Scranton Prep put a season-opening, three-game losing streak and a .500 regular season in the rearview mirror by playoff time, remaining the dominant force in District 2 Class 3A football.
The Cavaliers, who finished 8-6, won their fifth straight district title and a first-round Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament game before having their third straight season ended by Northwestern Lehigh in the state quarterfinals.
Counting an earlier 42-0 victory over Wyoming Area in the semifinals, the championship game victory made Scranton Prep 11-0 in District 2 playoff games by a margin of 433-69 since the PIAA resumed its usual formats following a COVID-shortened 2020 tournament.
Scranton Prep 42, Berwick 7
BERWICK — Scranton Prep remained an unstoppable force in District 2 when it went to Crispin Field and pounded previously unbeaten Berwick.
Scranton Prep’s first-team offense scored six touchdowns in seven offensive drives, and senior quarterback Will McPartland was right at the center of it all.
McPartland ran for four touchdowns, and threw two more to Braedon McPartland and Mackey Lynett as the Cavaliers had their latest title wrapped up and into running clock territory by halftime.
“We went through a ton of adversity, playing some teams with a ton of talent, but those games made us better,” Will McPartland said. “The defensive line was outstanding, our backers got downhill and made tackles. … I couldn’t be happier with how we played.”
The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion Bulldogs, largely through running back Ty’Meere Wilkerson, had run roughshod over everyone in front of them before the Nov. 7 title game.
Wilkerson finished with 139 yards rushing and the lone touchdown for the Bulldogs, but much of his production came in the second half after the Cavaliers had built up an insurmountable lead.
Scranton Prep also picked off two passes from Berwick quarterback Brady Cleaver, got a partial block of a punt that led to a score and generally bottled up an offense that had been scoring in the neighborhood of 45 points a game.
“For the most part, I thought we ran to the ball well,” Cavaliers coach Terry Gallagher said. “ … That’s what I expect from our defense.”
The Cavaliers marched downfield on their opening drive, with Will McPartland scoring the first of his four rushing touchdowns. He made it 21-0 by the end of the quarter with another rushing score and a touchdown pass to his brother Braedon McPartland on a screen pass with a ton of blockers providing plenty of running room.
Will McPartland added a third rushing score early in the second quarter and saved his most memorable work for right at the halftime whist
As the clock hit all zeroes with Prep right around midfield, McPartland managed to escape a would-be Berwick tackler in the backfield, rolled out and fired toward the end zone.
There, Lynett was waiting to go up and bring down a jump-ball for a 47-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead.
“I trusted my guy,” said Will McPartland, who completed all 10 of his pass attempts for 226 yards. “I threw it up and he made the play.”
Will McPartland added one more rushing score in the third quarter before the reserves came in for Scranton Prep. Wilkerson took a direct snap, faked a handoff and ran in a 10-yard touchdown to help Berwick avoid the shutout.
Scranton Prep 28, Mifflinburg 21
Scranton Prep’s defense provided a touchdown in the second quarter and a near-flawless performance in the second half Nov. 14 to pave the way for the Cavaliers to rally from 14 points down and defeat Mifflinburg in a first-round state game at Milton High School.
Quarterback Will McPartland ran for three touchdowns, including the fourth-quarter game-winner.
The other Scranton Prep touchdown came when Elijah Myers sacked Chad Martin, forcing a fumble that Ricky Dewey picked up ahead of the pack and ran free for a 49-yard touchdown and 14-14 tie.
Mifflinburg regained the lead at halftime, but the Scranton Prep defense yielded just 17 yards while holding the Wildcats scoreless over the final two quarters.
With the Wildcats offense stalled, the Cavaliers put together two sustained drives for second-half McPartland touchdowns.
Scranton Prep covered 86 yards on 11 plays on its first possession of the half to force the tie on McPartland’s 1-yard touchdown midway through the third.
The next drive took up eight minutes and carried into the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers went 59 yards in 14 plays, including nine McPartland runs.
McPartland again went in from the 1 for the game-winner.
The Cavaliers also drove the ball in the first quarter, threatening twice but coming up empty.
Mifflinburg had no such troubles.
The Wildcats scored on their only two plays of the quarter, taking a 14-0 lead when Martin hit Landen Murray deep down the right side for 88 yards, then behind the defense down the middle for 66 more.
After McPartland’s 5-yard run and Dewey’s fumble return, Martin and Murray connected one more time. On fourth-and-eight, Murray came down with the ball in the back left corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown and the lead with 1:43 left in the half.
McPartland finished with 123 yards on 24 carries.
Northwestern Lehigh 42, Scranton Prep 14
Shane Leh threw five touchdown passes, three of them to Brady Zimmerman, Nov. 21 at Berwick’s Crispin Field as two-time, defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh ran its winning streak to 30 games with the quarterfinal victory.
Northwestern Lehigh defeated Scranton Prep 27-6 in 2023 and 34-0 last year, also in state quarterfinals.
Leh led the latest victory by hitting 17 of 19 passes for 222 yards.
The Tigers used defense to jump in front early.
Braxton Laktosh intercepted a screen pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.
Scranton Prep then drove 69 yards in six plays to tie the game 7-7 on a 2-yard run by Will McPartland.
McPartland led the Cavaliers with 68 rushing yards on 16 carries and also passed for 95 yards while going 9-for-22 through the air.
McPartland threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Sean McCormack on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 35-14, but Leh hit Zimmerman one last time a 40-yard touchdown to close the scoring.
