Lackawanna Trail battled through three straight hard-fought victories to open the season, but the Lions then suffered three straight losses to drop to .500 heading into the final four games of the season, all Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 games.
Old Forge 33, Lackawanna Trail 20
The Lions and host Blue Devils traded long runs early in their Sept. 30 LFC Division 3 opener.
Max Kimmel’s 61-yard run set up a Stephen Jervis 1-yard touchdown to give Lackawanna Trail an early 7-0 lead.
Old Forge, however, responded on the next play with a 49-yard Josh Spindler touchdown.
Lukas Gumble’s 51-yard run lifted Lackawanna Trail into a 14-14 tie in the second quarter, but Old Forge scored the next 19 points, including two more touchdowns before halftime.
Hunter Patterson added a late 2-yard touchdown run for the Lions.
Spindler carried 28 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Old Forge. James Sobol was 7-for-11 passing for 163 yards and two more scores.
The win gave Old Forge the upperhand in the race for the higher seed and home field when the teams meet again in five weeks for the District 2 Class A title.
Dunmore 24, Lackawanna Trail 7
Dunmore avenged two losses from last season, including one from the District 2 final when Lackawanna Trail was still a Class 2A team.
The Bucks (5-1) got 163 rushing yards from Nico Ruggiero, who scored from 54 yards and had another 69-yard run to the 1 to set up a score.
Honesdale 14, Lackawanna Trail 12
The Lions dropped the non-league defensive battle on the road.
Hunter Patterson carried 12 times for 82 yards in the loss while Demetrius Douglas and Lukas Gumble ran for scores.
The Lions were unable to convert on a kick early in the game, then a two-point conversion attempt late.
Lackawanna Trail 14, Nanticoke 6
Lackawanna Trail downed visiting Nanticoke in the non-league game to improve to 3-0 at the start of the season.
The Lions scored early and did not give up a point in the last three quarters.
Jervis found Evan Litwin deep for a 37-yard touchdown on the game’s seventh play.
Nanticoke forced a 6-6 tie after one quarter.
Jarvis passed to Hunter Patterson for 25 yards to set up the winning touchdown and connected again on the two-pointer after Max Kimmel’s 14-yard, third-quarter scoring run.
