Northern Lehigh comes up just short
STEELTON — Northern Lehigh’s offense had almost no margin for error in Saturday afternoon’s PIAA Class A quarterfinal at Steelton-Highspire.
The Bulldogs delivered except for a missed connection on a pass in the end zone right before halftime and a drive that stalled in Steamrollers territory midway through the third quarter. But those two shortcomings were enough for Steelton-Highspire to escape War Veterans’ Memorial Field with a 42-35 victory thanks to Alex Erby’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Jaeion
Perry with four seconds left.
“Those things were what cost us today,” Bulldogs coach Joe Tout said.
Northern Lehigh (12-2) tied the game at 35 when Nick Frame hit Austin Smyth with an 8-yard touchdown pass and A.J. Jimenez’s two-point run with 27 seconds left.
Frame escaped a heavy rush to get the pass off and Smyth toed the sideline in the end zone to make the catch.
But Steelton-Highspire (12-1) ran five plays in 26 seconds without using a timeout to go 59 yards for the game-winning score.
Northern Lehigh’s golden opportunity to take control came when it had the ball at the Steelton-Highspire 40 with a 21-14 lead.
But the Steamrollers stopped the Bulldogs on fourth down by a foot.
Eight plays later, SteeltonHighspire scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie the game and set up a wild final 12 minutes.
“If I had to pick one turning play,” Tout said, “I thought it was that. They imploded like they did multiple times today and we got 30 [penalty yards] out of it.
“If we could have gone up two scores, I thought that would have been huge.”
After Northern Lehigh’s only punt, SteeltonHighspire took the lead on Ronald Burnette’s 16-yard touchdown run with 9:29 left. It came after a 25-yard punt return to the Bulldogs’ 21 by Daquan McCraw.
The Steamrollers’ athleticism dominated special teams. Burnette had a 67-yard kick return after the Bulldogs took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. Three plays later, SteeltonHighspire tied the game.
Burnette also ran for 224 yards and three scores. Quarterback Alex Erby ran for a score and completed 13 of 17 passes for 138 yards and two scores, including the game-winner as the Steamrollers’ skill players forced the Bulldogs defense into a passive approach.
“They spread you out,” Tout said. “Some of the stuff is … reading numbers. They are so athletic and can score so fast. We thought: ‘Let’s not dare them to throw the ball all over the place.’
“In the end, the two defenses were just gassed. We thought we took enough time off the clock to get it to overtime. They are just that good offensively. They don’t need much time to score.”
Northern Lehigh also played most of the second half without senior skill player Izaiah Ramos, who didn’t touch the ball after catching a 35-yard pass early in the third quarter.
“That hurt because he was playing so well today,” Tout said.
That catch led to Jimenez’s 2-yard TD run to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead. After three penalties led to the Rollers’ only punt and two more gave the District 11 champions the ball at the Rollers’ 40, the Bulldogs were primed to take control.
But Eugene Green made two of the four stops for Steelton-Highspire, which was flagged 15 times for 169 yards and fortunate to not be called for several more.
Northern Lehigh’s offensive game plan was executed by Frame and Co.
The Bulldogs showed poise on their final drive, converting three times on third down to get even.
Frame threw two TD passes and ran for another. Jimenez rushed for 110 yards and two scores. Austin Smyth caught both touchdown passes.
Jimenez and Landon Moll had tackles for loss for Northern Lehigh. Bailey Smith had a sack.