Susquehanna carried the lead past the midway point of the third quarter against a strong Lackawanna Trail team before falling short on Homecoming Day Saturday when the Lions rallied for a 22-12 Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 victory at William Emminger Memorial Field.
Jarred Mills turned in a spirited all-around effort while Kyle Donovan ran for two touchdowns and helped prevent another to get the Sabers the lead.
Mills made contributions on offense, defense and special teams.
On offense, Mills was the game’s leading rusher and most effective passer. He carried 20 times for 72 yards and hit 2 of 4 passes for 29 yards.
On defense, he led all tacklers, making nine and assisting four others.
Mills returned a kickoff 25 yards, but his hustle on punt coverage twice created his biggest special teams plays. His pressure trying to get to a punt inside the 10 led to a distracted Lion being hit by the punt and Mills then won a battle on the ground, wrestling the ball away at the 4 to set up a go-ahead touchdown. With the Sabers trying to rally in the fourth quarter Mills made a diving effort to stop a punt from going into the end zone, allowing Susquehanna to pin Lackawanna Trail at the 3.
Donovan led a defensive effort that stopped 230-pound Lackawanna Trail fullback Thomas Huffsmith inches short of the goal line on fourth-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter. He also carried 18 times for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns before leaving the game after suffering a knee injury on the final play of the third quarter.
With back-up quarterback C.J. Stone not in uniform because of an ankle injury, Mills took over as the emergency quarterback in the fourth quarter. He led one drive to the 2 in the closing seconds before the Lions pushed the Sabers back.
Susquehanna held advantages in first downs, rushing yards and time of possession in the first half while overcoming two fumbles inside its 10 to take a 12-8 halftime lead.
Lackawanna Trail, the third-place team in LFC Division 3, is 5-2 in the division and 6-2 overall. The Lions also lead the playoff points race for the home field in the District 2 Class A championship game.
Donovan carried 5 times for 44 yards and Mills 3 times for 22 yards in a game-opening touchdown drive. Donovan’s 9-yard run made it 6-0 with 7:59 left in the first quarter.
Lackawanna Trail got on the board on the third play of the second quarter when a Susquehanna punt snap from the 23 sailed into the end zone.
Punter Eric Peters tracked down the ball, but was caught by Huffsmith before he could get out of the end zone. Thomas Kohinsky then hit Peters forcing a fumble that went through the back of the end zone for a safety that made it 6-2.
Lackawanna Trail started at the Susquehanna 30 following the free kick, but the Sabers made their goal-line stand.
Moving out from the 1, Susquehanna picked up one first down before a fumbled snap gave the ball back to Lackawanna Trail at the 9.
This time, the Lions scored on two plays on a 5-yard Huffsmith run for an 8-6 lead.
Susquehanna used its otherwise strong punting game to regain the field position advantage.
Peters punted 6 times for a 41.7 average, placing three punts inside the 8 and another at the 17.
When Mills induced and recovered the misplayed punt at the 4 with 1:26 left in the half, three straight Donovan runs produced the go-ahead score. His 1-yard touchdown made it 12-8 with 30.3 seconds left.
Tyler Baltrusaitis returned four kickoffs for a 30-yard average, including three that he ran back into Susquehanna territory. He took the second-half kickoff to the 24, but the Sabers again held, forcing a 27-yard field goal attempt that came up short.
Susquehanna punted and Lackawanna Trail moved 55 yards in 5 plays for the go-ahead score.
James Gillespie ran 21 yards on the first play and a late hit out-of-bounds added 15 yards to the play.
Mills made a potentially big play on defense near the goal line on third-and-goal from the 5, when his crunching hit knocked the ball free from Anthony Berrios, sending it high into the air.
The fumble, however, landed in Huffsmith’s arms and he made it the final 2 yards into the end zone.
The Lions scored again in 2:40.
Again, the first play of the drive created a spark.
Rolka threw deep down the middle for 38 yards to Matt Bergey to start a four-play, 50-yard drive.
Rolka went the final yard for the touchdown.
Lackawanna Trail finished with statistical edges of 11-7 in first downs, 185-122 in rushing yards, 64-29 in passing yards and 249-151 in total offense.
Huffsmith led the Lions with 8 tackles, including 2 for 25 yards in losses, 2 in assists and the blocked extra point.
Sean Andersen, Adam Roe, Ian Townend, Billy Perry and Sam Cosmello joined Mills in leading the defensive effort.
Andersen had four tackles, an assist, an interception and two broken-up passes. Roe had five tackles and three assists. Townend had three tackles and seven assists. Perry had three tackles and six assists. Cosmello had three tackles, two assists and a fumble recovery.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Montrose’s Brianna Baker shot a 92 at Elmhurst Country Club Oct. 11 to finish fourth in the District 2 Class AA girls’ golf championship.
