Dieruff moves closer to a winning season, getting big night from Lester in win over ES North

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Dieruff defeated East Stroudsburg North 43-21 on Friday night, scoring the last 22 points of the game in winning for the fourth time in five weeks.

According to Zach Sturniolo of the Pocono Record, the Huskies blocked a punt that went out of the end zone for a safety that made it 23-21 early in the fourth quarter and that turned the momentum around. Shakur Lester had another big night with 14 carries for 194 yards rushing and four touchdowns overall -- all covering 40 yards or more.

Lester now has 17 touchdowns this season and over 700 yards rushing. Chris Marks completed just 8 of 23 passes but that included 115 yards and two TDs. The junior, who didn't even play last season, is now over 1,200 yards passing for the season (1,202 to be exact -- tops in the MVC) and has 13 TD tosses. Tyshyn Harmon had three catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Showing resiliency, Dieruff had to fight through 12 penalties.

The Huskies can clinch a non-losing season next week when they welcome Pocono West to Allentown. The Panthers were routed by Crestwood 42-0 on Friday night and fell to 2-5. If Dieruff gets that one, it would have two chances to clinch its first winning season since 2002 -- against Stroudsburg on Oct. 25 or against Allen on Nov. 2. And, an Eastern Conference playoff berth is still a possibility.

Elsewhere, in the MVC, East Stroudsburg South's Niko Petrone showed why he may be the league's MVP with 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a 30-14 win over Pleasant Valley. Here's Mike Blouse's story on that game http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-pleasant-valley-east-stroudsburg-south-football-20131011,0,2391055.story

South remains the only unbeaten team in District 11 4A and in position to secure the top seed for the eight-team District 11-2-4 subregional tournament that will begin Nov. 8.

Stroudsburg kept alives its subregional hopes alive by outlasting Pocono Mountain East 28-21 behind 152 yards rushing by Gerald Douglas. The Cardinals, again, were hurt by costly turnovers that set up short Mounties scoring drives. Pocono East has now lost three straight, all by seven points or less.

Lehighton routed Allen and elevated itself to No. 4 in the District 11 3A rankings, narrowly ahead of Pottsville, with three games left. The Indians could really help themselves with a win over East Stroudsburg South next week.

Here's the latest MVC standings and next week's games:

MOUNTAIN VALLEY CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Team             MVC, Overall     PF     PA

ES South        6-0     7-0         191     69

Pleas. Valley  4-1     5-2          214     161

Stroudsburg    4-1     5-2         199     109

Lehighton        3-3     4-3         194     119

Dieruff             2-3     4-3         200     204

PM West        2-3     2-5           90     200

PM East         2-4     3-4          189    186

ES North        1-4      2-5          155    214

Allen              0-5      0-7           44     300

NEXT WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, 7 p.m.

Pocono Mountain West at Dieruff

ES North at Stroudsburg

Lehighton at ES South

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin at Poocno Mountain East

Saturday, 2 p.m.

Pleassant Valley at Allen