Adams, Lake-Lehman turn in huge first half in rout of Nanticoke Area

HANOVER TWP. — It was the Ethan Adams show on Friday night, as Lake-Lehman’s senior signal-caller threw for five touchdowns and ran for one more as the Black Knights remained unbeaten with a 42-6 rout of Hanover Area.

“The line gave me plenty of time, and I was able to relax,” Adams said. “The lanes were open downfield.”

“We expect this of him — he’s going to make big plays,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said.

Adams finished his night early after a first half in which he threw for 276 yards, ran for 43 more and generally moved the ball at will against the Hawkeyes defense.

His favorite target was Jacob Monko, who hauled in four passes for 122 yards and three scores. Luke Spencer and Dustin Heinrich caught Adams’ two other touchdown passes.

After Adams marched the Black Knights down the field in under a minute to strike first, Hanover Area’s Bobby Sabecky brought back the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house, pulling the Hawkeyes to within a point after the extra point was blocked.

That was just about the only spark Hanover Area could muster all night, as Lake-Lehman’s defense stifled Hawkeyes quarterback Joe Curcio, rarely giving him any time to work.

“Our defense played very big tonight, it was a great effort,” Gilsky said. “A few miscues that we’ll work on, but overall a great job.”

The Black Knights defense held Hanover Area to just 133 yards of total offense, and had plenty of takeaways: three interceptions (two for Gavin Wallace, one for Ryan Eiden) and two forced fumbles.

On the other side, Lehman was surgical moving the ball through the air. Three touchdowns in the final 2:05 of the first half turned the game into a blowout, giving both teams the opportunity to work through some second-teamers.

“We treat the second-team guys like they’re starters,” Gilsky said. “They have to be ready to step in.”

Despite Hanover Area’s preference to run the football, their biggest plays came through the air, with the biggest being a 37-yard throw-and-catch from backup quarterback Christian Torres — who also picked off Adams earlier in the game — to Sean Dooner in the fourth quarter.

Lake-Lehman improved to 3-0 ahead of a tough test next week as the Black Knights will host rival and fellow unbeaten Dallas next Friday. Hanover Area, now 0-2, will look to break into the win column next week with Nanticoke Area coming to town.

Lake-Lehman 42, Hanover Area 6

Lake-Lehman`21`21`0`0 — 42

Hanover Area`6`0`0`0 — 6

First quarter

LL — Dustin Heinrich 17 pass from Ethan Adams (Max Paczewski kick) 11:09

HA — Bobby Sabecky 80 kickoff return (kick failed) 10:53

LL — Jacob Monko 47 pass from Adams (Paczewski kick) 5:44

LL — Monko 15 pass from Adams (Paczewski kick) 0:09

Second quarter

LL — Adams 7 run (Paczewski kick) 2:05

LL — Luke Spencer 27 pass from Adams (Paczewski kick) 1:48

LL — Monko 18 pass from Adams (Paczewski kick) 0:06

Team statistics`LL`HA

First downs`7`4

Rushes-yards`24-167`25-36

Passing yards`297`83

Total yards`464`119

Passing`14-21-1`4-13-3

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-20

Punts-avg.`1-11`3-24

Fumbles-lost`2-2`0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, Adams 6-43, Ryan Eiden 7-57, Jeremy Scouton 5-39, Jake Gizinski 1-0, Landon Schuckers 6-32. HA, Joe Curcio 5-(minus-18), Tavon Hines 4-10, Hunter Karpovich 8-24, Aiden Shamaski 3-17, Matthew Herbert 2-0, Christian Torres 2-3.

PASSING — LL, Adams 12-15-0-276, Schuckers 2-6-0-21. HA, Curcio 3-9-1-46, Torres 1-4-2-37.

RECEIVING — LL, Monko 4-122, Eiden 2-20, Heinrich 1-17, Marshall Woodrosky 2-51, Jake Trumbower 2-38, Spencer 1-27, Gavin Paraschak 1-2, Gavin Wallace 1-19. HA, Nick Gagliardi 1-12, Connor Hummer 2-34, Sean Dooner 1-37.

INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Wallace 2-15, Eiden 1-0. HA, Torres 1-0.

MISSED FGs — none.