DUNCANNON -- With the chance to put a strangle-hold on first place in the District 4 Class playoffs, Line Mountain lost for the third time in its last four games Monday, falling 27-7, in non-conference action to Susquenita.
The Eagles (6-3) lost three fumbles and muffed punt that led to 18 of the 28 Blackhawk points.
After opening the year with five consecutive wins and scoring a total of 175 points in those five games, the Eagles have scored just 49 points since.
Trailing 12-0 late in the first half, Eagle sophomore Marty Beninsky connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass to junior Mike Marciniak with three-tenths of a second left before halftime, to pull the Eagles within five. Marciniak out-jumped two Blackhawk defender's to come down the ball.
The Eagles had the ball to start the second-half and seemed to have the momentum on their side, but a quick three-and-out killed their momentum. The Blackhawks' defense had Beninsky scrambling all night, recording three sacks and holding him to 23 yards on 14 carries.
But the Eagles' defense held and forced a punt with midway through the third. Then on a fourth-and-4 from their own 48, Beninsky tried a fake punt but was stopped a yard shy of the first down. The Blackhawks capitalized on the turnover with a six-play drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ethan Reichert, his first of two in the game. It gave Susquenita a 20-7 lead.
The Blackhawks extended their lead to 27-7 after recovering a muffed punt by the Eagles on a fair-catch signal on Line Mountains' 32-yard line, just after the fourth quarter started. Eight plays later, Reichert scored again on a counter on a third-and-goal.
"We felt like if we had the ability to move the ball down the field in the beginning of second half and if we could put points on the board, then we would be ahead by at least a point," Line Mountain head coach Mike Carson said of coming out of the half with the ball but quickly "Then the litany of turnovers and mistakes...but so much credit goes to Susquenita. Their kids looked so hungry to play and I thought our kids at time didn't look as hungry as I would have expected them to be. We made mistakes and never let ourselves get back into the game."
Asked how he'll motivate the kids for Friday's game against Pine Grove and Carson said the motivation will be up to them.
"If these kids want to atone for tonight's performance, I don't think there's a song and dance I can do, no pep talk, I think its going to be entirely up to them," he said "I think our performance Friday night will reflect how important things are to them. I'm not sure there is anything I can do at this point to fire them up. They are going to have to decide on their own."
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Turnovers doom Line Mountain
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