Lackawanna Trail Football Roundup: Lions rout Bucks, Blue Devils to climb to fourth in the state

Lackawanna Trail cemented its status as a state-level contender when it extended its unbeaten start to six games by continuing to overpower opponents with dominant efforts in wins over Lackawanna Football Conference Division 2 favorite Dunmore and Division 3 defending champion Old Forge.

The Lions rolled into Dunmore an came away with a 46-21 rout, then manhandled visiting Old Forge, 41-7, in a game that both opened the LFC Division 3 schedule and served as a preview to the District 2 Class A championship game. By scoring at least 35 points and winning by at least 22 in each game, the Lions made it through six games with a combined winning margin of 249-74 (41.5-12.3).

Those results set up Oct. 6 at Riverside as the game most likely to decide the LFC Division 3 title. Old Forge has won five straight division titles, one in Division 3 last year, and the previous four in Division 4 when Lackawanna Trail was its top competition.

Susquehanna, which Lackawanna Trail hosts in the Oct. 27 season finale, joined Riverside and the Lions as the teams to win their Division 3 openers. Both the Sabers and Vikings are 4-2 overall.

Lukas Gumble has led the fast start, averaging 12 yards per carry while running for 10 touchdowns and nearly 700 yards. His teammates have combined to add more than 1,000 yards rushing.

The most recent win moved the Lions up another spot to fourth in the state among Class A teams, according to PennLive.com. They trail only Steelton-Highspire, Canton and Northern Bedford.

A look back at the games from the past four weeks:

Lackawanna Trail 41, Old Forge 7

The Lions ended a six-game, regular-season losing streak to the Blue Devils by running out to leads of 27-0 after one quarter and 41-0 at halftime.

Lackawanna Trail outgained Old Forge, 313-0, in the first half with the ground game producing 281 yards on 26 carries.

Gumble was well over 100 yards in the first quarter when he ran for touchdowns of 67, 37 and 44 yards.

Hunter Patterson added a 5-yard run in the first quarter.

Demetrius Douglas ran for one score and Max Kimmel caught a 32-yard touchdown pass in the last minute of the half.

Cooper Patterson controlled the front defensively as one of the main reasons Old Forge could not run the ball.

Lackawanna Trail 46, Dunmore 21

Lackawanna Trail ran for two touchdowns in each of the first quarter, second quarter and second half while building leads of 12-0 in less than 6½ minutes, 33-7 at halftime and 46-14 early in the fourth quarter.

Stephen Jervis ran for two touchdowns and passed for one as the Lions avenged another of last season’s losses.

The Lions quickly opened the 12-0 lead despite kicking off to start the game. They forced two three-and-outs by the Bucks then got 1-yard touchdowns from Jervis and Hunter Patterson.

Jervis found Douglas in stride down the middle, lofting a fourth-and-14 pass over a defender’s reach for a 34-yard touchdown less a minute into the second quarter, pushing the lead to 20-0.

Hunter Patterson ran for a second touchdown, Douglas scored another touchdown on the ground and Gumble added a score while running for more than 100 yards.

Lackawanna Trail 39, Honesdale 13

Lackawanna Trail ran off five touchdowns in a span of 14:20 of the second and third quarters to turn a deficit into a 33-7 lead on the way to its second straight win over Class 4A opponent.

Gumble and Hunter Patterson each ran for two touchdowns, Douglas broke off a 67-yard touchdown run and the Jervis-to-Kimmel passing combination produced a 36-yard score.

Lackawanna Trail 40, Nanticoke 13

NANTICOKE – Kimmel set up the game’s first score with an interception, then caught 56- and 55-yard scoring passes from Jervis in the second quarter on the way to the non-league road victory.

“The early pick changed the momentum,” Lions coach Steve Jervis said.

Nanticoke’s Zack Fox returned a kickoff 89 yards for a second-quarter touchdown to keep the Trojans within 19-7 at the time. The Lions, however contained Fox, who is well on his way to a third 1,000-yard season, limiting him to 44 yards on 14 carries.

“They use Fox very well,” coach Jervis said, “and we were very concerned about where he was going to be.

“ … He got a long one on that kickoff. You can only contain him so much.”

Gumble ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on nine carries while Isaac Ryon picked up 95 yards on four carries, including touchdowns of 57 and 31 yards.

Five of Lackawanna Trail’s six touchdowns came from beyond the 30-yard line.