Behind the unrelenting defensive pressure of Nolan Neves, the Blair Buccaneers opened their season with a 9-6 victory against the Kiski School of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, on their home turf Friday.
Neves sacked Kiski quarterbacks more than six times. When he was bringing down passers, his pressure resulted in several miscues, including an errant throw that Blair’s Kaleb Nelson pulled out of the air.
Buccaneer quarterback Micah Balzarini sets up during the Blair-Kiski face-off. Photo by J. Phalon, Sept. 2022
Friday’s non-conference game sets up a three-game road trip for the Bucs against their Pennsylvania rivals.
They faced William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Germantown Academy in Fort Washington on Sept. 24th and Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square on Sept. 30th.
The next home game was Oct. 8th, when the Buccaneers square off against the Hun School of Princeton.
Blair’s Wale Fadeyibi overpowers Kiski’s offense. Photo by J. Phalon, Sept. 2022
Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer
Joe was lured out of retirement by the opportunity to be a part of the Ridge View Echo. During a decades-long career in publishing and journalism, he has covered government on many levels from local school boards to the United States Supreme Court.
Along the way, Joe has worked at American Lawyer Magazine, The National Law Journal and The Record among other publications, and as the Press Officer of Columbia Law School. His work has been recognized with several first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the New Jersey Press Association.
Being part of the Ridge View Echo brings Joe back to his roots and the kind of news coverage he loves: Telling the stories of people and local communities as well as keeping an eye on how their money is spent by their government officials.
Joe lives in Blairstown with his wife Rose, the founder of Quilting for a Cause, and their two wiener dogs. He is an artist in his spare time.