Baker, the tournament’s defending champion, fell one stroke short of third place and a return trip to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association East Regional.
Valley View’s Hannah Yanoski, who had been in Class AAA the past two seasons, won her fourth District 2 title with an 82.
Montrose’s Emily Hare was seventh in the eight-player field with a 112. Blue Ridge’s Isabella Cosmello was eighth with a 114.
Montrose’s Isaac Walker led Susquehanna County players in the Class AA boys’ tournament, held the same day at the same site.
Walker finished tied for 23rd in the 41-player field with an 89.
Tyler Marchese shot a 76 to win the title and lead four Scranton Prep players among the six who qualified for the PIAA East Regional.
Elk Lake’s Jason Mowry tied for 25th with a 90. Montrose’s Riley Brown was 34th with a 98.
In girls’ tennis, Montrose’s Louise Thompson reached the third round of the District 2 Class AA singles tournament Thursday.
Thompson received a first-round bye and defeated Allie Stallard from Dallas, 6-3, 6-2. She was eliminated with a 6-2, 6-0 loss to second-seed and eventual finalist Gabriella Jakubek from Scranton Prep.
Annelise Mittman was eliminated in the first round with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Mid Valley’s Madison Macknosky.
In boys’ soccer, Blue Ridge defeated Carbondale, 5-1, and Dunmore, 6-2, to clinch the Lackawanna League Division 3 title.
The Raiders improved to 11-0 with one game remaining.
In girls’ soccer, Montrose and Lakeland remained tied for the Lackawanna League Division 3 lead. Both are 10-2 with one game remaining.
In girls’ volleyball, Blue Ridge suffered its first loss Thursday but remained in first place.
Dunmore defeated Blue Ridge, 25-19, 18-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-7.
The Lady Raiders are 15-1 and the defending champion Lady Bucks are 15-2.
In girls’ cross country, Elk Lake won a second-place battle from Honesdale, 22-33, as part of a sweep of four opponents in a Lackawanna League cluster meet to improve to 19-1 overall.
The Lady Warriors also defeated Western Wayne, 24-31; Carbondale, 15-50; and Forest City, 15-50.
In boys’ cross country, Montrose remained unbeaten, improving to 20-0.
In football, Carbondale defeated Montrose, 41-22, Friday night.
The teams entered the game tied for eighth in the 10-team Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3.
Montrose led, 15-6, after one quarter before falling to 1-6 in the division and 1-7 overall.
COLLEGE CORNER
Austin White has catches in all six games for the King’s College football team.
The sophomore wide receiver is a Blue Ridge graduate and former Susquehanna Sabers quarterback.
White caught 2 passes for 18 yards in a 42-35 win over Misericordia University to improve the Monarchs to 3-2 in the Middle Atlantic Conference and 3-3 overall. He has 9 catches for 94 yards on the season.
In professional hockey, both the Binghamton Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins posted convincing home-ice wins Saturday when the American Hockey League season opened.
Casey Bailey scored in the first and second periods and Chris Dreidger made 25 saves when Binghamton shut out the Hershey Bears, 3-0.
Jake Guentzel had a goal and three assists to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton past the Hartford Wolfpack, 6-2.
Guentzel had a goal and assist in the three-goal second period that produced a 4-1 lead.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna will host its only Friday night home game of the season, playing under temporary lights against Mid Valley in an LFC Division 3 game that could have a major impact on the District 2 Class AA playoff race.
The Sabers are 2-5 in the division and 3-5 overall. The Spartans are 4-3 and 4-4.
Mid Valley is also fourth while Susquehanna is tied for fifth in the eight-way race for four district playoff berths.
Montrose (1-6 and 1-7) is at Lakeland (6-1 and 7-1) in another LFC Division 3 Friday night.
Our high school football predictions were 9-1 (90.0 percent) last week to improve our season record to 76-20 (79.2 percent).
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Mid Valley 21, SUSQUEHANNA 17 … LAKELAND 46, Montrose 8 … Riverside 24, LACKAWANNA TRAIL 21 … Dunmore 40, CARBONDALE 8 … Abington Heights 33, SCRANTON 22 … Delaware Valley 41, WALLENPAUPACK 9 … North Pocono 48, Honesdale 0 … VALLEY VIEW 27, Western Wayne 0 … Old Forge 39, HOLY CROSS 12 … SCRANTON PREP 26, West Scranton 17.
In girls’ tennis, the final two rounds of the District 2 doubles tournament are scheduled for Wednesday at Kirby Park. The tournament was set to begin Tuesday.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
