On a chilly first autumn Friday night under the lights, the Nanticoke Area Trojans won in dominant fashion, 32-0, over the visiting Lake-Lehman Black Knights.
Nanticoke’s offense ran the ball almost exclusively and ran it at will, as the Trojans put up an impressive 355 yards with the ground game on 63-carries and tallied five touchdowns.
Even more impressive for the Trojans, their rushing attack was virtually unstoppable even without their star junior running back Zach Fox, who was sidelined with an injury.
Long-time Nanticoke Area coach Ron Bruza was impressed with his team’s effort against the Black Knights.
“A lot of guys work hard,” Bruza said. “You can’t replace a Zach Fox, but Mykal Julian stepped up. Also our fullback stepped up to carry the load. We did a great job with our offensive line up front — I mean our guys really responded. We just took care of the ball, as you notice we didn’t have any turnovers, we played Trojan football and we did what we did.
“I mean these guys come to work all offseason, you hate to lose a guy like Zach Fox. But when guys like that step up, young guys, it just goes to show you their character as well.”
Nanticoke got the scoring party on early with 7:33 left in the opening quarter, when Julian barreled into the end zone from 2 yards out to give his squad a 7-0 advantage.
Julian would score his second touchdown of the contest with 6:54 left in the second quarter when he scampered in from 5 yards out to increase his team’s lead to 13-0, a cushion the Trojans would enjoy heading into halftime.
To start the second half, Lake-Lehman fumbled on the opening kickoff and Nanticoke would capitalize on the mistake and turn it into immediate points.
Trojans senior quarterback Jaylin Collins, who only had to attempt one pass the entire game, finished off the scoring drive with a 1-yard sneak to increase his squad’s advantage to 19-0 with 7:07 remaining in the third.
Less than five minutes later Collins would score again, this time a lightning quick 17-yard rushing touchdown to up the Trojans’ lead to 26-0 with 2:32 left in the quarter.
Nanticoke’s fifth and final rushing touchdown of the contest came with 10:49 left in regulation, as Julian would score his third touchdown of the game, this time a 20-yard sprint to the end zone, to give his club the 32-0 edge they would carry until the final whistle.
Nanticoke was led by Julian, as he ran for a game-high 141 yards on 24 carries to go along with his three scores. Collins ran for 58 yards on 10 rushes and scored twice. Senior Ashton Brozusky ran for 92 yards on 13 carries on the night.
Meanwhile Nanticoke’s defense was dominant as well, as the unit allowed just two first downs for the entire contest.
Now Bruza’s 2-3 Trojans, who snapped a three-game skid with the win, will look to continue the surge next Friday when they host Pittston Area.
Lake-Lehman (1-4) will look to bounce back from the defeat next Friday when hosting Tunkhannock.
Nanticoke Area 32, Lake-Lehman 0
Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`0 — 0
Nanticoke Area`7`6`13`6 — 32
First Quarter
NAN — Mykal Julian 2 run (Sophia Lukowski kick), 7:33.
Second Quarter
NAN — Julian 5 run (run failed), 6:54.
Third Quarter
NAN — Jaylin Collins 1 run (run failed), 7:07.
NAN — Collins 17 run (Lukowski kick), 2:32.
Fourth Quarter
NAN — Julian 20 run (kick failed), 10:49.
Team statistics`LL`NAN
First downs`2`24
Rushes-yards `17-40`63-355
Passing yards`36`0
Total yards`76`355
Passing`3-14-0-0`0-1-0-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-16`0-0
Punts-avg.`4-31`1-20
Fumbles-lost`1-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`10-72`6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Javon Borger 7-27, Landon Schuckers 5-15, Brandon Ritinski 2-1, Hunter Lee 1-1, Chase Borum 2-neg.4. NAN, Mykal Julian 24-141, Ashton Brozusky 13-92, Jaylin Collins 10-58, Alex Fine 7-28, Eugene Gyle 7-27, Lucas Stachowiak 1-8, Treston Allen 1-1.
PASSING — LL, Gavin Wallace 3-14-36-0-0. NAN, Jaylin Collins 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING — LL, Gavin Paraschak 1-0, Landon Schuckers 2-36.
INTERCEPTIONS — None
MISSED FGs — None
