Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda talks to his team after their defeat to Snow College at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College coaches and players embrace after the football game against Snow College at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s players gather to hug head coach Mark Duda after his last football game as coach at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s Jalen Fletcher attempts to evade Snow College’s Teni Worthen and Salehe Koonooka-Williams during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s Jiri Mills attempts to evade Snow College’s defense during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda on the sidelines during the football game against Snow College at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s Jacob Tiberi looks to make a pass during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s Jalen Fletcher carries the ball during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s Jacob Tiberi during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda guides his players through warm-ups at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda during warm-ups before the game against Snow College at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda embraces Brodie Daugherty before the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda talks with Joshua Baskerville during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda calls out to players during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda talks to his team after their defeat to Snow College at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — It didn’t end the way Mark Duda and Lackawanna College hoped it would.
Snow College spoiled the festivities with a 37-0 victory over the Falcons on a cold, windy and rainy Thursday night at Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium in the final game of Duda’s legendary career. Part of the program since its inception 33 years ago, he is retiring after 32 years as head coach due to being diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease.
Also, it was the final game for Lackawanna at the junior college level; it is moving to NCAA Division II and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference next season.
Running back Matt Wilson carried 28 times for 287 yards and two touchdowns and also had a 13-yard scoring reception for the Badgers (6-4), ranked No. 15 in NJCAA. Quarterback Jace Welsch threw for a touchdown and ran for another and the Utah school’s defense handed Lackawanna its first shutout loss since Oct. 28, 2017, when the Falcons were blanked by the College of DuPage, 24-0.
Jalen Fletcher had 115 yards on 17 carries for Lackawanna (4-6), which suffered its first losing season since 2014.
It was a contentious game with players exchanging words and pushes and shoves after almost every play, resulting in several personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Snow was penalized 11 times for 115 yards and Lackawanna flagged 14 times for 144 yards.
Despite the outcome, it couldn’t ruin the evening for Duda.
“That’s football,” he said. “It doesn’t take away from the fact that the guys played really hard all the way through and really hard every game this year. I appreciate them very much. Those hugs at the end mean everything to me. That matters the most.”
Sophomore defensive back Victor Holt from Mid Valley said the players owed it to Duda to give their best effort in his final game.
“We had to think about the man you’re doing it for,” Holt said. “Coach Duda is a legendary Hall of Fame coach. It would be a shame not to go 100 percent in his last game. I’m glad everyone did and kept their word. We really played our hardest for coach Duda. Things might not have went our way, but I’m happy we stuck together through everything and played out hearts out until the very last quarter. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Not just his players showed him respect. After the game, during the handshake line, Snow players hugged Duda and offered him well-wishes in his retirement.
“For guys from Utah to have the foresight to congratulate me on my career, that really means a lot as an opponent. They appreciate you, too,” Duda said. “That’s really a special thing. You expect your own guys to be good to you, but not the opponent. That caught me off-guard a little bit to be honest with you.”
Before and after the game, Duda’s message to his players was to keep loving and appreciating the game.
“Doesn’t matter cold, hot, win, lose, you play the game because you love it,” Duda said. “If you keep loving it, then you’ll be good players. Sometimes guys get lost in ‘We didn’t win a championship, so it’s bad.’ There are no bad football games. Being on the field should be the highlight of their week. I just told them that before and after and I hope I stressed that to them enough to where they’re going to be that way. Appreciate the game for as glorious as it is.”
A 15-minute video tribute was played on the scoreboard following the game. It featured shots of Duda through the years as a player and a coach, as well as congratulatory and thank you messages from former players, coaches and Lackawanna faculty and administration.
There was even a message from NFL running back O.J. Anderson, who was a teammate with Duda with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“For Juice to be on there and talk, that was fantastic,” Duda said. “I haven’t talked to Juice in a while. That caught me off-guard for sure. That was really cool. It kind of links the beginning of my career with the end. It links the pro football with coming back here and doing things back here.”
Among those who came to see Duda’s final game was Ron Solt. The two played against each other in high school — Duda at Wyoming Valley West, Solt at Wilkes-Barre Coughlin. They were teammates at the University of Maryland — Duda a year ahead of Solt. And they lined up against each other in the pros — Duda as a defensive lineman with the Cardinals, Solt as an offensive lineman with the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles.
“There are kids here who will go on to do some great things because of the opportunity that Mark gave them,” Solt said. “If I’m a school administrator, that’s what I’m looking at. I want somebody who is going to make a difference in kids’ lives and that’s exactly what he did. He did what they hired him to do.”
Holt is an example of that.
“He believed in me when a lot of coaches didn’t believe in me,” Holt said. “He wasn’t afraid to put me out there on the field. He trusted me my freshman year — I was a 10-game starter my freshman year and started all 10 games this year. I’m just glad he believed in me. I just love coach. He’s a great coach, a great man and I couldn’t be happier to have played for him.”
Another person in attendance caught Duda by surprise: his neighbor Frank Leggat.
“He’s an awesome guy, but he doesn’t go to sporting events,” Duda said. “I look up after the game’s over and he’s standing there. I said, ‘Frank, what are you doing here?’ He said, ‘It’s your last game.’ That’s like wild as hell to me. I see these other guys, I understand it. But him? You get taken aback by that.”
Walking off the field for the last time is probably when the finality of it all will hit him, Duda said.
“It’s going to take a little getting used to for sure,” he said. “I just have years and years of memories of kids doing great stuff and that will carry me through, for sure. For me it was always a calling, not a job. I told my daughter Taylor that I’ve never had a job in my life. I’m 64 years old, I never worked in my life. For me to be on one of these fields for that long, I’ve just been blessed to do that. That’s how I feel about it, I know it sounds cliche. But for me it’s not. That’s how I feel about all this. I’ll miss it, but then again I understand the difference.”
Duda finishes with a record of 217-105. He ranks third in NJCAA history in wins.