Sophomore Lukas Crozier and junior Jayse Lawrence sparked the Lehighton football team to an impressive 33-7 win over Bangor on Thursday.

It was a blend of both underclassmen, along with a terrific offensive line, that set the tempo early.

The Indians seized a 13-0 lead in the first quarter to jump out to a 20-0 lead at halftime. Though the Slaters interrupted the momentum briefly in the second half, the Tribe never wavered, posting a pair of touchdowns in the final two quarters.

Crozier churned out 93 yards on 14 carries and darted into the end zone on a 9-yard score for his only touchdown of the evening that pushed the Tribe (1-1) in front 13-0 with 1:19 to play the first quarter.

“I’m just looking for a hole,” said Crozier, a 5-9, 165-pound dynamo. “If I see something, I bounce inside. It doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to make a play.”

Lawrence engineered all five touchdown drives.

He cracked the end zone for the team’s first drive of the game, a 62-yard march, racing in from three yards out to give his team a 6-0 lead. Lawrence accounted for 74 yards rushing on 14 carries, fired a pair of touchdown passes - a 5-yard strike to Logan Kent and a 24-yard pass to Blake Roberts - to cap off the evening’s scoring. He also picked off a pass as well.

“I’m just trying to make plays,” Lawrence said. “I just read my keys, and if I see something I’ll take the ball and run with it. If I notice the end (coming down), then I have options.”

The slick quarterback, one of the team leaders, said that he wasn’t going to let the 15-14 loss to Northern Lehigh in Week 1 affect the team’s play.

“I told the guys we can’t do what we did the second half [last week],” Lawrence said of the fourth-quarter collapse after leading the Bulldogs 14-0. “We have to buy in until the end.”

His words did not fall on deaf ears, as the Indians controlled the game from start to finish.

“Last week we played really good for three quarters,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “We let it slip away ... that was the message. We needed an attitude. We needed to be more aggressive.”

Lehighton came up with its longest drive of the night to go ahead 20-0 at the half.

Marching 68 yards on 12 plays, the Indians called Roberts’ number on a 3-yard run.

Lawrence came up big in the drive. He flung an 18-yard pass to Roberts on the second play, and found Caden Meek twice, a 10-yard completion and another 10-yarder, which was huge on fourth down to sustain the drive at the three, setting up Roberts’ touchdown.

Bangor finally hit the scoreboard, finishing the game’s longest drive by going 77 yards. Quarterback Jaxson Kreider found Jace Labar running down the middle of the seam free and uncovered for a 26-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

The Tribe got back on track with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, with Kent hitting the end zone then Roberts getting his second score of the night, hauling in a 26-yard touchdown.

“I’ll tell you we answered the bell,” McCarroll said. “We showed a lot. Our entire offensive line was great ... it was a big key for us to control the ball and run it effectively.”

BY THE NUMBERS… The Indians’ defense was stingy and tough to run on. It allowed 65 yards rushing on 17 attempts. Bangor threw for 100 yards. Quarterback Kreider completed 12 passes. Lawrence threw for 93 yards, going 7-for-10 for Lehighton.

QUOTABLE I… “Our offensive line has completely different mentality from a year ago,” said McCarroll.

QUOTABLE II… “He’s grown up since he was a freshman ... the moment is not too big for him,” McCarroll said of quarterback Lawrence.

Bangor 0 0 7 0 – 7

Lehighton 13 7 0 13 – 33

Scoring summary

L – Lawrence 3 run (kick failed)

L – Crozier 9 run (Phillips kick)

L – Roberts 3 run (Phillips kick)

B – Labar 26 pass from Kreider (Labar kick)

L – Kent 5 pass from Lawrence (Phillips kick)

L – Roberts 26 pass from Lawrence (Phillips kick)