S. ABINGTON TWP. \u2013 Gavin Anders made a special Thursday night Homecoming game something to remember.<\/p>\n
A senior and four-year contributor, Anders hauled in three passes for 60 yards in Abington Heights\u2019 49-13 win over Scranton in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division I game.<\/p>\n
Abington Heights improved to 7-2 overall and finished at 4-2 in Division I. The Comets complete their regular season on Oct. 24 at Hazleton Area in a nonleague game.<\/p>\n
On his second reception, which went for 19 yards, he became the program\u2019s all-time leader in career receiving yards with 1,736. He passed Corey Perkins, who had 1,699 yards from 2017 to 2019, for the record. Anders, who jumped former teammate Mason Fedor for the career lead in receptions last week, pushed his record total to 122.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis feels amazing,\u201d said Anders, who ranks 10th in career receiving yards and is tied for seventh in career receptions in LIAA history. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be here if it weren\u2019t for my guys who work so hard in practice. It\u2019s awesome, and congratulations to all the great players who set these records first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the last two seasons, Anders has emerged as an impact player in Abington Heights\u2019 air attack. As a junior, he had 43 receptions for 575 yards and six touchdowns. He was productive as a third option, as Shane Brower had a team-high 53 catches for 863 yards and eight touchdowns, and Shawn Theodore had 39 receptions for 710 yards and 12 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Both Brower and Theodore, last season\u2019s All-Region wide receivers, were in attendance on the sideline for Anders\u2019 historic night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love when those guys are here,\u201d Anders said. \u201cI get to talk to them. They were great teammates. They taught me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Bradley, the quarterback who has been the catalyst for the passing game, was on the sideline too. But he continues to recover from an injury to his left hand that he suffered in a loss to North Pocono.<\/p>\n
Noah Kayal was the one who threw the record-setting pass to Anders. The junior backup, who had been a starter at receiver, had another effective night despite a cold wind whipping. He completed six of 11 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in the win over Scranton.<\/p>\n
In his four starts, Kayal has led the Comets to a 3-1 record and has thrown for 506 yards and three touchdowns. Abington Heights has averaged 27.8 points per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing for me was to come in and step up,\u201d Kayal said. \u201cI know what I am capable of doing. I played the way that I play. There was pressure there, but I couldn\u2019t let it get to me. I was confident, and my teammates believed in me, and that was the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abington Heights\u2019 offense, while sparked by the efficient passing game, also utilized its running attack. Jayden Anglin ran for 72 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a 20-yard burst in the second quarter. He has 924 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we picked things up,\u201d Anglin said. \u201cIt is a testament to our linemen and how much they are improving. I have to thank them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abington Heights, which is second in the District 2 Class 5A power rating, standing behind Pittston Area, got off to a good start and built an imposing 42-0 advantage at halftime against the ailing Knights, who are battling injuries down the stretch of the season.<\/p>\n
Evan Keiper caught a 16-yard reception for a 7-0 lead with 8:27 remaining in the first. Anglin scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 6-yard run 4 minutes later.<\/p>\n
Following an interception by Anglin, the Comets extended the lead to 21-0 on a 1-yard sneak by Kayal with 11:55 left in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
Scranton could not field a bouncing kickoff from Jack Hartshorn, and Scott Weiland scooped it up and sprinted 21 yards for an apparent touchdown. However, the kickoff was never possessed, so it could not be advanced. Abington Heights still tacked on a score when Anglin powered in from 1 yard out.<\/p>\n
On Abington Heights\u2019 next possession, Anders got involved. He hauled in a 13-yard pass, and his second reception covered 19 yards, converted a third-down-and-9, and set the record.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy two quarterbacks are my favorite guys,\u201d Anders said. \u201cWithout them, I wouldn\u2019t have a chance at any records. We work so hard at practice to get our routes and timing down. We have put in the time and the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two plays after Anders\u2019 record-setting catch, Anglin took a handoff and darted for a 20-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Anthony Severs finished the first half scoring on a 2-yard run and a 42-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Scranton\u2019s Kamani Sterling scored on an 8-yard run in the third, and Abington Heights backup quarterback Chris Bohn added an 8-yard scoring run with 6:55 left in the fourth, and the clock was running in the second half.<\/p>\n
Scranton\u2019s Ian McAndrew had a 60-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close the scoring at 49-13. It also gave the offensive yard total a boost as the Knights (2-6, 0-5) finished with 166 yards in 35 plays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"S. ABINGTON TWP. \u2013 Gavin Anders made a special Thursday night Homecoming game something to remember. A senior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":{"0":"post-5159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-high-school-sports","9":"tag-scranton","10":"tag-scranton-headlines","11":"tag-scranton-news","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}