For a good portion of the first half, Lehighton was executing its game plan to near perfection and giving unbeaten and highly-favored Southern Lehigh all it could handle.

But then the Spartans started doing Spartan-like things.

Southern Lehigh erupted for three touchdowns on its final seven offensive plays of the first half to break open a one-point game and went on to rout the Indians, 54-12.

“That’s a really explosive team - one of the highest scoring teams in the entire state,” said Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll about a Spartan team that came into the contest averaging almost 48 points a game and had been held under 40 points just once in seven games. “But I’m proud of how our kids battled tonight.

“I thought we executed our game plan almost perfectly for about a quarter-and-a-half, but you make a mistake and they make you pay for it instantly. Our effort was there, but you can’t turn the ball over and miss assignments like we did. Southern Lehigh is just too good of a team to do that against, and they made us pay for it.”

Although the Spartans eventually displayed their full arsenal of weapons, the Indians were the team dictating play early.

After Southern Lehigh scored on an eight-yard run by Cade Sawyer to take a 7-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first quarter, Lehighton put together an 80-yard scoring drive that used 17 plays and ate up 9 minutes and 15 seconds. A two-yard pass from Brady O’Donnell to Maddyx Bergdahl produced the TD that cut the deficit to 7-6 with 7:26 left in the half.

“Lehighton had a great game plan,” said Southern Lehigh coach Philip Sams. “They wanted to run the play clock down and grind out first downs to try and keep our offense off the field and they did exactly that on their first-half touchdown drive.

“I have a great deal of respect for their coaching staff. They do an outstanding job. But I’m proud of how we answered back. Our offense was off the field for a long time, but we were able to answer quickly when we got the ball and grab the momentum back. I thought that was big to answer right back after their touchdown.”

The Spartans did that when Sawyer raced 55 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage following the Lehighton score. The next time the Spartans got the ball they went 70 yards in two plays with a John Ingliss’ 65-yard run producing the TD. They followed that up with a one-yard quarterback sneak by Fritts on the final play on the half after using three pass plays to march 76 yards in 36 seconds.

“Give credit to Southern Lehigh, they did what they have been doing against everyone this season - they made explosive plays and scored a bunch of points,” said McCarroll. “We had that outstanding drive to pull within a point and grab the momentum, but Southern Lehigh got it back instantly.

“It’s something that seems to have happened to us a lot this season. When we make a big play or put together a nice drive to get some momentum, we seem to give it right back. Then they were the ones to build on it. That touchdown drive they put together right before half was a backbreaker, and then they opened the third quarter with a quick score to break things open.”

The third quarter score came on a 60-yard run by Sawyer that made it 34-6.

Lehighton answered with another nice drive that once again featured an O’Donnell to Bergdahl touchdown pass, but Southern Lehigh kept scoring and eventually kicked it into the mercy rule on a defensive score with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

BIG PLAY SPARTANS ... Southern Lehigh, which improved to 8-0 on the season, had 10 plays of 15 yards or more among its 32 plays. Meanwhile, the Indians (2-6) had just three 15-plus yard plays on their 59 offensive plays.

DECEIVING NUMBERS ... Despite losing by 42 points, Lehighton dominated time of possession 33:56-14:04 and ran 27 more offensive plays.

MORE TURNOVERS ... The Indians turned the ball over four times and forced just one Southern Lehigh turnover - an interception by Michael Yeakel in the end zone that ended a third-quarter Spartan scoring threat. “We can’t solve our turnovers problems,” said McCarroll. “We played hard tonight, but that won’t win games when you’re a minus-3 in turnovers. It’s a problem we’ve had all year. We need to be better with the ball.”