Tom McCarroll fully expects Lucas Sangiuliano to only get better.

McCarroll saw Sangiuliano make strides in his first game as Lehighton’s starting quarterback.

The Indians’ head coach watched the senior take another big step forward in his second outing.

Sangiuliano led Lehighton to a 27-14 victory over Schuylkill Haven last Friday, throwing for 153 yards and rushing for 120. Sangiuliano had a hand in all four of the Tribe’s touchdowns, rushing for three scores and connecting with Zack Hunsicker on another.

It was the type of performance – and progression – McCarroll was looking for, one that came on the heels of a 58-14 loss to Fleetwood in Week 1.

“For us moving forward, I thought we had the right pieces to have a successful season,” he said. “But coming off an opening night loss like that, you kind of never know which way your team is going to go. And we challenged them all week, and with Lucas being our quarterback, being one of the main guys and being one of the captains, he certainly stepped up himself, and the team as a whole really bounced back the way any coach would want them to.

“It started with the way Lucas ran the offense. We were able to put some points on the board. The defense did a nice job shutting down (Kobe) Brish (Schuylkill Haven running back who was held to 81 yards rushing), and it was really a nice team win all the way around.”

Sangiuliano opened his first start with a scoring drive against Fleetwood, and added a one-yard touchdown run. But the offense was unable to sustain drives against the Tigers.

The senior generated plenty of splash plays against the Hurricanes. In addition to his 61-yard touchdown pass to Hunsicker, Sangiuliano also had scoring runs of 34 and 52 yards, and an eight-yard scamper to open the scoring and give the Tribe a first-quarter lead.

“It was nice to bounce back, finally getting on the winning track after a tough loss to Fleetwood,” said Sangiuliano. “It feels good to have a good game, but I can’t take any credit away from my linemen, my receivers making good catches, and just good blocks for me to follow.

“I felt a lot more, I wouldn’t say prepared, but ready. I got the jitters out, and I knew what I had to go out there and do.”

After throwing three interceptions in his first start, Sangiuliano went 10-of-17 with no picks against Schuylkill Haven, connecting with five different receivers.

“I think he was comfortable with running our offense all the way through the offseason and into the preseason,” McCarroll said of Sangiuliano. “I think it was maybe a matter of maybe getting him comfortable with the receivers, and the offensive line being a little more cohesive too, and that certainly helped with his confidence.

“But all the way around, I think he has a good grasp, has had a good grasp (of the offense), it’s just the more reps that he gets under his belt, he’s just going to keep getting better and better this season.”

Sangiuliano’s four total touchdowns this season are tied with Northwestern’s Justin Rodda for second in the area.

McCarroll knows his quarterback has the skills to keep improving.

And Sangiuliano believes it will continue Friday night against Central Columbia, a team the Tribe lost to 42-7 a year ago.

“It is a huge momentum shift for us,” he said. “We have good mometnum from our defense now; we played a great game. We’re ready to come out and show Central Columbia that we weren’t the same team (we were) last year.”