TAYLOR — Jordan Chmielewski and Victor Holt became friends the first day they met many years ago.
According to their memories, they were in kindergarten and starting youth sports. They were classmates and teammates and had an immediate connection.
Through their varsity careers, the two helped the Spartans have success in both football and track. Now, before they head off to college, they will play as members of the County all-star team, which faces the City all-stars in the 90th Scranton Lions Club Dream Game.
The duo can’t wait for kickoff Wednesday at 7 p.m. at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“We have a great relationship,” Chmielewski said at the County all-star practice last week. “I know that I can call on him for anything. If I have a bad day, he is always there to help me out, and I would do the same for him. Everything started for us with the Olyphant Lions in junior football, and it built from there.
“I am really looking forward to the Dream Game. One last game with the Spartans logo on my helmet and with my boy Victor is just great.”
Being such close friends has both excited about being teammates for the County.
“I consider him a brother,” Holt said. “We grew up together and played football together. We bled Mid Valley blue. We have had a great connection, and I am glad to have called him a friend through these 13–14 years.”
Chmielewski is eager to get back on the field in a Spartan uniform.
In his senior season, with Mid Valley off to a good start and poised to challenge Dunmore in a Lackawanna Football Conference showdown, he suffered an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the year. At the time, he led the LFC Division II in passer rating and completed 34 of his 55 passes for 389 yards, seven touchdowns and a rating of 159.6.
Disappointed, he remained a leader for the Spartans, and the division coaches voted him an honorable mention all-star.
“It was tough losing half my season,” Chmielewski said. “It feels great that, knowing that I couldn’t finish my senior year, I still get a chance to play one more game for Mid Valley.”
Holt had an All-Region season at defensive back and earned LFC Division III all-star honors on defense and on offense as a wide receiver. The explosive playmaker had 36 total tackles, three forced fumbles, five interceptions, six passes defensed and returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown.
Holt added 29 receptions, which included 10 in a District 2 Class 2A semifinal loss to Riverside, for 232 yards and seven touchdowns.
The Dream Game is his second all-star game of the year. He played for the East all-stars in the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Small School East-West game in May.
“I am really excited to hopefully put on a show for my friends and family,” Holt said. “I am just excited to also play in front of the big crowd that will be there.”
After the football season, the two standouts continued to excel as sprinters on the track for the championship-winning Spartans.
They dominated in the dashes and teamed with Timothy Kramer and Mason Vinansky to be the fastest 400-meter relay team in the region.
Holt captured gold medals in the 100 and 200 at the District 2 Class 2A championships and earned Lackawanna Track Conference Coaches Division III-IV Track Performer of the Year.
“Going out there in track season, knowing it was our last ride, we wanted to have a great year, and I am just grateful that I got to compete with him and be a member of the 400 relay with him,” Holt said. “Racing against him in the 100 and 200, he was always pushing me, and that was awesome.”
Chmielewski won a bronze medal as part of a Mid Valley sweep of the 100, with Kramer finishing second, and won a silver in the pole vault at the District 2 Class 2A championships.
“It was great on the track team,” Chmielewski said. “Victor was always there right next to me, as was TJ (Kramer). Knowing that I had two of my best friends racing right there made us all very competitive and successful. They were always pushing me, and I was pushing them.”
The two Spartans are enjoying the practices ahead of the Dream Game.
They know after the final seconds tick away, they will move on to their next challenges. Holt is committed to Lackawanna, while Chmielewski will play at Misericordia.
Whether they are teammates or not, their friendship will endure.
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
