Lehighton Area hosted the Spartans of Southern Lehigh yesterday, September 5th, in a colonial league matchup. Southern Lehigh came into the evening’s contest 2-0 after shutting out Blue Mountain in their previous game. The Indians were 1-1 at the start of the game as they took down the Bangor Slaters last week in a Thursday night game.
The Spartans elected to receive the ball for the second half, so the Indians had the first possession to open the game. The Tribe thoroughly maneuvered their way downfield after the defense had a terrific fourth down stop during a Spartan drive. They had come up to just about the goal line when senior quarterback Jayse Lawrence handed it off to Blake Roberts to put six on the board early on.
Southern Lehigh wasted zero time as Luke Kawczenski had a phenomenal 65-yard touchdown making the score 7-6, with a few minutes of play left in the first. Lehighton got fueled up again when running back Lukas Crozier had an amazing run. That had contributed heavily for the Tribe, when Austin Green bursted through the Spartan line to grab the touchdown. They tried for the two point conversion and it was successful.
The first half was down to five minutes left with Lehighton holding the lead 14-7. Southern Lehigh did not like the lead the Indians had but it didn’t matter when senior running back Sean Steckert found holes to make his way for the touchdown tying the game 14-14.
Southern Lehigh brought what they had into the third quarter. Sean had another factoring run which brought them into winning position. The score was now 21-14 after the big play. Lehighton tried to answer back yet they could not convert. The Spartan defensive line used all their might to pressure the offense.
The Tribe had the winning mindset on how things were in their view. Long drives and key plays had them in scoring position. Lukas Crozier finalized the drive with a small run in to make the score 21-20. Southern Lehigh held the lead until time was up though. Lehighton battled fiercely and consistently but the Spartans were one point ahead in the end.
Southern Lehigh is sitting at 3-0 now as they look to make it four in a row when they travel to North Schuylkill on Friday, September 12th. The Tribe aims to grab a win as they head to Palmerton next week in a league matchup. Lehighton is 1-2 after the dicey loss last night.
