MAHANOY CITY - Junior high football effectively put an end to the Tri-County Football League's top division this season.
But that did not prevent the two lower age groups from providing post-season excitement in the two league championship games Sunday at Alumni Field.
The first game definitely lived up to the billing as Ashland battled from behind in the final three minutes to defeat Frackville 14-8 in the Mini Division Championship game.
The Pee-Wee Championship was also competitive until the later minutes of the fourth quarter when Shamokin scored two late touchdowns to pull away from Pottsville 18-0 and avenge and early season defeat.
Shamokin 18 Pottsville 0
The Bulldogs handed the Indians their only loss during the regular season and came into the championship game with the confidence to pull off a repeat.
But the Indians learned some things from that game and made the adjustments necessary to capture the championship trophy, especially on defense.
"The last time, they hit us with a bunch of big pass plays and we weren't ready for it," Shamokin coach Craig Schicchitano said. "Today, they tried to pass a half dozen times and every one of them, we knocked down. We were already stopping their run game. As long as we stopped the pass, they weren't going to be able to move the ball."
Shamokin (10-1) took the lead with 4:08 left in the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Colby Edmonson.
The score remained the same until the Indians scored two touchdowns in the final minutes, the first on a 1-yard run by Gage Garcia with 5:06 remaining and the second on a 49-yard touchdown run by Edmonson.
"They had the better defense today and they wanted it more than we did" Pottsville coach Ed Ginther said. "They just showed that they wanted to get even."
Ashland 14 Frackville 8
One day not to far in the future, players for both Ashland and Frackville will be teammates for North Schuylkill.
But the town rivalry was alive and well in the Mini Championship, which was decided in the closing minutes.
Ashland (10-1) was trailing 8-6 with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter when its defense made a key fourth-down stop on its own 40 to get possession on downs.
A first-down conversion would have allowed Frackville to effectively run out the clock.
Instead, the Black Diamonds produced a 60-yard drive that produced the game winning touchdown on a 2-yard scoring run by Danny Grigas with 1:01 remaining in the game. Grigas also ran for the two-point conversion.
The score was set up by a 40-yard run by Bryce Weikel that gave Ashland a first-and-goal at the Frackville two yard line.
"It was a wide right quarterback sweep," Ashland coach Harvey Weikel said. "I was saving that play for a couple of weeks looking for a good time to use it. Our players have a lot of heart. We had to get the ball back to make that happen."
Ashland broke out to a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on 22-yard run by Tyler McGrath and held it until 4:27 left in the game.
That's when Frackville (10-1) scored the game tying touchdown on a 2-yard run by Dylan Dietz and took the lead on a two-point conversion run by Kevin Schenk.
The Mountaineers also recovered the ensuing onside kick to regain possession. But they needed to keep possession in order to run out the clock. Instead, they turned the ball over on downs soon after, giving Ashland a final possession.
"This is a tough loss. I'm glad we came back after being down," Frackville coach Dan Quick. "We took the lead, but you have to give them credit for making the plays that they did."
Pee-Wee Championship
Shamokin 6 0 0 12 - 18
Pottsville 0 0 0 0 - 0
S - Edmonson 10 run (run failed)
S - Garcia 1 run (run failed)
S - Edmonson 49 run (run failed)
Mini championship
Ashland (10-1) 0 6 0 8 - 14
Frackville (10-1) 0 0 0 8 - 8
A - McGrath 22 run (run failed)
F - Dietz 2 run (Schenk run)
A - Grigas 2 run (Grigas run)