Raiders, Rams meet for AAFC crown

by charlie roth (sports editor charlie_r@newsitem.com)

Published: November 6, 2009

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Photo: N/A, License: N/A, Created: 2009:10:31 13:21:28

andy matsko/Times - Shamrock Photo Lourdes quarterback Jon Vanaskie (1) looks to fire a pass during last week's victory over Nativity.

COAL TOWNSHIP - Way back in the beginning of September, Week 1 of the high school football season, Lourdes Regional was manhandled pretty easily by Northwest in a 33-6 setback.

It seemed then that the Red Raiders would have to forget about any chance at a championship in the All-America Football Conference.

Instead, it seemed more modest goals might be appropriate.

So, fast forward to Week 10. Lourdes, 6-2 overall (the Raiders had a bye week due to a scheduling problem) and 4-1 in the AAFC, will play host to Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech tonight at Leo A. Mulhall Stadium.

And guess what, should Lourdes win, the AAFC championship would come along as part of the package.

Lourdes, CMVT and East Juniata all sit in a tie atop the league standings. If the Raiders win, that puts them ahead of the Rams, and their victory a few weeks ago over the Tigers gives them the tiebreaker there.

And, on top of that, win or lose, the Red Raiders will be the top seed for the Eastern Conference Class A postseason playoffs.

That's not too bad, considering Lourdes started the season with barely 20 players on the roster.

"We have been playing quite well," Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said earlier this week. "We've gotten better in a number of phases of the game.

"We've developed some people who have been able to take some of the pressure off of (Michael) Bastian, and (Jon) Vanaskie has been consistently improving, giving us at least a threat of throwing the ball."

Bastian is the Raiders' go-to guy, a running back with 893 yards and 12 touchdowns, but the development of Dylan Lawrence as another threat out of the backfield has helped make the offense more diverse. Last week, in a 28-7 victory over Nativity, Lawrence rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Vanaskie, new this season to football at the high school level, has thrown for 386 yards and, more importantly, six touchdowns in his rookie season.

Beating Vo-Tech will not be an easy assignment.

The Rams (5-4, 4-1) own a victory over Northwest, and what Klembara calls another quality win in a non-league game with Canton.

And while they're not as big up front as they normally are, they feature a two-pronged ground attack that utilizes bookend halfbacks. On top of that, Klembara says that at this time of year, with the title on the line, Lourdes can expect almost anything from the Rams.

"This is the time of year that people open the playbook," Klembara said. "They show you everything they have."

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