If the "Football Gods" would give an underdog a good chance to defeat a heavy favorite, then Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll would have taken his chances if he were told he would be down seven at halftime and be given great field position in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Indians, even with this scenario on the table, they were unable to take advantage which ultimately resulted in East Stroudsburg North's 40-14 win last night.

"We just didn't make plays or the right decisions when the game was on the line in the second half," said Lehighton's McCarroll, whose team came into the game at 1-4, while ESN was 4-1. "We have to be more consistent."It was a tight game in the first half. Lehighton failed to score after a five-minute first drive and then East Stroudsburg North drove 53 yards in five plays, capped off by a Lorenzo Melchiorre 43-yard touchdown run.After both teams traded interceptions, the Indians drove 47 yards in four plays with Tom Ruzicka splitting the defense on a TD run of 28 yards to tie the score.Lehighton then recovered a T-wolves' fumble, but failed to gain a first down.North head coach Chuck Dailey was worried about his team's two quick turnovers."We have to overcome these mistakes. We have not played a complete game yet," he said.Once Dailey's team settled down, they drove 65 yards on eight plays when David Allbaugh plunged for a one-yard TD to give North a 14- 7 lead at the break.After both teams' initial third quarter drives stalled, North scored on a one-yard run by quarterback, William Quiles, ending another drive of 53 yards.Down two scores, the Indians had great chances to come back. One drive stalled at the T-wolves' 10 and another at the ESN 38 when Melchiorre knocked down an end zone pass intended for Jacen Nalesnik.Then Allbaugh busted through the right side of the Indian defense and raced 50 yards to score for a 27-7 T-wolves' lead."I had no idea coach was going to give me the ball so much in the second half," he said. "It was good to see that opening after pounding here and there all night long."After Nalesnik scored for Lehighton, Allbaugh , (maybe he should be called "all ball" because he ran for 118 yards, and kicked three PATS) then grabbed an onside Indian kick and raced untouched down the sideline for a 50 yard score to end a terrific night for the ESN senior."He's better off if we don't tell him he might be the feature back for us," said Coach Bailey. "He works well as the fullback in our triple option."East Stroudsburg North completed its scoring when Abdul Murphy picked off a Tyler Cann pass and returned it for a 68 yard TD.An interesting statistic that does not show up in the lopsided final score is that both teams had exactly 270 total yards in offense."I am extremely proud of how our kids played for three quarters," said Indian Coach McCarroll. "But again, we have to overcome adversities and we have to be able to play all four quarters to be successful."