SLATINGTON — “Anytime you get to Week 12, it’s a good season.”
Pine Grove will have to keep head coach Jeff Sampson’s words in mind when it looks back at its 53-6 loss to Northern Lehigh in Friday’s Eastern Conference Class AA championship game.
Mark Weinus rushed for 95 yards and Logan Levan threw for 82 yards and a touchdown in what turned out to be the two seniors’ final football game at Pine Grove (6-6).
“Mark is the heart and soul of our football team,” Sampson said. “And Logan never quit all year. They’re going to be hard to replace, especially at the running back position. We’re very young there, so this is going to be a growing time.”
Northern Lehigh (7-5) got off to a quick 7-0 start when running back Floyd Snyder completed a 56-yard halfback-option pass to Ryan Rubio.
From then on, the Bulldogs had their way with the Cardinals, whose lone bright spot throughout the first half was Weinus.
Northern Lehigh’s Nate Farber picked off Levan during Pine Grove’s second possession. This set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Austin Arnold that put the Bulldogs up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Farber pushed through a pile of linemen to score a 2-yard TD late in the first half.
Chad Cederberg followed that up with a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown to give Northern Lehigh a 27-0 lead at halftime.
Farber finished the game with 109 yards rushing and touchdown for the Bulldogs.
“He’s a workhorse for us,” Northern Lehigh coach Joe Tout said. “He had close to 1,200 yards coming into the game, so he had a nice season.”
Pine Grove’s offensive struggles continued when it lost a fumble to open up the second half.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the turnover with a 34-yard touchdown run by C.J. Young to take a 33-0 lead.
“The turnovers and the mental mistakes caught up with us,” Sampson said. “The trick play at the beginning caught us off guard, and we came out flat after that. We never rebounded.”
The Cardinals finally got on the board in the fourth quarter. Levan connected with wide receiver Danny Diaz-Walton three times for a total of 72 yards and a 28-yard touchdown in Pine Grove’s only scoring drive.
“He plugs away and plugs away,” Sampson said of Levan. “He never gets down on himself, and he’s a good player.”
Northern Lehigh closed out the game with three more touchdowns. Young, Ryan Farber and Mason Seiler reached the end zone from 46, 35 and 19 yards out.
Despite the loss, Sampson remained upbeat about his team and their run to the championship game.
“We had an up-and-down season,” Sampson said. “We overachieved at some points and underachieved at others. I hope these kids take the experience of playing in a championship game with them. They worked hard for it.”
Game Summary
Eastern Conference Class AA Championship
PG (6-6) 0 0 0 6 — 6 Nolehi (7-5) 14 13 6 20 — 53
NL —Rubio 56 pass from Snyder (Bevans kick)
NL —Arnold 11 run (Bevans kick)
NL —N. Farber 2 run (Bevans kick)
NL — Cederberg 51 interception return (kick failed)
NL —Young 34 run (kick failed)
PG —Diaz-Walton 28 pass from Levan (kick failed)
NL —Young 46 run (Bevans kick)
NL —R. Farber 35 run (kick failed)
NL —Seiler 19 run (Kromer kick)
PG NL
First Downs 8 14
Rushes-Yards 34-92 42-392
Passes 5-12-2 2-8-0
Passing Yards 82 80
Total Yards 174 472
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1
Penalties 1-5 3-25
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Pine Grove — Weinus 20-95, Leininger 1-4, Aungst 2-2, Soltys 1-2, Butler 1-2, Kaufman 1-1, Rittenbaugh 1-(-3), Levan 7-(-11). Northern Lehigh — N. Farber 20-109, Young 3-100, R. Farber 3-52, Snyder 4-34, Arnold 4-32, Hemingway 2-28, Seiler 2-22, Cederberg 3-14, Long 1-1.
PASSING: Pine Grove — Levan 5-12-2, 82. Northern Lehigh — Snyder 1-1-0, 56; Cederberg 1-7-0, 24.
RECEIVING: Pine Grove — Diaz-Walton 3-72, Wolfe 2-10. Northern Lehigh — Rubio 1-56, Hendrix 1-24.
INTERCEPTIONS: Northern Lehigh — N. Farber, Cederberg.