PINE GROVE — The final play of the game was a fitting ending to Pine Grove’s night.
On a fourth-and-10 from the Northern Lebanon 15-yard line, Logan Levan’s pass for Mark Weinus in the end zone was picked off by the Vikings’ Mason Yost. He decided to run the ball out and got deep into Pine Grove territory before he was finally tackled.
That turnover, the fourth of the game for Pine Grove, plus 301 yards of total offense from Northern Lebanon quarterback Isaac Ray led the Vikings to a 24-14 non-league victory over the Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium.
Ray, a three-year starter, finished the night 14-of-16 passing for 216 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown pass to John Randolph on the Vikings’ first offensive play of the fourth quarter. Ray added 85 yards on the ground on 12 carries with two touchdowns. He scored Northern Lebanon’s first touchdown late in the third quarter and then sealed the victory with a 55-yard scoring run with 1:51 left in the game.
Ray had a big night, but it was the turnovers that did in Pine Grove (0-1), which lost its first regular-season game since Week 10 of the 2012 season.
“That’s a good football team,” Pine Grove coach Jeff Sampson said. “There’s a lot of experience on the field. We made too many errors. You can’t make that many mistakes against a football team of that caliber and win the game.”
Two occurred in the second quarter as Pine Grove was able to drive into Northern Lebanon (1-0) territory twice.
The first came early in the quarter when the Cardinals drove to the Vikings’ 23. On a third-and-10 from the 24, Levan, who was making his first start since 2012, underthrew a pass attended for Danny Diaz-Walton at the 2 and it was intercepted by Isaac Wengert.
After Scott Aungst recovered a fumble by Randolph after a reception at the Vikings’ 41, Pine Grove drove to the 7 in 11 plays. But on a second-and-goal, Weinus was stripped of the ball and Northern Lebanon recovered with 2:23 left in the half, ending the threat.
Levan finished the night 8-of-19 for 125 yards and ran for 61 more, including touchdown runs of 42 yards and 1. Weinus added 54 yards on the ground and blocked a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Levan scored the Cardinals’ first touchdown early in the third quarter on an unusual play.
It started as what appeared to be a short gain as Levan ran over the left side and was rolled over by a Vikings’ defender. However, Levan’s knee never hit the ground and a whistle never blew. Someone said “Keep running,” and that’s what Levan did down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown run.
Levan also finished off what was Pine Grove’s most sustained and longest drive of the night on a 1-yard plunge with 4:32 left in the game. It finished a 15-play, 68-yard drive that consumed 7 minutes of clock, and pulled the Cardinals within 16-14.
Pine Grove, however, couldn’t stop Ray, a mobile, athletic quarterback who could get the ball down field. Pine Grove was able to get a whole lot of pressure on Ray and when they did, he scrambled away from trouble.
He was 7-for-7 throwing in first half for 69 yards, and was 7-for-9 in the second half for 147 yards.
“Each person on the defense has a responsibility and tonight some of those responsibilities broke down,” Sampson said. “He can throw the ball, he can run the ball, and at times some of our responsibilities broke down and they made us pay for it.”
Sampson’s main point to the Cardinals after the game was that it is only Week 1 and there is still plenty of season left.
“We are going to clean up the mistakes and move forward,” he said. “I think offensively, we moved the ball against them, we got down in the red zone two times in first half and we failed to come away with any points. Those are things we have to work on.”
Game Summary
NL (1-0) 0 00 8 16 — 24
PG (0-1) 0 0 7 7 — 14
PG — Levan 42 run (Diaz-Walton kick)
NL — Ray 9 run (Trader run)
NL — Randolph 57 pass from Ray (Trader pass from Ray)
PG — Levan 1 run (Diaz-Walton kick)
NL — Ray 55 run (Teasdale pass from Ray)
NL PG
First Downs 17 16
Rushes-Yards 31-141 37-146
Passes 14-16-0 8-20-2
Passing Yards 216 125
Total Yards 357 271
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 4-2
Penalties 4-45 4-30
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Northern Lebanon — Ray 12-85, Trader 15-58, Yost 2-16, Smitih 1-4. Pine Grove — Levan 9-61, Weinus 20-54, S. Aungst 7-29, Soltys 1-2.
PASSING: Northern Lebanon — Ray 14-16-0, 216. Pine Grove — Levan 8-19-2, 125; Wenius 0-1-0, 0.
RECEIVING: Northern Lebanon — Yost 8-111, Randolph 4-90, Wetzel-Haynes 1-12, Trader 1-3. Pine Grove — Weinus 3-56, Diaz-Walton 3-43, Wolfe 2-26.
INTERCEPTIONS: Northern Lebanon — Wengert, Yost.