PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
FOR THE RECORD
Both Zane and Jason correctly picked Kansas City to defeat San Francisco last season.
BEST ANALYSIS
Johnny Gilchrist is the all-time passing leader in career yards for the Lackawanna Football Conference and he believes establishing the running game will be the key to victory.
MOST IN DEPTH PICK
Nick Rasmus really crunched the numbers and took his time making his pick. He highlighted each team’s strengths and went with his gut in choosing the Chiefs.
OFFENSE
BACKS
This group split on its picks. Two for each. Cristian Buckley and Ray Melnikoff each chose to go against their picks from last season when they were rooting for Kansas City over San Francisco.
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Cristian Buckley Dunmore Running back Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-24 Because you can’t bet against Tom Brady. |
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London Montgomery Scranton Prep Running back Kansas City Chiefs I think the chiefs because they have Patrick Mahomes back and they have a lot of offensive weapons.
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Giovanni Spataro Lakeland Running back Kansas City Chiefs I believe that the Chiefs offense is way too dynamic and that the defense is very underrated. They are the defending champs, and that experience will pay off for them in the Super Bowl.
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Ray Melnikoff Lackawanna Trail Fullback Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gotta go with Tampa. It’s a home game for them and it’s hard to bet against Tom Brady, especially in the Super Bowl.
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WIDE RECEIVERS / ATHLETE
Like the backs, this group is split, which is interesting, but with Brady and Mahomes at the quarterback position, the receivers don’t favor either. Also, Lakeland’s CJ Dippre picked Kansas City because of its offense when he was an All-Region defensive end and he picked Tampa Bay because of its defense when he was selected All-Region for his all-around play on offense.
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Mark Callanan Delaware Valley Wide receiver Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes has been playing outstanding the past few seasons and I just don’t think anyone can stop him. Also the Bucs are a new team to the Super Bowl, so I don’t think they have what it takes to beat the Chiefs.
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Michael Rickert Riverside Wide receiver Kansas City Chiefs Mahomes will have a good game and there is no one to stop Kelce.
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Robert Rossi Scranton Prep Wide receiver Tampa Bay Buccaneers I think the Buccaneers because Tom Brady has a lot more experience in Super Bowls and their defense has been doing pretty good recently.
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CJ Dippre Lakeland Athlete Tampa Bay Buccaneers I feel like the Chiefs have been getting down early, and they end up making comebacks. I don’t believe Tom Brady is a QB that you want to be down to because he knows how to win.
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OFFENSIVE LINE
Looks like the linemen favor Tampa Bay slightly, 3-2. From what we are told, this really could have gone either way, though. Lackawanna Trail’s RJ Schirg must have learned his lesson after picking the 49ers over the Chiefs last season.
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Mike Gecik Delaware Valley Tackle Tampa Bay Buccaneers Because they have playmakers on both sides of the ball including Tom Brady.
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RJ Schirg Lackawanna Trail Tackle Kansas City Chiefs Their offense is to much for Tampa Bay
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Cyllel Rose Old Forge Guard Tampa Bay Buccaneers Because Tom Brady is the GOAT
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Kyle Guarino Western Wayne Guard Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kansas City has a lot of weapons and they have Mahomes and Kelce and Hill and an all-around hard defense to play against. The Buccaneers have an amazing offensive line, so I am going to have to go with the Buccaneers.
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Gabe Tidridge Delaware Valley Center Kansas City Chiefs I think they have a stronger overall team and stronger bonds with each other.
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DEFENSE
LINEMEN
As seen above, Nick Rasmus makes this a split group with two votes for each.
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Dom Temperino Dunmore Line Tampa Bay, 36-29 Brady is the best player of all time.
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Cross Douglas Lakeland Line Tampa Bay Buccaneers We all know that defense wins championships and the Bucs have the better defense. Also, Tom Brady had never had offensive weapons like he has this year. |
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Chris Kryeski
North Pocono Line Kansas City Chiefs I believe the Chiefs have better chemistry between the coaches and the players themselves. While Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have an abundance of Super Bowl experience, I feel that the chemistry between their new coaches and teammates are in their infancy. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers simply do not have enough experience and time playing with each other to convince me that they are a solid team and not a bunch of individuals playing for a ring.
