SCRANTON, Pa. — City coach Terry Gallagher is putting in the plays his team will run in the upcoming 87th annual Scranton Lions Club Dream Game.
"It is an awesome opportunity for them. Obviously this is a pretty big deal in terms of the local area with it being the longest running game in the country, but there is grandparents, uncles, and fathers and brothers and those things go back years and years. But it is a great opportunity for those guys to get together to build new relationships that they might not of had that they can have for the next 20, 30,. 40 or 50 years of their lives," said Terry.
You could see Scranton Prep wide receiver Christain Graniel catch a pass from West Scranton quarterback Cayden Merrifield.
"Oh yeah I have chemistry with both of them meaning Cayden and Paddy Casey. I played youth football with Cayden for I don't even know how many years, and Paddy I have played with for the last 3 years. He is a really good kid and a really good quarterback. And we have another quarterback from Wallenpaupack and he is pretty good too," said Christian.
"Yeah you know that it is big. I missed my whole senior year. It was unfortunate and I got stuck watching every game on the sideline, but you know when I got that call to come back and play one more game I was very excited and it is going to be a good week," said Cayden.
We'll the County will counter with running back Zane Janisewski out of Western Wayne. He should see plenty of carries in the upcoming Dream Game, while the City will go with their stud running back Ray Melnikoff out of Lackawanna Trail. These two will be on opposing teams for their time in their high-school football careers and then join up as teammates in the fall at Bloomsburg University.
"Yeah it is exciting. He is a great competitor. I have said it before I love playing with him and I love playing against him. So it is going to be fun to but heads one more time before we are together," said Ray.
"There is 36 other kids on the team excuse me 35 including himself. They are all good football players so obviously these guys know how to play football. It comes down to blocking and tackling and that is what it's gonna be," again said Terry.
Kickoff from John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville is set for 7pm on Wednesday July 21st.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Lackawanna County.