Coaches love it when a plan comes together.

Which is why Jim Thorpe’s Mark Rosenberger couldn’t have been more pleased Friday night after Jim Thorpe retained the Route 209 trophy with a 28-13 victory over rival Lehighton.

The longtime Olympian mentor wanted his club to get out to fast start.

Check.

He hoped his defensive line could limit the Indians’ running game.

Check.

When Lehighton tried to stop Thorpe’s rushing attack, his desire was that the passing game would come through.

Check.

And finally, Rosenberger trusted that his club would play with heart and emotion.

Check again.

“I think we’re going in the right direction,” said Rosenberger, whose team finished the regular season with back-to-back wins. “We’re playing with confidence. We’re playing with a lot of energy, excitement and passion that we expect a Jim Thorpe team to play with. We’re also playing much better defensively.

“We wanted to do our best to try and jump out to a lead to get some confidence in ourselves, and our kids did an outstanding job of doing that. Coming in, we also wanted to figure out how to shut down (Dylan) Moyer. He really hurt us last year running the football. And I think our d-line and linebackers did a tremendous job today with lots of tackles for loss and lots of penetration.”

Thorpe (4-6) allowed the Indians only 15 rushing yards in the contest, registering seven tackles for loss. One of those came on the game’s opening drive, forcing Lehighton to punt.

That put the ball in the hands of Olympian quarterback Cole Lazorick, who ran five times for 61 yards - the final one a 31-yard dash down the right sideline - to give his team a 7-0 lead.

Two possessions later, Lazorick tossed an out pass to Josh Louk. The sophomore back broke three tackles on his way to a 31-yard touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.

“Cole had some nice runs in that first series, and our line did a very good job of opening up and creating some holes, giving opportunities for our backs,” said Rosenberger. “Louk also had some tremendous plays too, really stepping up in the first half. And then our go-to guy, (Justin) Yescavage, came through with some big plays in the second half. It’s nice that we’re getting to the point where we have ability to spread the ball around.”

Lehighton (2-8) managed to cut the gap before halftime when Brady O’Donnell hit Logan Kent with a 20-yard scoring strike.

But like Rosenberger said, Yescavage became a factor after the break.

Lazorick completed an 11-play, 58-yard trek with an 8-yard toss to Yescavage - his first catch of the game. That pushed the margin back to 21-7. And then two plays after Thorpe’s defense came up with a stop on a fourth-and-one, Lazorick hit his favorite receiver with a play-action pass for a 52-yard score and a commanding 28-7 lead.

“They were trying to keep seven guys in the box to stop our running game (in the second half), so we had to find some things that would work for us,” said Rosenberger. “Cole had some really nice throws and he did a nice job with our offense.

“I think our kids are playing with a different level of confidence now than maybe they played with early in the season. I think they trust each other and believe in each other, and that’s a big part of making plays. Everybody has confidence in doing their job, and they realize when everybody does their own job good results happen on both sides of the football.”

The Indians closed the scoring with 1:20 left when O’Donnell, who completed 23 passes for 234 yards, connected with Blake Roberts on a 7-yard TD pass.

“We got down early, but we came back and we answered,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “I thought we had momentum coming in at the half, I really did. We got a stop on defense (to start the second half) , which was exactly what we needed. But we needed to respond offensively.

“Unfortunately, the story of our year is close, we’re close in a lot of situations ... We had some nice things, and I do like a lot of what we do, but finishing is what we have to get better at.”

PLAYOFFS ... Jim Thorpe and Lehighton will both be competing in the District 11 Class 3A playoffs on Thursday. The Olympians will likely be the seventh seed and meet Palmerton, while the Indians should be seeded eighth and face top-seeded Northwestern.

PASSING FANCY ... The 23 completions by O’Donnell are the most by a Lehighton player over the past 25 seasons and tied for the fourth most among all TN players.

OLYMPIAN DEFENSE ... Thorpe stopped Lehighton on five straight fourth-down attempts. The Indians finally converted one during their final drive.