Jim Thorpe recently secured the Route 209 Trophy with a win over rival Lehighton. The Indians entered the Week 8 matchup 7-0 and had outscored their opponents a combined 240-26, while the Olympians entered the game with a 5-2 record. The Week 8 rivalry with Jim Thorpe was a big game for both teams. It was Lehighton’s 6th grade moving up ceremony, the 209 trophy was on the line, and with a win Lehighton would have secured the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs. JT took an early 8-0 lead, and from there the defense did the rest of the work, holding the Indians to only six points and stopping a critical two-point conversion in the second half. On the final drive of the game, the JT Defense held strong, forcing the Indians to turn the ball over on downs with just under 2:00 remaining. With the win the Olympians not only took the 209 trophy back home, they secured the No. 6 seed while Lehighton fell to the No. 3 seed, which meant a rematch the following week in the first round of the playoffs. The Olympians jumped out to another early lead and never looked back, this time outscoring the Indians 20-0 with another stellar performance by their defense. Members of the team include, Jackson Engelbert, Carter Reis, Ben Zayas, George Ress III, Jayce St. Hill, Mason Belford, Jaxon O’Shura, Blake Demyanovich, Cayden Tanner, Andrew Sargent, Seth Sterling, Dom McHugh, Alex Vitti, Jayden Absher, Damian McDaniel, Maximus Rasmussen, Ryder Mathurin, Jax Dollak, Cameron Moyer, Vincent Montefour; back, from left, coaches Coaches Carl St. Hill, Vinnie Montefour, Sean Sterling, Chris Zayas, John Demyanovich. Kevin Trice and Alex Vitti. Not pictured: Allden Mack. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO