Lackawanna Trail holds off Line Mountain, advances to State Quarterfinals (VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS)

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Jared Samuel | November 15, 2025

This particular matchup was billed as Line Mountain’s passing attack vs. Lackawanna Trail’s Wing-T running attack, and also whose defense would step up to make the stops.  Line Mountain’s passing game was effective at times and their defense played strong for a good part of the game, while Lackawanna Trail’s defense played tough enough against the pass to frustrate the Eagles, who made 2 critical mistakes that turned into touchdowns as Lackawanna Trail defeated Line Mountain 31-20 to advance in the state playoffs.  Lackawanna Trail RB Isaac Ryon ran for 145 yards and 2 rushing TD’s plus a 20-yard field goal, and QB Tyler Jervis had a rushing TD and an interception return TD.  Line Mountain QB Kaiden Maurer threw for 3 TD’s.

Lackawanna Trail won the toss and deferred, so Line Mountain took the opening kickoff.  The Eagle running game was initially effective as Trail was more concerned with defending the pass, but the Lions adjusted and used their front seven defenders effectively to make stops.  Line Mountain QB Kaiden Maurer then went to work through the air and drove the Eagles past midfield.  Unfortunately, on a 3rd and 9 from the Trail 18 it was Trail’s Kaylix Douglas who blitzed and tipped a Maurer pass that deflected into the hands of Trail LB Tyler Jervis who scampered 75-yards down the field for the score.  With 4:51 left in the 1st quarter, Trail had a 7-0 lead.

Line Mountain then settled in and executed an 11-play 75 yard drive that was capped when Maurer hit WR Bryce Smeltz on a 41-yard pass that tied the game 7-7 with 6 seconds left in the 1st quarter.  To this point, Lackawanna Trail had not even run an offensive play yet the score was tied.

Trail started the 2nd quarter working on an 8-play drive that stalled inside the Eagle red zone, and RB Isaac Ryon came on and drilled a 20-yard field goal to put Trail up 10-7 with 7:57 left in the 1st half.  The Lion defense then came up big on the next Line Mountain drive, forcing a 3-and-out and leaving the Eagles to punt it away from their own end zone.  The punt attempt went badly as it was a bad snap followed by a scramble and an incomplete pass and the result was 1st and 10 Lackawanna Trail from the Line Mountain 10.  Ryon made them pay immediately as he ran it in from the 10 to make it 17-7 Trail with 6:14 left in the half.

Line Mountain felt the urgency to get points before the half and started their next drive at their own 34.  Using a mix of runs and passes, the Eagles executed an 8-play 66-yard drive that ended when Maurer hit WR Hank Malfara on a beautiful fade route in the right side of the end zone to make it 17-14 Trail with 2:00 left in the half.  Lackawanna Trail did drive down inside the Line Mountain 30 as the half expired but came away empty-handed.

Lackawanna Trail received the second half kickoff and began a very deliberate drive, taking their time to execute plays efficiently.  It took 9 plays, all runs, to execute the 62-yard drive that ended with a Ryon 22-yard TD run that made it 24-14 Trail with 6:59 left in the 3rd quarter.  The most important drive of the game then occurred as Line Mountain began at their own 20.  10 plays later, the Eagles found themselves with a 1st and goal at the Trail 6 yard line.  Maurer ran it on 1st down and lost about a half yard, then he threw an incomplete pass.  Line Mountain called their final timeout of the game to draw up a halfback option play, but the pass fell incomplete intended for Maurer in the end zone.  Facing 4th and goal at the 6, the Trail defense rose up and drilled Maurer as he tried the keeper off the left side and the Lions took over on downs.

As the 3rd quarter gave way to the 4th, Trail could not get anything going on their ensuing drive as the Eagle defense stopped 3 successive runs to force a punt.  The punt attempt was partially blocked and Line Mountain took over at the Trail 30.  Unfortunately disaster struck immediately as Maurer rolled left and threw the ball towards WR Dalton Schadel, who fell down on the play, and the pass was picked off by Ryon who returned it to the Trail 49.  6 plays later, QB Tyler Jervis scored on a 2-yard keeper to make it 31-14 Trail with only 6:59 left in the game.

Line Mountain then ran a spirited drive starting at their own 7.  They executed 11 plays, 9 of which were passes including the last which was a 12-yard TD pass from Maurer to Schadel.  The 2-point conversion failed, and it was 31-20 Trail with 3:12 remaining.  Lackawanna Trail, knowing that Line Mountain had no timeouts left, ran 2 plays including a 23-yard keeper by Jervis and then kneeled it out for the win.

Lackawanna Trail improved to 12-1 and will continue on to face Belmont Charter in the PIAA Class 1A State Quarterfinals.  Line Mountain concluded their season at 12-1.

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