BANGOR — Lehighton couldn’t have asked for a better bounce back.

One week after suffering their first loss to powerful Southern Lehigh, the Indians responded in a big way.

Thanks to a potent passing attack and a bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort, Tom McCarroll’s team pulled away from host Bangor on Friday night for a 42-9 victory.

Leading the way was junior quarterback Jack Lucykanish, who threw for 251 yards and five touchdowns — three of them to Carl Lingham.

“Listen, he’s a first-year starter, we ask a lot of him, and he’s a work in progress, but every single week he seems to get better and better,” said McCarroll of his signal-caller, who hit on 11 of his 16 attempts. “You saw some of that tonight. As well as he played, he missed some passes, and he knows that. But we’re going to get back and we’re going to continue to work, and he’s going to grow and continue to get better.

“We’ve been pretty run heavy up to this point. Our quarterback and receivers haven’t quite been on the same page, and it’s one of those deals where we take the opportunities that come to us and kids made plays. I’m proud of them.”

Things didn’t exactly start on the right foot for the Tribe, as they went three-and-out on their first possession and looked a little out of rhythm. The experience proved to be a little deja vu.

“Last year we kind of had a similar situation,” said McCarroll. “We came up here and got off to a slow start and kind of decided to go a little tempo, and it worked last year. So, when we didn’t start off that first series real well we talked and thought that might be the answer, and it was.”

The second time Lehighton (5-1) had the ball, its hurry-up offense created fits for the Slaters. The Indians drove 85 yards in eight plays in 2:37 to get on the board first, the final play a 32-yard pass to Lingham.

“Yeah, that definitely helped, moving at that speed,” said Lucykanish. “It definitely changed the game. ... We kept running the ball and we threw when we needed to.”

Bangor also knows how to throw, as it ended with 235 yards through the air. And 49 of them came soon after Lehighton’s score when Lincoln Rehrig hooked up with Matthew Pinto for a touchdown that tied the game.

Unfortunately for the Slaters (1-5) on their Homecoming Night, it was all Indians after that as they scored on three straight possessions.

Lucykanish went up top to Lingham again, hitting him over the middle for a 22-yard TD strike. After a three-and-out by Bangor, Lukas Croizier broke through the line and went 48 yards for another tally. Moments later, the Indians completed a 12-play drive with Lucykanish finding Ty Nansteel for a 32-yard scoring pass to make it 28-7.

“It was one of those deals where we knew that we had to bounce back after last week’s loss, and it’s not always going to be pretty but we made the plays when we needed to,” said McCarroll.

Lucykanish continued to make plays in the second half.

First, he threw to Lingham for a 64-yard catch and run to the end zone. Then on Bangor’s ensuing possession, he intercepted a pass. One play later, he tossed a perfect strike to Cash White for a 47-yard tally that extended the margin to 42-7 and kicked in the mercy rule.

It was all part of an offensive effort that totaled 439 yards.

“That’s a crazy number,” said Lucykanish. “I feel like we did really good. We had our ups and downs but I feel like when we needed to score, we scored.

“This really boosted our confidence after last week.”

DEFENSE, DEFENSE ... Bangor finished the night with 12 plays for negative yardage.

SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMER ... Lehighton kicker Sawyer Hoffman made all six extra points, had six touchbacks on kickoffs and a punt of 54 yards.

RUN GAME ... Croizier ended with 118 yards rushing on 14 carries, while Jose Rodriguez chipped in with 36 yards on six attempts.

Lehighton 42, Bangor 9

Lehighton 7 21 14 0 - 42

Bangor 7 0 0 2 - 9

L - Lingham 32 pass from Lucykanish (Hoffman kick)

B - Pinto 49 pass from Rehrig (Bright kick)

L - Lingham 22 pass from Lucykanish (Hoffman kick)

L - L. Croizier 48 run (Hoffman kick)

L - Nansteel 32 pass from Lucykanish (Hoffman kick)

L - Lingham 64 pass from Lucykanish (Hoffman kick)

L - White 47 pass from Lucykanish (Hoffman kick)

B - Safety, ball snapped over punter’s head out of end zone