UNION TWP. — Lon Hazlet warned George May he was going to be in for a busy night.
“We told him we need about 175 or 200 (yards) from him for us to win and we told him we were going to give him the ball 25 times,” the Northwest coach said.
May came up just short of those projections, but added other contributions Friday night when Northwest opened the season by knocking off state-ranked Lackawanna Trail, 8-7, in a game that could prove to be important in the District 2 Class A football playoff race at the end of the season.
District 2 has just three Class A teams, but two of them – Lackawanna Trail and Old Forge – opened the season in the state rankings. Only two make the district playoffs, which a year ago were a springboard to Lackawanna Trail finishing in the state final to wrap up a 14-2 season.
“Two years ago we won eight games and couldn’t get in,” Hazlet said.
May helped Northwest get a fast start in the race on the new turf at Lewis and Miller Memorial Stadium. He carried 21 times for 172 yards and a touchdown in the final minute.
“George May is just a tremendous football player,” Hazlet said. “He’s put a lot of work into his conditioning and he can’t be blocked on defense.”
After being scoreless for more than 44 minutes, the teams packed all the scoring into the final 3:25.
The Rangers pulled out the win when quarterback Ryan Wassel rolled right and found J.T. Brubaker in the end zone for the game-winning, two-point conversion with 45 seconds left.
The game-winning drive, in response to Lackawanna Trail’s touchdown, included Wassel finding freshman Landon Hufford for 36 yards on third-and-10. May went 32 yards up the middle to the 2 on the next play.
“I just carry the ball,” said May, who scored standing up on second-and-goal from the 1. “My O-line makes the holes.”
May can appreciate a lineman’s work. On defense, the 5-foot-9, 230-pounder joins them. Friday night, he was in on 10 tackles, including three for losses.
The play of Northwest’s defensive front, which included Blake Miller, Jack Wessler, Nick Wilson and Brendan Dixon, was one of the reasons Lackawanna Trail scored just once despite finding itself in Northwest territory on all seven possessions.
Both teams moved the ball and had chances but could not score in an evenly played first half.
Lackawanna Trail gained 43 yards on its first four offensive plays to quickly reach the Northwest 31 before stalling.
Northwest fumbled at the Lackawanna Trail 19 in the first quarter, then reached the 3 before missing a field goal try 3:48 before halftime.
The Lions lost a fumble at the 8 with 2:29 left in the half.
The teams matched 70-yard scoring drives in the fourth quarter. Lackawanna Trail scored first on a 2-yard run by Nico Berrios.
Northwest 8, Lackawanna Trail 7
Lack. Trail`0`0`0`7 — 7
Northwest`0`0`0`8 — 8
Fourth quarter
LT – Nico Berrios 2 run (Cole Choplosky kick), 3:25
NW – George May 1 run (J.T. Brubaker pass from Ryan Wassel), 0:45
Team statistics`LT`NW
First downs`14`10
Rushes-yards`42-220`36-219
Passing yards`75`48
Total yards`295`267
Passing`5-9-1`2-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-31.5`3-40.7
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`2-23`4-41
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LT, Nico Berrios 14-86, Ray Melnikoff 12-72, Jeffrey Resto 9-37, Josh Brown 7-25. NW, George May 21-172, Ryan Wassel 10-41, Jake Bobersky 4-6, J.T. Brubaker 1-0.
PASSING — LT, Berrios 5-9-1-75. NW, Wassel 2-5-0-48, Brubaker 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING — LT, Melnikoff 3-40, Kilar Wallace 1-29, Brown 1-6. NW, Landon Hufford 1-36, Chase Biller 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS — LT, None. NW, Biller 1-18.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – LT, None. NW, Jack Wessler (20).
