MINERSVILLE — Coming into Friday night’s Anthracite Football League matchup with Lehighton, Minersville head coach Pat Mason thought he and his staff had a good game plan to contain the Indians’ star running back, Wyatt Clements.
But just like Mason said afterward, great players make great plays.
On Lehighton’s second play from scrimmage, Clements scampered 49 yards for the first of his two touchdowns to start the scoring in the Indians’ 41-6 victory at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
In all, Clements carried the ball eight times for 134 yards and two scores.
“I thought we had a good game plan coming in. We wanted disruption and penetration, and we just didn’t get enough penetration,” Mason said.
The one thing Mason did like was the fight of his team. Last week, he was a little disappointed in his team in that area.
Friday night, that changed on their first series.
The Miners drove 55 yards and ran 13 plays, taking 7 minutes, 48 seconds off the clock. Also mixed in was a fake punt good for a first down when Jon McBreen found Dylan Stephen for a 21-yard completion. The drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down at the Indians’ 20-yard line.
Still, Mason liked what he saw.
“As a coach you want to see your biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2, and in that regard we definitely improved tonight. We ran the ball hard, and I told our kids I was proud of them the way they battled tonight,” Mason said.
After Lehighton’s first scoring drive took two plays, its second was just as short. On the second play of the drive, quarterback Tyler Cann found receiver Nick Chambers streaking down the field for a 52-yard touchdown.
To start the third quarter, Cann found receiver Tegan Durishin for a 70-yard touchdown. Cann finished the night 5-of-6 for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He added a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 10-yard touchdown run to cap a big night.
Minersville found a bright spot and got on the board on its final drive of the night. Stephen scored from 4 yards out as the senior finished the night with 57 yards rushing on five carries.
“I am a big believer in gaining confidence early, and our schedule was tough to allow us to do that,” Mason said. “A positive is we battled two of the better teams in our league, we came out healthy, and now we have to get ready for the rest of our schedule.”
Game Summary
Lehigh (2-0, 2-0) 14 15 12 0 — 41
Miners (0-2, 0-2) 0 0 0 6 — 6
L — Clements 49 run (Williams kick)
L — Chambers 52 pass from Cann (Williams kick)
L — Cann 10 run (Clements run)
L — Cann 31 interception return (Durishin kick)
L — Durishin 70 pass from Cann (kick failed)
L — Clements 1 run (kick failed)
M — Stephen 4 run (kick failed)
Lehigh Miners
First Downs 11 9
Rushes-Yards 25-217 45-163
Passes 5-6-0 1-7-1
Passing Yards 165 21
Total Yards 382 184
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties 7-65 11-98
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Lehighton — Clements 8-134, Cann 3-40, Mayernik 6-28, Whiteman 4-11, Shupp 2-2, Troxell 1-2, Zehner 1-0. Minersville — Stephen 7-57, Griffiths 11-43, Taylor 14-27, Brennan 1-24, Bethea 6-15, Fekette 3-15, Hoffman 2-0, Beach 1-0, Team 1-(-18).
PASSING: Lehighton — Cann 5-6-0, 165. Minersville — McBreen 1-1-0, 21; Taylor 0-4-1, 0; Stephen 0-2-0, 0.
RECEIVING: Lehighton — Durishin 1-70, Chambers 1-52, Skrinkosky 1-31, Strubinger 1-13, Scherer 1-(-1). Minersville — Stephen 1-21.
INTERCEPTIONS: Lehighton — Cann.