Big second half lifts Lehighton past Salisbury

The Indians expected Salisbury’s best game Saturday night. But they sure didn’t expect the Falcons to control the first half and put Lehighton’s undefeated season in jeopardy.

Facing a two-point halftime deficit, the Tribe scored 30 unanswered points after intermission to dispatch of Salisbury 38-10 in the District 11 Class 3A football quarterfinal.

“Coming into a game like this, you know the other team is going to give you its best shot,” said Lehighton quarterback Cody Scherer, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for a pair of scores. “We really weren’t thinking that they’d shock us like that. Second half we came up big when we focused and locked in.

“Our coaches talked to us at halftime. We knew we could hang it on them, we just had to get our confidence up, and once we did that, we were able to execute.”

Lehighton (11-0) advances to host Jim Thorpe (10-1) next Saturday in a semifinal. The Indians will likely need a better start than they got off to against the Falcons.

Salisbury held Lehighton to just five first-half first downs in four possessions, and just 76 yards of offense in the first two quarters.

The Falcons controlled the clock with three first-half drives of eight plays or more, including their second possession that covered 60 yards and ended with Tim Buda’s TD run for a 7-0 lead with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Indians responded with an eight-play drive, capped by Scherer’s touchdown pass to Collin Troxell. Scherer ran for the two-point conversion and an 8-7 lead.

The No. 7 seed Falcons (4-7) chewed more time off the clock with a nine-play field goal drive to take a 10-8 lead with 5:40 left in the first half. Their defense forced two Lehighton punts to cling to the slim halftime lead.

The second half was all Tribe.

Led by some big stops from Dan Frantz, Shawn Truhe and Nolan Wentz, Lehighton’s defense kept Salisbury from getting within 30 yards of pay dirt throughout the second half. It also came up with four fourth-down stops on Salisbury’s four second-half possessions.

“Our defense, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at it, they’ve played bend but don’t break,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “They let them have some long drives and it kept our offense off the field. But like the rest of our team, our defense stepped up in the second half.”

Scherer and running back TaQuan Bradley-Chambers (21 carries, 121 yards) led a running game that piled up 221 yards in the second half.

Scherer put his team in front with a 3-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the second half. He scored again on Lehighton’s next drive, running eight yards for a score and a 22-10 lead with 1:43 left in the third frame.

“I think our offensive line committed in the second half,” said McCarroll. “They were a little embarrassed about getting punched in the mouth. They didn’t play up to their potential (in the first half). In the second half they responded.

“I give our kids credit for the way they bounced back in the second half. We’ve been a second-half team the last few weeks. I felt like we were going to answer the punches they threw. They stepped up to the task.”

Lehighton sealed the win with a 17-play drive that included a fake punt early in the fourth quarter. Scherer found Zack Crum with an 8-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive and take a 30-10 lead with 4:38 left.

Cameron Christman capped the scoring with a 41-yard touchdown run with 3:35 left in the game.

MOVING THE CHAINS ... Lehighton converted just two of five third downs in the first half of Saturday’s win. In the second half, the Indians moved the chains on five of their six third- down attempts. The one they failed to convert was followed by a fake punt in which Scherer ran four yards for the first down.