North Pocono’s Cole West holds onto the ball after getting hit by Valley View’s Colin Witkowski at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Jonathan Anuszewski returns a kickoff against North Pocono at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Chase Zimmerman finds a hole in the Valley View defense for a gain in the second quarter at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Henry Wolff runs towards the end zone in the second quarter against Valley View at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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North Pocono’s Cole West holds onto the ball after getting hit by Valley View’s Colin Witkowski at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
BLAKELY — Cole West did everything he could to stay in bounds as he tiptoed the sideline, but maybe a millimeter of his cleat touched out of bounds.
The North Pocono senior thought he kept his feet in bounds all the way to the end zone, but was ruled out at the Valley View 23-yard line.
“I don’t think I was out,” West said with a laugh of the second-quarter run. “But no, that just gave us momentum the rest of the game. We were able to push them around. Our line up front, they’re dogs up there. So, that’s all day.”
With North Pocono leading, 3-0, Valley View quarterback Caleb Brown threw deep to Cash Roe, who made an adjustment and leaped for the 43-yard catch to put the Cougars on the 1-yard line. Tyler Muchal capped the drive with a 1-yard run to give Valley View a 7-3 advantage with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
The teams traded possessions before West took the snap out of the Wildcat formation, bolted through the line, stiff-armed a defender and sprinted down the sideline where Colin Witkowski barely pushed him out of bounds at the 23.
After the Trojans got a first down on the 13 after a penalty, West ran for 7 and 5 yards, and quarterback Chase Zimmerman capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run for a 10-7 lead with 8:12 left in the second quarter.
After a three-and-out, West barreled through defenders for a 20-yard run. Then, Henry Wolff broke three tackles and sprinted for the end zone, but Witkowski forced him out at the 1-yard line after a 37-yard gain.
“I regret not diving,” Wolff said. “But, I’ll get it next week.”
Zimmerman once again capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run for a 17-7 lead with 3:01 left in the half.
North Pocono regained possession after another three-and-out, and Zimmerman’s 22-yard run and 8-yard pass to West put the Trojans on the Valley View 19 with 8 seconds left in the half. Shane Youngblood nailed the 36-yard field goal — his second of the game after knocking down a 42-yarder in the first quarter — to give the Trojans a 20-7 lead at halftime.
North Pocono forced back-to-back three-and-outs to start the third quarter, highlighted by Connor Ruddy and Max Lafave converging on a 4-yard tackle for loss on a swing pass, Henry Wolff’s sack and Oram Abutbul and Ruddy combining on a sack.
“The defense played outstanding and shut them down,” West said. “It gave us the momentum, and it shut them down completely. So, that’s huge for us.”
West continued that momentum, running for 24 yards on the first play after a punt to put the Trojans in the red zone. Jayden Taylor capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give North Pocono a 27-7 lead with 5:01 left in the third quarter.
North Pocono (4-0, 2-0) thought it forced a sixth straight three-and-out, but Cash Roe connected with Jeffrey Wasilchak for a 26-yard gain on a fake punt. It was Valley View’s third first down of the game and first since its touchdown drive in the first quarter.
However, another Wolff tackle for a loss and two straight incompletions forced the Cougars to punt. Valley View (2-2, 0-1) had just 22 yards of total offense in the second and third quarters combined.
“First touchdown, they punched us in the mouth, but we punched back,” Wolff said. “We had a lot of three-and-outs, and we played physical tonight.”
Michael Bell halted another Valley View drive with an interception in the fourth quarter, before Colin Dempsey hit Roe for 7 and 16 yards and Ben Evans for a 22-yard touchdown — with Evans highpointing the pass — to cut the deficit to 27-14 with 3:13.
However, Zimmerman recovered the onside kick, and the Trojans ran the clock out for the win.
“That’s a huge win for us,” West said. “The first three games, we haven’t been challenged like we wanted to be challenged and we shut teams out. This is a big challenge for us, getting that win tonight at Valley View, there’s nothing better than that.”
West finished with 148 yards rushing on 15 carries, and Wolff added 100 yards rushing on 15 carries.
“We knew this game was going to be a physical game, and we had to step up,” Wolff said. “They’re a great team, and we showed tonight that we could play with them.”
North Pocono will host Abington Heights next Friday, while Valley View visits Scranton.