H.S. Football: Lake-Lehman runs past shorthanded Hanover Area squad

LEHMAN TWP. — As Landon Schuckers and Gavin Paraschak headed onto the field for the last time at Lake-Lehman’s signature Black Hole, they were sure to make it a memorable one.

The two would combine for over 300 yards of offense and score five touchdowns as the Black Knights rolled past an injury-depleted Hanover Area squad 40-13 on Friday night.

“(Schuckers and Paraschak) kept the wheels running for us,” said Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky, who was impressed with how the Hawkeyes were able to play through a rash of injuries. “For them to come out tonight with a good gameplan – credit to Hanover, they had a lot of guys missing.”

With a young Hawkeyes core trying to fill the shoes of their fellow teammates, miscues were bound to happen and Lehman made sure to take advantage when they arose.

After failing to move the chains on the opening possession, Hanover Area sent the punt team out hoping to pin the Lehman offense back. But a mishandled snap caused Hanover Area to lose 12 yards on the play and give the Black Knights the ball at their own 37-yard line.

Paraschak would soon open the floodgates as he led his team to two scores in only 23 game seconds. A well-timed pitch from Schuckers gave way to his trailing teammate, as Paraschak took the ball 29 yards for the game’s first score.

“It’s my offensive line and QB helping me out,” Paraschak said. “They opened all the holes, and I just ran as hard as I could.”

Lake-Lehman’s defense would sit on the sideline for a little bit longer as their ensuing kickoff would bounce off a Hawks player and land in the hands of a Knight to bring the home team’s offense back onto the field.

Paraschak would generate another big play, taking a screen pass 20 yards and being forced out a yard short of the end zone. Schuckers would punch the ball into the end zone on a quarterback keeper on the following play.

Early in the second quarter Paraschak would reach the end zone again, but a holding penalty would pull the play back. Paraschak kept his head up as he would take the ensuing handoff 16 yards for the score.

Lake-Lehman had three touchdowns that were called back because of penalties in the contest. The Knights would ultimately score on two of the three drives, with the third time coming has the halftime clock expired.

“You can’t do that,” Gilsky said, “You can’t have holding calls, guys down the field. We want to limit those mistakes, especially in Week 9.”

Schuckers would score his second touchdown in the second quarter with a 23-yard run. Brandon Ritinski would then score from 13 yards out and the Black Knights took a 34-0 lead into the half.

With leading passer Christian Torres and top receiver Sean Dooner both out, Hanover Area tried both Sedrick Beasley and Jonathan Skipalis at quarterback.

Late in the first half, the Hawks would benefit from a roughing the passer penalty and gains from Beasley and Jayden Shortz to find themselves in the red zone with 43 ticks left on the clock. But the scoring threat would disappear as the ensuing snap got loose and set the offense back 20 yards.

Lake-Lehman’s defense kept up the pressure on Hanover Area’s offensive line as the Hawkeyes finished the first half with negative-20 yards.

Lake-Lehman would keep mounting the pressure as Schuckers and Paraschak each had rushes of 30-plus yards to start the third quarter, leading to Paraschak’s third touchdown of the night. The score would put the Knights up 40-0, invoking the mercy rule for the rest of the contest.

Skipalis would find his footing after the halftime break, completing four passes in the second half. He connected with Luis McCoy three times in the half, including a 29-yard reception that would lead to the Hawks’ first touchdown with Shortz scoring on a 10-yard run.

Hanover Area would have one final score on a play that went from bad to worse … to touchdown. After mishandling the snap, Skipalis would pitch the ball to Beasley, who quickly faced Lehman’s blitzing defense but managed to pick out a streaking McCoy and complete the pass for an 83-yard touchdown.

Lake-Lehman 40, Hanover Area 13

Hanover Area`0`0`0`13 — 13

Lake-Lehman`12`22`6`0 — 40

First quarter

LL — Gavin Paraschak 29 run (kick failed), 5:36

LL — Landon Schuckers 1 run (pass failed), 5:13

Second quarter

LL — Paraschak 16 run (Shuckers run), 11:07

LL — Schuckers 23 run (Shuckers run), 6:10

LL — Brandon Ritinski 13 run (kick failed), 2:23

Third quarter

LL — Paraschak 38 run (kick failed), 8:33

Fourth quarter

HAN — Jayden Shortz 10 run (kick failed), 7:39

HAN — Luis McCoy 83 pass from Sedrick Beasley (Ethan Chafin kick), 3:23

Team statistics`HAN`LL

First downs`7`14

Rushes-yards`21-52`34-345

Passing yards`138`39

Total yards`190`384

Passing`5-14-0`4-8-0

Sacked-yards lost`2-18`3-9

Punts-avg.`4-29`3-44

Fumbles-lost`5-0`1-0

Penalties-yards`3-53`11-9

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — HAN, Sedrick Beasley 12-44, Jayden Shortz 6-29, Jonathan Skipalis 1-11. LL, Gavin Paraschak 14-162, Landon Shuckers 10-140, Brandon Ritinski 2-25, Hayden Evans 3-15, Chris Yetter 4-2, Hunter Lee 1-2.

PASSING — HAN, Sedrick Beasley 1-2-0-83, Jonathan Skipalis 4-12-0-55. LL, Landon Shuckers 4-7-0-39, Hayden Evans 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING —HAN, Luis McCoy 4-127, Sedrick Beasley 1-11. LL, Gavin Paraschak 3-30, Ben Dowling 1-9.

INTERCEPTIONS —None.

MISSED FGs — HAN, Ethan Chafin 1-30.