Slaters roll past Green Knights in 103rd meeting

Jacob Weaver’s presence is usually felt on the first three downs of an opponent’s offensive series, but the Bangor defensive end drove a Pen Argyl blocker into its punter.

It resulted in a partially blocked punt that Bangor teammate M.J. Siu caught and returned 31 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s 103rd meeting in the Slate Belt rivalry.

“It came right to me, my teammates blocked great for me,” Siu said. “I was supposed to be blocking somebody. It see the ball come out of nowhere. I just caught it and followed my blockers.”

It was the beginning of a methodical domination by the Slaters. They got 237 combined rushing yards and three touchdowns from Eric Striba and Ashton Kluska, who followed their blockers en route to a 35-6 victory over the Green Knights at Alumni Stadium.

Pen Argyl avoided a shutout for the second year in a row by scoring on the game’s last play, Kris Kessler’s 1-yard touchdown run.

But Bangor got the big plays when it needed them, starting with

Weaver and Siu on the game’s first punt.

“They are the biggest plays, the blocked punt, punt return,” Bangor coach Paul Reduzzi said. “We really focused on getting something with them. The last couple weeks we’ve been effective. M.J. made a heads-up play there. A lot of times, you get the block and kids don’t know how to react, to see that ball and make a play.”

Bangor racked up 254 rushing yards in a game that featured zero turnovers. Striba’s 146 yards gives him 1,029 for the season, his second year in a row with at least 1,000 yards.

His 36-yard score on the second play of the fourth quarter gave the Slaters a 28-0 cushion.

“It feels great,” Striba said, “because you don’t see many mobile QBs, especially in our league. It’s usually just pass or heavy run. It’s great to be able to do both, especially this year. Knowing that I can be a dual threat, which this team needs, is great.”

Leading 7-0, Bangor drove 72 yards in 10 plays — all on the ground — to extend its cushion to 14-0. Kluska’s 6-yard touchdown run completed the series with 4:37 left in the first half.

Bangor’s defense did the rest, limiting Pen Argyl to 40 yards offense and one first down in the first half.

“We did a lot of positive things,” Pen Argyl coach Brady Mutton said. “We told them that at halftime. The blocked punt change momentum in a hurry. Especially in a game like, that’s a difference maker, one of the plays you look back on.

“We were just struggling on offense a little bit. [Bangor] had a good plan. [Riley Stapp] was pretty much untouched a lot. He gave us problems. I’m not completely disappointed. I thought our effort was great. Our defense played pretty darn well most of the game.”

Honorary captains

Jim Miller, a 1994 Bangor graduate, and Jason Keenhold, a 1994 Pen Argyl graduate, served as the game’s honorary captains.

Miller has spent the last 10 years as Stroudsburg’s varsity head coach. He played in three Slate Belt rivalry games under legendary coach Paul Farnan and coached in this game in 1999. His two sons, Riley and Dylan, have played in the annual contest. Dylan Miller is a senior captain this season for Bangor, but missed all but the season opener because of an injury.

Keenhold coached in the Green

Knights program at multiple levels for two decades. He currently is an athletic committee member and serves on the school board. His son, Jace, played in this game and graduated in 2021.

Game notes

Pen Argyl leads the series, 51-48-4. … Bangor senior Jaydon Vilmenay was named the game’s outstanding lineman. Striba was Bangor’s MVP. Gian Greggo was Pen Argyl’s MVP. … Dylan Krugh had two sacks and Weaver one for the Slaters. Sam Woolverton had a tackle for loss. … Greggo and freshman Terrell Estes each had a tackle for loss for the Green Knights.

Up next

Bangor (7-3) will be the No. 3 seed in the District 11 Class 4A playoffs. It visits No. 2 Central Catholic (5-5) in next weekend’s semifinals.

Pen Argyl (4-6) will host a team to be determined in Saturday’s Eastern Conference Classes A/2A championship game.