Honesdale's long-awaited home debut highlights local Week 5 LFC schedule

REGION — All three local teams face key games Friday night in Week 5 Lackawanna Football Conference action.

Honesdale makes its long-awaited home debut with a non-league contest against Tunkhannock. The Hornets are coming off a disappointing 39-13 loss at Trail and are 0-4 at this point in the season.

“Unfortunately, we are still trying to put the winning formula together,” said Head Coach Paul Russick. “But, we definitely have a group of kids that’s going to battle it out through all four quarters.”

Western Wayne stands at 2-2 following a 34-14 setback Saturday afternoon at Abington Heights. The Wildcats host Carbondale Area on Friday and are now 2-2 in Coach Shane Grodack’s debut campaign.

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“I think we’re learning how to deal much better with adversity on long down and distances,” the rookie skipper said. “We have many playmakers on offense, so we don’t have to be as one-dimensional.”

Wallenpaupack Area gave perennial powerhouse Delaware Valley all it could handle in the first half last Friday night. Sadly, the Buckhorns ran out of gas after intermission and suffered a 41-14 loss.

Paupack is now 2-2 on the year and set for a crucial contest with Abington Heights.

“I was so pleased to see these kids battle back after being down 20,” said longtime head coach Dr. Mark Watson. “Some of our teams in the past wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Honesdale debuts new turf

The “buzz” this week at Honesdale is all about the renovations to the Daniel J. O’Neill Sports Complex.

After many months of intense work, the Hornets will finally play their first official football game on the new artificial turf Friday night. This extensive project and state-of-the-art playing surface will allow for many different athletic events in all kinds of weather.

Wayne Highlands School District Superintendent Greg Frigoletto tells TCI Sports that football, field hockey, soccer, baseball and softball will all find new homes here.

“I think the School Board is excited to be able to provide this type of facility to the community,” he said. “Community use is an integral part of this whole project. The Board is also excited to know that multiple sports programs will benefit from it as well.”

The price tag for the stadium project is approximately four million dollars and includes a re-branding of the entire athletics program. Newly designed uniforms and a modern re-imagining of the iconic Hornet insignia have coaches, players and fans all-in for the fall campaign.

“You don’t have to look very far to see that turf is becoming omnipresent in high school sports,” Frigoletto said. “Both of our local neighbors have had it for years.

“The Board had thought about doing this for a long time. We all know that it’s a big commitment, but the dividends for the kids and the community are huge.”

For his part, Coach Russick believes having this beautiful new facility will help the Hornets take that next big step competitively.

“The kids are really excited,” he said. “I took them up there on Monday, and we did our usual Monday afternoon post-game review from the field.

“We talked to them about our program and the progress we’ve made over the last four years. I believe that progress definitely aided in helping realize the stadium project. When it’s all done, there won’t be another venue like it in the area.”

On the turf

Insofar as the game itself goes, Honesdale is still in search of that elusive first win. The Hornets have been battered by a brutal schedule that features teams with a combined record of 14-2 thus far.

Coach Russick thinks defense will be the key to Honesdale’s success or failure against Tunkhannock. Through four weeks of action, the Hornets have been outscored by a whopping margin of 149-41.

“Tunkhannock has been playing power football the part three weeks,” Coach Russick said. “They have a big strong tailback who loves to get downhill when he runs.

“Our defense needs to be disciplined and force them to run laterally instead of downhill. If they do that, I think we will be in good shape.”

Logan Dietrich and Gus Deron are expected to play key roles for the Hornet defense. Dietrich is a sophomore who has started all four games at tackle. Deron is also a sophomore who’s been getting more playing time on the D-Line each week.

“They’re really starting to turn the corner,” Coach Russick said. “I feel very good about where Logan and Sam are helping take this program.”

Wildcats look to bounce back

Western Wayne is coming off a tough 34-14 loss at the hands of Abington Heights.

The Wildcats have shown flashes of brilliance on both sides of the ball, but need to be more consistent offensively. Toward that end, Coach Grodack believes his quarterback holds the key to victory against Carbondale Area.

Frankie Leyshon is a battle-tested senior signal caller and three year starter. He’s completed 50 percent of his passes for 343 yards and one touchdown.

“This week fans should expect to see a much more balanced approach on offense,” said Coach Grodack. “I think they will appreciate how smoothly and seamlessly Frankie runs the offense. He is seeing the whole field much better as the season progresses.”

Carbondale is 1-3 on the year and fresh off a 25-14 loss to Tunkhannock. The lone win of the Chargers’ season to date came via a 20-10 decision over Lakeland.

Buckhorns face adversity

Paupack opened the season with two straight impressive wins over Honesdale and Hazleton Area.

Unfortunately for local fans, the Buckhorns have suffered back-to-back lopsided losses to Wilkes Barre Area and Delaware Valley.

According to Dr. Watson, Friday night’s battle with Abington Heights will be decided in the trenches.

“I think a key this week will be if we can run the ball,” the veteran skipper said. “We did a great job throwing the ball last week, but in NEPA football success lies in the running game. So we’re hoping our O-Line can open some holes and our backs run hard.”

Abington is 3-1 this fall. The Comets’ lone loss came in Week 1 versus Dallas. Since then, they’ve reeled off three consecutive wins and piled up 116 points in so doing.

“Defensively we’re going to be short a couple linebackers so there won’t be a lot of room for error,” Dr. Watson said. “As the season moves along and we continue to have a grinder of a schedule, our success will be dictated by how healthy we stay.”

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Honesdale football fans excited for Hornets debut on new turf