Valley View’s Tristan Smith runs for a short gain as he moves around Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Owen Jeffers (13) escapes the hold of Valley View’s Brady Bachman (14) at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Cash Roe runs against Scranton Prep at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland runs up the middle of the line against Valley View at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland stays away from Valley View’s Tristan Smith at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Valley View’s Tristan Smith runs for a short gain as he moves around Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium in Dunmore Friday, October 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
DUNMORE — Scranton Prep head coach Terry Gallagher put it best. When in doubt, give “zero” the ball.
Zero is Braedon McPartland. With the Cavaliers clinging to a one-score lead in the fourth quarter, they gave the senior the football 10 straight times on the final drive. He was able to run out the remaining 5:38 and help No. 1 Scranton Prep hold on for a 14-7 win over No. 5 Valley View in an emotional, hard-fought battle between bitter Lackawanna Football Conference Division I rivals at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“Guys will block and he will run really hard. He’s super-intelligent with all those things,” Gallagher said. “He’s a guy who feeds off that. When we need a play we’re going to give him the ball. He’s one of the best football players in the state, he’s one of the best football players in the history of the school. Sign me up.”
McPartland finished with 107 yards on 15 carries and also returned an interception for a touchdown. Brandon Farmer added 122 yards on 11 carries as Scranton Prep (8-1 overall, 6-0 Division I) clinched a tie for the division title.
“I didn’t think we played particularly well, but sometimes you have to win ugly,” Gallagher said. “There’s stuff we’ll have to correct Monday at film and get better. But we won the game, that’s the most important thing. We have some good kids that were able to grind it out. I give a lot of credit to the older guys, the seniors. They were able to go through it, not panic and lose their minds.”
All of the scoring came in the first half.
Valley View (5-4, 3-3) thought it had tied the game on the first play of the third quarter when Tristan Smith took a handoff 72 yards for an apparent touchdown. However, it was called back due to a holding penalty. Scranton Prep also had a long touchdown — an 84-yard screen pass from Owen Jeffers to Noah Krzywiec on the game’s opening play in the first quarter — nullified by a holding call. The Cavaliers were penalized nine times for 74 yards and the Cougars flagged five times for 45 yards.
Still, the Cougars had their chances in the second half. Twice they drove deep into the Scranton Prep territory, only to come away empty on a pair of fourth-down incompletions. One came at the 20 in the third quarter, the other at the 24 in the fourth quarter.
“Prep’s defense stiffened, Terry (Gallagher) did a nice job making adjustments,” Valley View head coach Scot Wasilchak said. “But that’s on me as a play caller, not our kids. I couldn’t get the ball in the end zone. We were in the red zone too many times to not come away with points. We played well-enough to win. I’ve got to do a better job.”
Following the second Valley View fourth-down incompletion, Scranton Prep took over at its 24 with 5:38 to play. The Cavaliers direct-snapped the ball to McPartland 10 consecutive times. He gained 75 yards on nine of the carries and had one 10-yard run wiped out by an offensive facemask penalty. Scranton Prep also was called for illegal procedure twice on the march. His effort moved the ball to the Valley View 26 and, with the Cougars out of timeouts, Jeffers was able to take a knee and seal the victory.
“It’s really all the linemen in front of me that’s doing the blocking and stuff,” McPartland said. “They’re leading it and I’m just following. We got the job done, that’s all that matters.”
In the first quarter, McPartland gave Scranton Prep the early lead when he intercepted a Colin Dempsey pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. Tyler Bianchi’s kick made it 7-0 with 8:43 left.
“We had that touchdown called back on the first play of the game and I knew we had to get it back and put some points on the board,” McPartland said. “I saw it was a pass, dropped back and he kind of threw it right to me and I took it to the house. It was awesome.”
An interception by Valley View’s Ben Evans gave the Cougars possession at their 39. A 50-yard pass from Dempsey to Evans moved them to the Scranton Prep 16. However, the drive stalled and Braden Loff attempted a 32-yard field goal. But Scranton Prep blocked the kick, keeping it a 7-0 game.
“I’m pretty sure I got a part of it,” said senior linebacker Finn Mulligan, who helped lead the Cavaliers’ defensive charge with nine tackles. “We saw the alignment and knew it would big to get a stop. Special teams can win you games.”
Five plays and 82 yards after the blocked kick, Scranton Prep extended its lead. Farmer rumbled 36 yards to the Valley View 12, from where Jeffers ran it in for the touchdown on the next play. Bianchi’s kick made it 14-0 with 5:08 to go in the second quarter.
The Cougars answered with a 61-yard scoring drive that took 12 plays. Tyler Muchal capped it with a 1-yard run and Loff’s kick cut the deficit to 14-7 with 34 seconds remaining before halftime.
It stayed that way the rest of the game.
“It was old-school, smash-mouth football. I think that’s what you get when you watch these two programs play,” Mulligan said. “We’re each tough programs who live for running the ball down each other’s throats. That’s what you got.”