Lakeland Edges Lake-Lehman 14-11 for District 2 3A Title
Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News
PFN Staff | November 7, 2020
The Lakeland Chiefs defeated the Lake-Lehman Black Knights 14-11 at Lakeland Friday night to capture the District 2 3A Title. The unbeaten Chiefs were tested on every aspect of the play by the highly touted Black Knights who came into the game with only one lost. From the opening kickoff to the final whistle, it was exciting- despite being a low scoring game. The first quarter was really a dual of two excellent punters : Max Paczewski for the Knights and C.J. Dippre for the Chiefs. Both teams kept their opponents deep in their own territory in the first quarter with excellent punts and it was Max Paczewski who put the first score on the board with a 37 yard picture perfect field goal to put the Knights ahead 3-0 with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter. After that, the defensive battle returned with both teams playing tug of war. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter, Lakeland launched a drive sparked by RB Giovanni Spataro who broke several tackles on 56-yard run that put the Chiefs in excellent field position on Black Knight 20-yard line with 1:50 left. The Chiefs titter totter back and fort with good runs negated by penalties, eating precious time up before the half; but with only 19 seconds left, sophomore QB Dominico Spataro hit WR Mike Pidgeon for a 12 yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good. Lakeland led 7-3. The Black Knights went into the locker at half-time trailing for the first time this year.
The Chiefs got the opening kickoff to start the second half and came out roaring. It only took two plays for the Chiefs to put another score on the board when workhorse Giovanni Spataro made two outstanding runs: one for 60 yards and the touchdown run for 19, extending the Lakeland’s lead 13-3. The extra point was good and Black Knights were behind 14-3 before some players sat down on the bench. Despite the early splash of offense power by Lakeland, neither team would put any more points on the board in the third quarter. It would be all defense. The sound of bone crushing tackles could be heard from the bleachers.
The final quarter Lake-Lehman left nothing on the table. They had opportunities to score, but only saw paid dirt late in the fourth quarter when QB Ethan Adams threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to RB Danny Kutz. A successful two-point conversion narrowed the score 14-11 with only 2:39 left on the clock. The Knights would get one more chance to score, but a failed pass-lateral on fourth down resulted in turning the ball over to the Chiefs as the clock ran out as well their hopes for a run at a State title.
Lakeland (5-0) will play Wyomissing (7-0) next week
With 19 seconds Nico Spataro hits Number 19 Mike Pidgeon for the score extra point good 7-3 Lakeland @PaFootballNews pic.twitter.com/51Khdrg5bK
— district 2 football news (@district2footb1) November 7, 2020
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