County Gets Overtime Win in 89th Annual Scranton Lions Club Dream Game

Written by: David Mika on Thursday, July 20th, 2023. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

BLAKELY – Riverside’s Nicholas D’Amico kicked a game-winning 27-yard field goal in overtime to lift the County All-Stars to a 23-20 win over the City All-Stars in the 89th Annual Scranton Lions Club Dream Game at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in front of 7,246 fans.

With the win, the County ties up the series at 42-42-4.

The action started quickly. On the second play of the game, Michael Blaine (North Pocono) took a direct snap and burst through the line. He went untouched for a 75-yard touchdown run. The extra point was good. City led 7-0.

The County All-Stars answered right back. Kage Southerton (Honesdale) recovered a fumble on a punt and Country took over on City’s 13. Dominico Spataro (Lakeland) powered in from one-yard out to even the game up at 7 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.

The rest of the half would be dominated by the City All-Stars. Blaine was the star. His second rushing touchdown was from 14 yards out and the City All-Stars led doubled to 14-7 with 10:21 remaining in the first half. Blaine finished the night rushing for 144 yards on 17 carries.

The City All-Stars weren’t done yet. The county was facing a third and seven when Aidan Cullen (Scranton Prep) stopped a screen pass. On fourth down, D’Amico tried a 52-yard field goal that was no good and the City All-Stars took over on their 20 with 5:09 left in the half.

The City All-Stars ran right down the field including a reverse play by Lamiare Soldano (Scranton) to set up a late touchdown. On the very next play, Zach Benzie (North Pocono) threw a perfect pass in the end zone to Aidan Colleran (Scranton Prep) for the 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:35 remaining in the first half. The City All-Stars increased their lead to 20-7. The lead held going into halftime, 20-7.

After a scoreless third quarter, the County All-Stars took over the fourth quarter led by Valley View’s Taheed Jewell. He got to play one more game in front of the home crowd and didn’t disappoint. His big fourth quarter helped ignite the County All-Star’s comeback.

“This is my field and I wasn’t losing on my field tonight,” said Jewell. “The fans were great tonight and I will never forget this moment.”

Jewell caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from James Sobol (Old Forge) to cut into the City’s lead 20-14 with 11:05 left in the game. Then he caught the game-tying 39-yard touchdown with 1:17 remaining in the game. A bad snap on the extra point led to the first overtime game in the 89-year history of the Dream game.

Jewell finished the game catching seven passes for 126 yards.

The County All-Stars made a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 13 points in the quarter.

“It started at halftime when we talked to the kids to calm down a little bit and they did that,” said Stan Yanoski (Mid Valley). “The kids played great the second half and never gave up.”

The City’s offense got the ball first in overtime. But the County’s defense held, forcing a field goal attempt by Max Hunt (Dunmore). The kick fell short.

It was the County’s turn.

After three straight runs, it was D’Amico’s turn to attempt a 27-yard field goal. He calmly booted the game-winning field goal for the County’s fourth win in a row.