Saucon Valley rallies twice to beat Southern Lehigh 34-33

Fourth and long.

Southern Lehigh had Saucon Valley right where it wanted its rival.

But Panthers quarterback Dante Mahaffey did not fear the situation. Instead, the junior thrived.

Mahaffey converted three fourth downs and one third down in the game’s final seven minutes, ultimately hitting Alex Magnotta with the game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute, 24 seconds left in a 34-33 win Friday night in Center Valley.

The scoring toss completely four lead changes in the game’s final 9:04.

“I don’t know how I can express how proud I am of our kids,” Saucon coach Brad Trembler said. “Howmany times could we have folded up shop there? How many times would the average high school kid have folded it?

“We kept battling, kept believing in each other, and it showed. And [Mahaffey], he was pretty damngood.”

Mahaffey threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns.

Southern Lehigh took a 33-28 lead on Jayden Henry’s 90-yard kick return with 6:08 left.

Tyler Houser made a significant contribution in the second quarter of last week’s win at Northern Lehigh with a touchdown reception.

On Friday, the Southern Lehigh junior made his presence felt with three first-half sacks.

Houser’s first sack also forced a Saucon Valley fumble that teammate Logan Shorb recovered. The turnover set up the Spartans’ first touchdown.

His third sack ended the Panthers’ first series of the first half.

Houser, whohad two tackles for loss in the Spartans’ season-opening win, also had a third-quarter tackle for loss on a designed QB run and another for no gain in the fourth.

Southern Lehigh hurt itself with mistakes in the first half.

Adropped pass on what would have a big gainer eventually led to a stalled drive on the Spartans’ third series.

A penalty and a mishandled snap also foiled their final first-half drive