Recap
HS FOOTBALL: Avery, Collins lead Honesdale past West Scranton
Honesdale 41, West Scranton 6
Scranton, PA — SCRANTON — His first four carries netted just 11 yards. But after that, Mason Avery couldn’t be contained.
The Honesdale junior running back fought through defender after defender to pile up 267 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, leading the Hornets to a 41-6 win over West Scranton in a Lackawanna League Division II game Friday night at Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Aiden Collins added 232 yards passing, 171 of which went to receiver Zach Gledhill, who hauled in two touchdowns as the Hornets (3-4, 2-0 Division II) won their third straight.
“When we have the running game and passing game, it’s so helpful,” Avery said.
Avery’s longest run of the night was a 66-yard dash up the middle for a touchdown that boosted Honesdale’s lead to 14-0 with 4:18 left in the first quarter. He also scored on runs of 1 and 8 yards, and sprinted for three other gains of at least 25 yards, including a 48-yard one late in the third quarter where he was one defender away from making it an even longer touchdown
His best run of the night might’ve come on Honesdale’s final possession of the first half. West Scranton punted with 36 seconds left on the clock, and on the next play, Avery plowed 27 yards through the Invaders defense, breaking tackle after tackle to get the ball to the West Scranton 28. Collins hooked up with Gledhill for another chunk play, then a variation of the Philadelphia Eagles’ now-famous Tush Push play forced Collins into the end zone from 1 yard out with 0.3 seconds left before halftime.
“Coming off the first four games, I feel like I wasn’t as explosive,” said Avery, who has 563 yards rushing while averaging 11.0 yards per carry during Honesdale’s three-game surge. “And then coming into Tunkhannock, Lakeland and this game today — I just want to step my game up. Just get better. I just feel like I wasn’t giving enough to the team.”
Avery also booted five extra points and had one of Honesdale’s three interceptions, with Jakub Randolph and Charlie Propst picking the others. Propst’s stopped West Scranton’s first possession of the second half at the Honesdale 9. The Hornets then marched 91 yards on 10 plays, and Avery made it 27-0 with a 1-yard plunge.
Dayron Groves led West Scranton (1-6, 0-2) with 80 yards rushing and the team’s lone touchdown, which came with 10:31 to play. Zaeyvion Miller added 10 catches for 126 yards for West Scranton, which played without starting running back Hunter Baumgardner, who was sidelined by a back injury.
“Never make excuses, but unfortunately, this late in the season, we have the injury bug right now,” West Scranton coach Jake Manetti said. “We have a lot of young guys playing, first time out there, getting long, extended varsity reps. But that’s never an excuse. It’s next man up. It’s high school football.”