Williams Valley's Brady Shomper drops back to pass during a game earlier this season. (Photo by Charlie Roth).

TOWER CITY — Experience in sports often pays huge dividends.

Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse is hoping his Vikings’ trip to the PIAA playoffs last year helps when the Vikes (12-1) face District 2 champion Riverside (12-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Berwick High School’s Crispin Field. The game originally was scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, but a snowstorm forced the postponement.

Williams Valley is a similar situation as last season, winning the District 11 Class AA championship with a victory over Schuylkill Haven in a hard-fought contest. A year ago, the Vikings fell behind early in their state playoff contest with Dunmore and never recovered, falling 41-21.

A strong start, Sedesse said, is imperative tonight.

Game Preview

PIAA Class AA Quarterfinal

At Crispin Field, Berwick

Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday

Tickets: Cost $8 and must be purchased online at www.piaa.org.

Radio/TV: Game will be broadcasted live on T-102 (101.9 FM)

Live updates: Follow T102 Sports Now writers Leroy Boyer (@pubsportsboss), Eli Doyle (@iamelidoyle) and Bob Lipsky (@BobLipskyRH) on X

Up Next: Winner faces either Troy or Bedford in next week’s PIAA Class AA semifinals

“The physicality of that game … we thought we were going to be able to match it and we were unable to do that early on and the game got away from us,” Sedesse said. “In the second half we were able to kind of find it.

“We have to try and find that physicality early on, not let them push us around early and get in any deficit.”

Riverside, which is also nicknamed the Vikings, is very similar to Williams Valley, both offensively and defensive.

Riverside averages 34.9 points per game with a balanced offensive attack centered around senior quarterback Chase Taddonio. Taddonio leads the team in rushing with 811 yards and 13 TDs on 146 carries while completing 120-of-216 passes for 1,827 yards and 25 more scores.

Running back Richie Kostoff has rushed 62 times for 459 yards and four scores and leads the Vikings with 45 catches for 638 yards and nine TDs. Gerry Rose (25-450, 7 TDs), Brayden Rose (17-317, 4 TDs) and J.J. Rogers (10-196, TD) are Taddonio’s other top targets.

Kicker Santino D’Amico has converted 55-of-61 extra points and is 7-of-8 on field goal attempts.

Defensively, Riverside’s 4-4 alignment features 6-foot-4, 290-pound junior Tavian Branch up front and senior linebackers Kostoff and Quinn Puchilowski in the middle.

Branch has 55 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, eight sacks and 17 QB hits. Puchilowski leads the Vikings with 75 tackles (54 solo), while Kostoff has 70 (47 solo).

Riverside won its first nine games before falling 42-20 to District 2 Class A champion Lackawanna Trail in its regular-season finale. Riverside then responded with victories over Lakeland (36-7) and Dunmore (24-6) to win the District 2 title and dispatched District 12 champion Lansdale Catholic 17-7 last Friday in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs.

Taddonio rushed for a pair of touchdowns and D’Amico booted a 21-yard field goal in the win over Lansdale Catholic.

“They’re big and they’re physical, nothing we haven’t seen already this year,” Sedesse said. “Their quarterback is very good as well. Their offense is a lot like ours; they run it and they throw it. Their quarterback is what makes them go.

“Up front, it’s another week of dealing with a big defensive line. On the offensive side, we have to be able to move them and control the line of scrimmage.”

Williams Valley is led by junior quarterback Brady Shomper, who became the program’s first quarterback to throw and run for more than 1,000 yards in a single season after his rushing effort against Schuylkill Haven.

For the season, Shomper is 110-for-186 passing for 2,235 yards and 34 TDs while rushing 165 times for 1,056 yards and 17 scores. For more on Shomper’s season, visit https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2024/11/22/piaa-class-aa-football-shomper-takes-the-next-step-leads-vikings-back-to-piaa-playoffs/

Freshman Fletcher Thompson paces Williams Valley’s ground attack with 1,374 yards and 16 TDs, while senior Kian Krzyzanowski is the area’s leading receiver with 62 catches for 1,177 yards and 17 TDs, all school records.

Linebackers Skylor Green (133 tackles) and Trevon Bair (128 tackles) lead the defense, while senior placekicker Sage Smeltz has booted 65-of-73 extra points.

The Vikings average 43.5 points per game and have allowed just 13.9.

Sedesse said his squad enters Friday’s game healthy, which was a goal of the coaching staff throughout the playoffs.

“We had big goals coming into the season. We’ve stuck with them,” Sedesse said. “We wanted to make it further than we did last year and we knew where we wanted to be.

“To take that extra step this year, we’re a lot healthier than we were a year ago. We did a lot of things different going into the playoffs, kind of treating it like a second season, got a lot of kids healthy. That was a main goal, getting healthy at this time of the year.”

Riverside is no stranger to Schuylkill County football teams in the PIAA playoffs. Harry Armstrong’s squad has reached the PIAA championship game twice, falling 10-7 to Sharpsville in the 1997 Class A title game and 36-30 to Clairton in the 2010 Class A final.

The Vikings downed Shenandoah Valley 42-0 in 1997 and Schuylkill Haven 41-0 in 2010. Schuylkill Haven downed Riverside 22-19 in the 1998 Class A playoffs and again 43-38 in a wild Class A contest at Valley View in 2008.

Williams Valley is making its seventh appearance in the PIAA playoffs, sporting a 2-6 mark overall. The Vikings are 2-3 against District 2 teams, beating Lackawanna Trail 22-12 in 2016 and Old Forge 44-25 in 2017. Williams Valley lost to Lackawanna Trail in 2019, Old Forge in 2021 and Dunmore last year.

Williams Valley has never reached the PIAA state semifinals. Sedesse’s goal is for his team to still be playing next week. Tonight’s winner faces either District 4 champion Troy or District 5 winner Bedford in the semifinals.

“It’s incredible,” he said of his team’s run so far. “We’re hoping to keep playing here and get past Thanksgiving. If you’re still playing football after Thanksgiving, you have a pretty good team. That’s our goal.”