PALMYRA TWP — When Scranton Prep needed a spark after a sluggish start, Owen Jeffers rose to the occasion.
First, the junior stymied a promising Wallenpaupack drive by forcing a fumble deep in Scranton Prep territory before completing a pass to set up the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter.
No. 1 Scranton Prep capitalized on the takeaway when Braedon McPartland scored on a strong 4-yard run and the Cavaliers rolled to a 35-0 win over No. 8 Wallenpaupack in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division I game Friday night.
“We needed a big stop,” Jeffers said. “They were moving the ball, and the ball was loose. I just had to go get it and make a big play for the team. We started slow, so a turnover like that is huge. And then to go down and score, it really got us going.”
Wallenpaupack head coach Matt Nawrocki recognized the fumble played a pivotal role in the game, but felt encouraged by the Buckhorns’ overall effort.
“We did some good things after that, but they’re a really good football team and they make you pay for mistakes,” he said. “I’m just proud of how our kids played tonight — really tough, really physical. We just made one too many mistakes. I thought we checked a lot of good boxes tonight, but you can’t beat a great team like Prep and not check them all.”
Scranton Prep (7-1 overall, 5-0 Division I) added to its lead in the final minute of the first half when Brandon Farmer capped an 11-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Cavaliers started the drive in Wallenpaupack territory after Owen McPartland blocked a punt.
“We have a good group of kids,” Scranton Prep head coach Terry Gallagher said. “When they go through adversity, they kind of rally around each other. We started off a little bit slow, but I thought they got going in the second and third quarters.”
The Cavaliers made another big play on special teams to score their third touchdown when Henry Barrett recovered a fumble in the end zone on a Wallenpaupack punt attempt midway through the third quarter.
Scranton Prep took a commanding lead when Braedon McPartland bolted 35 yards for a touchdown with 2:00 remaining in the third quarter.
“The line blocked great,” he said. “I was one-on-one with the linebacker, I just had to make a move and get to the end zone.”
Jeffers added to the Cavaliers’ balanced offense attack with a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“We’re lucky. … I feel like we have a lot of kids who can do a lot of different things,” Gallagher said. “We’re trying to make it tough on defenses where they don’t know where the ball is going. As the year has gone on, guys have continued to get better and you can start to see the offense click.”
Scranton Prep limited Wallenpaupack (5-3, 3-2) to 137 yards of total offense. Ed Kiesendahl led the Buckhorns with 78 yards on 22 carries.
“I think we did a good job setting the edge and forcing the running back to cut it back and we were there,” Owen McPartland said. “Everyone just did a great job.”