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Avonworth earns rematch with Northwestern Lehigh with 31-15 win over Penn Cambria

Tagged under: District 6, District 7, Gameday Hub, News

| November 29, 2025

With the snow flying and wind swirling creating near whiteout conditions at Indiana High School, the Panthers and Antelopes were set to retry the 2024 semi-final that saw the Lopes eek out a 16-6 win. Midway through the 2025 edition of this game, it looked like we were heading for a similar game. Penn Cambria, trailing 14-7 with just over a minute left in the first half, faced a 4 and four on the Lopes 11 yard line. Avonworth jumped offsides giving the Panthers a first and goal on the six. A penalty, two incomplete passes and a missed field goal was as close as Penn Cambria would get. Avonworths Luca Neal stole the second half and the Lopes earned a rematch with Northwestern Lehigh for the 3A title next Friday at Cumberland Valley with a 31-15 win.

The Panther defense started the game doing what they did all year. Avonworth did not do what they normally do. After a 30 penalty dropped the Lopes back to their 39, Noah Jones picked off Avonworth quarterback Carson Bellinger on the first drive of the game. The Panthers failed to move the ball and on their second drive Avonworth got to the Panther 19 but missed a field goal attempt from 22 yards out. The game stayed scoreless at the end of the first quarter.

Then the action picked up as the snow and wind slowed. After forcing a punt, Avonworth had the ball on their own 29, Luca Neal ran for four yards, then on the next play he took a short pass from Bellinger, slipped a tackle then turned on the burners racing 67 yards for the score. Calder Mahan kicked the pat giving the Lopes a 7-0 lead at the start of the second quarter.

Penn Cambria responded with a solid 3 play drive of their own. First they got a nice kick return to the 44, a short run by Corbin Vinglish then Brady Jones found Blake Lilly on the sidelines. He did the rest evading tacklers and racing 27 yards to tie the game at 7 with 7:14 left in the first half.

That lead lasted exacted 57 seconds. Bellinger found Jaden Jones over the middle and he was off to the races going 75 yards to put Avonworth back on top 14-7.


Penn Cambria went on a long, time consuming 74 yard drive that ended with the missed field goal. The Panthers got the ball first in the second half but gave the ball up on downs at the Avonworth 35. That’s when Neal stole the show. First he burst loose for a 42 yard gain, then a 5 yard run before plowing over a Panther defender to put Avonworth up 21-7 with 7:19 left in the third quarter.


“Luca just did what Luca does in the second half” said Avonworth Head Coach Duke Joncour. “First half couple penalties put us behind we had to fight a little bit of adversity, we told them at halftime to come out and do your thing. We came out, established the line of scrimmage and Luca got his yards and did a great job”. Neal finished with 137 yards on the ground with 2 tds and the 67 yard td reception.

Neal broke off on another 18 yard td late in the third making it a 28-7 lead, then the Lopes got a 29 yard field goal to make it 31-7 midway through the fourth.

Penn Cambria scored on a 32 yard td from Jones to Noah Jones to close out the scoring. Penn Cambria’s season comes to a close with a 12-3 record.

Avonworth moves on to the state finals for a second chance at Northwestern Lehigh.

 

 

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