Lehighton's Jayse Lawrence (Photo by Leroy Boyer)

TAMAQUA — It was a must-win situation for both Lehighton and Tamaqua heading into their Schuylkill-Colonial League Red Division matchup Friday night.

With just three regular-season games remaining, each team needed a victory to build momentum and improve its standing in the District 11 playoff race.

Lehighton struck quickly, scoring two first-quarter touchdowns that proved to be the difference as the Indians held off a Tamaqua comeback attempt for a 27-16 win at Tamaqua Area Sports Stadium.

The Indians took control less than a minute into the game when they recovered a fumble on Tamaqua’s first offensive play. That turnover set up a 25-yard scoring run by Lucas Croizier, giving Lehighton a 7-0 lead with 11:02 left in the first quarter. Croizier finished with 124 yards on 18 carries.

“In last week’s game, we had the lead early, but we were not able to keep it,” Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll said. “They got the ball but they fumbled. We capitalized off the turnover right away.”

After a defensive stop, Lehighton struck again when quarterback Jayse Lawrence broke through the middle on a keeper for a 62-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 14-0 with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter.

The Indians didn’t add to their total before halftime, but their defense made sure Tamaqua stayed scoreless through two quarters.

“We came back and scored again and we put them in chase mode,” McCarroll said. “With the nature of their offense, we figured if we can stay ahead of schedule, we can keep them behind schedule.”

Lehighton opened the second half with another scoring drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Blake Roberts to push the lead to 20-0 with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

“When you fall behind by two touchdowns right off the bat it makes it tough,” Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said. “You hate to start a big game in the hole like that. We’re not the kind of offense that can produce a quick attack.”

The Blue Raiders responded with a 10-play, 49-yard drive to get on the board. Terrence McDowell powered in from 19 yards out, and a two-point conversion pass from Ace Schickram to Brady McCabe cut the deficit to 20-8. McDowell led Tamaqua with 143 rushing yards on 24 carries.

Lehighton answered quickly. Lawrence connected with Roberts again for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 27-8 with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter.

“We just went back to fundamentals to get our offense going,” Bonner said. “We did a good job making it a game in the second half.”

McDowell added a late highlight with a 58-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Chase Serfass to Schickram, but it wasn’t enough as Lehighton closed out the victory.

Game Summary
Lehighton 27, Tamaqua 16

Leh (4-4, 4-3) — 14  0   6   7 — 27

Tam (3-5, 2-4) —  0  0  8  8 — 16

L — Crozier 20 run (Ebert kick)

L — Lawrence 62 run (Ebert kick)

L — Roberts 5 pass from Lawrence (run failed)

T — McDowell 19 run (McCabe pass from Schickram)

L — Roberts 14 pass from Lawrence (Ebert kick)

T — McDowell 58 run (Schickram pass from Serfass)

Team Statistics

Leh    Tam

First downs —   10      9

Rushes-Yards — 26-154       41-159

Passing — 9-16-0       6-12-0

Passing Yards — 82        37

Total Yards — 236        196

Fumbles-Lost — 1-1         2-2

Penalties — 3-35       4-45

RUSHING: Lehighton — Croizier 18-124, Lawrence 6-16, Meek 1-11, Warner 1-3. Tamaqua — McDowell 24-143, Stewart 4-9, Schickram 2-0, Serfass 6-(-17), Walker 4-17, McCabe 1-7.

PASSING: Lehighton —  Lawrence 9-16-0, 82. Tamaqua — Serfass 6-12-0, 37.

RECEIVING: Lehighton — Roberts 5-41, Houser 2-20, Meek 2-21. Tamaqua — Schickram 4-17, McCabe 2-20.