H.S. Football: Scranton Prep scores early and often to race past Lake-Lehman

Sep. 10—SCRANTON — It was all Scranton Prep, all the time as the Cavaliers scored 35 first-quarter points and overwhelmed their Lake-Lehman opponents, downing the Black Knights 63-6 on Friday night.

Seven different Cavs managed to find their way into the end zone, with junior running back Quenten Palermo leading the way with three first-half rushing touchdowns, part of a Scranton Prep onslaught that put the game well out of reach before the halftime whistle.

Palermo scored the game's first touchdown, a 3-yard run after a quick three-and-out forced by his teammates on defense, and added touchdown runs of 3 and 4 yards before his night was over.

"I'm feeling good, I'm grateful that my line did everything they could to get me in the end zone," Palermo said. "If the big boys do their job, I could do my job and that's how we win games."

The Prep line certainly did their job. Behind that offensive front, the Cavaliers as a team ran for 316 yards and six touchdowns, with plenty of room to work with all night long.

The Cavs also showed off the other ways in which they could control games and put points on the board. After Palermo's first touchdown run, a punt return score from Liam Barrett and a 25-yard pick-six from Mick O'Malley had Scranton Prep out in front 21-0 in less than seven minutes of game action.

The Black Knights, who have yet to really find their rhythm offensively this season albeit with a tough draw schedule-wise to start the year, showed flashes through the air trying to rally in the early part of the game.

Gavin Paraschak, after setting up his team in Cavaliers territory with a strong kick return, reeled in a 29-yard pass from Lehman quarterback Gavin Wallace to get inside the red zone, and a 10-yard catch on the very next play got the Knights in the end zone.

But that was all Lehman could manage, as Prep scored twice more before the first quarter ended and, eventually, took a 49-6 lead into halftime.

Third quarter touchdown runs from Louis Paris and Sam DeNaples made it a 63-6 game, and the Cavaliers opted against further running up the score by kneeling out their two drives in the fourth quarter, running the clock down and giving the ball back to the Black Knights.

Even so, Lehman just couldn't get the ball moving against a Prep defense that has rebounded nicely after giving up 41 points in their opener; in the two weeks since, the Cavalier defense has allowed just six points total.

Scranton Prep (2-1) will take on Scranton next Saturday afternoon, while Lake-Lehman (0-3) will look to break into the win column with a game at home against Holy Redeemer next Friday.

Scranton Prep 63, Lake-Lehman 6

Lake-Lehman'6'0'0'0 — 6

Scranton Prep'35'14'14'0 — 63

First quarter

SP — Quenten Palermo 3 run (Raymond Rinaldi kick), 7:48

SP — Liam Barrett 53 punt return (Rinaldi kick), 5:49

SP — Mick O'Malley 25 interception return (Rinaldi kick), 5:24

LL — Gavin Paraschak 10 pass from Gavin Wallace (conversion failed), 4:48

SP — Palermo 3 run (Rinaldi kick), 2:51

SP — Tae Weeks 33 pass from Sean Monahan (Rinaldi kick), 25.7

Second quarter

SP — Palermo 4 run (Rinaldi kick), 7:39

SP — Treyvon Dickey 14 run (Rinaldi kick), 1:59

Third quarter

SP — Louis Paris 66 run (Rinaldi kick), 9:19

SP — Sam DeNaples 30 run (Rinaldi kick), 6:58

Team statistics'LL'SP

First downs'4'11

Rushes-yards'24-54'31-316

Passing yards'49'90

Total yards'103'406

Passing'5-12-2'2-2-0

Sacked-yards lost'2-7'0-0

Punts-avg.'5-32'0-0

Fumbles-lost'3-2'0-0

Penalties-yards'4-25'5-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, Landon Schuckers 3-6, Wallace 1-3, Javon Borger 6-17, Brandon Ritinski 1-(minus-1), Josh Ryan 1-2, Branden Mosher 1-0, Hayden Evans 7-20, Jake Evans 2-2, Jayden Billotti 2-6. SP, Palermo 12-58, Dickey 3-34, Weeks 1-5, Max Shnipes 1-7, Monahan 1-0, Jamie Barrett 3-48, Reese Tanner 1-5, Sam DeNaples 4-33, Louis Paris 1-66, James Pappas 1-15, Louis Mariotti 2-0, Max Tierney 1-45.

PASSING — LL, Wallace 5-12-2-49. SP, Monahan 2-2-0-90.

RECEIVING — LL, Paraschak 3-41, Borger 1-7, Ritinski 1-1. SP, Weeks 1-33, Aiden Colleran 1-57.

INTERCEPTIONS — LL, none. SP, O'Malley 1-25, L. Barrett 1-0.

MISSED FGs — none.