Lehighton has been a part of several nail-biting finishes this season.

Whether in stirring rallies to beat Fleetwood and Marian or in a narrow loss to Schuylkill Haven, the Indians have shown a penchant for taking their games down to the wire.Against Panther Valley on Thursday, it looked like that trend might continue with the Panthers trailing by one score at halftime.But Lehighton found its rhythm in the second half, and rolled to a 51-19 win over Panther Valley in the 4th annual Bo Tkach "Under the Helmet" game."It's been kind of the story of our year, playing two halves," Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll said. "In the first half we missed a lot of plays offensively; we had some wide-open receivers we didn't hit. Defensively, we had some assignment breakdowns."So we really just came out (in the second half) and challenged our kids to play disciplined, play sound defense. You don't need to make the big play all the time. I think they just kind of settled in. Offensively, I think we kind of got our groove running the ball. We got some turnovers, a punt return. Those are the quick scores that can kind of demoralize an opponent, and we were able to get on them a little bit."Leading 20-13, the Indians (4-1) got the ball to start the third quarter and put their foot on the gas to take control of the game as quarterback Cody Scherer accounted for two quick scores.Scherer raced 59 yards for a score on Lehighton's opening possession, and ran it in from 24 yards out after the Indians recovered the ensuing onside kick to make it 32-13 a little over two minutes into the third quarter."We really came out and focused," Scherer said of his team's start to the second half. "Coach (McCarroll) always preaches to us to just focus. Luckily, we came out in the second half and pounded the ball and got the win."The Indians' contributions were many in their 24-point third quarter, as Nick Skrinkosky hit Dominic Palumbo for a score, before Gavin Zehner capped the period with a 55-yard punt return to make it 44-13 with 5:51 left in the period.A five-yard run by Gabe Wagner on the first play of the fourth quarter put Lehighton up 51-13.The score wrapped a bow on a run of 39 unanswered points for the Indians. The rally started with a 13-yard pass from Scherer to Mike Mayernik, which was followed by a successful two-point conversion to put them up 20-13."It was 13-12 late in the second quarter and we felt like if we got a big defensive stand there, that would have been huge," said Panther Valley head coach Matt Davis. "They put one in right before half; they got the ball (to start the third quarter) and we missed some tackles; they popped another one. They pop a kickoff up, they get it and put another one in. Things got away from us."It's tough. A lot of times it's a mental game. Things got away from us and it snowballed. They're a very good team. They know how to win right now and that's what we're striving to become."The Panthers (1-4) had a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Rene Figueroa capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 13-yard run.After two one-yard scores by Mayernik (125 yards rushing) made it 12-7 Lehighton, Panther Valley regained the lead when Xander Skoutelas-Kern punched it in from 5 yards out to make it 13-12.But the Panthers didn't score again until Danny Gilberry found Tanner Kennedy for a 45-yard score with 15.4 seconds left in the game.FOR A CAUSE... Thursday's game was established after a loss of students and community members through mental health and drug and alcohol issues that occurred at both school districts. Lehighton and Panther Valley joined forces to promote awareness and support for these issues. This game is played annually between the two schools and was established to promote the best in both schools and communities by celebrating the power of athletics and to promote healing and healthy families.HONORED... Lehighton's Scherer (136 yards rushing, 89 yards passing) was named the game's offensive MVP while Zehner, who had four catches for 69 yards, was tabbed as the defensive MVP.SIDELINED... Figueroa left the game in the first half with what Davis said was a hip pointer and did not return. Figueroa finished with 17 yards rushing on seven carries.