LANSFORD — Judging by the final scores, there is no denying that the best teams won in Sunday’s Tri-County Midget Football Championships doubleheader.
Joshua Chowansky ran for 212 yards and four touchdowns as Frackville cruised to a 30-14 victory over Mount Carmel for the Pee Wee title.
The win avenged the Mountaineers’ 38-21, Week 1 loss to the Jets, their only defeat of the season.
In the Mini championship, Collin Stanakis picked up 161 yards on the ground with one rushing touchdown and one receiving TD to lead Ashland to a 20-0 shutout of Jim Thorpe.
Ashland’s victory gave the Black Diamonds a perfect season of 11-0, with the team winning all eight regular season games and each of its three playoff matchups.
Pee Wee Division
After a scoreless first quarter, Frackville drew first blood when Chowansky scored from 46 yards out to go up 6-0 at halftime.
Chowansky found the end zone again, this time on a 48-yard run, while Gavin DeAngelo’s 4-yard rushing touchdown up the middle gave the Mountaineers an 18-0 lead after three quarters.
Frackville opened the fourth quarter with a one-play drive that saw Chowansky score his third touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run down the sideline.
Mount Carmel finally got on the board with its own one-play drive when Dustin Blessing ran 69 yards for a touchdown. Jullien Stellar’s run for the PAT cut the Jets’ deficit to 24-7.
Chowansky found the end zone for the fourth time on the Mountaineers’ next drive, busting through a hole for a 54-yard touchdown to extend his side’s lead to 30-7.
“He’s amazing and he looks like Barry Sanders out there,” Frackville coach George Shimko said. “He just makes these great plays that you can’t explain.”
Mount Carmel scored one more time on a 50-yard touchdown run by Blessing to set the final margin.
Blessing finished with 116 yards, earning all of it on his two long touchdown runs.
“Dustin had a great year for us,” Mount Carmel coach Ryan Geary said. “He’s been our go-to guy and he’s just going to get better and better the more he plays.”
The Mountaineers’ victory was even sweeter due to their loss opening-week loss to the Jets.
“I’m proud that the kids didn’t give up after that loss,” Shimko said. “They worked hard to get back here and play a more physical game against Mount Carmel. They’re a special group of kids.”
Frack (10-1) 0 6 12 12 — 30
MC (9-2) 0 0 0 14 — 14
Frack — Jo. Chowansky 46 run (run failed)
Frack — Jo. Chowansky 48 run (run failed)
Frack — DeAngelo 4 run (run failed)
Frack — Chowansky 10 run (kick blocked)
MC — Blessing 69 run (Stellar run)
Frack — Jo. Chowansky 54 run (pass failed)
MC — Blessing 50 run (Stellar run)
Mini Division
Ashland wasted no time getting into the end zone with touchdown runs on both of its first two drives against Jim Thorpe.
The first came on a 38-yard quarterback keeper by Zander McElhenny and the second on a monster run of 88 yards by Stanakis. The latter drive lasted just one play and put the Black Diamonds up 12-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Stanakis scored his second touchdown on a 7-yard pass from McElhenny. He then punched in the two-point conversion to put Ashland on top 20-0 at halftime.
“He’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever been around,” Ashland coach Sam Correll said of Stanakis. “We expected big plays like that from him today because he’s been doing that all year.
“And Zander is a great leader who’s been very good for us all season.”
Jim Thorpe’s defense promptly took over the game in the second half. The Olympians recovered two forced fumbles and held the Black Diamonds scoreless through the final two quarters.
Marcus Drakeford led Jim Thorpe’s offense with 29 rushing yards, while Owen Hubbard ran for 25.
“Our defense made it a completely different game in the second half because we kept Ashland from scoring,” Jim Thorpe coach Aric J. Selby said. “For us to hold a team like that, which had been putting up 40 and 50 points all season long, to just 20 points in a championship game is great.
“A lot of people didn’t give us a chance to win even just a few games this season, let alone make it to the championship,” he added. “This was the first season we’ve ever won a playoff game in this league, so it’s a great experience for these kids just to get to the championship.”
While Jim Thorpe was playing in its first championship in the Tri-County Midget Football League, Ashland’s win marks the 11th consecutive year that a Black Diamond team won a championship in either the Pee Wee or Mini Divisions.
“It feels great to keep a streak like that going,” Correll said. “All of these kids have played so well all season long, so I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Ash (11-0) 12 8 0 0 — 20
JT (8-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Ash — McElhenny 38 run (run failed)
Ash — Stanakis 88 run (pass failed)
Ash — Stanakis 7 pass from McElhenny (Stanakis run)