Two Bangor scores in under 20 seconds - one as time expired in the first half and one on its opening possession of the third quarter - helped the Slaters to settle in and come away with a 48-20 victory over Lehighton on Friday night.

The Indians played well in the first half.

Trailing 14-0 after two Bangor scores in the first quarter, the Tribe answered the bell in the second. An 11-play 61-yard drive capped off by a Brady O’Donnell one-yard plunge at the 7:50 mark, and a nice hookup between O’Donnell and Dawson Keiser just a little over two minutes later made it a 14-14 game with five minutes remaining in the half.

But that’s when the Bangor offense would start to dig in and settle down. The Slaters would do some answering of their own, going 60 yards in nine plays setup by two lengthy pass plays by Bangor quarterback Greg Campbell and two 13-yard runs by running back Noah Hillis. Those gains would put the Slaters at the Lehighton six-yard line, and would eventually lead to a fourth and goal to go situation with three seconds remaining in the half after a few nice stands by the Tribe defense.

The Slaters would then covert the fourth and goal attempt for six when Campbell’s pass across the middle glanced off the hands of a Bangor receiver and into the hands of the Slaters Alex Farensbach to give them a 21-14 advantage over the Indians at the half.

“When we played clean football, we were able to execute and that’s when we were able to put some points on the board. I thought in that second quarter we were balanced and we were able to take advantage of some things that we thought we could take advantage of coming into the game. Again, we executed in that quarter cleanly,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “Turnovers, untimely penalties, those have been our Achilles heel all season long, and they were again tonight. And then coming out and giving up a big play for a score on their first play of the second half, that hurts.”

Bangor took full advantage of the momentum it created at the end of the first half by scoring on its first play from scrimmage to start the third. Hillis took a handoff from the left side and got to the edge and then got to the end zone 54 yards later. The Slaters added a second touchdown in the third on another Hillis rushing touchdown to carry a commanding 35-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

“I think we had two scores in 18 seconds. It was a great job by the offense to finish off that drive at the end of the second quarter with a score and then to come out in the third and score quickly again. That’s just a great job,” said Bangor head coach Paul Reduzzi. “Then on our second score of the third, we really controlled the ball and the clock and finished another long drive. We were able to keep moving the sticks tonight. Greg Campbell threw the ball well for us, and we took care of the football. Just a good effort.”

Bangor added two more scores in the fourth to pull away. For Lehighton, it was a hard-fought performance as the Indians were a few miscues away from really putting some pressure on the Slaters down the stretch.

“I feel like we’re close. We just need to get over the hump, but that’s on us coaches to get our guys in the best positions to do that,” said McCarroll. “We’re going to keep fighting and working to get better each and every day.”

THE RECORDS … Lehighton falls to 2-5 and is currently in the No. 7 spot in the District 11 3A power ratings. Bangor improves to 5-2 and is slotted in the No. 4 spot in 4A.

DICEY DUO ... Campbell and Hillis were slicing and dicing in the run game throughout the night. The two combined for 221 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns.