HANOVER TWP. — Looking to keep its postseason hopes alive, Lake-Lehman grounded and pounded its way through the mud and right through Hanover Area, defeating the Hawkeyes 35-6 at a very rainy Hanover Memorial Stadium.
It was clear from the opening kick that the conditions were going to play as much of a factor as any one player, with a driving rain turning Memorial Stadium into a mud pit with players slipping and sliding all around the field.
Lehman’s power run game was the perfect fit for the occasion, running the ball right up the gut with big halfbacks Jim Mitkowski and Ben Dowling to wear down a depleted Hawkeyes defense.
The duo combined for all five of the Black Knights’ touchdowns. Mitkowski had two and Dowling added two rushing scores and a touchdown catch from Hayden Evans.
Mitkowski put the Black Knights ahead early with his first score, and Dowling hauled in his touchdown catch with just 36 seconds left before the half, giving Lehman a 14-0 lead right before the break.
Disaster still managed to strike for Hanover Area before the halftime whistle. On the last play of the half, a fight broke out between the two teams that led to Hawkeyes Jaydon Skipalis and Jayden Shortz being ejected from the game.
As a result of the penalties, Hanover Area’s second-half kickoff was pushed back to its own 25, and a long Black Knights return set them up inside the red zone.
Mitkowski was able to run one in to make it a 21-0 Lake-Lehman lead, essentially putting the game out of reach with the Hawkeyes down their leading offensive weapon in Skipalis.
In Skipalis’ absence, senior Malachi Downey stepped in at halfback and made a quick impact. His first two carries were for 39 and 34 yards, the second one a touchdown to get Hanover Area on the board and cut the lead to 21-6.
But Lake-Lehman answered quickly, marching down the field and scoring on an 11-yard Dowling run.
Falling behind forced Hanover Area to try and move the ball through the air to catch up, something the Hawks have been unable to do with any regularity all season.
With the wind and the muddy grass working against him, Hanover quarterback Al-Quron Michel completed just one pass all night, struggling to find his footing to throw the ball. The Hawkeyes also had some trouble snapping the ball, with a few fumbles keeping them moving backwards on their last few drives of the game.
Dowling would add one more score before the night was over and brought his rushing total to 104 yards for the night to go along with his three scores.
With the win, Lake-Lehman improves to 2-7 and keeps its chances at a berth in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs alive. Before Friday’s game, the Black Knights were just mere percentage points behind Carbondale for the fourth and final spot in 3A. Carbondale’s loss to Susquehanna on Friday dropped the Chargers to 2-7.
Lehman will wrap up the regular season at home against Dallas next Friday night.
Hanover Area falls to 3-6 with the loss, and they’ll look to regroup ahead of next week’s rivalry showdown with Nanticoke Area at Hanover Memorial Stadium.
Lake-Lehman 35, Hanover Area 6
Lake-Lehman`6`8`13`8 — 35
Hanover Area`0`0`6`0 — 6
First quarter
LL — Jim Mitkowski 2 run (kick failed) 7:38
Second quarter
LL — Ben Dowling 6 pass from Hayden Evans (Mitkowski run) 0:36
Third quarter
LL — Mitkowski 2 run (Ben Wnuk kick) 11:04
HAN — Malachi Downey 34 run (kick failed) 9:00
LL — Dowling 11 run (kick failed) 7:19
Fourth quarter
LL — Dowling 3 run (Dowling run) 6:08
Team statistics`LL`HAN
First downs`13`8
Rushes-yards`38-214`26-142
Passing yards`21`10
Total yards`235`152
Passing`3-4-1`1-15-1
Sacked-yards lost`1-4`3-21
Punts-avg.`1-17`2-39
Fumbles-lost`2-1`3-1
Penalties-yards`3-23`9-77
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Mitkowski 13-39, Hayden Evans 4-29, Dowling 11-104, Sam Plummer 3-15, Gavin Shoemaker, Jack Evans 1-7. HAN, Jaydon Skipalis 9-53, Deacon Eisenbach 1-(minus-2), Downey 9-127, Al-Quron Michel 5-(minus-27), Tyler Herbert 1-4, Kenneth Roman 1-0.
PASSING — LL, Evans 3-4-16-1. HAN, Michel 1-15-10-1.
RECEIVING — LL, Chris Sholtis 2-15, Dowling 1-6. HAN, Eisenbach 1-10.
INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Jack Evans 1-0. HAN, Eisenbach 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none.
