Avonworth Rolls Northwestern Lehigh, Wins First Title In School History

Tagged under: District 11, District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

Davin Ridall | December 6, 2025

MECHANICSBURG – A season ago, Avonworth’s title hopes came crashing down thanks to a 10-yard run by Northwestern Lehigh’s Eli Zimmerman that delivered the game-winning touchdown in overtime. This time around, Avonworth was not to be denied, as they avenged their loss from a season ago and took down Northwestern Lehigh in dominant fashion, 31-7.

It was clear from the first snap of the game that the Antelopes’ defense came to play, forcing 3 three-and-outs on the Tigers’ first five drives and a turnover on downs. On offense, Avonworth scored on its very first play, a 53-yard bomb from Carson Bellinger to Jaden Jones.

“When you see their coverage, and they’re playing single coverage on [Jones], we said we were going to start in this set and see how they defend it,” head coach Duke Johncour said about Avonworth’s opening play call. Jones finished the game with seven receptions for 187 yards and a touchdown, setting a new state record for most receiving yards in a title game, surpassing Travis Thompson’s 172 yards in 2017.

A key note for Avonworth heading into this game was that their starting running back, Dimitri Velisaris, was ruled out because of a bruised leg. Velisaris was just under 1,500 yards on the year while scoring 24 touchdowns. This required Luca Neal to take over as the lead back, which he was very familiar with.

In Avonworth’s first matchup against Northwestern Lehigh from a year ago, Neal rushed for 252 yards on 36 carries and four touchdowns in the Antelopes’ 36-33 overtime loss. This year, Neal put up another impressive performance, racking up 118 yards on 21 carries and three more touchdowns. “Luca is just a special player, just unbelievable. When he gets the ball in his hands, you can’t go wrong,” coach Johncour said about Neal’s performance.

The Tigers’ offense this season, up until this game, was averaging 43 points per game and had never scored fewer than 34, but the Antelopes’ defense held them to 7 points. Northwestern Lehigh finished the game with 187 total yards, 87 of which came on their lone scoring drive in the game. It is also worth noting that the Tigers had five defensive takeaways and scored 0 points off those turnovers. “We made sure not to give up the big plays. Those guys have such a talented group of kids, we gave up a big play early and they made us pay for it but other than that, we kept pressure on them, we put their quarterback into some uncomfortable situations that he hasn’t seen all year and it paid off.”

This year was the first since 2019 that Avonworth entered the state title game undefeated, and this time, they completed the perfect season. “This means everything, this group of guys we have is special. We’ve been through a lot together, last year losing here in overtime was the worst feeling I’ve ever had, but coming back here and winning means everything to this group,” quarterback Carson Bellinger said following the win.

Avonworth 31 Northwestern Lehigh 7

Score by Quarters

Avonworth – 14 10 0 7 – 31

Northwestern Lehigh – 7 0 0 0 – 7

Scoring Summary

FIrst Quarter

A – Jaden Jones 53 yd pass from Carson Bellinger, (Calder Mahan pat), 10:19

N – Braxton Lakatosh 2 yd run, (Chase Sukanick pat), 5:11

A – Luca Neal 8 yd run, (Mahan pat), 1:52

Second Quarter

A – Neal 9 yd run, (Mahan pat), 9:41

A – Mahan 21 yd field goal, 3:09

Fourth Quarter

A – Neal 8 yd run, (Mahan pat), 9:01

Individual Stats

Rushing: A – Neal 21-118, Gavin McDowell 3-26, Logan Krul 1-5, Jones 1-0, Mahan 1-(-6), Bellinger 6-(-6), Team 2-(-2). Totals: 35-135. N – Lakatosh 12-46, Chase Sukanick 4-10, Mason Bollinger 1-(-2), Leh 8-(-3), Brady Zimmerman 1-(-4), Team 1-(-4). Totals: 27-43.

Receiving: A – Jones 7-187, Neal 2-62. N – Shane Hulmes 3-44, Bollinger 3-43, Zimmerman 4-33, Mike Lagowy 3-24.

Passing: A – Bellinger 9-for-11, 249 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT. N – Leh 13 for 29, 144 yards, 1 INT.

Interceptions: A – Jackson Krul. N – Leh, Kemurry Morgan.

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