Wyoming Valley West quarterback Damian Eastman throws a pass in a scrimmage against Riverside at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Pittston Area’s Santino Salvo (15) evades a Scranton defender during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Santino Salvo (15) makes a running pass during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Riverside quarterback Brayden Rose, left, looks to pass from the shotgun in a scrimmage against Wyoming Valley West at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Wyoming Valley West’s Noah Council (6) runs the ball in a scrimmage against Riverside at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Wyoming Valley West’s Cairon Rivers (30) runs the ball in a scrimmage against Riverside at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Pittston Area’s Santino Salvo (15) scrambles with the ball during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wyoming Valley West’s Colton Kocher, center, runs the ball in a scrimmage against Riverside at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Riverside’s Luke O’Brien runs the ball in a scrimmage against Wyoming Valley West at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Riverside quarterback Carter Whetstone, left, hands off to Caleb Borowski in a scrimmage against Wyoming Valley West at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Scranton running back (15) fights for extra yards during a scrimmage at Pittston Area on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Liam Flynn (17) attempts to spin past the Scranton defense during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s (21) runs the ball during a scrimmage at Pittston Area on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Santino Salvo (15) hands the ball off to Liam Flynn (17) during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Wyoming Valley West quarterback Damian Eastman throws a pass in a scrimmage against Riverside at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
KINGSTON— Two weeks of preparation ultimately led to Saturday morning when high school football teams across the state were finally able to compete against a team in a different colored jersey.
While it’s not your typical setting for a high school football game, the Saturday morning scrimmages afforded coaches the opportunity to see where they stand with less than a week to go until the regular season starts.
A pair of first-year head coaches went at it at Spartan Stadium when Riverside played at Valley West.
Jim Tucker is in his first season as Riverside head coach, taking over for Harry Armstrong. Brydon Rukstalis is in his first season at Valley West, having taken over for Bob Stelma. Both coaches had the same priority Saturday morning: execute the fundamentals and, more importantly, end the nearly two-hour event as healthy as possible.
That was the case aside from the general bumps and bruises from going up against an actual opponent, as opposed to the standard drills run during camp.
“We were looking for execution,” Tucker said. “We kept it basic and didn’t fully unload like you usually don’t in a scrimmage. I knew we were tired, but it was more about how we responded. We know what we have to do moving forward. I thought we played well. Some things went poorly for us, and other things I thought we did really, really well.”
The teams played the standard 10 plays on offense, then switched for two sets. The scrimmage ended with the simulation of a full first half of football. Each team played it pretty close to the vest on both sides of the ball. Riverside quarterback Brayden Rose, who has 15 NCAA Division I scholarship offers, had the opportunity to show off his arm, and in some instances, kept the ball and ran, but was not hit. The only hitting he did was when he played on the defensive side of the ball.
“He is phenomenal,” Tucker said. “I wish we could have seen him get a little bit loose today, but we were protecting him. We’re just looking to get better every single day and every single week.”
The same can be said for the Spartans, who are coming off a 1-10 season and will now move up to Class 6A for the next two years. Damien Eastman returns for his third season as the starting quarterback, while Malique Campbell, a junior, also returns at running back.
Rukstalis was happy with the physicality his team showed and will look to carry it over throughout the week of preparation for the regular season opener on Friday night.
“I think we played well; they were obviously excited coming out for the first time,” Rukstalis said. “I just wanted to see how physical we would be. In practice, we were physical all week. We were flying around and making plays. I was pleased with that.”
With the practice run out of the way, Tucker and his staff will spend some time on the scrimmage film and begin preparing for Susquehanna. Valley West will do the same and get set for Williamsport. Riverside and Valley West host the Week 1 openers.
Tucker feels having a second scrimmage would be beneficial. Rukstalis says he is ready to roll right into the regular season.
“I think a second scrimmage is super valuable,” Tucker said. “Being a player when we had the second scrimmage, a lot of the mistakes you see in the first week don’t occur if you have that second scrimmage. Like today, we played an actual half of football.”
Rukstalis, who coached the running backs at King’s College the past two seasons, is fine with the way things are.
“I think I want to hop right into Week 1,” Rukstalis said. “I like the structure of how we did camp. A second scrimmage would force more things on us. We got the work in we needed.”