BETHLEHEM — Lehighton completed numerous big plays throughout the 2014 football season.
The Indians put together several more during Saturday night’s District 11 Class AAA semifinal against Bethlehem Catholic.
Unfortunately for the Indians, the Hawks’ Michael McDaniel compiled a highlight reel of his own.
McDaniel scored five touchdowns, including a 73-yard fumble return for a score, as Bethlehem Catholic routed Lehighton 55-18 at Banko Field at BASD Stadium to advance to the district final for the second straight season.
It’s the second straight year the Golden Hawks (10-1) have dispatched the Indians (8-3) from the postseason.
Although the final spread was large, Lehighton had opportunities to seize some momentum early in the contest.
Trailing 14-6 after McDaniel scored on a 26-yard run, Lehighton drove to the Becahi 29. On second-and-6, the ball popped loose and McDaniel scooped it up and ran 73 yards for a 20-6 lead.
“It was kind of a little bit reminiscent of last year,” Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll said. “We shot ourselves in the foot an awful lot. At times, we’re moving the ball (and) crucial penalties hurt us.
“That time we had the ball inside the 30, we fumble the ball and they return it for a touchdown. That’s a huge momentum killer for us. They’re too good of a team for us to make mistakes like that. We’ll learn from it.”
McDaniel was a thorn in the Indians’ side all night. The 5-foot-11 senior needed just a little bit of daylight to turn on the jets for big gains. He rushed 31 times for 251 yards with TD runs of 26, 1, 11 and 52 yards.
“Without the blocking on the perimeter there’s not much you can do because there’s always someone coming down secondary force,” McDaniel said, “but we did a better job at that this week than in previous weeks. So it was easier than normal.”
As for the fumble return, it helped set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Hawks scored again before the half for a 27-6 lead at intermission. William Schroeder popped the ball loose, and McDaniel saw nothing but green turf in front of him.
“I really like Tyrann Mathieu, so I was pretty hyped about that,” McDaniel said. “As soon as I saw the field, I just tried to get there as quickly as I could.
“We tried to come out with a shutdown mentality because our defense can play with anybody, we think. We just have to keep going with that mentality. We’re not trying to let anybody score and we’re not trying to let anybody hang around in a scoring battle-type game.”
Becahi scored on its opening drive as quarterback Julian Spigner connected with Division I-recruit Freddie Simmons for a 68-yard scoring strike.
Lehighton answered when Tyler Crum returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
And while the Indians rushed the ball effectively at times themselves, there were too few answers for Becahi’s talented playmakers.
“They have talent all over the place,” McCarroll said. “They’re a real special group of kids in terms of how much talent they have all over the field. We knew we were going to have a tough time, but I’m proud of the way our kids fought.
“We had some success. We had more success running the ball this year than we did last year, and we thought we might. … We just couldn’t find that consistent momentum.”
Running back Wyatt Clements finished with 101 yards on 21 carries for Lehighton, while quarterback Tyler Cann completed 8-of-14 passes for 102 yards with a 53-yard touchdown strike to Tegan Durishin in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss, McCarroll was proud of his team’s effort Saturday night, praising the seniors and holding optimism for the future.
“I just told them I’m proud of them,” McCarroll said. “We made districts back-to-back, and before that, Lehighton hadn’t made districts back-to-back since 2006-07. It’s a special group of kids. It really is. They laid it out on the line.
“These kids have been committed from Day 1 when we opened the weight room. They’re going to continue to do great things.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class AAA Semifinal At BASD Stadium, Bethlehem
Leh (8-3) 6 0 6 6 — 18 Becahi (10-1) 14 13 7 21 — 55
BC —Simmons 68 pass from Spigner (Ward kick)
L —Crum 89 kickoff return (kick failed)
BC —McDaniel 26 run (Ward kick)
BC —McDaniel 73 fumble return (kick failed)
BC —McDaniel 1 run (Ward kick)
L —Clements 3 run (pass failed)
BC —Simmons 9 pass from Spigner (Ward kick)
BC —McDaniel 11 run (Ward kick)
L —Durishin 53 pass from Cann (run failed)
BC —Simmons 9 pass from Spigner (Ward kick)
BC —McDaniel 52 run (Ward kick)
Leh BC
First Downs 14 18
Rushes-Yards 42-151 37-288
Passes 10-17-2 13-18-0
Passing Yards 114 207
Total Yards 265 495
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties 8-72 10-104
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Lehighton — Clements 21-101, Cann 14-33, Ruzicka 4-10, Mayernik 2-7, Scherer 1-0. Bethlehem Catholic — McDaniel 31-251, Spigner 5-36, Aldridge 1-1.
PASSING: Lehighton — Cann 8-14-1, 102; Scherer 2-2-0, 12; Crum 0-1-1, 0. Bethlehem Catholic — Spigner 13-18-0, 207.
RECEIVING: Lehighton — Durishin 1-53, Ruzicka 2-20, Crum 3-17, Williams 2-12, Zehner 2-12. Bethlehem Catholic — Simmons 9-164, Finneran 2-28, Diaz 1-21, McDaniel 1-(-6).
INTERCEPTIONS: Bethlehem Catholic — Aldridge, Smith.