It wasn’t flashy, but it was highly successful.

Lehighton’s game plan was simple: Rely on the offensive line and give the ball to No. 33, Lukas Crozier.

The senior running back carried the ball 30 times for 168 yards and a game-clinching, fourth-quarter touchdown in the Tribe’s 17-7 win over Northern Lehigh on Friday night.

“My strength is my motor,” he said. “I’m prepared to get a lot of carries, so I always have a lot of gas in my tank.”

With 6:41 left in the game, Crozier bolted off right tackle, got into space and finished off a 31-yard touchdown run that increased the Tribe’s lead by 10 points at 17-7, which turned to be the final score.

Coach Tom McCarroll had much praise for both sides of the ball after his team’s seventh victory of the season.

“Our O-line was terrific and they have been all year,” he said. “Give credit to our defense, too, for making some big stops, including a great job by our secondary covering the pass.”

McCarroll was referring to three big plays that ended Northern Lehigh drives.

On their first possession, the Bulldogs ran 12 plays down to the home team’s 9-yard line. A measurement after a fourth-and-two running play marked the ball just inches short of a first down.

In the final quarter, the Bulldogs (5-5) were stopped again, this time on a fourth and one from their own 44 when Preston DiGrazia tackled Mason Rothrock for a 1-yard loss. Three minutes later, Lucas Voorhees sacked Nolehi quarterback Garret Smoyer for a 5-yard loss on a fourth and eight from the Bulldog 48-yard line.

“Our first drive when we failed to score hurt,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “In the second half we hardly had the ball, and when we did they stopped us again.”

Lehighton had seven first downs in the first half, but with long possessions in the last two quarters, they moved the chains another nine times with a steady ground game mixed with a few key passes from quarterback Jack Lucykanish of 24 and 10 yards to Cash White.

The Tribe (7-3) got on the board first after a scoreless first quarter.

Sawyer Hoffman’s 23-yard field goal culminated a nine-play, 84-yard drive to the Bulldog 6-yard line.

Northern Lehigh answered quickly with it biggest play of the game.

Chris Frame received the ensuing kickoff and broke to the sideline for an 82-yard return to the Tribe’s 6-yard line. Three plays later from a full house backfield, Smoyer scored from the one to give the visitors a 7-3 lead at intermission.

Lehighton took the ball in the third quarter. Riding Crozier on six of their 11-play drive, the Indians marched to the Bulldog 27.

On a third and five, Lucykanish hooked up with White for a 10-yard sideline pass, and on the next play, the junior signal caller got to the left edge and broke free from a tackle to score from 17 yards out to give the Maroon and White a 10-7 lead.

Crozier then stamped the triumph with his fourth-quarter score.

Frame led the Bulldogs with 69 yards rushing, and with his kickoff return and a pass reception, he finished with 153 all-purpose yards.

Tout explained his team’s end of the season tailspin, a four-game losing streak.

“We’re a group two school and we lost three of those four games to group three and four schools,” said Tout. “Our effort is there and we look forward to the district playoffs, where we’ll play schools our size.

“Don’t be surprised if you find us playing in the championship game.”

McCarroll is also looking forward to the postseason.

“We’ve been doing things to get better every week,” he said. “It looks like we might be playing Pottsville and there’s a chance it could be a home game, which would be great for our seniors.”

Crozier echoed his coach’s words.

“It would be awesome to play again in front of our home crowd,” he said.

MARCH MADNESS … Both marching bands offered a quirky feature to their performances. Northern Lehigh’s percussion section was drumming what appeared to be a galvanized garbage can and Lehighton, led by their field commander, casually waved for his musicians to come off the gridiron and march right to the fence to play before the home fans.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT ... From the press box, announcer Kevin O’Donnell asked what 1961 drummer played for the first Carbon County Band, who also helped found Paul McCartney’s Wings and played with John Denver, Billy Joel, Art Garfunkel and The Who. The answer was 1961 Lehighton High School graduate Denny Seiwell.

Lehighton 17, No. Lehigh 7

Northern Lehigh 0 7 0 0 - 7

Lehighton 0 3 7 7 - 17

L - Hoffman 23 FG

NL - Smoyer 1 run (Hanna kick)

L - Lucykanish 17 run (Hoffman kick)

L - Crozier 31 run (Hoffman kick)