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Lackawanna Trail defeats Riverside for the LFC Division 3 title

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| October 26, 2024

The Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title was on the line as Riverside made the trip up to play at Lackawanna Trail. Riverside was a perfect 9-0 while Trail’s only loss was to a tough Western Wayne squad. The stakes were high and there was a playoff-type atmosphere right up until the opening kick.

Once the teams lined up for the opening kickoff, things changed very quickly.

Lackawanna Trail used their strong ground game and a swarming defense to dominate both sides of the ball and invoked the mercy rule early in the 4th quarter as they got a huge victory over the Vikings 42-20, claiming the LFC Division 3 crown. RB Demitrius Douglas had 2 rushing TD’s and a defensive TD, and RB Isaac Ryon scored 2 TD’s.

Riverside won the coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half. On the opening kickoff, the ball went out of bounds for a penalty, and Lackawanna Trail chose to have Riverside re-kick. On the 2nd attempt, Riverside attempted an onside kick and it was successful as they recovered it at the 50. Unfortunately, on the very first play, QB Chase Taddonio scrambled to the right and was swarmed by the Lion defense and fumbled. Trail recovered the fumble at the 50, and went right to their running game. RB Isaac Ryon ran it 3 straight times for 23 yards and then RB Demitrius Douglas was stopped for no gain. Ryon and Douglas then alternated runs and gained yardage down to the Riverside 6, and on a 1st-and-goal from there it was Douglas dragging defenders on a tough 6-yard TD run. The PAT missed, and with 7:19 left in the 1st quarter it was 6-0 in favor of Lackawanna Trail.

Riverside started their initial driver at their own 36. TE/FB Richie Kostoff got right to work on the first play with a big 38-yard run to the Trail 26 yard line. RB Quinn Puchilowski then had a nice 14-yard run to the Trail 12. Kostoff then ran it for 4, and then another 4 to make it 1st-and-goal at the 4. Kostoff then capped the drive with another 4-yard run for the score. With 4:44 left in the 1st quarter, Riverside took a 7-6 lead.

At this point we thought we were in for a dandy of a game, but this was as close as the game was all night.

Trail started their next drive at their own 37. Starting up the ground game again on this drive that lasted into the 2nd quarter, Douglas ran 4 times for 26 yards, QB Tyler Jervis ran for 2 yards and Ryon had 5 runs totaling 30-yards including a 2-yard TD run. After Ryon also ran in the 2-point conversion, the score was 14-7 for Lackawanna Trail with 9:43 left in the 1st half.

Riverside started their next drive on their own 32, and the Trail defense swarmed in on the Vikings. Runs by Kostoff and OL Tavian Branch went for a net loss of 2 yards, and a 3rd down pass was overthrown and incomplete to force a punt. Unfortunately, Trail could not manage much on their drive and a 4th-down keeper by Jervis fell about an inch short of the line to gain and Riverside took over on downs at the Trail 46. Riverside also could not gain much yardage and on a 4th-and-3 from the 39 it was a bad snap that Taddonio had to fall on and it was a turnover on downs to Trail at their own 40.

Shaking things up to start the next drive, Jervis aired it out and hit Ryon down the right sideline for a big 28-yard gain to the Riverside 32. Ryon then had 2 runs for 17 yards and Douglas then had 2 runs for 15 yards, the 2nd of which was a 1-yard score that made it 21-7 Trail with only 19 seconds left in the half.

Riverside got the ball back with only a few seconds on the clock but could muster only 5 yards as time expired in the half. The Vikings took the second half kickoff and started their drive at their own 34. Puchilowski ran it for 4 yards, but a false start on 2nd down gave it all back and more. Puchilowski ran it for a yard, then 3rd-and-10 from the 34 Taddonio threw it to WR Brayden Rose for 6 yards. On 4th-and-4 for the 41, Puchilowski gained only 2 yards and Riverside turned over on downs at their own 43.

Trail wasted no time, as Ryon hit it big on a nice 35-yard run to the Riverside 8. Douglas then ran for a loss of 2 yards but Ryon redeemed it for him on the next play — a 10-yard TD run that made it 28-7 with 7:34 left in the 3rd quarter.

Riverside needed a strong drive to stay in the game. Starting at their own 30, a bad snap caused a hurried throw from Taddonio and an incomplete pass. On 2nd down, Puchilowski had a nice run but a holding penalty made it 2nd-and-20 at the 20. The next 2 plays were near miss passes that both fell incomplete and forced a punt. The punt was shanked and netted only 12 yards, so Trail took over at the Riverside 32. On the very next play, Jervis hit WR Max Kimmel for a 32-yard TD that extended Trail’s lead at 35-7 with 6:22 left in the 3rd quarter.

On the next drive for Riverside, which started at their own 39, QB Cooper Borowski came into the game and ran it for 4 yards. The next 2 plays were both sweeps to WR Carmello Barnett, and both were met immediately by Kimmel for the Lions for losses totaling 11 yards. Trail started their next drive at their own 40, and with the game well in hand there were several substitutions made. The drive lasted into the 4th quarter and Trail made it to the Riverside 22 before a turnover on downs. On Riverside’s very first play of their next drive, Borowski fumbled and there was a scramble for the ball which bounced back to the 5-yard line where it was scooped up by Douglas and run in for the defensive score for Trail. Their lead was now 42-7 and the mercy rule was invoked.

With many backups now in the game on both sides, Riverside did get a TD on a Borowski to Rose 44-yard connection with under 6 minutes to play, and a 57-yard TD from Borowski to Rose with 1:30 left in the game. Trail then took possession and kneeled it out for the win.

After the game, there was much to celebrate for Lackawanna Trail, but Head Coach Steve Jervis reminded everyone “Now the real season begins.” Both Riverside and Lackawanna Trail enter the playoffs, with Trail playing in a sub-regional with District 11 against an opponent to be determined. Riverside will head home to face the Lakeland Chiefs in the opening round of the District 2 Class 2A playoffs.

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

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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