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VALLEY VIEW — Williams Valley improved to 5-0 on the season on Friday night behind 179 total yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Brady Shomper, as the Vikings defeated rival Tri-Valley 14-7.

Despite his impressive stat line, which included 34 carries for 142 yards, the night did not get off to a great start for the senior quarterback as his first pass attempt of the night was intercepted by Tri-Valley’s Cooper Carl, giving the Bulldogs possession near midfield early in the first quarter.

The Vikings defense would have their quarterbacks back, however, forcing Tri-Valley to punt on the ensuing possession.

After the opening drive interception, Williams Valley got back to their bread and butter — the rushing attack. On their second drive of the evening, the Vikings put together a 17 play, 80-yard scoring drive that consisted of 15 rushing attempts.

Shomper received the bulk of the carries, with 10 carries for 47 yards, including punching the ball in from 1 yard out on a quarterback keeper to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

Throughout the evening, the Vikings rushing attack would answer when called upon in short-yardage situations.

“We struggled a little bit passing the ball, so we knew we had to stay with the run,” Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse said about the Vikings’ rushing attack.

“In order to run the ball and have them drive, we need to stay ahead of the sticks,” he added. “So if we get to third and three, third and four, we have two plays to get a first down. Our line just bears down and gets real comfortable in short-yardage situations.”

Tri-Valley would not take long to respond to the Williams Valley touchdown, as just four plays later, Trey Porter hit wide receiver Cooper Carl for a 44-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

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Williams Valley senior Evan Achenbach (11) runs the ball as Tri-Valley hosts Williams Valley, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Tri-Valley junior Trey Porter (21) throws a pass as Tri-Valley hosts Williams Valley, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Williams Valley senior Brady Shomper (7) runs the ball as Tri-Valley hosts Williams Valley, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Williams Valley senior Evan Achenbach (11) runs the ball as Tri-Valley hosts Williams Valley, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Williams Valley appeared ready to reclaim the lead on its next possession, driving the ball deep into Tri-Valley territory, but another interception ended the drive prematurely.

“I’m not on defense, so I really had time to myself,” Shomper said about overcoming his two interceptions. “I just had to breathe, and I just really focused on the next-play mentality.”

Luckily for Shomper, the interception would be for not as Vikings defense forced Tri-Valley to punt after a three-and-out. Williams Valley would get one more opportunity before halftime but was unable to muster a scoring drive, sending the game into the break tied at 7-7.

Coming out of halftime, Tri-Valley put together its longest drive of the night, but failed to score.

After moving the ball to midfield in just five plays, and having a first down at the 50-yard line, the Bulldogs lost 15 yards on back-to-back penalties. The pair of penalties derailed a once promising drive for the Bulldogs.

Being the opportunistic team that it has been all season, Williams Valley took advantage of Tri-Valley’s miscues and put together its second scoring drive of the evening, one reminiscent of their first.

Leaning on their ground-and-pound approach Shomper, plus running backs Fletcher Thompson and Trevon Bair, the Vikings went on a second 17-play drive resulting in a 1-yard touchdown run by Shomper.

The touchdown gave Williams Valley a 14-7 lead with 11:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Shomper took the bulk of the carries on the drive with 11, as the Vikings leaned heavily on their senior quarterback as the game progressed.

“He understands as a quarterback, sometimes the passing game isn’t clicking and he wants the ball,” Sedesse said. “So he wants to run the ball and he picks up some hard yards.”

While Shomper was the one to break the tie, Thompson was a major contributor on the drive with four carries for 24 yards.

“I’ve been working all summer, I put so much work into this and the Lord gave me this body to have,” Thompson said. “I”ve just got to know that I have to be strong. I need to make sure I can go against two people at a time, I need to make sure I can go against three people at a time, I just have to be stronger than them.”

Thompson was just that on Friday night as he totaled 15 carries for 73 yards in the win.

“He’s growing into his own now and he’s starting to pick up some big yards,” Sedesse said about his flourishing tailback.

The Vikings defense — as they did for a majority of the night — kept the Bulldogs’ offense in check following the go-ahead touchdown, allowing just 8 yards on eight plays over Tri-Valley’s final two possessions to seal the hard-fought 14-7 victory.

