DISTRICT 11 NOTES (week 1):
RUNNINGBACKS:
Colton Reber of Schuylkill Haven led the District in rushing in week 1 when he rushed for 312 yards and 3 td’s in their close loss to Mount Carmel. With his 3 td’s scored, he now has 74 career td’s which ties him with Austin Scott (2000-02) of Parkland for 16th place all-time in the District. Reber broke the tie with Jason Killian of Schuylkill Haven who scored 71 td’s from 1989-91. Christian Stiehler of Pocono Mountain West rushed for 241 yards and 3 scores in their win over Scranton. Single season record setter (1,501 yards in ’25) Chase Kessler of Northampton started the year rushing for 210 yards and 2 td’s in their win over Martin Luther King. Jeziah Gregory of Whitehall and Lukas Croizier of Lehighton both went over 2,000 yards rushing for their career. Gregory has 2,044 yards and Croizier has 2,019 yards. Derek Direnzo of Minersville (1,048 yards), and Brody Foose of Blue Mountain (1,028 yards) both joined the chart after their performances in week 1. We lose Rory Dixon of Marian Catholic from the chart as he is forgoing football in his senior year. Dixon was on pace to tie James Mungro’s District record as the only player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season for all 4 years. Junior, Fletcher Thompson of Williams Valley is currently in the running to tie Mungro after rushing for over 1,000 yards in his first 2 seasons. Thompson and Tj Lawrence of Parkland each have scored 49 career td’s which ties them for 80th place all-time in the District. Also scoring 49 td’s in their career were Don Diorio of Pius X (1965-67), Josh Snyder of Northwestern (1995-97), Eric Fiore of BECA/Whitehall (2007-10), Jarel Elder of Parkland (2010-12), Justin St. Hill of Jim Thorpe (2014-17), and Trey Gretzinger of Palisades (2015-18).
QUARTERBACKS:
Colton Sams of Southern Lehigh threw for 363 yards and 4 td’s in their win over Quakertown to up his career totals of 6,664 yards passing and 83 td passes. His 83 td’s ties him with Tre Jordan of Pius X/Notre Dame for 5th place all-time in the District. Sams moved ahead of Anthony Harris of Nazareth who threw 81 td passes from 2016-19. Tanner Dogmantis of Whitehall joined the 4,000-yard club (4,019) with his 164 yards he threw in their win over Wilkes-Barre. Jackson Mitchell of Stroudsburg went over 3,000 yards passing for his career with the 244 yards he threw in their win over George Washington. He is the first Mountaineer to throw for 3,000 yards in a career. Jake Jakobsen (2,932 yards from 2013-15), and Pat Rinard (2,868 yards from 1984-86) were previously the closest Mountaineer’s to reach 3,000 yards. Cohen Kirby of Blue Mountain went over 2,000 yards passing in his career in week 1. The junior has thrown for 2,143 yards in his career. There were 4 more QB’s throwing for over 200 yards in week 1 including Bethlehem Catholic’s Axel Burkhart 279 yards he threw in a 1-point win over Del Val. Others were Gregory Tirpak of Marian Catholic (255 yards – 3 td’s), Michael Stofanak of Freedom (237 yards – 2 td’s), and Cooper Madson of Nazareth (215 yards – 1 td). Joining the chart after week 1 is Trey Porter of Tri-Valley (1,019 yards). Julian Pagan of Allen threw 4 td passes vs Thomas Edison in week 1. We lose Patrick Cahill of Central Catholic from the chart after his father took the head coaching position at Yale University. Cahill threw for 2,135 yards and 21 td’s last year for the Vikings and threw for 3,974 yards and 27 td’s for his career a Central.
RECEIVERS:
Five new players joined the chart after their yards gained in week 1 including Freedom’s Davyan Moore, who leapfrogged over 8 players on the chart with his 193 yards he gained on only 3 catches (2 went for td’s). Other players joining the chart are Sean McPeek of Easton after catching 8 passes for 138 in their loss to CB West. William Breuer of Pleasant Valley (539 yards), Chase McArdle of Panther Valley (504 yards), and Lyric Parkins of ESS (501 yards). Carter Vassa of Bethlehem catholic caught 8 passes for 202 yards and a td in week 1 to up his career totals to 143 catches for 2,451 yards and 25 td’s (all school records). He broke the tie he had with Freddie Simmons for most career td catches. Simmons had 24 from 2013-14 and Vassa now has 25 td grabs. Vassa’s yardage has him moving up to 14th place all-time in the District after moving ahead of 5 players in one week. They were Talon Dogmantis of Whitehall (2,446 yards 2023-25), Jeff McGeehin of Central Catholic (2,377 yards 1971-73), Andrew Olesh of Southern Lehigh (2,354 yards 20121-24), Jacob Del Priorre also of SL (2,330 yards 2011-13), and Zack Gillen of Wilson (2,301 yards 2018-21). His 143 receptions moved him up into 19th place all-time in the District, going by 5 former players. They are Noah Dolbin of Nativity (140 – 2021-24), Bob Frederick of Allen (138 – 1971-73), Fenton Black of Panther Valley (137 – 1990-92), Isaiah Dejesus of Notre Dame (137 – 2016-18), and Tyler Artim of Whitehall (137 – 2008-10). Brady Zimmerman of Northwestern went over 1,000 yards receiving for his career in week 1 after catching 8 passes for 153 yards and 2 td’s. Zimmerman now has 1,148 yards receiving. Teammate Michael Lagowy had top honors in the District in week 1 with his 9 receptions vs Valley View. Teammates Luke Dipietro and Matthew Leluga both caught 8 passes in their loss to Garnet Valley. We also lose Patrick’s brother Thomas Cahill who played for Saucon Valley last year as a freshman. Thomas set the freshman District 11 records for receptions with 69 and reception yardage with 946 yards.
TIDBITS:
1st recorded 200-yard receiver for a game:
Bill Pilconis of Panther Valley vs Parkland in 1966 (200 yards on 7 catches) lost 33-26. Both teams were 7-0 at the time, with 6,000 fans in attendance. Pilconis was all-state that year, catching 36 passes for 868 yards and 8 td’s. He played for Mahanoy Area in his sophomore and junior years, catching another 12 td passes. During the track season, Pilconis, who stood at 6’5″, went undefeated in the 120-yard high hurdle events in 1967 winning the class B state championship. He went on to play at Pitt and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 12th round.
2025 single-game highs: ( ) is the week the player accomplished the stat
Single Game Touchdowns (4)
Single Game Rushing Yardage (200)
312 (1) Colton Reber (Schuylkill Haven)
Single Game Passing Yardage (200)
363 (1) Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh)
237 (1) Michael Stofanak (Freedom)
Single Game TD Passes (4)
4 (1) Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh)
Single Game Receptions (10)
Single Game Reception Yardage (140)
202 (1) Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic)
Single Game Reception TD’s (3)
none
Field Goals (40 yards)
none reported