CLINTON TWP. — Lackawanna Trail already appeared to be taking control of what had shaped up as an important game in its pursuit of a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title repeat.
Then, the Lions ran away from visiting Susquehanna with touchdown runs on three straight third-quarter offensive plays.
Isaac Ryon sandwiched two touchdowns around a 67-yard run by Logan Edwards as the Lions scored 21 points in less than five minutes on the way to Friday’s 49-12 rout on Homecoming.
The Lions consistently ripped holes in the Susquehanna defensive front behind the blocking of center Chris Kohinsky, guards Colin Owens and Anthony Paolucci, tackle Brian Gow and Lucas Evans and tight ends Blake Stage and Kaylix Douglas.
“It comes down to our fundamentals,” Paolucci said. “We were really fundamentally sound tonight. Colin Owens and Chris did a good job tonight starting up our inside trap game. We just followed our rules well.”
Ryon and Edwards followed those blocks well. They turned the head starts the line provided into big gains.
Ryon was the game’s leading rusher with 165 yards on 10 carries.
Edwards needed only five carries from his fullback position, all right up the middle on gut traps, to produce 155 yards.
“It’s really all the linemen; all the work they do,” Edwards said. “They made the holes there for me and I just hit them full speed.”
Edwards, Max Kimmel, Tyler Jervis and Ryon all put together strong two-way efforts.
In addition to his runs up the middle, Edwards was the team’s leading tackler with six tackles and three assists.
Kimmel caught a touchdown pass and returned an interception for another score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Jervis threw the touchdown to Kimmel, ran for the first two Lackawanna Trail touchdowns and made three tackles for losses.
Ryon added an interception and was 5-for-5 on extra-point kicks.
The three scores Jervis accounted for created a 21-6 halftime lead. He ran 5 yards with 2:27 left in the first and 12 yards with 4:31 remaining in the second quarter before finding Kimmel on a 20-yard pass with 1:50 left in the half.
Susquehanna dropped a potential go-ahead, two-point conversion pass early in the second quarter and Ryon preserved the 15-point lead with his interception at the 2 with 26.6 seconds left in the half.
The Lions broke away quickly in the third quarter.
Demitrius Douglas, who saw limited action because of an injury, turned his only touch into a 34-yard return of the second-half kickoff.
Ryon and Edwards alternated five runs, capped by Ryon’s 12-yard run around right end.
Kaylix Douglas forced an errant option pitch, which the Sabers recovered, but lost yardage and wound up punting.
Sean Dwyer’s punt return for an apparent score was called back, but it did not matter.
Edwards went 67 yards, running free for more than half the distance, then throwing in some cuts to weave his way to the goal line.
“We knew that it was going to be a dogfight in the beginning,” said Edwards, a senior who also plays linebacker. “But, then after the first quarter, we started to wear them down. The line kept going at it. The backs kept going at it.”
Jervis made a tackle for an eight-yard loss to get the ball right back and Ryon went 54 yards off right tackle for a 42-6 lead. The last 16:09 was played under the Mercy Rule.
Kimmel jumped in front of a pass in the flat and went 48 yards for the touchdown that created a 49-6 lead 15 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“Max is one of those kids who has been making plays like that for four years,” Lions coach Steve Jervis said. “We knew he was a gifted athlete as a freshman. He started on the defensive side of the ball.
“He just has elite ball skills. When the ball’s in the air, he’s real comfortable. I’m just real proud of him. Not many high school kids are going to make the plays that Max does.”
Susquehanna quarterback Weston Yannone broke a 46-yard touchdown run against the Lions reserves to complete the scoring.
The Lions maintained their share of the division lead with Riverside at 3-0 and improved to 7-1 overall going into Saturday’s game at Holy Cross.
Susquehanna fell to 1-2 and 5-3.