“I loved our run defense tonight, I thought we did very good against the run,” Sedesse said. “A couple swing passes to the running back got us, and then obviously the deep ball, but we had him covered pretty well. The kid made a phenomenal play on the ball.”

Williams Valley held Tri-Valley to just 116 total yards of offense in the game, including a mere 46 following the 44-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.

The Vikings will look to keep their perfect season going next Friday when they take on Schuylkill Haven in a battle of unbeaten teams.

On the other sideline, Tri-Valley coach Jeff Sampson was proud of his team despite the disappointing result.

“I was proud of them for the way they played. We didn’t quit. We played the entire 48 minutes,” he said. “We had our opportunities, we made some mistakes, we had some silly penalties, and what we take away from it is we need to step forward and keep going forward. This was a good test for us. We saw a lot of good things and saw some things that we need to correct.”

Tri-Valley will look to get back in the win column in a road game at Panther Valley next Friday.

Williams Valley 14, Tri-Valley 7

WV (5-0, 4-0) ; 0 | 7 | 0 | 7TV (3-2, 2-2) ; 0 | 7 | 0 | 0

Scoring

2nd Quarter

WV — Shomper 1 yard run (8:47)TV — Carl 44 yard reception (6:39)

4th Quarter

WV — Shomper 1 yard run (11:19)

​https://www.republicanherald.com/2025/09/20/h-s-football-williams-valley-outlasts-tri-valley-in-hard-fought-game/ 

SAINT CLAIR — Brody Breiner led Panther Valley to its second consecutive victory when he ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in a 41-24 road win against Nativity BVM at Saint Clair Veterans Stadium on Friday.

Following a Colt Mason 26-yard touchdown run for Nativity (2-3, 1-3), Marcus Rodriguez burst in for a five-yard touchdown with a minute left in the first half to give the Panthers (2-3, 2-2) the 20-16 lead, which they would not relinquish.”

“This is the first time we’ve won two in a row since we’ve been here, so to win two in a row on the road is great,” Panther Valley coach Mark Lavine said. “We opened up 0-3 and everyone thought it’d be the same old Panthers, and we knew we were better than that.”

Breiner led Panther Valley’s offense with 157 rushing yards to go with his three touchdowns and added 119 yards and a touchdown through the air.

“It was a great game plan by our coaches and it worked,” Breiner said. “We knew last week we had really good momentum running the ball so we continued that and it worked out amazing, the line was amazing all game.”

The Panthers were able to overcome an interception by Nativity’s Jacob Williams early in the second quarter. Connor Felty sacked Breiner for a loss of 10 yards, while Aidan Becker and Bentley Werez each recorded tackles for the Nativity defense.

Panther Valley also had to battle through several special teams gaffes, as the Green Wave recovered a kickoff and a fumbled punt in Panther territory.

“It’s frustrating, because it’s just adjusting to squibs like that, and we had to bring some guys up and I don’t think we got to the ball like we could have,” Lavine said. “You give the other team momentum to get back into the game and you’ve got to clean it up.”

Panther Valley went on a 7-minute drive to open the game, which Breiner capped with a 3-yard touchdown run and the 7-0 lead. The drive included passes to Gavin Yuricheck for 5- and 14-yard gains and a 15-yard pass to Chase McArdle.

Ben Banerave stifled Nativity’s next drive with a tackle short of the chains on third down.

“We knew we had to stop (Mason), because we knew he was a heck of an athlete,” Lavine said.

The Panthers got the ball back and went downfield, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run by Carson Jones to take a 14-0 lead with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

“These guys are gritty players, they run the ball well and they’re workhorses,” Breiner said. “Carson Jones is a freshman and he’s stepping up big time this season. Marcus Rodriguez is a senior with me, and it’s great team players all around.”

Connor Felty led Nativity into the end zone for the first time on a 50-yard run, and Mason tacked on the 2-point conversion to make it 14-8.

The Green Wave then jumped on the ensuing kickoff, and picked up another 30 yards of field position when the Panthers fumbled on a punt return. Nativity capitalized off the turnover as Mason ran for a 26-yard touchdown and Cooper Felty added on the 2-point run for the 16-14 lead moments into the second quarter.

