Wayne County rivals get a chance to play for a championship this season.
On Thursday, Honesdale (4-6) visits Wallenpaupack (3-7) in the Eastern Conference Class 4A game at 6 p.m. In the regular season meeting, Wallenpaupack rolled to a 37-6 win.
Honesdale, guided by coach George Howanitz, who is in his first season, has won three games in the second half of the regular season. Sparked by the running of senior Gabe Duda, the Hornets have scored more than 35 points in all three victories, including last week’s wild 41-40 win over West Scranton.
Duda put up video-game numbers in the win last week with 384 yards rushing on 42 carries with five touchdowns. That effort earned him the rushing title in the Lackawanna Football Conference Division II.
However, against Wallenpaupack, led by second-year coach Matt Nawrocki, in Week 3, he had only 27 yards rushing on 10 carries. Freshman Anthony Kiesendahl had nine tackles, Ed Kiesendahl added six, and Christian Gutierrez had five for the Wallenpaupack defense.
In the first game against Honesdale, it was Wallenpaupack’s rushing attack that dominated. Quarterback Jake Rafferty ran for 132 yards, Logan Caruso had 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Ed Kiesendahl had 107 yards and two touchdowns.
Wallenpaupack’s last playoff win for a championship came in 2019. Honesdale is looking for its first playoff win for a title in program history.
The Honesdale at Wallenpaupack matchup is one of three Eastern Conference postseason games that will have LFC teams competing.
Mid Valley (4-6) is at Carbondale Area (6-4) on Friday in the Class 3A game. Holy Cross (3-7) is at Upper Dauphin (4-6) in the Class 1A/2A game.
With the five teams in the EC games, the LFC has 15 of its 19 member schools in the postseason.
Milestones
Delaware Valley coach Keith Olsommer guided his team to a 5-5 record this season to give him 195 career wins in 27 seasons. He broke a tie with Old Forge coach Michael Schuback for sixth place on the LIAA all-time career coaching wins list.
The late Jack Henzes, former Wyoming Area and Dunmore coach, has 444 career wins. Frank Pazzaglia, Valley View and Mid Valley coach, has 344; Blakely coach, the late John “Papa Bear” Henzes, is third with 251 wins; Allen “Butch” Keller, who has coached at Honesdale, Western Wayne, Bishop O’Hara, and Holy Cross, is fourth with 220; and former Old Forge coach, the late Elio Ghigiarelli, had 202 wins.
Lackawanna Trail senior running back Isaac Ryon moved into 10th place on the LFC career rushing list and 14th on the LIAA list with 4,193 yards.
Abington Heights senior running back Nick Bradley is sixth in LFC and LIAA history with 5,526 career passing yards. He is also eighth in LIAA history with 60 career touchdown passes.
State-ranked
As the postseason gets ready to kick off, five teams from District 2 are ranked among the top 10 in the state for their respective classifications, in polls released by Pennlive.com.
North Pocono (10-0) is ranked eighth in Class 4A. Berwick (10-0) is sixth, and Wyoming Area (9-1) is eighth in Class 3A.
Lakeland (9-1) is up one spot from last week’s poll at No. 9 in Class 2A. Lackawanna Trail (9-1) also improved one place in Class 1A, moving to No. 5.
Riverside (8-2) is a team to watch in Class 2A.
LFC final leaders
Now that the regular season is completed, here are the LFC statistical winners for 2025:
Division I: Delaware Valley finished as the No. 1 offense by averaging 394.5 total yards per game. North Pocono had the top-rated defense at 216.3 total yards per game, almost 50 yards clear of second-ranked Abington Heights (254.8).
Delaware Valley senior Mike Iuzzolino won the rushing title with 1,207 yards on 162 carries. With 1,592 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, senior teammate Colin McGarvey of Delaware Valley took the lead. North Pocono’s Chase Zimmerman had the best passer rating at 199.7. Abington Heights senior Gavin Anders led with 60 receptions for 968 yards and tied with Delaware Valley sophomore, with seven receiving touchdowns. Scranton Prep senior Will McPartland won the scoring title with 18 touchdowns and 108 points. Delaware Valley senior Reagan Decker made 48 extra points and four field goals for 60 kicking points.
Division II: Lakeland had the No. 1 offense in the division at 373.8 total yards. Dunmore had the top-ranked defense at 156.4 total yards.
Duda, a senior, won the rushing title with 1,159 yards and had 13 rushing touchdowns. He also finished as the scoring champion with 96 total points. Lakeland senior David Naniewicz had the most passing yards with 1,490, the most passing touchdowns with 15, and the top passer rating at 177.5. Lakeland junior Chase Rosenkrans led with 35 receptions and nine receiving touchdowns, while his teammate and sophomore Jackson Pochas, had the most receiving yards with 618. Dunmore senior Johnley Jean had 40 extra points and 43 kicking points.
Division III: Lackawanna Trail’s impressive win over Riverside helped it claim the top-rated offense with 380.6 total yards per game and the top-ranked defense at 225.0 total yards per game.
Lackawanna Trail senior Isaac Ryan had a clean sweep of the rushing and scoring titles. He ran for 2,100 yards in 10 games and had 33 rushing touchdowns. He finished with 38 total touchdowns, three 2-point conversions, four extra points, and two field goals for 244 points.
Old Forge senior quarterback Robby Solfanelli led with 1,519 passing yards. Riverside junior Brayden Rose threw for 17 touchdowns and had the top passer rating at 155.2. Old Forge senior Chris Rasmus led with 60 receptions, 807 receiving yards, and seven receiving touchdowns. Riverside senior Santino D’Amico made 49 extra points and two field goals for 55 kicking points.
EASTERN CONFERENCE CLASS 4A
Honesdale (4-6) at Wallenpaupack (3-7)
When: Friday, 6 p.m.
Where: Wallenpaupack HS Stadium.
Last: Wallenpaupack, 37-6 (2025).
The buzz: Wallenpaupack RB Logan Caruso ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, RB Ed Kiesendahl ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns, and QB Jake Rafferty ran for 132 yards and a touchdown, and had 62 yards passing in a 37-6 win over Honesdale in the regular season. Honesdale senior Kobe White had 73 yards receiving and 37 yards rushing for Honesdale in the first meeting.
Wallenpaupack’s Ryan Vargo
Wallenpaupack’s Ryan VargoRYAN VARGO, Wallenpaupack, TE. He has 16 receptions for 167 yards and a touchdown this season. In the first meeting against Honesdale, he caught two passes for 23 yards.
Gabe Duda, Honesdale
GABE DUDA, Honesdale, RB. He finished as the rushing leader in the LFC Division I with 1,159 yards after running for 384 yards in a win over West Scranton in Week 10.