Despite coming into the game with opposite records, Jim Thorpe’s 21-7 victory over Lehighton Friday was a typical, hard-fought, leave-it-all-on-the-field battle from the opening kick off to the final horn.

With playoff implications on the line for both teams, the backyard brawl for the 209 Trophy had great runs, clutch passes. Though the Olympians hoisted the trophy for the second year in a row, the Indians never quit and nearly scored on their final possession.

“I’m very proud of our efforts tonight,” said Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll. “We played with a lot of emotion. They just made a few more plays than we did.”

The Indians (3-7) came out of the locker room and looked to go down the field with their first possession, but two penalties thwarted their drive and they lost the ball on downs. They would get the ball right back, however, when Zach Hunsicker intercepted a pass and returned it to the JT 28-yard line.

Jayvan McDowell took a handoff and spun his way to the 19. On a first down at the 17, the snap sailed over the quarterback’s head for a 17-yard loss. The drive stalled at the Olympians’ 13 on an incomplete fourth down pass.

Jim Thorpe was forced to punt from the back of its own end zone, setting up the Tribe at the JT 37. On a third-and-10 at the 26, Sangiuliano found Hunsicker along the left sideline for a pass and run for a 20-yard gain to the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Kyle Mayernik bulled across from the one, and with 1:19 to go in the first quarter, Lehighton jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

Thorpe (7-3) couldn’t get going early on, and a fumble recovery by the Tribe’s Michael Yeakel to put his team back in business at their 43.

At the start of the second quarter, CJ Selby recovered a fumble and – just like that – Thorpe had the ball back. Davier Calcano then engineered a three minute drive to the Lehighton nine, but a field-goal attempt was short of the crossbar.

Selby returned a punt 26 yards to his own 43 and Coach Mark Rosenberger’s team found their rhythm. Calcano hit Colin Binder down the right sideline for 25 yards, and then tossed a quick screen to Selby, who juked his way 15 yards to tie the score. With 1:15 left in the half, Calcano threw a play action dart to Binder streaking down the right side for a 14-7 Olympian lead at the intermission.

“Calcano recovered from his pick and really got our passing game going, which gave us a balanced attack,“ said Rosenberger.

Lehighton had held Selby, Jim Thorpe’s all-time leading rusher to 59 yards in the first half. But the senior workhorse wore down the Indians’ defense in the last two quarters. He finished the night with 124 yards on 27 carries, and with his 15-yard shake-and-bake scoring run in the fourth quarter, he tallied his 18th touchdown of the season.

“He’s had a great career for us,” said Rosenberger. “and our O-line certainly made his accomplishments a real team effort.”

Down by 14 with 1:30 left and no timeouts, Lehighton threatened to score when Hunsicker made a great grab of Sangiuliano’s pass and appeared to get inside the JT 5-yard line, but he was ruled out of bounds at the 35. On the next play, Sangiuliano hit Ben Schatz with a pass and run to the eight-yard line. An attempted lateral one play later resulted in a Thorpe fumble recovery and sealed the win.

“We’re disappointed in our season for a myriad reasons, “ said McCarroll, “ but our seniors were good examples for our young kids who stepped up for us. Win or lose, we played with class all season long.”

As his team celebrated with their trophy, Rosenberger reminded his team that their season was not over.

“Our seniors get to continue their season. We’re excited about making the playoffs,” he said.

SUPERSTAR

... With his performance Friday, Selby eclipsed the 3,500-yard mark for his four year career at Jim Thorpe.

THE WAITING GAME

... The Olympians will be playing somewhere against somebody next week. If Wilson defeats Notre Dame tomorrow, the Olympians will play away in the District 11 playoffs. If ND wins, then Thorpe will host an Eastern Conference tournament game.