Panther Valley turned it over again on its next drive when Williams intercepted a pass at Nativity’s 45-yard line, but the Green Wave couldn’t roll for another score.

Marcus Rodriguez put the Panthers ahead for good, 20-16, just before halftime on a 5-yard touchdown run.

“It’s huge offensively to have everything in our playbook,” Lavine said. “It got too close there near halftime.”

Both teams traded possessions after halftime before Breiner broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run and to extend the lead to 27-16 with a minute left in the third quarter.

The Panthers got the ball back again and Breiner hit McArdle for a 16-yard touchdown pass to go up 33-17 with 6:31 left in the game.

“To have the ability to break these games open, Gavin’s a game-breaker, Chase is a game-breaker outside and the guys who catch the ball and move the ball make it more comfortable,” Lavine said. “The plan was to stay balanced.”

Bentley Werez returned Nativity’s next kickoff return for an 80-yard touchdown, followed by a Mason 2-point run, to cut the deficit to 34-24.

Breiner put the game away with a 10-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left to give Panther Valley the 41-24 victory.

“The last three weeks I feel like we’ve played really good defense, and coach Lavine set us up well,” Breiner said. “We took it one play at a time and kept moving the chains.”

Nativity’s Colt Mason finished with just 75 rushing yards and 31 passing yards. Connor Felty added 65 rushing yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run.

Next week, Nativity travels to Shenandoah Valley and Panther Valley will host Tri-Valley.

Panther Valley 41, Nativity BVM 24

PAN (2-3; 2-2);14;6;7;13;—41

NAT (2-3; 1-3);8;8;0;8;—24

1st Quarter

PAN — Breiner 3-yard TD run (5:30)

PAN — Jones 5-yard TD run (3:03)

NAT — Connor Felty 50-yard TD run (1:32)

2nd Quarter

NAT — Mason 26-yard TD run, Felty 2-pt run (11:55)

PAN — Rodriguez 5-yard TD run (1:08)

3rd Quarter

PAN — Breiner 34-yard TD run (1:07)

4th Quarter

PAN — Breiner to McArdle 16-yard TD pass (6:31)

NAT — Werez 80-yard kickoff return TD, Mason 2-pt run

PAN — Breiner 10-yard TD run (1:49)

​https://www.republicanherald.com/2025/09/19/h-s-football-breiner-panthers-win-second-straight/ 

Former Los Angeles Times sports editor and writer Mike Kupper has died. Kupper, who had written many of The Times’ sports obituaries, wrote his own.

​https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2025-09-20/mike-kupper-obituary 

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Luke Miller ran for 361 yards and four touchdowns while the Spartan defense held strong when it mattered most, as North Schuylkill pulled away for a 36-14 win over Jim Thorpe on Friday night.

The Spartan defense got off to a hot start and forced Jim Thorpe to punt on its opening possession.

Their offense started just as strong, and orchestrated a scoring drive that was capped off with a 9-yard touchdown run by Luke Miller.

From that point on, it became a battle for the Spartans.

Jim Thorpe’s offense began to settle in and worked its way into the red zone, but the North Schuylkill defense came up with a stop to escape unscathed.

The Spartans capitalized as Miller broke free for a 79-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.

“Luke has track speed. That’s known across the state, with verified times,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said. “So when a guy like that gets in the open, it’s a challenge for teams. He’s patient with his runs, but when he hits that gear, when he wants to go, he’s moving fast.”

The Olympians responded with another drive that took over 5 minutes off the clock, and this one ended in the end zone. Quarterback Cole Lazorick hit Connor Zurawa, who took it on a 6-yard catch and run to make the score 16-6.

After forcing North Schuylkill to punt on its next possession, Jim Thorpe began to take advantage of a tired defense and put together another long drive, eventually working its way down inside the 10-yard line.

With time winding down in the second quarter, the Spartan defense stepped up as Daniel Brake intercepted a pass at the goal line to maintain the 10-point lead at halftime.

“We made the stops in the red zone, but they had the ball for a long time,” Hall said. “I think that knocks us off our rhythm, offensively, what we want to do offensively. Teams are going to make plays, but we want to stay on track (and have) a complete full game, and that’s special teams, and that’s offense and that’s defense.”

