SHENANDOAH — Two overtime games decided the Tri-County Youth Football League championships Sunday at Shenandoah Valley High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The first was a high-powered, offensive thriller.
The second was a hard-fought defensive struggle.
Benjamin Manley tied the game with a touchdown pass to Colm Erbe in OT, then ran in the game-winning, two-point conversion to give Mahanoy Area a come-from-behind, 22-20 victory over Frackville in the Mini Divi-
sion title game. It was Mahanoy Area’s first-ever Tri-County League crown.
In the Pee Wee game, Danny Grigas scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime as an undefeated Ashland team topped Frackville 6-0 to win the Tri-County championship.
Mini Division
Mahanoy Area 22
Frackville 20
Frackville dominated the first half of the Mini game against Mahanoy Area, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter.
Joey Flail picked up a 1-yard touchdown on a drive where Keegan Curry ran for 51 total yards. Shawn Butler punched in the two-point conversion, and Frackville went up 8-0.
The Mountaineers scored again on a 15-yard pass from Jared Tinari to Jaxson Chowansky to take a 14-0 halftime lead.
“I told my kids to keep their heads up,” Mahanoy Area Mini coach Kenny Soult said. “We know we’re a strong team and that we would play until the very end.”
The second half went the Bears’ way, as they scored two touchdowns of their own in the fourth quarter.
The first came on a 2-yard scamper by Bobby Kaufman that got the team on the board at 14-6.
Manley, who threw for 83 yards and rushed for 63, scored his first touchdown with a 1-yard run, then pounded in the two-point conversion to knot the score at 14-14.
Each team got four chances to score a touchdown from the 10 yard-line in overtime.
The Mountaineers went first, using three plays to score on a 3-yard run by Curry to go up 20-14.
Mahanoy Area used only two plays, scoring on Manley’s 8-yard throw to Erbe that tied the game at 20-20. Manley then won the championship for the Bears on a two-point conversion to complete the comeback victory.
“He was excellent today, and he’s definitely the MVP of the game,” Soult said of Manley. “We were able to avenge a loss to Frackville from earlier in the season, because these kids never quit. They never gave up and that’s true Bear pride.”
Mahanoy Area tallied 197 yards of offense, but were outgained by the Mountaineers’ 204 total yards.
Curry led Frackville with 83 rushing yards, and Tinari picked up 73 yards on the ground.
“This whole team played their hearts out today,” Mountaineers coach Dan Quick said. “They’re a great bunch of kids, and I’m going to miss them. My hat’s off to Mahanoy Area, too, for giving it their all.”
Mini Division Championship
Frack. (10-1) 0 14 0 0 6 — 20 MA (10-1) 0 0 0 14 8 — 22
F —Flail 1 run (Butler run)
F —Chowansky 15 pass from Tinari (run failed)
MA —Kaufman 2 run (run failed)
MA — Manley 1 run (Manley run)
F —Curry 3 run (run failed)
MA —Erbe 8 pass from Manley (Manley run)
Pee Wee Division
Ashland 6
Frackville 0
The Pee Wee game was defined by the stingy defenses of Ashland and Frackville in a matchup of unbeaten teams.
Coming into the game, the Ashland defense had allowed just one touchdown in 10 games, while Frackville had yielded just 32 points.
Sunday, Frackville mustered just 96 total yards against Ashland, while the Black Diamonds gained an even 100.
“Both of these defenses were phenomenal,” Ashland Pee Wee coach Harvey Weikel said. “All of these kids are gonna be playing together in high school, which means the future is bright for North Schuylkill.”
Grigas’ 85 rushing yards for the Black Diamonds were the most by a running back on either side. Dylan Edwards led Frackville’s four-man rushing attack with 32 yards, followed by Dylan Dietz with 27 yards.
Ashland’s defense forced three turnovers, with the biggest coming on a forced fumble in overtime.
Frackville started OT with the ball, but then fumbled on its very first play.
Ashland’s Luis Serrato recovered the ball, which set up Grigas’ game-winning touchdown.
“The feeling gets better every time we win one of these championships,” Weikel said. “This whole organization is great up and down.”
Frackville head coach George Shimko expected a tough game for his squad, and blamed the loss on his team’s turnovers.
“We knew they had speed, and we just couldn’t make the right plays at the end,” Shimko said. “But I’m still proud of my kids. They’re strong, they play with heart, and they have nothing to be disappointed about.”
Pee Wee Championship
Frack.(10-1) 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Ash. (11-0) 0 0 0 0 6 — 6
Ash —Grigas 2 run