Nafis Watkins threw five touchdown passes and Belmont Charter remained in front throughout a high-scoring second half Friday night to defeat Lackawanna Trail 52-40 in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A state football quarterfinal at Northern Lehigh.
Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 and District 2-11 Class A Subregional champion Lackawanna Trail led twice, but was hurt by its own turnovers in the first half and explosive plays by Belmont Charter in the second half. The Lions finished 12-2.
Belmont Charter (10-1) advances to face defending champion Bishop Guilfoyle in next week’s semifinals.
Lackawanna Trail played almost half the game without record-setting running back Isaac Ryon because of one injury, then lost Tim Richmond, who was having a big night, to an injury early in the second half.
Ryon entered the game in the waning moments of the first half and ran for three second-half touchdowns. Richmond exceeded 100 yards on his two catches and also passed the century mark on his two kickoff returns.
It was not enough to keep up with Tigers.
Lackawanna Trail fumbled on the first play, but came up with a goal-line stand, stuffing the opponent from Philadelphia on third down from the 2 and fourth down from the 1.
Richmond’s 49-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Jervis gave the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Shyneem Newsuan ran 10 yards for the first of his three touchdowns and the Tigers added the first of their pair of two-point conversions for an 8-7 advantage.
Jervis and Richmond connected for another long pass to set up Sean Dwyer’s -yard touchdown run for a 14-8 Lackawanna Trail lead midway through the second quarter.
Watkins threw a pair of touchdown passes less than two minutes apart with the help of an interception in between.
The Lions closed the gap to 22-20 before halftime after Richmond’s long kickoff return set up Dwyer’s 6-yard touchdown.
Belmont Charter stopped Lackawanna Trail on fourth-and-one to begin the second half and got a 28-yard touchdown pass from Watkins to Tahir Tucker.
Ryon’s 1-yard touchdown pulled the Lions back within two points for the last time with 4:04 left in the third quarter.
Less than a minute later, the Tigers had a 40-26 lead.
Newsuan ran 52 yards for a touchdown on the first play after Ryon’s score, the Lions could not handle the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers scored again in one play on a 22-yard pass from Watkins to Tucker.
Ryon’s 4-yard run made it 40-33 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but the Tigers again had a swift response.
Kabir Knight turned a short Watkins pass into a 67-yard touchdown on third-and-13.
Following a defensive stand in the Red Zone, Newsuan went 74 yards for a touchdown and 52-33 lead.
Ryon added a 2-yard touchdown in the closing seconds. The touchdown was the 54th of the season for Ryon, the most ever by an LFC player.
