Lehighton, Pa. – After four years, the drought has come to an end for the Lehighton Indians football team. After being down 14-7 late in the third quarter, the Tribe scored 20 unanswered points to grab a 27-14 victory over the Jim Thorpe Olympians (3-7). The Tribe (3-7) regained sole possession of the Route 209 trophy and punched their ticket to the District XI 3A playoffs.
“This team has been fighting,” Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll said. “We’ve had adversity to keep getting better every single week. I’m so proud of these kids. They’re finally playing playoff-type football.”
On their second possession, the Tribe had the ball at their own 42-yard line when running back Ethan Buchert got into the secondary. He lowered his shoulder on a Jim Thorpe defensive back and scampered for a 58-yard touchdown. On the first play of the second quarter, Thorpe’s Cole Lazorick scored on a 27-yard touchdown run knotting the game up at seven at the half.
The Olympians opened the second half with a 76-yard scoring drive to take a 14-7 lead with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter. Quarterback Brett Balliet scored on an eight-yard run. On the ensuing kickoff, Buchert returned the ball 61 yards down to Thorpe’s 39. The big return led to an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brady O’Donnell. Lehighton trailed after three quarters 14-13 after a blocked extra point. The Tribe later marched down to Thorpe’s one-yard line on a pass play from O’Donnell to wide receiver Ian Rarick. He caught eight passes for 83-yards on the night. Buchert punched it in to give the Indians a 20-14 lead.
An interception by the Tribe halted Thorpe’s fourth-quarter drive. O’Donnell hit tight end, Luke Blauch, for 27 yards down to the Olympian’s eight-yard line. Buchert then took the handoff for a touchdown, his third of the game.
“He’s (Buchert) a leader,” McCarroll said. “He’s a playmaker. He probably is one of the toughest kids on our team. But we have a lot of tough kids. Buchert is just one of many kids that are making plays.”
Dylan Moyer picked off Balliet on Thorpe’s next possession to seal the deal for the Tribe.
“I think the game went very well,” Buchert said. “We executed well. We upped the intensity from last week. We were gonna run the ball, pass the ball, or whatever we needed to be able to mount a win. I just do what I can to help get a win.”
UP NEXT… District playoffs will start in the coming weeks. Games are still to be announced.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Spott
