Southern Lehigh Wins Battle of Spartans 34-14 over North Schuylkill

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Cody Brady | September 13, 2025

Solehi v North Skook by PAFootball Newsdotcom
The war in the trenches belonged to Southern Lehigh, as the running attack racked up nearly 300 yards and three scores on the night. All three of those touchdowns on the ground belonged to Sean Steckert and all three came at crucial times in the game.

Coming off a 21-20 victory against Lehighton, Southern Lehigh knew they needed to play better against the team from Ashland. The tone was set, as North Schuylkill gained only three combined yards on their first two drives, while Solehi turned their first two possessions into scores.

The first of three Sean Steckert scores came from 26 yards out with 9:28 to go. He broke through the right side of the line untouched.

Southern Lehigh clicked on their second drive as well, as Otto Young caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Colton Sams. With less than eight minutes played, Southern Lehigh led 14-0.

Luke Miller got North Schuylkill back into it, when he broke down the left sideline 50 yards, capping a seven play touchdown drive. A two-point conversion made it 14-8 early in the second quarter.

But Southern Lehigh’s offense ate the next 6:02, going 80 yards in 13 plays. Steckert capped it with a 15-yard score, blasting through the line one more time.

North Schuylkill had a chance to respond late in the half, but their drive stalled on the Southern Lehigh 5-yard line with an incompletion on fourth down. Despite 132 rushing yards by halftime, North Schuylkill had been heavily limited on their offensive game, running only eight plays in Southern territory. Steckert carried 17 times for 129 yards at the half.

In the opening moments of the third quarter, Darius Roman got behind the entire secondary and cruised into the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown reception that provided serious separation for the team from Coopersburg. With a 27-8 lead, their victory seemed inevitable.

North Schuylkill fought back, though, as QB Caden Mengel got his running game going with an 18-yard touchdown carry. This came one play after he hooked up with Luke Miller on a 52-yard strike to set his team up in the red zone.

North Schuylkill then drove inside the Southern Lehigh 30, but an incompletion on fourth down caused the turnover on downs. Early in the fourth, Dylan Gretz got serious pressure on Mengel to force a fourth down incompletion. That gave the ball back to Solehi at the North Schuylkill 41. The Spartans went to the ground and pound offense one more time and Steckert capped the game’s scoring with a 2-yard touchdown to make it 34-14 with under four minutes left.

Steckert finished with 34 carries for 260 yards and three scores. Colton Sams went 7-for-10 for 111 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Caden Mengel completed 10 of 15 passes for 108 yards.

Both teams will be home next week, as Southern Lehigh(4-0) hosts Pottsville and North Schuylkill(2-2) will face Jim Thorpe.

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