THROOP — Just as they had all season long, the Black Knights did their best to hang on by every last inch given to them.
In spite of a brutal wind and a talented running back on the opposing sideline, an injury-depleted Lake-Lehman squad had a fighting chance at a mammoth comeback late in the District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal.
Fending off the Black Knights’ best efforts, Mid Valley prevailed 35-18 over Lake-Lehman. The Spartans will take on Scranton Prep in the semifinal.
“I gotta say the seniors turned it around,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “ You look at the amount of kids – going from what we had in the past — we had 51 kids this year.
“Everyone embodied what we need in a program, and they worked hard. We need to keep on going every day now.”
Two Benjamin Dowling touchdowns in a 30-second span quickly turned a would-be runaway Mid Valley win into a potential fourth quarter upset. Dowling intercepted a pass and took it 66 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown. Following a successful online kick, he caught a 30-yard pass on a fade route to put the Black Knights within 10 points with 6:44 remaining in the game.
Unfortunately, for the Black Knights, Jakob Lesher continued to perform the unimaginable on offense. Lesher added his fourth touchdown of the game on an 8-yard scamper to shut the door on the Black Knights’ season.
“He’s probably the most patient running back we have seen this season,” Gilsky said. “He is so good at letting his line develop.”
Lesher gained 287 rushing yards on 30 carries. He added 59 receiving yards and intercepted a pass for a pick-six.
With the win, Mid Valley earned its first ever victory over Black Knights in the teams’ four all-time meetings. It marked just the Spartans’ second-ever home playoff victory.
Lake-Lehman took an early lead in the opening drive of the game. Logan Deyo caught a 64-yard pass into the red zone, setting up a Reilley Kirkutis field goal.
Mid Valley responded with 28 unanswered points.
“Our biggest thing is execute, execute, execute,” Lesher said. “Even if you make a mistake in the beginning, you need to execute. We didn’t really do that to begin with.”
Jim Mitkowski led the Black Knights’ offense with 50 yards.
District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals
Mid Valley 35, Lake-Lehman 18
Lake-Lehman`3`0`0`15`—`18
Mid Valley`7`7`14`7`—`35
First quarter
L — Reilley Kirkutis 21 field goal, 10:13
M — Mason Vinansky 7 pass from Brett Yanoski (Dylan Henderson kick), 6:09
Second quarter
M — Jakob Lesher 10 run (Henderson kick), :39
Third quarter
M — Lesher 46 run (Henderson kick), 5:27
M — Lesher 33 interception (Henderson kick), 4:24
Fourth quarter
L — Benjamin Dowling 66 interception (Hayden Evans run), 7:14
L — Dowling 30 pass from Evans (Kirkutis kick), 6:44
M — Lesher 8 run (Henderson kick), 3:30
Team statistics`L`M
First downs`12`17
Rushes-yards`23-91`34-291
Passing yards`175`105
Total yards`271`386
Passing`14-31-1`12-18-2
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-30`1-40
Fumbles-lost`1-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`4-25`4-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Jim Mitkowski 12-50, Gavin Shoemaker 1-3, Evans 6-39, Dowling 1-0, Alex Smith 2-2, TEAM 1-(minus-3). MV, Lesher 30-283, Yanoski 1-4, Vinansky, TEAM 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — LL, Evans 14-34-175-1. MV, Yanoski 12-18-105-2
RECEIVING — LL, Logan Deyo 3-73, Smith 5-30, Mitkowski 1-2, Dowling 3-46, Jake Evans 2-24. MV, Vinansky 1-7, Connor Hughes 4-22, Rhys Williams 2-17, Lesher 5-59
INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Dowling 1-64, Deyo 1-0; MV, Lesher 1-33
MISSED FGs — None.
