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Belmont Charter over Lackawanna Trail in a wild shootout

Tagged under: District 12, District 2, Gameday Hub, pfn, Playoffs

| November 22, 2025

After a scoreless first quarter, Belmont Charter took advantage of 3 turnovers by Lackawanna Trail that turned into 20 points and 2 turnovers on downs that turned into another 12 points and the Tigers defeated the Lions 52-40 on a misty night at Northern Lehigh Bulldog Stadium in Slatington.  For the game, Belmont RB Shyneem Newsuan had 3 TD runs and QB Nafis Watkins threw for 5 TD’s.  Lackawanna Trail RB Sean Dwyer had 2 TD runs and RB Isaac Ryon had 3 TD runs in the 2nd half alone.

PLEASE NOTE as I list any individual accomplishments:  Belmont Charter wore black uniforms and the player numbers were not easily visible on almost all of their plays, so please understand if there are any mistakes in this game recap, or in any of the scoring plays posted on X.  The PA announcer could not call out any player names either!

Lackawanna Trail won the toss and deferred, so Belmont Charter received the opening kickoff.  Their initial drive made it into Lion territory at the 42 before it stalled.  Unfortunately, Trail fumbled the snap at their own 20 on their first play and Belmont recovered.  The Lion defense made a huge stop however on a 4th-and-goal at the 2 to takeover on downs.  Trail then executed a sustained 10-play drive, and they got on the board on the first play of the 2nd quarter when QB Tyler Jervis hit WR Tim Richmond for a 49-yard catch and run TD.  With 11:50 left in the 2nd quarter, Lackawanna Trail had a 7-0 lead.

Trail then held Belmont to a 3-and-out on their next drive, but just as the Lions were moving down the field disaster struck on the 3rd play of the drive when RB Sean Dwyer fumbled and Belmont recovered at the Trail 19.  2 plays later it was Belmont RB Shyneem Newsuan who broke away on a 10-yard run to paydirt.  Belmont then converted the 2-point conversion and took an 8-7 lead with 7:16 left in the 2nd quarter.

Lackawanna Trail then struck very quickly on their next possession as Jervis hit Richmond again, this time for a huge 56-yard reception down to the Belmont 7 and then Dwyer ran it in from there to make it 14-8 Trail with 6:09 left in the 2nd quarter.  Belmont wasn’t to be outdone though, as they got a big kickoff return out to the Trail 46.  7 plays later it was Tiger QB Nafis Watkins who threw it to WR Aiden Ivery for a 20-yard score, and with another successful 2-point conversion it was Belmont with a 16-14 lead with 3:11 left in the 2nd quarter.

Then things got wild.

Richmond got a huge return for Trail out to their own 47, but Jervis was intercepted on the very next play by the Tigers and the ball was returned to the Trail 23.  6 plays later Watkins hit WR Tahir Tucker for an 11-yard score.  The 2-point conversion failed but Belmont had extended their lead to 22-14 with 1:03 left in the half.  Trail then got yet another huge kick return from Richmond all the way down to the Belmont 14.  It was then that RB Isaac Ryon entered the game, having been held out to this point due to injury.  He gained a quick 3 yards and after a Belmont penalty it was Dwyer who ran it in from 6 yards out.  The PAT was blocked and at halftime Belmont had a 22-20 lead.

Starting the 3rd quarter, Belmont attempted an onside kick but Trail recovered the ball at their own 43.  With Ryon in the game, the Lions used the Wing-T offense to try to establish their run game with Ryon.  He gained 14 yards on 3 runs but a Jervis keeper on 4th-and-1 fell short and Belmont took over on downs.  After a delay of game penalty pushed them back to their own 44, Watkins went to work again and hit WR Kabir Knight for a nice 24-yard gain, and 2 plays later Watkins hit Tucker again for a 28-yard score.  The 2-point conversion failed, but Belmont extended their lead to 28-20 with 8:40 left in the 3rd quarter.

Trail got a nice kick return from Dwyer out to the Trail 41, and the Wing-T fired up again.  Jervis had a 10-yard run followed by 11 yards from Ryon and 3 yards from Dwyer.  Ryon then was stopped for no gain but as he ran the next play a personal foul penalty on Belmont moved Trail down to the Tiger 14.  2 plays later another personal foul on the Tigers put Trail at the Belmont 5, and Ryon scored 2 plays later on a 1-yard run.  The 2-point conversion failed, and Belmont still had a 28-26 lead with 4:04 left in the 3rd quarter.

Then things got fast and furious in the game.

Belmont got a big kick return out to their own 48, and on the 1st play it was Newsuan on a 52-yard run to the endzone.  The 2-point conversion failed, but Belmont extended their lead to 34-26 with 3:49 left in the 3rd quarter.  Disaster then struck Trail as the ensuing kickoff was a squib kick that couldn’t be handled by Trail and it was a fumble recovery for Belmont at the Trail 22.  Watkins then hit Tucker again for a 22-yard score.  The 2-point conversion failed and Belmont then had a 40-26 lead with 3:36 left in the 3rd quarter.

Trail steadied themselves, and on the ensuing kickoff Ryon had a nice return to the Trail 49.  The Lions then executed a nice 9-play drive that continued into the 4th quarter and was capped by a Ryon 4-yard run to draw the Lions closer at 40-33 with 11:34 left in the 4th quarter.  Belmont began their next drive at their own 36 and Trail’s defense made 2 big stops.  A delay of game penalty made it 3rd and 13 at the Belmont 33.  Watkins then threw a screen pass to WR Kabir Knight and Knight’s knee actually hit the ground which would’ve halted the play, but instead he ran down the right sideline 67 yards for a score.  The 2-point conversion failed and Belmont had a 46-33 lead with 9:55 left in the 4th quarter.

Trail had another shot as another nice kick return gave them good field position at their own 41.  Unfortunately, the drive stalled at the Belmont 11 when Ryon was stopped 1 yard short.  Taking over at their own 11, Belmont got an 11-yard run from Newsuan and then on the next play it was Newsuan again who broke free on a 74-yard TD run.  The 2-point conversion failed, but Belmont had taken a commanding 52-33 lead with only 3:30 left in the game.  With time running short, Trail did get one more score when Ryon hit paydirt from 2 yards out to make it 52-40 with 14 seconds left.  Trail then kicked it off, and rather than take a knee Belmont ran the kick back for what appeared to be another TD but it was called back for a holding penalty.  Having to run one more untimed down, Belmont thought the better of it this time and kneeled it out for the win.

Lackawanna Trail fell to 12-2.  Belmont Charter improved to 10-1 and will advance to face defending Class 1A State Champion Bishop Guilfoyle in a semifinal matchup next week.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery from the game here, courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  PHOTO GALLERY

Also, check out the video highlights of the game here, courtesy of Jake Mills:  VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

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