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TUNKHANNOCK — Lake-Lehman ran every which way past Tunkhannock en route to a 49-26 victory on a soggy field on Homecoming at Tunkhannock Memorial Stadium Friday night.
Lehman out-gained the Tigers 587-155 total yards of offense, including 446 on the ground. The Black Knights averaged almost eight yards per carry as a team.
Lehman senior quarterback Vince Ferrari had two scoring runs of one and five yards while adding three more scores through the air to lead the way for the Knights.
The Knights had three 100-yard rushers: senior Charlie Kuschke led the way with 137 yards on 12 carries while Zack Kojadinovich (13 for 121) and Jake Tomalonis (8 for 110) added to their ground game.
A 30-yard halfback pass from Tomolonis helped set up the first score, a 6-yard run by Zack Kojadinovich. The previous two plays were called back on holding penalties, including a would-be 38-yard TD run by scatback Kuschke.
In a battle to reach .500, Lake-Lehman (3-3) went into the locker room with a 28-14 advantage. The Black Knights, however, continued to unleash a stable of runners on the Tigers (2-4).
The Tigers next 10-play drive amounted to a turnover on downs facing a fourth and 16, at the Knights’ 24. Four plays later Tomolonis nearly took a counter-trap run 34 yards to the house only to have it called back on holding.
“There were a lot of penalties tonight and when you’re playing lot of younger guys you just have to polish up and get better at that every week,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said.
Dual-threat quarterback Logan Cywinski, nursing a hamstring injury, had just one carry in the first half.
“Our starting quarterback (Cywinski) played limited tonight because he’s still not 100 percent, but I think we’ll be good for next week against Crestwood.” Tunkhannock Coach Jan Cechak said.
Tunkhannock’s Mike Taylor returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter as the Tigers closed within 42-20. Taylor earlier brought back a 57-yard interception for a touchdown to tie the score at 7-7 in the second quarter.
“Expectations are still high,” Cechak said. “We’ve got to make sure that the kids understand they know how to win and keep their confidence up and just keep going.”
With 5:40 remaining in the third quarter, the Tigers gained back some momentum when they stripped the balled from Ferrari and took over at the Knights’ 40.
Two plays later the Knights answered the turnover bout when senior defensive back Matt Myers made an interception.
Kojadinovich scampered back and forth across the field for a 34 gain down to the Tunkhannock 5. On the next play, Ferrari fumbled, then recovered and ran straight up the middle for a five-yard score to put the Black Knights up 49-20 with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.
Tigers quarterback Zach Rogers rounded out the scoring for the Tigers, throwing a nine-yard score in the fourth quarter.
“The second half of the season is a new season and we’re going to keep polishing our skills,” Gilsky said. “It’s amazing when you have to play a lot of two and threes (on the depth chart) like we did tonight.”
Lake-Lehman 49, Tunkhannock 26
Lake-Lehman`7`21`21`0`—`49
Tunkhannock`0`14`6`6`—`26
First quarter
L — Kojadinovich 6 run (Wnuk kick), 0:42
Second quarter
T — Mike Taylor 57-yard interception return (BillyPrebola kick), 7:34
L — JesseTomalonis 15 run (NickWnuk kick), 2:27
L — Vince Ferrari 38 pass to NoahGorski (Wnuk kick), :53
L — Ferrari 15 pass to CharlieKuschke (Wnuk kick), :04
T — Hopkins 60 kick return (Prebola kick), :00
Third quarter
L — Ferrari 45 pass to ZackKojadinovich (Wnuk kick) 11:41
L — Ferrari 1 run (Wnuk kick) 7:28
T — Mike Taylor 75 kick return (kick blocked) 7:16
L — Ferrari 5 run (Wnuk kick) 0:34
Fourth quarter
T — Rogers 9 pass to Hopkins (pass falied) 3:52
Team statistics`LL`TUN
First downs`6`17
Rushes-yards`18-79`56-446
Passing yards`76`141
Total yards`155`587
Passing`6-19-1`6-9-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-2
Punts-avg.`4-32`0-0
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`4-35`10-90
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Charlie Kuschke 12-137, Zack Kojadinovich 13-121, Jake Tomolonis 8-110TD, Vince Ferrari 7-23, Kurtz 5-28, Jesse Tomolonis 1-(-5), Kutz 2-2, Myers 1-3, LaBar 3-10, Cummins 3-11, O’Brien 1- (-1).TUN, Mike Taylor 8-25, Logan Cywinski 10-54.
PASSING — LL, Ferrari 5-8-1-110, Tomolonis 1-1-30. TUN, Zach Rogers 6-19-1-76.
RECEIVING — LL, Gorski 3-76, Kuschke 1-15, Kojadinovich 1-45. TUN, Stephens 3-22, Muckin 2-50, Rice 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Myers. TUN, Mike Taylor 1-57.
MISSED FGs — TUN, None. LL, None.
