Lehighton's Caden Meek (Photo by Leroy Boyer)

JIM THORPE — When Lehighton runs the ball well, it wins — and that familiar formula fueled another rivalry victory Friday night.

The Indians scored on five straight possessions and rode a dominant ground attack to a 40-20 win over Jim Thorpe in a Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division game to claim the 209 Trophy.

“We started a little slow. Hats off to them. Both teams battled all night. This is an intense rivalry game and that showed,” Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll said. “But we were able to make big plays when we needed to and I thought that was the difference.”

Jim Thorpe (4-6, 2-6 Red) struck first after forcing two early punts. A jarring hit by Bobby Levins on a Lehighton punt initially seemed to give the Olympians the ball deep in Tribe territory, but Lehighton retained possession. Thorpe got good field position anyway and capitalized — senior quarterback Cole Lazorick found Spencer Gothard for a 12-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 4:12 left in the first.

That woke Lehighton up.

The Indians (5-5, 4-4) answered immediately as Lucas Croizier broke loose for 27 yards, setting up a 6-yard keeper from quarterback Jayse Lawrence to tie it at 7-7. Croizier then ripped off a 40-yard touchdown run early in the second, giving Lehighton a 13-7 lead.

Lawrence then connected with Blake Roberts for 36 yards, setting up another rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 20-7 — and in the process, Roberts became Lehighton’s all-time receptions leader with 114 career catches, passing Zach Hunsicker.

The Indians weren’t done. With 45 seconds left in the half, Lawrence rolled right and fired a perfect 47-yard strike to Caden Meek, one of the best throws of the year, to make it 26-7 at halftime. After an 0-for-4 start, Lawrence settled in to complete 8 of his next 9 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Lehighton’s defense tightened up as well, forcing three straight punts after Thorpe’s opening score.

“I’m proud of our line and I’m proud of our run game with the way they played tonight,” McCarroll said. “Croizier is a warrior. … He went over 1,000 yards on the season tonight, and we haven’t had that in our program since 2017.”

Croizier finished with 207 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns, officially eclipsing 1,100 rushing yards on the season.

Thorpe battled back in the second half behind 250 passing yards and three touchdowns from Lazorick. His fades to Gothard and Angel Rivera cut the deficit to 34-20 midway through the third. The Olympians even forced a turnover and reached the Lehighton 23 — but failed on fourth-and-1.

Then Croizier ended it. On the very next play, he exploded through a crease and raced 77 yards to seal the game at 40-20.

“I thought our kids gave everything they had tonight. There is no quit in this team,” Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger said. “We just couldn’t get that score we needed to make it a one-score game. But our season isn’t over — we’re going to work hard and come out next week and try to get a postseason victory.”

UP FRONT … The Indians were good in the trenches in this one. The Tribe offense rushed for 258 yards at over nine yards per carry. And on defense they held JT to 57 yards rushing at 1.8 yards per carry. The Indians also sacked Lazorick six times on the night.

PLAYOFFS … In the quarterfinal round, Lehighton is the No. 5 seed in District 11 4A and will head to No. 4 seed Blue Mountain. Thorpe is the No. 6 seed in 4A and will travel to No. 3 Allentown Central Catholic. Those games will be played on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Game Summary

Lehighton 40, Jim Thorpe 20

Leh (5-5, 4-4)         7          20          13          0  —    40

JT (4-6, 2-6)          0          0          13          0  —    20

JT — Gothard 12 pass from Lazorick (Flyzik kick)

L — Lawrence 6 run (Ebbert kick)

L — Croizier 40 run (kick failed)

L — Lawrence 9 run (Ebbert kick)

L — Meek 47 pass from Lawrence (Ebbert kick)

JT — Gothard 18 pass from Lazorick (Flyzik kick)

L — Croizier 25 run (Ebbert kick)

JT — Rivera 15 pass from Lazorick (Flyzik kick)

L — Croizier 77 run (Ebbert kick)