Delaware Valley beats Whitehall 56-27

There have been some really outstanding football games played by Pocono schools this past week and as we’ve seen before, every time a Pocono school does well, it elevates the state-wide opinion of the entire area. Here are the schools that are advancing: Scranton Prep, with its great win against a perennial power Neuman Goretti, as well as Scranton High School, Dunmore, Dallas and Lackawanna Trail.

Now on to Delaware Valley, which played Whitehall from that ferocious Lehigh Valley conference on November 17. Whitehall defeated Delaware Valley last year by a score of 35-13 after laughingly commenting before the game that “these Pocono schools can’t compete with us, we are a Lehigh Valley school.”

Well, this year Delaware Valley crushed them 56-27 and the final score by Whitehall came at the very end of the game when, as they say, It was too little, too late.

Next Delaware Valley will play the Imhotep Charter School. This private school gets to recruit players from anywhere in the state or even from other states. They always seem to put together an all-star super team and they are a perennial power. Beating them will be a monster achievement.

However, Imhotep is very beatable and guess what, Delaware Valley is just the team to do it. Why? Because Delaware Valley defense in fantastic. They suffocate other teams. Plus, Delaware Valley offense can pass and run with precision. Although Ryder Machado is the running workhorse on this team, there are too many other runners that can pick up the slack, so if a team tries to key on Machado the other runners will crush you. And just when you think that you need to stop the run game, Logan Olsommer will devastate you with the passing game. Every player on the Delaware Valley team is a potential destroyer of the other teams. So this writer predicts the score will be Delaware Valley 40-something to 20-something. That win would then move Delaware Valley into the state’s top 20 team’s listing. Plus, this game is being played at 1 p.m. at Delaware Valley. So Imhotep must take the more than three-hour drive from Philadelphia. They will have to get up extra early and might just show up a bit fatigued and foggy headed. In addition, if the community shows up en-mass and provides extra support, then that will help too.

So now let’s talk about the Delaware Valley players and get back to the Whitehall game. The players picked by Max Preps as players of the game are Logan Olsommer, Everett Bell, Ryder Machado and Justin Kalitsnik. For the overall player of the game, my choice is a dual choice of Ryder Machado and Justin Kalitsnik.

Now some highlight performances of the game. Justin Kalitsnik was an absolute monster on defense as he always is. It seemed that he was everywhere and in almost every play. Mike Luzzolino scored a touchdown and did some very nice running. If he does some growing and puts on a few pounds, he will be something to watch. Carter Faubel had a great game, as usual. Justin Kalitsnik had an interception. Logan Olsommer had a 60-yard connection to Aiden Black, as well as an overall good passing game. He also threw a pass to Kalitsnik for a touchdown. Kalitsnik now has 143 tackles for the year. Wow!

Now hear this. Machado scored five touchdowns, with runs of 27 yards, 29 yards, 51 yards and 54 yards. Runs like these crush the spirit and will of other teams.

It was another great team game and a total team effort, as we expect from this team in every game.

So now for your necessary information, the Imhotep game will be played at Delaware Valley on November 25 at 1 p.m. So, man oh man, be there and be loud. Support this team because they are a team for the ages. Will we ever see another team as good as this? I actually thought that last year’s team was the apex Delaware Valley team, and now this team has surpassed them. We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know what we have right now, and so far they are setting the standard for Delaware Valley football. We want Delaware Valley to be the terror of the state in football for years to come. So guys, get out there and kill it. Let’s start it all off this year.

As long as we have Coach Keith Olsommer and the current staff, as they say in boxing, we will always have a puncher’s chance.