2026 Nanticoke News

1/16/2026
Joe Shimko formally hired as Nanticoke Area football coach
jerzar@timesleader.com

Nanticoke Area filled another head football coaching void Thursday night, although it was more of a formality.
Joe Shimko, a former assistant, was selected to run the program by the school board. The agenda had the appointment backdated to Dec. 3, 2025.
Shimko was one of about a half dozen applicants, according the athletic director Ken Bartuska. He has been with the football program since last month. He replaces Damon Saxon, who held the position for one year but wasn’t on Saxon’s staff.
Shimko is a 2014 graduate of Nanticoke Area where he was a lineman on the football team. He is not a member of the faculty but does some substitute teaching. 
•    Joe Shimko has been appointed as Nanticoke Area's football coach, backdated to December 2025.
•    Nanticoke Area football faced challenges, finishing 0-10 last season amid coaching changes.
•    Shimko, a 2014 alumnus, is tasked with stabilizing a tumultuous football program.

Shimko served as an assistant coach under Ron Bruza, who was the head coach from 2010-2023. He is also an assistant coach for the school’s boys and girls volleyball teams.
Nanticoke Area finished 0-10 this past season and was last in points scored with 70 and points allowed with 497 in the 12-team Wyoming Valley Conference.
Improving the on-field product will be just one task ahead. The program is in need of stability after Bruza stepped down after the 2023 season and the school appointed Scott Dennis as coach. Dennis, a Nanticoke Area graduate, brought head coaching experience from Holy Redeemer and Central Columbia.
But three days before the 2024 opener, Dennis died unexpectedly. The coach staff ran the team before Bruza returned on an interim basis. Saxon, a former standout at King’s College, was hired for 2025, but had his position opened shortly after the season concluded.
Shimko will be the 12th full-time head coach in a Nanticoke Area program that dates back to 1967. Tex Dargiewicz also served as head coach for one game during a teachers strike in 1982.
Three WVC football vacancies have been filled since the end of this past season and one remains.
Tunkhannock hired RJ Haas in December and Wyoming Valley West selected Brydon Rukstalis on Wednesday. Lake-Lehman still has an opening after Jerry Gilsky resigned after 16 years.

 

 

1/16/2026
HS FOOTBALL: Shimko named head coach at Nanticoke Area
sbennett@citizensvoice.com

​

NANTICOKE — The way Joe Shimko sees it, he’s not taking over as Nanticoke Area’s football coach with his eyes toward the future.
In his mind, the future starts now.
Actually, it may have begun back in December when he was selected as the new head football coach.
Shimko’s hiring was not made official until the school board met Thursday night. But since early December, Shimko has been running two weight room sessions. The first is for student-athletes just getting out of school, and the second is later in the day for those who participate in a winter sport.
“I’m the fourth coach in three years,” Shimko said. “There has been a lot of mix there. It’s just about caring for the future of the district and the kids here.”
Longtime Nanticoke Area coach Ron Bruza retired after the 2023 season. The school board then turned to Scott Dennis to take over. Dennis died the week of the team’s first game in 2024. After two weeks, Bruza came back to take over the program for the remainder of the season.
Following the 2024 season, Bruza returned to retirement and the board hired Damon Saxon. The program finished last season 0-10 and the position was then opened up.
Shimko, a 2014 graduate of Nanticoke Area who played football under Bruza and eventually coached in the program, has a solid understanding of the current players.
“I have had most of them since they were in seventh grade,” Shimko said. “We have good talent and we need a good offseason. We need a good weight room — that is where it all starts. We have many young kids showing up every day. It’s something to build toward the future. I would like to come in and turn it around on the first day.”
Shimko began coaching football the year after he graduated. Along with coaching junior high, he also has experience as a varsity assistant coach. He was not with the program last year.
He inherits a relatively-young team that has experience. The Trojans will enter the season with all but one projected starter on the offensive line, and will lose only seven players to graduation.
“I’m excited to get in there and be there for the kids,” Shimko said. “As long as they leave the program better people, that is a success.”
 

1/7/2026

Nanticoke garbage bills delayed

 

The City of Nanticoke announced Tuesday that 2026 garbage bills will be delayed due to the transition of billing and collections ot Berkheimer Associates.

Bills will be mailed to residents Feb. 1 with a due date of March 4 if paid in the full amount of $395.

If the bill is paid in two installments, $207.50 is due March 4 and $207.50 is due July 4.

Delinquent accounts will be $456.50 plus the cost of collections by Berkheimer & Associates.