PIAA 4A FOOTBALL: Pope John Paul II shuts out Valley View to win first-ever state game

By Joby Fawcett
jbfawcett@scrantontimes.com

BLAKELY — Pope John Paul II struck quickly and stormed to a historic win Friday night.

Luke Terlesky threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns, Braden Reed had 76 yards rushing and 67 yards receiving, and the Golden Panthers rolled to a 36-0 win over District 2 champion Valley View at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium. It is the first win in the state playoffs for Pope John Paul II, which improved to 12-1 this season and 29-6 in the last three years.

“This means a lot coming into this program four years ago, and to see where we started and where we are now, it’s incredible what we have been able to accomplish,” Reed said. “We have really built a great culture.”
Pope John Paul II (12-1), the second-ranked team in the state, according to Pennlive.com, advances to the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals to face the winner of Saturday’s District 12 championship game between West Catholic and Bonner-Prendergast.

“That is a real good football team over there,” PJP coach Scott Reed said referring to Valley View. “They play a physical brand of ball. I have all the respect in the world for how they play, and this was an excellent atmosphere in this stadium. I was excited. I think our kids were excited from the get-go. We are happy to come out of here with the first state win for the school.”

Valley View (11-2) had trouble moving the sticks as the PJP defense rallied to the ball, gang-tackled and prevented big-play opportunities.

Zach Cwalinski had 66 yards rushing on 17 carries and threw for 80 yards on 8 of 19 passing. The Cougars had 156 yards of total offense in 41 plays, with 68 yards coming on their last drive of the game that stalled at the PJP 2-yard line.

Gianni Marino led the Valley View defense, which had two stands that prevented touchdowns. The first came in the second quarter on a fourth-and-1 from the Valley View 5, and the second Marino intercepted a pass in the end zone in the third quarter to keep the Cougars in the game with a 14-0 deficit.

“Coming in, we knew they had speed, but you can’t tell just how fast these guys are on film,” Valley View coach Scot Wasilchak said. “I thought our kids fought. They made plays. We were only down 14-0 at the half, and I thought if we did some things we could get back into the game. But they were just beating us to the spots all night.”

PJP jumped out to a 14-0 advantage when Terlesky completed three passes on the first possession, which ended with a 25-yard catch and run by Reed, a Villanova commit who displayed quick feet and impressive breakaway speed.

Dylan Skarbek scored the second touchdown on a 4-yard run on the final play in the quarter. He had 67 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Valley View ended the first half with 72 total yards, but the defense kept it in the game.

In the second half, after the Marino interception, the Cougars picked up a first down but failed to convert on a fourth-and-3 from their 37.

PJP faced a third-and-20 from the 47. Terlesky fired a strike to Brandon DeAngelo, who sprinted 44 yards to the 3. Reed scored on a 3-yard pop pass from Terlesky to push the lead to 21-0 with 3:56 left in the third.

“We have a lot of speed on the outside, but a lot of our success comes down to the line,” Reed said. “They played phenomenal. It’s a credit to them more than it is to us in the backfield.”

Valley View punted on its next possession. Skarbek took a pop pass and cut through the middle of the defense for a 65-yard burst and score. After two offsides penalties by the Cougars, Kiernan Myers tacked on a 2-point run for a 29-0 lead. In addition, Valley View got hit with a 15-yard penalty assessed on kickoff.

PJP then executed a successful onside kick. Three plays later, Bradey Bass hauled in a 34-yard touchdown for a 36-0 lead that put the running clock in motion.

“They can control the ball for so long with what they do, so that puts a lot of pressure on our offense to score, and when we weren’t finishing drives, we couldn’t put those guys away,” Scott Reed said. “That is a credit to them. They hung in there. We came out, and then we got a couple of plays to go our way.”

Valley View had its 11-game winning streak snapped. The Cougars started the season with a 33-0 loss to Scranton Prep, then recovered to win the District 2 Class 4A championship for the first time since 2021.

“We had tough kids,” Wasilchak said. “We worked hard with them; they fought week in and week out. They had a never say die attitude, and they won a district title. For them to do that after the first week, and every game was a battle, is a credit to them. They were tough kids, and I hope that they carry that through for the rest of their lives.”