By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
OLD FORGE – Steve Jervis has not hesitated to turn to his talented freshman class.
And, when one more adjustment was needed as the Lackawanna Trail football team transitioned from the regular season to the playoffs, Jervis added one more responsibility to a freshman.
Isaac Ryon, already a starting safety and the team’s back-up quarterback, became a kicker just in time for the start of the postseason.
It was from that additional position that Ryon ended the District 2 Class A championship game, drilling a 29-yard field goal in overtime to lift Lackawanna Trail over host Old Forge, 24-21, Friday night.
“He’s been kicking all year, but we’ve been using a couple of other kids in our kicking game,” Jervis said.
As Thursday night’s practice wound down, Jervis had seen enough.
“Isaac kicked the best, and I said ‘Isaac, you’re kicking tomorrow. If it comes down to it that you have to kick a field goal, just go out and do what you did tonight’,” Jervis said. “He’s only a freshman, but he’s a gamer. You’re going to hear a lot from him.”
Ryon was solid on extra points, easily making his first three varsity attempts after only kicking occasionally in games on lower levels. One of those attempts soared well over the tops of the uprights.
With a special performance by Max Kimmel in other special teams roles paving the way, the game came down to the Lions having the second possession under the National Federation 10-Yard Line Tiebreaker Rule.
When second down from the 1 morphed into fourth down from the 12 after a scary fumble and another loss of yardage, the game came down to one kick from Ryon – the first field goal attempt he ever took in game conditions anywhere.
“I had never even kicked an extra point in a game before this,” Ryon said. “At practice, we were just kicking and the past couple weeks, I’ve been draining them.
“(Jervis) decided to give me shot and there you have it.”
Ryon left no doubt on the kick from the left hashmark, setting off a Lackawanna Trail celebration and bringing an abrupt ending to an Old Forge season that started with the Blue Devils ranked among the state’s best Class A teams.
Along the way, Old Forge beat Lackawanna Trail, 33-20, won the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title and captured the home field for the title game.
While making six tackles and assisting on another from his usual position in the defensive backfield, Ryon could sense the championship game rematch possibly coming down to his new duties.
“Right from the beginning, we knew it was going to come down to maybe a field goal or a late touchdown,” Ryon said. “We knew it was going to be a war and it was.”
Lackawanna Trail scored all three of its touchdowns in the second quarter to erase a pair of seven-point deficits and take a 21-14 halftime lead.
From there, however, the Blue Devils held the Lions to minus-5 yards of total offense in the second half and a loss of two more yards in overtime.
It was up to a series of Kimmel plays to keep Lackawanna Trail in a position where it could pull out a win late.
Old Forge had won the division behind a field goal by Isaac Rodriguez in the closing seconds two weeks earlier against Riverside.
The Blue Devils were positioned to do the same for the district title until Kimmel broke through to block a 27-yard try with 4.1 seconds left in regulation.
Old Forge got the ball first in overtime and had an apparent third-down touchdown wiped out by an illegal procedure penalty.
Brothers Hunter and Cooper Patterson stopped Old Forge for loss on the next third-down try and the Blue Devils lined up for a 23-yard attempt to take the lead.
Again, Kimmel was there for the block, setting up the Lions to win with any score.
Hunter Patterson carried to the 1 on the first play before the Lions only let it get away.
A fumble on second down sent the ball bouncing through the Lackawanna Trail backfield and created a scramble as several players went for it before Kimmel made the recovery at the 10.
Kimmel had already been keeping the Lions in the game throughout the fourth quarter.
The sophomore cornerback had an interception early in the fourth quarter with the Blue Devils on the move, picking up two first downs after the possession in which they tied the game.
As a punter, Kimmel made three key plays. He twice ran down loose balls after punt snaps sailed over his head. He made an over-the-shoulder catch of a snap at the 2, turned and got off a punt that netted 34 yards and gave the Blue Devils the ball at their 30 early in the third quarter.
Kimmel’s 34-yard punt with 8:58 left pinned Old Forge at its 10.
That was part of a key late-game field position shift.
Lackawanna Trail could not move on its next possession and lined up to punt from its 42 with 2:47 left.
Again, Kimmel had to run down a bad snap. Backed up to his 10 with Blue Devils closing in, he got off a pass that technically resulted in a 17-yard loss, but lost 15 yards fewer than if he had been tackled there.
“All year long, I feel like we’ve made it difficult on ourselves, but every game, Max makes a play here or there that’s really a game-changer,” Jervis said.
Those yards made a difference when Old Forge only got as far as the 10 in the closing seconds and wound up attempting the first of the field goals Kimmel blocked.
Old Forge opened the game with 12 straight runs before James Sobol rolled right and passed to Casey Holzman in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown.
Similarly, Lackawanna Trail scored on its first possession with just a single pass attempt in its 11-play drive that carried into the second quarter.
Lukas Gumble scored from the 11 for a 7-7 tie.
Cyllel Rose scored a defensive touchdown for the second straight week for Old Forge, running in a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown with 5:24 left in the second quarter, but Lackawanna Trail moved in front with touchdowns 53 seconds apart.
Demetrius Douglas returned the kickoff 70 yards after Rose’s touchdown.
Gumble scored his second touchdown from the 8 and the Lions forced a three-and-out.
Douglas then went off right tackle on the next play for 53 yards and the lead with 1:44 left in the half.
It was the last time the Lions offense gained as much as a first down.
“Small schools, both teams have a lot of kids playing two ways,” Jervis said. “Up front, there was a lot of energy exerted in that first half and I think that’s why it was kind of a stalemate in the second half.
“It’s a credit to our kids making a play when they had to.”
Three of Old Forge’s seven second-half first downs came on a 70-yard drive to tie the game midway through the third quarter.
Sobol ran for five yards on fourth-and-one. He then found tight end Joe Granko open deep down the middle for a 40-yard touchdown on the next play.
Old Forge finished with statistical advantages of 15-8 in first downs, 153-138 in rushing yards, 85-minus 17 in passing yards, 238-121 in total offense and 27:40-20:20 in time of possession.
The Blue Devils had three players with at least 46 yards rushing.
Holzman carried 11 times for 56 yards and also caught 2 passes. Sobol carried 15 times for 51 yards and completed 7 of 11 passes for 85 yards and the 2 scores. Cael Krushnowski carried 17 times for 46 yards.
Douglas, like Kimmel, one of the team’s sophomore leaders, carried 10 times for 84 yards and returned 3 kickoffs for 118 yards.
The Patterson brothers joined Kolbee Soltis in leading the defense.
Cooper Patterson, another of the team’s five starting freshmen, had a sack and two other tackles for losses. He finished with a team-high eight tackles and an assist.
Hunter Patterson had seven tackles and two assists. He had overtime tackle for a loss.
Soltis chipped in five tackles and six assists.
The Lions advance to host District 1 champion Jenkintown in a meeting of 7-4 teams for the District 1-2 Class A Subregional title.