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LINEBACKERS
When you add Henderson’s pick of Kansas City, the lnebackers favor the Chiefs, 3-1. Thought this might go in the other direction considering they are defensive players, but Mahomes has that much of an impact.
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Chase Nolan Lakeland Linebacker Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes is a great quarterback and a great leader and seems to always be in control. Even when the Chiefs are down, he seems to be calm in the face of adversity. Great leadership always comes out on top.
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TJ Noto Valley View Linebacker Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-31 Defense has come through in big situations and Brady is the GOAT.
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Colin Holzman Old Forge Linebacker Kansas City Chiefs, 28-17 Their offense just has too many weapons.
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SECONDARY / ATHLETE
It appears that players who are in the secondary, while impressed with Patrick Mahomes, know all too well how good Tom Brady is in the big game and how he can pick a defense apart.
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TJ Schmalzle Wallenpaupack Secondary Tampa Bay Buccaneers Their defense is very good and the offense is playing great. You can never count Tom Brady out of a super bowl. Plus, the chiefs defense is not good at all and although their offense is very good, I don’t think it will be enough.
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Mike Pidgeon Lakeland Secondary Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Buccaneers have the better defense, and Tom Brady always comes in the clutch in key moments.
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Harlem Cook Delaware Valley Secondary Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady is one of the best leaders in football and he makes his team better.
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Preston Machado Delaware Valley Secondary Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady proved that he can make it to the Super Bowl with a totally different team and he’s proven many times that he is the best.
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Michael DiGregorio Old Forge Athlete Tampa Bay Buccaneers They have the best quarterback to ever play the game. The Chiefs have been having trouble with COVID and they’re going to rely on their backups to step up. It is hard to beat a team twice and even harder to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Buccaneers, 38-35.
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SPECIALISTS
Both the punter and the kicker have selected Tampa Bay. Boy, Brady has impressed this generation of players.
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Roman Levant Wallenpaupack Punter Tampa Bay Buccaneers I love the new generation of Mahomes verses the last generation of Brady. I gotta go with the guy who has been out working everybody for 20 years. Brady and the Bucs to win for me.
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Peyton Badyrka Dunmore Kicker Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-17 You can’t bet against Brady and Gronk.
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THE VERDICT
The Times-Tribune All-Region teams gives the edge to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and QB Tom Brady
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TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 18
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KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 12
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However, last season the All-Region team picked the 49ers, 16-14, and the Chiefs won.
PAST PICKS / WINNERS
- 2014 AR TEAM: PATRIOTS over Seahawks / WINNER: PATRIOTS*
- 2015 AR TEAM: PANTHERS over Broncos / WINNER: BRONCOS
- 2016 AR TEAM: PATRIOTS over Falcons / WINNER: PATRIOTS*
- 2017 AR TEAM: EAGLES over Patriots / WINNER: EAGLES*
- 2018 AR TEAM: RAMS over Patriots / WINNER: PATRIOTS
- 2019 AR TEAM: 49ERS over Chiefs / WINNER: CHIEFS
* – Indicates Super Bowl winner
RECORDS
Several players on this season’s All-Region team are repeat selections to the team. Two players, Jason Henderson and Ray Melnikoff made their third appearance on the team and in the Super Bowl picks. Henderson is 2-0 in his picks, taking the Patriots and Chiefs. Melnikoff picked the Rams and the Chiefs. Giovanni Spataro made the All-Region team as a sophomore and correctly picked the Patriots over the Rams.
- JASON HENDERSON: 2-0
- CRISTIAN BUCKLEY: 1-0
- CJ DIPPRE: 1-0
- ZANE JANISZEWSKI: 1-0
- GIOVANNI SPATARO: 1-0
- RAY MELNIKOFF: 1-1
- PEYTON BADYRKA: 0-1
- COLIN HOLZMAN: 0-1
- RJ SCHIRG: 0-1
Enjoy the game.
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Joby Fawcett has covered high school sports — including football, girls and boys volleyball, girls and boys tennis, girls and boys swimming, boys basketball, girls and boys track and field, and girls and boys lacrosse — for 22 years. The High School Sports Blog offers deeper insights plus statistical and historical information for fans and features photos, videos and graphics along with Top 5 polls for tennis and volleyball. Contact: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5367; @sportsTT