The four-year drought is over for the Lehighton Indians.

Their 27-14 win over Jim Thorpe Friday night was celebrated on the field with the hoisting of the Route 209 Trophy, which goes to the winner.

With two straight end-of-the-season victories, the Indians now wait to see if they qualify for the District 11 playoffs. Winning coach Tom McCarroll was elated after the game about his team’s performance.

“I’m so proud of these kids. We came up short so many times this year, but the last two weeks, we put it all together and played complete games. Tonight, we executed. We moved the ball and completed drives against a good Jim Thorpe team.”

In the first quarter and on their second possession, the Indians took the lead. On a second and 10 at their own 42 yard line, Ethan Buchert burst off right tackle and shouldered a defensive back to the ground on his way to a 58 yard touchdown run. Kicker AJ Light’s extra point gave the home team a 7-0 lead.

The Olympians struggled to move the chains until the 1:05 mark of the first quarter when freshman Cole Lazorick entered the game. Taking direct snaps from center, Lazorick carried the ball four straight times and on the first play of the second quarter, he shot through right tackle for a 27-yard touchdown. Dawson Meckes kicked the extra point tying the game at 7-7 which was how the first half ended.

The Olympians (3-7) began the second half with an impressive 76-yard scoring drive to take a 14-7 lead. Key plays were Sal Capria’s 11-yard reverse run to the Indians’ 30 yard line and an 11 yard play action pass from Brett Balliet to Benjamin Goldberg that set Jim Thorpe up with a first and goal at the 10. On a second an eight, Balliet faked a hand-off and ran to the left corner of the end zone.

The Indians (3-7) answered Thorpe’s touchdown with one of their own. Buchert ran the ensuing kick off 61 yards to the Jim Thorpe 39. A key play in the drive was a 21 yard pass and run from quarterback Brady O’Donnell to wideout Ian Rarick, who would catch eight balls in the game for 83 yards. On a first down at the 11, O’Donnell faked a hand-off and found open space for an untouched 11 yard run for a touchdown. Thorpe still held the lead into the final quarter, however, by blocking the extra point attempt.

Continuing a third-quarter drive that began on their own 27, the Indians marched down the field aided by a Dylan Moyer 17 yard run to the Thorpe 26 and a personal foul penalty called against the defense. On a third and goal at the eight, O’Donnell hit Rarick with a pass to the right sideline. He was knocked out of bounds on the one where Buchert bulled into the end zone on the next play for a 20-14 Lehighton lead with under nine minutes left in the fourth.

Rarick halted Thorpe’s next possession when he picked off a pass inside Thorpe’s 40 yard line. Following an O’Donnell 27 yard strike to Luke Blauch to the JT 8-yard line, Buchert put the game away with an 8-yard touchdown run giving his team a two-touchdown lead with just five minutes left to play.

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Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger was disappointed with his team’s performance in the game and with the season.

“It’s been a tough year,” he said. “We fought hard for sure, but we came up short too many times. Tonight their running game really hurt us. We missed too many tackles. Give credit to Lehighton for the way they played.”

Coach McCarroll said his team’s effort punctuated a good finish to an otherwise disappointing regular season. “Our kids never quit,” he said, “and at the end of the day winning the trophy back is not only good our players, but also good for our community.”

MISCUES MULTIPLIED ... There was a total of four interceptions, two fumbles, a blocked punt, and a blocked extra point attempt in the game that affected the score as well as the field position for both teams.

TWOS TELL THE STORIES ... Jim Thorpe lost two games this year by a total of two points. Lehighton won their last two games, and this game by two touchdowns.