HS Football: Lackawanna Trail runs past Jenkintown

Herb Smith, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·3 min read

Nov. 10—CLINTON TWP. — Lukas Gumble's first carry set the tone for Lackawanna Trail.

The junior broke off the left side for a 66-yard gain on the Lions' first play from scrimmage and Lackawanna Trail was off and running en route to a 40-7 win over Jenkintown in the District 1-2 Class 1A subregional final Thursday at Lions Pride Stadium.

Lackawanna Trail (8-4) will host Northern Lehigh in the first round of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs at a site in District 2 yet to be determined. Northern Lehigh defeated Tri-Valley, 40-15, in the District 11 championship game, setting up a rematch from last year's Class 2A playoffs won by Northern Lehigh, 35-14.

Lackawanna Trail forced a punt on Jenkintown's first possession and Gumble's 66-yard run on Lackawanna Trail's first play moved the ball to the Jenkintown 5.

"That definitely set the tone," Gumble said. "I saw a huge hole. The pulling guard had a really nice block. He flattened the kid that he was supposed to get and it just opened right up."

Three plays later, Gumble took a pitch to the right and ran in for a 4-yard touchdown to give Lackawanna Trail a 7-0 lead. On Jenkintown's next drive, the Drakes ran an option play, but the running back could not handle the pitch. Gumble scooped up the ball and ran 24 yards for a touchdown.

"I had pitch man on that and he just fumbled the ball, a perfect bounce into my arms and it just demoralized them to be down two scores in the first quarter," Gumble said.

Jenkintown (7-5) put together an 18-play drive on its next possession, converting three fourth downs along the way. But on third-and-goal from the 8, Demetrius Douglas came off the edge on a blitz and sacked the quarterback for a 14-yard loss. A 38-yard field goal attempt on fourth down was off the mark and Lackawanna Trail held its 13-0 lead.

"I think our biggest concern was, obviously last Friday was a really emotional win for us (over Old Forge)," Lackawanna Trail coach Steve Jervis said. "You don't want to have a let down. You don't want to have that week where it's like, 'Jeez, what happened?' I thought early on we were a little hesitant on defense. We still would have liked to get off the field a couple of times on those fourth downs, but that's a credit to Jenkintown."

After the missed field goal, the Lions quickly drove 80 yards in six plays. Douglas had a 36-yard gain and Gumble had a 40-yard run. Stephen Jervis capped the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a score and the two-point conversion pushed the lead to 21-0.

Lackawanna Trail stopped Jenkintown on fourth down near midfield with 4:30 left in the first half and Gumble's 12-yard touchdown run three minutes later gave the Lions a 28-0 halftime lead. Gumble finished with 125 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just eight carries and the team totaled 317 yards on the ground.

"I think our offensive line is really improving week to week and we do have a very talented stable of backs," coach Jervis said. "Between Lukas, Demetrius, Hunter (Patterson), Stephen — we have four options to run the ball and they all run the ball hard so it's hard to key on just one of them."