On Friday, August 22, the Stroudsburg Mountaineers opened their season defending their turf from the Wallenpaupack Buckhorns. Winning in dominant fashion, 28-7.

The Mounties received the ball to begin the game, unable to get out of their half of the field being forced to punt. Wallenpaupacks’ defense was quick to the ball and was able to clog the run game for most of the game. In the first drive for the Buckhorns, defensive lineman Zion Essington, ’26, broke into the backfield on a pass for a huge sack, completely halting all of Wallenpaupacks’ momentum, forcing them to punt later in the drive.

After trading punts for the entire first quarter, Stroudsburg established their physicality in the run game, marching their way into Buckhorn territory and punching it into the end zone. Jaylin Rieara, ’26, took credit for 6, while Gabe Ferguson, ’27, kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0. Wallenpaupack returned the favor, opting for a similar ground and pound approach to their offense, ending the drive in a boot pass into the end zone. After kicking the extra point the game was tied entering halftime.

The Mounties’ defense proved too much for the Buckhorns, forcing punt after punt, while their offense took over the game. In the third quarter, running back Rieara took a handoff and broke through the Buckhorn defense, taking it to the house for a 72-yard rushing touchdown. After rendering Wallenpaupacks’ offense useless once more, quarterback Jack Mitchell, ’27, airmailed a ball to Essam Alrefai, ’26, for a 46-yard passing touchdown to extend the lead to 21-7.

In the fourth, Alrefai caught another pass to give the Mounties momentum and set them up in the end zone. Rieara finished the job, punching it in on a handoff to end the game at a statement score of 28-7.

The Mounties’ first home game came as a win and they took a trip up to Wilkes-Barre on August 29.

Stroudsburg suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss against the Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack, 48-42. There were five touchdowns in total in the third quarter alone. Mitchell ran for a touchdown and tossed two more to wide reciever Alfrefai and tight end Keegan Munch, ’27 later in the game. The Wolfpacks’ air raid offense proved to be too overpowering in this shootout, scoring 22 points in just the third quarter.

Stroudsburg stands at 1-1 and faces off against the Liberty Hurricanes at home this Friday, September 5. The Hurricanes are 1-1 coming off of an important win against Allentown Central Catholic, 38-14.