North Schuylkill’s offense continued to sputter to start the second half, and the Olympians worked their way deep into Spartan territory late in the third quarter.

Once again, though, the Spartan defense held strong and forced an incompletion to complete another goal-line stand take over on downs.

“We were right there,” Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger said. “I said to our kids, ‘Our effort was tremendous.’ Unfortunately, we didn’t execute with a couple of opportunities we had in the red zone.”

After the stop, the North Schuylkill offense came back to life.

Miller started the ensuing drive with a 70-yard gain, and finished it with a 5-yard touchdown run — his third of the night — to take a three-score lead.

Miller’s touchdown was the beginning of a chaotic 31 seconds, as Jim Thorpe’s offense also caught a spark.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Bobby Levins got behind the defense and scored on a 64-yard touchdown reception, and a successful 2-point try made it 24-14 with 11:34 left in the game.

“I can’t be more proud of our kids’ effort on the football field tonight, but again, we’ve just got to clean some things up offensively,” Rosenberger said. “And then who knows? We might win that football game.”

The Spartans fired back with a long touchdown of their own just 12 seconds later when quarterback Caden Mengel hit Jaxon Parker in stride down for a 58-yard touchdown.

Jim Thorpe stayed in the fight with another explosive play to start its next drive.

Lazorick connected with Spencer Gothard on a deep ball to put the Olympians at the North Schuylkill 21-yard line. Lazorick nearly ran it in for a touchdown on the next play, but the ball was knocked loose at the 1-yard line and rolled out the back of the end zone for a touchback.

After getting the ball back, the Spartans turned to their workhorse.

Miller continued to pound the ball, and ultimately iced the game with a 24-yard touchdown run.

Nearly half of his 361 yards came in the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t all me,” Miller said. “I can’t run the ball without my offensive line. I definitely have good speed, and I trust it, but when you have guys like Cadyn McGraw and Seth Hubler, the whole offensive line making holes for you, it makes my job 10 times easier. So having guys like that just, it’s really nice having them.”

With the win, North Schuylkill is now 3-2 overall, and 2-1 in Schuylkill League play. The Spartans will travel to face undefeated Northwestern Lehigh next Friday.

North Schuylkill 36, Jim Thorpe 14

NS (3-2, 2-1) 8|8|0|20

JT (2-3, 1-3) 0|6|0|8

SCORING

1st Quarter

NS – 8:24 Miller 9-yard run, Miller 2-pt. run, 8-0

2nd Quarter

NS – 11:24 Miller 79-yard run, Miller 2-pt. Run, 16-0

JT – 7:08 Zawala 6-yard rec., 2-pt. Failed, 16-6

4th Quarter

NS – 11:53 Miller 5-yard run, Nelson 2-pt. rec., 24-6

JT – 11:34 Levins 64-yard rec., Louk 2-pt. rec., 24-14

NS – 11:22 Parker 58-yard rec., 2-pt. failed, 30-14

NS – 4:36 Miller 24-yard run, 2-pt. failed, 36-14

​https://www.republicanherald.com/2025/09/20/h-s-football-miller-runs-wild-in-north-schuylkill-win/ 

Who said Washington Commanders left tackle Laremy Tunsil wasn’t a leader?

Since the Commanders acquired Tunsil in the offseason, he immediately took first-round pick Josh Conerly Jr. under his wing. Conerly recently expressed gratitude for the extra work Tunsil has put in with him and believes it’s paying off.

It’s been a difficult start to his NFL career for Conerly. In Week 1, he went up against Brian Burns and the New York Giants. Burns had two sacks, but Conerly showed signs of improvement throughout the game. Week 2 was a completely different story. Conerly struggled badly against Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers.

Washington hopes that was Conerly’s “Welcome to the NFL” moment. Things do not get any easier for Conerly this weekend as the Las Vegas Raiders come to town. That means a matchup with Maxx Crosby.

Tunsil was singing Conerly’s praises on Friday, comparing Conerly’s rookie season to his back in 2016.

“It probably took me a while,” Tunsil said. “I think when I first got over the hump was my third year in the league when I was with the Miami Dolphins. I was going against Robert Quinn, superstar defensive end who used to be with the Rams. I used to go against him every day when he was with Miami. Every day in practice, he used to kick my butt every day. I just had to learn. I had to adjust, I had to watch film, I had to switch up my technique. And I feel like it’s just a learning curve. He’ll get over that. Everybody gets over that. Everybody has to play well. All 11 of us has to be on the same page. It’s not just one guy.”

Advice for Conerly after a bad play? “Keep your head up.”

Tunsil sees big things for Conerly and said that when he was a young player, he had some excellent veterans to lean on, and he wants to be that guy for Conerly.

Remember the rumors about Tunsil not being a great leader in Houston? Instead of admitting they didn’t want to give the 31-year-old Tunsil another new deal, the Texans made sure word got out about his lack of leadership.

Good insight from veteran LT, 5-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil on rocky start for Josh Conerly, Jr.

Says it took him to 3rd year in NFL to get over the hump, credits going against Robert Quinn in practice

“He used to kick my butt every day”@JPFinlayNBCS#RaiseHail#Commanderspic.twitter.com/D2FvjCIzh6

— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) September 19, 2025

Tunsil made it clear that whatever Conerly needs, whether it’s advice or anything else, he will be there for him. “That’s my little brother.”

Tunsil said he felt like he was put in Washington’s locker room to help all of the younger players, and he relishes passing on that veteran knowledge to others.

It’s worth noting that Conerly is playing a new position in the NFL. And he’s facing world-class pass rushers, something Tunsil noted, saying Conerly deserved some “credit and some grace.”

Some advice from Tunsil:

“Don’t get on the bandwagon two or three years down the line when he’s an All-Pro. You want him with from the start because he’s going to be a great player.”

Tunsil’s words are music to the ears of head coach Dan Quinn and GM Adam Peters. His play will help him land another big deal, but his leadership doesn’t hurt either. Tunsil has been a model teammate already.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Laremy Tunsil proving to be the perfect leader

​https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/commanders/2025/09/20/washington-commanders-laremy-tunsil-josh-conerly/86261054007/ 

On Thursday, new Texas A&M basketball coach Bucky McMillan landed his first commitment in the 2026 recruiting class, as elite four-star combo guard Neiko Mundey chose the Aggies over USC, Mississippi State, and several other programs. Ranked as the 44th-overall prospect in the cycle, Mundey is the highest-rated commitment for the program since former reserve guard Manny Obaseki.

Mundey is likely just the first domino to drop, now knowing that another recruiting target, 2026 four-star forward Ralph Scott, has narrowed down his options, now including Texas A&M among Purdue, Tennessee, and Houston, after canceling his visit to Syracuse. Entering his senior season at the prestigious IMG Academy, the 6’7″ wing is one of the more dominant scorers who has rapidly risen in the recruiting rankings.

Scott’s scoring production has increased every season, which is something McMillan and his staff have closely monitored this summer. Even before McMillan accepted the position, you can be sure he was paying attention to Scott’s rapid rise during his final season at Samford. Right now, landing at least two more commitments in the 2026 class is the goal, which would be a solid haul during McMillan’s first season.

NEWS: 2026 4⭐️ Ralph Scott (@Ralph_Scott13) tells @LeagueRDY he will no longer visit Syracuse and is down to four schools:

Purdue
Tennessee
Houston
Texas A&M

The 6-foot-7 wing is one of the biggest stock risers in the ‘26 class. pic.twitter.com/3ZvKACRKOq

— Sam Kayser (@KayserHoops) September 19, 2025

Realistically, it will be challenging to compete with Purdue, Tennessee, and Houston, all considered blue-blood basketball programs, given that the Boilermakers and Cougars have played in the National Championship game over the last three seasons.

Still, McMillan shouldn’t be counted out, especially after landing over a dozen players from the transfer portal during his first offseason with the program.

According to 247Sports, Scott is currently positioned as the 35th-ranked prospect in the 2026 cycle, the 16th-ranked small forward, and the 8th-ranked prospect in Florida.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.

This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M is a finalist to land 2026 4-star SF Ralph Scott

​https://aggieswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/aggies/recruiting/2025/09/20/ralph-scott-texas-aggies-basketball-recruiting-purdue-houston-tennessee/86256734007/