Blake Stage from Lackawanna Trail wraps up Minersville running back Luke Stevenosky as teammates Cooper Patterson (72) and Kolbee Soltis (4) close in during their state playoff.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN – Lackawanna Trail rolled through the first three rounds of the postseason, beating teams by a combined total of 127-6 to win two championships and advance to the state quarterfinals.
A recap of the three playoff wins.
Lackawanna Trail 40, Minersville 0
Lukas Gumble ran for four touchdowns in a span of 8:14 Nov. 17 and Lackawanna Trail turned in a physically dominating performance in the first round of state play at Blue Mountain High School.
Gumble gained more than 200 yards in a five-carry stretch beginning in the second quarter and continuing into the first minute of the third quarter, allowing the Lions to stretch a 7-0 lead to 33-0. He scored on runs of 22, 75, 16 and 55 yards on the way to finishing with 230 yards on 10 carries.
“We came into this game knowing the run game was going to be huge and obviously it was a big part of this game,” Gumble said. “The first few carries were a little slow, but we just kept running the ball, pounding it down their throats until we could get a big run.”
The Patterson brothers, Hunter and Cooper, led a defense that posted its fifth shutout in six games by forcing four turnovers and making two key stops on fourth-and-two situations. Hunter Patterson made 12 tackles and assisted on three more. Cooper Patterson had five tackles, three assists, a fumble recovery and two pass rushes, one that led to an interception.
“All year long, we’ve been playing pretty good team defense,” Lackawanna Trail coach Steve Jervis said. “ … It’s not just one or two kids. I think we play really good team defense.”
Demetrius Douglas added 138 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, despite having an apparent 72-yard touchdown nullified by penalty. The Lions had 435 yards rushing with 1:57 left in the third quarter when they reached the Mercy Rule by opening their 40-0 lead.
Cooper Patterson was also one of the key blockers in that ground game.
“A lot of teams end up getting worried about Trail’s interior running game because it’s so good,” he said. “Once we start hitting the outside runs, it pops some big holes.
“We get some good down-field blocks and let our backs do the work. We have two of the fastest kids you would ever want in Lukas Gumble and Demetrius Douglas and they’re powerful runners.”
Douglas opened and closed the scoring with 57- and 39-yard runs and the young offensive line blew open wide running lanes with some devastating blocks.
“The wing-T is set up to attack from sideline to sideline,” Jervis said. “You try to take what the defense is giving you that night, but it really comes down to the understanding of our scheme by our offensive linemen.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that four of them are sophomores. There’s a lot of film study and chalk talk. At this point, there’s not a lot of blitzes and schemes that we have not seen and I thought we did a good job of picking up the different looks they were giving us.”
Lackawanna Trail 47, Morrisville 6
The Lions defeated Morrisville Nov. 10 in the District 1-2 Subregional championship game at Bristol High School.
Gumble ran for three touchdowns as Lackawanna Trail built a 33-0 halftime lead.
Runs of 61 yards by Gumble, 13 yards by Hunter Patterson and 28 yards by Douglas made it 21-0 after one quarter.
Gumble scored from the 2 and 13 in the second quarter.
Douglas caught a 26-yard pass from Stephen Jervis for a 40-0 lead to invoke the Mercy Rule in the third quarter.
Tyler Jervis added a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Lackawanna Trail 40, Old Forge 0
Lackawanna Trail outrushed visiting Old Forge 374-42 while repeating as District 2 Class A champion Nov. 3.
The Lions limited the Blue Devils to 61 yards total offense.
Gumble carried 17 times for 147 yards. He scored three straight touchdowns to turn a 7-0 lead after one quarter into a 27-0 advantage in the third quarter.
Hunter Patterson ran for 100 yards, including a 60-yard, first-quarter touchdown, on seven carries. He also ran for the last score.
Douglas added 74 yards and the other touchdown on 11 carries and Stephen Jervis picked up 52 on nine carries.
