D-11 Football: Blue Mountain falls to Southern Lehigh in 4A semifinals
Blue Mountain's Carter Smith plows in for his second touchdown during the Eagles' 55-14 loss to Southern Lehigh in Thursday's District 11 Class 4A semifinal (Photo by Brook Koch-Guers).
CENTER VALLEY — The game couldn’t have started worse for Blue Mountain.
On the first play from scrimmage, Southern Lehigh star running back Sean Steckert burst through a huge hole and sprinted 90 yards for a touchdown.
Things didn’t get much better for the Eagles, as the Spartans kept piling up big plays and cruised to a 55-14 victory in a District 11 Class 4A semifinal Thursday at Southern Lehigh Middle School Stadium.
With the win, top-seeded Southern Lehigh (11-1) advances to the district final and will meet No. 2 seed Bethlehem Catholic (8-4), a 34-31 winner over No. 3 Allentown Central Catholic in the other semifinal. Championship game time is 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at Catasauqua’s Alumni Field.
Blue Mountain’s season ends at 7-5.
“They were certainly the better team in all facets of the game,” Blue Mountain coach Chuck Kutz said. “Hats off to them, but still I’m proud of my kids for working hard all year.”
For Southern Lehigh, Steckert did his usual damage, carrying 13 times for 262 yards and four touchdowns. He scored on runs of 90, 37, 3 and 39 yards. In the process, Steckert surpassed 2,000 yards rushing this season. The Spartans’ huge offensive line consistently opened holes, and once Steckert breaks into the open field, he’s difficult to bring down.
In between Steckert’s runs, quarterback Colton Sams completed 5-of-8 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with Luke Kawczenski for 24 yards and with Otto Young for 53 yards on a pair of touchdown passes that gave Southern Lehigh a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
After Steckert’s 37-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter, Blue Mountain put together its best drive of the game. The Eagles marched 68 yards in 12 plays, taking 7:35 off the clock. Running back Carter Smith gave Blue Mountain a spark, carrying seven times for 49 yards on the drive, including the final three yards for the score.
Back came Southern Lehigh, going 70 yards in six plays to answer Blue Mountain’s touchdown. A 35-yard pass from Sams to Jacoby Jacobs got the Spartans close. Steckert finished the series with a 3-yard TD run that gave Southern Lehigh a 35-7 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Spartans ran exactly two plays, and both of them went for touchdowns. Steckert scored on a 39-yard run, and Kawczenski caught his second TD pass of the game, this one a 44-yarder from Sams for a 48-7 lead.
Behind the running of Smith, the Eagles put together an 11-play, 71-yard touchdown drive. Smith finished the march with a 3-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The senior back carried 22 times for 116 yards and two TDs for the Eagles, going over 1,000 yards for the season.
Declan Walsh’s 20-yard touchdown scamper for Southern Lehigh with 7:48 left in the game capped the scoring.
The Spartans ran just 29 plays in the game, and they scored touchdowns on eight of them. Southern Lehigh finished with 499 yards of total offense, averaging 17.2 yards per play.
While Blue Mountain’s season ended Thursday night, the Eagles have some things to remember from the 2025 campaign. They started the season 0-2 but stuck together and went 7-3 the rest of the way. They defeated rival Pottsville and ended an 18-year drought with a district quarterfinal romp over Lehighton.
“I think it’s a resilient group,” Kutz said. “Life’s all about overcoming adversity, and we saw some of that and made the playoffs.”
