Coach Rosenberger announces seniors and award winners at the Jan. 11 2009 banquet.

The Jim Thorpe Area High School football program held its annual banquet Jan. 11, 2009 at the high school. The banquet is an opportunity to congratulate all 72 football players and honor those who have displayed outstanding leadership, athletic success and academic achievement.

Coach Rosenberger started the banquet recapping the 6-4 season which ended with key victories against Marian and Lehighton. Rosenberger said the 2008 record wasn’t what he wanted but quoting a fellow coach he said, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Rosenberger said he’ll accept that this year since we did crush Marian and Lehighton which means a lot to our program and our community.

Award Winners:
Kysheem Lynch — Offensive MVP
CJ Lehmann — Defensive MVP
Nate Schmidt — Special Teams MVP
Tyler Mangold — Lineman of the Year
Chris DeMuro — Anthracite League Sportsmanship Award
Bill Rieck — Lehigh Valley Scholar Athlete
Tony Mistretta — Phil Heraty Award
Tyler Mangold — Ed Fuzzy Fahey Award

Click on pictures below for descriptions and names.

The JVs played their first home game of the season on Monday night and came away with a 22-0 victory over Shenandoah. Kysheem Lynch & Tom Butts powered the ground game and each scored a rushing TD. Lynch also pulled down a 45 yd TD reception from QB Chris DeMuro. Demuro also connected with Lynch on 2 passes for 2 point conversions. The defense limited Shenandoah to only 1 first down in the first half. Constant pressure on the Devil QB prevented the Devils from completing a single pass. Jon Espilco, Roy Walker & Brandon Ziegler all recorded sacks. Kristian Koehler & Dan Salas caused fumbles which were recovered by Tom Hartman & Jon Espilco. Hartman also intercepted a pass late in the first half. On a side note Dan Salas had his first carry of the year from the fullback position carrying several defenders for a 5 yard gain. The Olympians dominated every phase of the game.

 

Previous JV Results

JT 30

NS 16

The Jim Thorpe JV defense scored first when Jon Espilco scooped up a Spartan fumble caused by Tom Butts & rumbled 40 yards for a score. Espilco was a constant in the NS backfield and forced 2 more fumbles. Kysheem Lynch had an interception for the Olympians. On offense QB Pat Janecki had a tremendous game running for a 45 yd TD and also connecting with Chris DeMuron on a 50 yd TD pass with one second remaining in the 1st half. Chris Demuro capped the scoring with a rushing TD after he relieved Janecki at QB in the 4th quarter. Scoring on 2 point conversions were Tom Butts (pass from DeMuro), Zach Miller (pass from Janecki) & DeMuro (rushing).

 

JT 26

MA 6

In the 1st JV game of the year, the Olympian defense dominated the Bears. Tom Hartman made tackles all over the field from his Lb position. Greg Simmons recorded a QB sack and the Red Swarm intercepted 3 passes (2 by Chris DeMuro & 1 by Tom Butts). Special Teams were also dominated by the Olympians. Tony Brown, Kysheem Lynch & Jon Espilco all recorded big hits on coverage and during Olympian returns. CJ Lehmann had a big night receiving from his RB position and scored a TD on a middle screen. Tom Ferguson lead the ground game and scored 2 rushing TDs. Kysheem Lynch scored on a pass from Pat Janecki in the corner of the endzone. Zach Miller pulled down a 2 point conversion pass from Janecki as well.

Shenandoah 30
Jim Thorpe 20 The Olympian JVs fell to Shenandoah 30-20 on Monday. The Devils hit several big plays and took advantage of poor JT tackling to come away with the victory. Jim Thorpe failed to convert a 4th and 1 on their first possession. Shenandoah connected on a halfback pass on their first offensive play for a 55 yard touchdown to take a 6-0 lead.

Olympian defense would even the score later in the first quarter when Tom Hartman intercepted a screen pass and returned it 35 yards for a TD. The try for 2 failed leaving the score at 6-6. Another SV drive was stopped in the first half by a CJ Lehman interception. JT would take a 12-6 lead when Corey Cinicola connected with Nate Jones late in the 2nd quarter.

The Devils regained the lead just before the half on a 65 yard fade. The 2 pt conversion failed but a JT penalty on the try allowed another attempt. SV scored to make the score 14-12 at the half. SV opened the 2nd half with a long drive for a TD which was aided by JT missed tackles. After the 2 pt conversion the Devils lead was 22-12.

On their next drive the Olympians answered when Tom Ferguson raced 45 yards on a toss to cut the SV lead to 22-18. JT got hard inside running from Bill Rieck and Kyle Busocker and Ferguson continued his success to the outside. Ralph Bertrand led the Olympians with 3 receptions.

The JT defense played well at times with Tony Mistretta recording to tackle for a loss and a big sack by Josh Strohl. The Olympians seemed to take a 24-22 lead late in the 3rd quarter but a holding call negated the score. That drive stalled setting up another big play for the Devils. The SV QB connected on a passs over the middle which was misplayed by the JT defense. The Devil receiver raced 50 yards for the score extending the SV lead to 30-18.

The Olympians threatened one last time but SV intercepted a 4th down pass at the one yard line with 4 minutes remaining. SV would take a safety on 4th down to make the score 30-20 with under 2 minutes remaining.

NEXT JV GAME
Monday 10/09/2006 5pm at home vs Minersville

Jim Thorpe          26
Mahanoy Area     0

Jim Thorpe JV team was impressive in the first game of the season. After a slow start, the Olympians dominated on both sides of the ball. The defensive front seven allowed very little running room for bear runners. The secondary played sound as well with CJ Lehman making an interception.

On offense the Olympians did most of their damage on the ground getting 2 rushing TDs from Raul DeBenedittis and 1 from Gerard Barile. With the success of the ground game, JT QBs did not put the ball in the air that often. Kyle Busocker did complete a key pass in the flat while rolling left to keep a Jim Thorpe drive alive.