9/29/23

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Lackawanna College football is back at home for the first time in nearly a month, and the Falcons are set to host the Skylanders of Sussex County Community College in a clash between the only two Region XIX football teams on Saturday, September 30th. 

Kickoff between the two squads is set for a 1:00pm ET start at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium in the Electric City. The game will have a video livestream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network HERE. Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will handle the play-by-play duties, while Assistant Athletic Director Josh Pardini will provide the color commentary. 

The Falcons (3-1) enter the game after an impressive 49-0 rout over their longtime rival, Nassau CC. In that game, Lackawanna held the Lions to 98 total yards of offense, while compiling over 700 yards of offense for itself. The Falcons had 496 yards rushing, a new school-record, and, at one point, scored five straight touchdowns in the first half. Terrez Worthy (Sophomore; Salisbury, MD) ran for 342 yards on just 19 carries, an 18 yards-per-carry clip, and scored three touchdowns. Worthy had touchdown runs of 73, 42, and 66 yards on the day, and was explosive all afternoon. The Falcons were led defensively by Devin Harper (Sophomore; Fort Mill, SC), who had eight tackles and 1.5 TFLs, as well as Preston Green (Sophomore; Long Pond, PA), who had six tackles, a sack and a TFL, plus two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. You can read the game recap HERE.

Sussex County (3-0) enters the contest unbeaten through its first three games, most recently blowing out Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology 54-14 last weekend in Lancaster. The Skylanders were never truly in trouble, but struggled to get completely on track through the course of the game. After punting on its first two possessions, Sussex caught a break with an interception on a fourth down play near midfield. A Jaiden Murphy run put the Skylanders in Stevens' territory, and James Laubstein hit his tight-end in the back corner of the endzone on fourth down to get the first score late in the first. Sussex scored again to make it 14-0, but the Bulldogs got a score back after a big screen pass, followed by a 4th-and-goal sneak on the first play of the second quarter, to make it 14-7. Sussex added a touchdown pass down the seam late in the quarter to take a 20-7 lead into the half. Murphy scored on a 42-yard run early in the third to open the game up at 26-7, but Stevens put together a long touchdown drive that ended with points to start the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs had possession with just over ten minutes remaining and down two scores, but two straight turnovers led to two straight touchdowns, and Sussex ended up scoring four touchdowns in the final ten minutes to win going away. Laubstein had 196 yards passing and three scores, while also running for 126 yards. Murphy had 180 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Sussex defense had three takeaways. 

This will be just the fourth-ever meeting between Lackawanna College and Sussex County CC on the football field. The Falcons are 3-0 against Sussex, outscoring the Skylanders 129-10 in their three meetings. Lackawanna won last year's contest, 40-3, on a cold and blustery Saturday afternoon in New Jersey. The last time Sussex came to Scranton, the Falcons won 52-0 in the fall 2021 season. Sussex started as a program in the spring 2021 season, and is the second Region XIX team with a football team, and the first of the New Jersey two-year schools with its own standalone football team. 

You can read the full games notes for this week's contest HERE.

Lackawanna College is next in action on Saturday, October 7th, when the Falcons are set to take on their rival Monroe College in the first of two games this season. It will be Sophomore Night, and also the Pink Out Cancer game, with donations going towards a local cancer charity here in Northeast PA. Kickoff is set for 6:00pm ET at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium.