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Lions run past Crusaders

Lackawanna Trail came up with its first win of the season over Holy Cross on Saturday.

By Don McGlynn dmcglynn@theabingtonjournal.com
Reporter/Photographer

DUNMORE-Lackawanna Trail Jr./Sr. High School football team’s running game was too much for the Holy Cross Crusaders to handle during their Saturday afternoon match up on Oct. 31 at Monsignor Crotti Field at St. Anthony’s Playground in Dunmore.

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Eric Laytos, shown above, finished the game with two touchdowns.

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Lackawanna Trail’s Sean Fricke, shown above, finished Saturday’s game with three touchdowns and 235 rushing yards.

Photos courtesy of Alice Stuffle

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The Lions team finished with a 39-29 win and its first victory of the season.

“It definitely feels good,” said Lackawanna Trail head coach Steve Jervis. “There were some things that we did well, and even in a win there were some things that we can work on. There were a lot of ups and downs and big momentum swings.”

One of the biggest momentum swings in Trail’s favor came in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. After an evenly matched three quarters of play, the Lions, down 20-21, put the ball in the hands of Sean Fricke, who ran 73 yards to the end zone to capture the lead.

It was Fricke’s third touchdown of the game. He finished the afternoon with 235 rushing yards.

On the Crusaders following possession, Trail’s Chris Dixon made a key interception that put the Lions in scoring possession on Holy Cross’ four-yard line, Eric Laytos ran the ball in for the touchdown.

Laytos ran the ball in for his second touchdown of the game later in the fourth quarter, following a Marvess Rosiak interception.

Holy Cross managed to get on the board again on a 15-yard pass from Travis Granzino to Dane Addley late in the fourth quarter. Addley ran in the two-point conversion, but it wouldn’t be enough and Trail walked home with the win.

“We just played very well on both sides of the ball,” said Fricke. “The linemen did great on both sides of the ball making open holes and tackling.”

Fricke’s first touchdown came late in the first quarter on a five-yard run that capped off an eight-play scoring drive. Holy Cross answered back on their following possession, scoring on a Robert Heyen 10-yard touchdown run.

With no time left on the clock in the first half, Erich Aten connected a 17-yard pass to Chris Dixon in the end zone to reclaim the lead for Trail and enter the third quarter with a 14-7 lead.

Holy Cross outscored Trail in the third quarter 14 to 6, coming up with touchdowns on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Michael Paddock to Lou Ginacopoulos and on a 37-yard Tyler Hinkley run to lead the game by one before Trail came back to win.

Now, with one win under their belt, Trail is looking forward to going head-to-head with Mid Valley, who is just coming off a 28-6 loss to Old Forge, and possibly end their season on a high note.

“The seniors are going to leave it all on the field,” said Fricke. “It’s the last game of the season, maybe the last game of our career, and we just have to play hard and, hopefully, we can pull out an upset.”

Lackawanna Trail will take on Mid Valley at home Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.