LEHIGHTON — What makes winning so satisfying in high school football is the alternative of feeling utter disappointment that comes from losing.
Friday, in a showdown of undefeated Anthracite Football League teams, it was Blue Mountain that made the trip back to Orwigsburg with the disappointment.
Its incredible second-half rally was wiped out with an equally incredible 80-yard, 10-play drive by Lehighton for a 36-29 victory.
It was the second straight week the Indians (4-0, 4-0 AFL) had answered the challenge against a league contender, getting a victory
at North Schuylkill last week.
That the game would come down to such a dramatic finish appeared to be a longshot at halftime. The Eagles (3-1, 1-1) trailed 28-14 after a fumble set up the second of two Lehighton touchdowns in the final 4:33 of the half.
Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry said the attitude of the team was confidence when it came out of the locker room to receive the second-half kickoff.
“We were down last week against Pottsville and responded, and we felt we would take the second-half kickoff, drive for a score and get back in the game,” Mabry said. “This team believes in itself and we had a lot of people make some very big plays.
“Our primary goal coming in here, however, was not to give up the big plays, and we gave up way too many big plays. This one is going to sting for a while.”
Which is not a bad thing in the mind of Mabry if the Eagles are going to develop the mindset of a winner. Certainly coming close provided little satisfaction, which made the victory all the more impressive for the Indians.
“No, I’m not at all surprised they came back the way they did because we have seen what kind of team they have,” Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll said. “They took it to us in the second half, but we also have the kind of kids who are going to respond, and it wasn’t just one or two players who stepped up on that winning drive.”
Blue Mountain was able to create havoc in punting situations for the Indians, causing the ball to be snapped out of the end zone for a third-quarter safety that cut the lead to 28-22. That followed a 6-yard touchdown run by Mike Kalyan that capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive to open the second half.
That special-teams pressure then forced an errant snap in punting formation midway through the fourth quarter, and the Eagles stopped a fourth-down scramble well short of the first down.
Completions by Mason Freed to Spencer Welsh for 25 and 13 yards keyed the following eight-play, 49-yard scoring drive that was capped on a 3-yard run by Matt Kalyan to tie the score. Christian Puzzi then kicked the extra point for a 29-28 lead with 5:15 remaining —which proved to be more than enough time for quarterback Tyler Cann to rally the Indians.
Lehighton used 10 plays to drive 80 yards for the winning touchdown, scoring on a 6-yard run by Wyatt Clements with 1:26 left to cap his 151-yard rushing performance on 21 carries, including touchdown runs of 5 and 6 yards in the first half. Cann was 4-for-4 passing to account for 73 yards in the drive, including a 27-yard completion to Tegan Durishin on third-and-12 and a 32-yard completion to Erik Skrinkosky on third-and-15.
Blue Mountain made a statement on the game’s opening drive by holding the Indians to a three-and-out, and then went 66 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 26-yard touchdown run by Matt Kalyan, who finished with 104 yards rushing on 11 carries. A 5-yard run by Clements and a 30-yard pass from Cann to Nick Chambers gave the Indians a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, but Matt Kalyan scored from the 1 for a 14-14 tie.
Lehighton took the lead again on a 49-yard pass from Cann to Gavin Zehner, capping a six-play, 80-yard drive. Less than three minutes later, the Indians converted the fumble into another touchdown when Clements scored from the 6.
Cann completed 13-of-17 passes to five different receivers for 229 yards and caught an option pass for 7 yards. Late in the first quarter, he had the Indians in position to score, but Mark Chelius stopped the drive with a diving, fingertip interception at the 8.
“That’s a good football team we lost to, and we knew that coming in here,” Mabry said. “Still our kids came to win, and they played with confidence.”
Game Summary
BM (3-1, 2-1) 7 7 8 7 — 29
Leh (4-0, 4-0) 7 21 0 8 — 36
BM — Mi. Kalyan 26 run (Puzzi kick)
Leh — Clements 5 run (Cordova kick)
Leh — Chambers 30 pass from Cann (Cordova kick)
BM — Ma. Kalyan 1 run (Puzzi kick)
Leh — Zehner 49 pass from Cann (Cordova kick)
Leh — Clements 6 run (Cordova kick)
BM — Mi. Kalyan 6 run (kick failed)
BM — Safety, ball snapped out of end zone
BM — Ma. Kalyan 3 run (Puzzi kick)
Leh — Clements 6 run (G. Zehner pass from Cann)
BM Leh
First Downs 17 19
Rushes-Yards 41-231 34-157
Passes 10-17-0 14-18-1
Passing Yards 101 236
Total Yards 332 393
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties 4-35 546
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Blue Mountain — Mi. Kalyan 11-104, Ma. Kalyan 14-53, Forbes 9-52, Chelius 4-31, Freed 3-(-9). Lehighton — Clements 21-151, Cann 12-5, Durishin 1-1.
PASSING: Blue Mountain — Freed 9-16-0, 80; Welsh 1-1-0, 21. Lehighton — Cann 13-17-1, 229; Scherer 1-1-0, 7.
RECEIVING: Blue Mountain — Welsh 4-51, Kerstetter 3-43, Ma. Kalyan 2-6, Chelius 1-1. Lehighton — Chambers 4-60, Durishin 4-59, Zehner 2-56, Skrinkosky 2-51, Cann 1-7, Clements 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS: Blue Mountain — Chelius.