HS FOOTBALL: Gumble, senior class finishes regular season undefeated at Lackawanna Trail

Oct. 28—CLINTON TWP. — As a senior, Lukas Gumble wanted to have a special season.

He and his classmates made history.

Fourth-ranked Lackawanna Trail rolled to a convincing 46-0 win over Susquehanna on Friday night at Lions Pride Stadium. The members of this senior group, many of whom have been a part of the varsity for four years, were on the field for the final two snaps, which were both kneel downs by quarterback Stephen Jervis, as they celebrated the first 10-0 regular-season record for the program.

It is also the first undefeated regular season for the Lions since they went 9-0 in 1974.

"The coaches here have been waiting for this group for a long time," Gumble said. "We have played together forever, it seems. This is the first 10-0 season in Lackawanna Trail history, so it is a big thing to achieve."

In addition, Lackawanna Trail captured the Lackawanna Football Conference Division III championship, which is its first since 2007. The Lions beat their five division opponents by an average of 36.0 points with a pair of shutouts and also had a 25-point win over LFC Division II champion Dunmore.

Lackawanna Trail will defend its title when it hosts Old Forge on Friday for the District 2 Class 1A championship.

"This feels amazing because we have been up here since we were freshmen," said Hunter Patterson, a four-year letterman who ran for 82 yards and a touchdown. "We have played together our whole lives. To accomplish something like this is great. We have all put a lot of time in; we worked hard in the weight room, and we practice hard every day."

Lackawanna Trail showed off its explosive running and passing game and racked up 420 total yards in 35 plays. They had six touchdowns go for 20 yards or more.

Gumble was at the front of the big play barrage.

He started the scoring with a 51-yard touchdown that gave the Lions a 6-0 lead and pushed his season rushing total past 1,000. In the second quarter, Gumble had a 23-yard touchdown and finished with 143 yards rushing on only seven carries. To cap his effort, he also hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass from Stephen Jervis in the third quarter before getting the rest of the night off.

"Our linemen were really doing a great job," said Gumble, who has 1,106 yards rushing while averaging 13.7 yards per carry this season.

Lackawanna Trail also dominated the game defensively.

The swarming unit recorded 12 plays of zero or negative yards. Susquehanna had 71 total yards on 45 plays, and that number included a 27-yard reception by William Marcy.

Kolbee Soltis, a tenacious senior linebacker, had four tackles, including one for loss and a pass breakup, to lead the defense. Cole Rosengrant, Demetrius Douglas, Cooper Patterson, Max Kimmel, Gavin Mulhern and Colin Owens also had tackles for loss for the Lions.

"Our defense starts with us being very disciplined," Soltis said. "They came out and ran a totally different offense than what we had game planned against, and we were still able to shut them down."

After Gumble's jolt on Lackawanna Trail's third offensive play, Jervis found Kimmel for a 36-yard touchdown on their second possession for a 13-0 lead at 3:40 of the first.

Lackawanna Trail did lose a pair of fumbles early in the game, but settled back down when Douglas traipsed into the end zone on a 16-yard run with 5:29 left in the half.

Cooper Patterson blocked a punt that led to Gumble bolting 23 yards for his second touchdown and a 27-0 lead at the half. Gumble pushed the margin to 34-0 with his touchdown reception, and Hunter Patterson burst through a gaping hole in the center of the line on a fourth down for a 20-yard touchdown with 4:48 left in the fourth.

Logan Edwards finished the scoring on a 28-yard run with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter.

"It felt great to score," Patterson said. "I have to give credit to the offensive line. Colin Owens and my brother, Cooper and Gary Shaw, they just opened a huge hole, and it was perfect."

Weston Yannone threw for 42 yards, and Marcy had 32 yards rushing and a 27-yard reception to lead Susquehanna (5-5, 2-3), which will play at Dunmore on Friday in the District 2 Class 2A semifinals.

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