HELLERTOWN – Lehighton was matching scores for a while against Saucon Valley.

But by the end of the first half, the Panthers — behind running back Ian Csicsek and an experienced offensive line — started to pull away en route to a 55-26 win in Saturday’s District 11 Class 4A football game.

Saucon Valley broke open a two-point game with four touchdowns in the second and third quarters to open its lead to 43-12.

“We had some moments where we hung with a very good team,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “I knew we could. We have kids who work hard and fight hard. I’m proud of the effort our kids put forth tonight.

“When you come across a two-loss team, and their two losses are against very good teams, you have to kind of play a perfect game.”

Csicsek racked up 215 yards on 26 carries in the game, while his team ran for a total of 482. They had 17 running plays of 10 yards or more in the contest.

Csicsek’s first touchdown came after Lehighton had scored on consecutive drives to stay within 14-12 early in the second quarter. The Panthers responded with a nine-play march that spanned 72 yards and was capped by Csiscek’s 4-yard touchdown run with 6:09 left in the second quarter.

Csiscek also caught a touchdown pass in the first half after the Panther defense came up with an interception at the Lehighton 27-yard line. Four plays later the 5-10, 190-pound senior grabbed a pass from freshman quarterback Dante Mahaffey and raced down the sideline for a 23-yard score to give his team a 29-12 lead with eight seconds left in the first half.

“He’s probably as complete a back as we faced all year and we’ve faced some good ones, between his size and speed,” said McCarroll. “And he’s got a good line in front of him.”

The Panthers got the ball to start the second half and came out in a wildcat offense with junior Dane Csencsits running the ball four straight plays covering 50 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown run to make it 36-12 less than two minutes into the third quarter.

“It was a 14-12 game for a while,” said Saucon Valley head coach Phil Sams. “It was really tight. We just found a way to pull away at the end of the first half. When we came back out and scored to start the third quarter I think sort of sealed it.”

Lehighton tried to answer, driving to the Panthers’ 6-yard line on its next possession. But a run for no gain and three straight incomplete passes resulted in a turnover on downs.

The Panthers got the ball and used up nearly six minutes on a 12-play drive that went 94 yards to paydirt. Mahaffey’s one-yard touchdown run gave his team a 43-12 lead with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.

Lehighton made it 49-19 when Chris Whiteman threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Zack Crum with 8:56 left in the game.

The Panthers ate up five more minutes with a drive that was capped by the first of running back Damian Garcia’s two late touchdowns.

Lehighton capped its scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run by Shane Williams with 2:10 left in the game. Saucon Valley’s offense got it’s final score from Garcia, who broke free for a 72-yard run to give the freshman 126 yards in the game.

Lehighton’s two early touchdowns came on a 28-yard pass from Zack Husicker to Whiteman and a 3-yard pass from Whiteman to JJ McDowell.

The Tribe, which was the No. 7 seed in districts, ends its season at 4-7 overall.

“People are going to look at our record and I don’t think it’s truly indicative of the team that we were. I thought we had a talented group with a combination of young players sprinkled in there,” said McCarroll. “We started freshmen all season and a bunch of sophomores. And we had some real nice senior leadership, which I’m proud of and I think we can build off moving forward.

MOVING ON ... The No. 2 seed Panthers (9-2) will host Northwestern in the second round. The No. 3 Tigers beat Central Catholic Saturday.

SENIOR MOMENT ... Lehighton senior quarterback Chris Whiteman played well in his final high school game. He completed 14 of 28 passes while throwing two touchdowns and catching a touchdown pass. He accounted for 223 yards in the game as he threw for 124 yards, rushed for 81 and caught a pair of passes for 18 yards.