By Todd Stanford
TOWANDA — Lewisburg’s defense made a lot of big stops in Friday night’s District 4 Class AA semifinal with Towanda — none bigger than Brandon Smith’s sack in the penultimate minute of the game.
Smith’s sack of Black Knights quarterback Dakota Roof on fourth-and-nine inside Lewisburg territory just about clinched it, as the Green Dragons advanced to their first District 4 championship game in program history with a 19-14 victory at Veterans Memorial Park Stadium.
“To hold that team to 14 points is an amazing job by our defense,” Lewisburg coach Todd Tilford said. “We put it on our defense all year … and they came up big again.”
The Green Dragons (11-1) will host Loyalsock — a winner over Hughesville in Friday’s other semifinal — next weekend for the title.
“This feels amazing,” said Lewisburg wide receiver Ryan Lopes, who had three catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns Friday. “This is my first time in the playoffs. This is an all-new experience, and it’s a great experience.”
Towanda’s final drive, which started at its own 39 with 4:27 left following a Lewisburg punt, might not have been so stressful for the Green Dragons were it not for a missed extra point and missed two-point conversion. The normally reliable Robbie Gaines was out with an injury (Tilford said he’d be ready for the D-4 final), meaning the Black Knights (11-1) could win the game with a touchdown.
Roof, who finished the night with 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries, drove Towanda to midfield in three plays, and then hit running back Kodi Thompson for a 14-yard gain to the Lewisburg 36.
After a three-yard gain by running back Travis Chesla, Dragons linebacker John Moscarello dropped Roof for a two-yard loss. On third-and-nine, Roof threw deep, but Lewisburg’s Mark Hall broke up the pass.
On fourth down, Smith broke through and caught Roof as he was rolling right.
“I was on a blitz,” said Smith, a freshman who led the Green Dragons with 12 tackles. “And I thought that I’d better stay wide, because (Roof) has good speed.”
Lewisburg sophomore running back Merle Moscarello rushed 17 times for 108 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Cam Cassels completed six of 10 passes for 114 yards and the two scores to Lopes, the first of which made the score 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
John Moscarello had intercepted a Roof pass at the Towanda 25 on the Black Knights’ first possession, and Cassels found Lopes along the right sideline for a 17-yard scoring toss.
Towanda would tie it early in the second when Roof called his own number on a 10-yard scamper. But Lewisburg took the lead right back when Cassels found Lopes on a deep slant for a 29-yard TD connection, giving the Green Dragons a 13-7 halftime lead.
It looked as though Towanda would tie the game at 7 late in the first, as Roof drove the team 60 yards to the Lewisburg five. But on fourth-and-three from the five, Lewisburg’s defense held Roof a yard short of the end zone.
“Our defense was so aggressive,” said Tilford. “We feel we have one of the best defenses in the area.”
The key play in the second half came early in the third, as the Black Knights’ center sent the ball over the head of Roof on a punt attempt. Roof picked it up and ran it back to the Towanda 14.
Two plays later, Merle Moscarello pounded his way into the end zone for a 19-7 lead. The pass attempt on the ensuing two-point conversion fell to the ground, keeping the score at 19-7.
On Towanda’s next drive, Chesla was stopped for no gain by John Moscarello (five tackles on the night) on a fourth-and-one at the Black Knights’ 46.
Roof and the Black Knights mounted one final scoring drive, which culminated in Roof’s 25-yard scoring run on a belly play. That made the score 19-14 with 5:59 left.
Towanda would get the ball once more for its final possession, which ended with Smith’s sack. Lewisburg then got two more first downs to run out the clock.
