POTTSVILLE — Lukas Croizier had been the driving force behind Lehighton’s offense all season.

On Saturday afternoon at Pottsville, he took it to another level.

The senior running back rushed for 280 yards on 22 carries and scored all four of the Indians’ touchdowns, including three in the second half, to lead Lehighton to a 28-14 victory in the District 11 Class 4A football quarterfinals.

“That’s why I’m a leader and a captain,” Croizier said. “That’s my job. I have to be able to execute when the team needs me the most, especially in the postseason. That’s when I need to play my best games. Obviously, with the exception of the mistake I made, I think I flew around and did a good job, as well as we did up front.”

The mistake Croizier referred to came late in the second quarter, when he muffed a punt that helped Pottsville take a 14-7 lead into halftime.

A miscue like that could have derailed a player and his team. Instead, it became an opportunity for Lehighton to rally around Croizier and each other.

“Going into halftime, we could have been up, but unfortunately, mistakes happen,” Croizier said. “I think overall as a team, in the second half, we had that fire lit under us a little bit.”

The Indians (8-3) opened the scoring late in the first quarter on a drive highlighted by a 33-yard gain from Jose Rodriguez and a 21-yard run by Croizier, who capped the possession with a 4-yard touchdown.

The Crimson Tide (7-4) answered on their next possession, which extended into the second quarter, when quarterback Tommy Welsh connected with Shay Strencosky for a 55-yard touchdown.

After both teams traded defensive stops, Croizier muffed the punt. Two plays later, Welsh found Strencosky again, this time for a 23-yard score.

“They knew we went in kind of with our backs against the wall at halftime,” Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll said. “We challenged them, and at the end of the day, we know we have a formula to win, which is run the ball and play great defense.”

Lehighton returned to that formula immediately in the second half.

Following a defensive stop, Croizier broke free for a 68-yard touchdown on the Indians’ first offensive play to tie the score at 14.

Lehighton also took advantage of two other factors: Pottsville losing several key players to injuries and committing numerous false-start penalties — 10 in all.

“What they do defensively, in terms of their commands, I guess sounds a lot like our snap count cadence,” Pottsville coach Mike Brennan said. “That wasn’t ultimately what the impact was. We didn’t have a full contingent all game.

“(Max) Clews got hurt early. (Donovan) Durham was hurt early. Neither one of them was close to 100%. Our best offensive lineman and defensive lineman goes out in the third quarter. Our backup center goes out. It just seemed like every time we turned around, we were down another guy.”

The injuries limited Pottsville’s offensive options in the second half.

“A lot of stuff on our call sheet that was really good for us in the second half, we weren’t able to use,” Brennan said.

With Pottsville relying more heavily on its passing attack, Lehighton’s defense stepped up. Carl Lingham, who also contributes at wide receiver, broke up multiple passes to help keep the Crimson Tide off the scoreboard after halftime.

“Our linebacker Preston DiGrazia, once again, did a good job calling the shift call,” Lingham said. “I noticed I wasn’t having a good offensive day because of the run game. Croizier did his job, so that’s why we stuck to it.”

Not only did the Indians stick with their running game, it continued to produce big plays.

Croizier scored twice more in the fourth quarter, breaking free for touchdowns of 33 and 66 yards to give Lehighton the lead and put the game away.

“I think the sign of a good team is that you can kind of bounce back from those mistakes,” McCarroll said. “We didn’t lose our minds at halftime. We just said, ‘Hey, let’s make some corrections and let’s play a little bit cleaner football,’ and we had a few subtle adjustments and it seemed to work. I’m proud of the kids and the way we responded.”

“The bottom line at the end of the day, we couldn’t tackle Croizier in the second half,” Brennan said. “Their offensive line does a nice job. Croizier, hats off to him and the way he runs the football.”

FAMILIAR FOES … Lehighton will travel to Blue Mountain on Saturday for the district semifinals, marking the third consecutive season the Indians and Eagles will meet in the postseason. Blue Mountain defeated Bangor 51-6 in its quarterfinal matchup to advance.

Lehighton 28, Pottsville 14

Lehighton 7 0 7 14 - 28

Pottsville 0 14 0 0 - 14

L - Croizier 4 run (Hoffman kick)

P - Strencosky 55 pass from Welsh (Allen kick)

P - Strencosky 23 pass from Welsh (Allen kick)

L - Croizier 68 run (Hoffman kick)

L - Croizier 33 run (Hoffman kick)

L - Croizier 66 run (Hoffman kick)