 444 career wins, second-most in state history.
The game drew a paid crowd of more than 7,500.
