ALTOONA Lampeter-Strasburg received the program’s first official invitation to the PIAA Championship round on Friday thanks to an outstanding second-half performance.
The Pioneers defeated Thomas Jefferson 20-16 in a 4A semifinal at Mansion Park Stadium after rallying from a 13-point deficit at halftime behind to two touchdowns from quarterback Caileb Howse in the second half and two field goals from kicker Peter Fiorello.
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Howse and the defending District 3 champions got to work after the Jaguars took a 16-3 lead thanks to the play of dynamic sophomore running back Tyler Eber.
Early in the third quarter, the quarterback pulled the Pioneers within with a 45-yard touchdown run.
TJ’s frontline later flushed Howse to his left before he found Christian Nolt down the sideline for a 70-yard scoring pass.
The final margin came from a 32-yard field goal made by Fiorello early in the last quarter.
The Pioneers improved their record to 14-0 and progressed to the Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field for Thursday’s 4A final. At 7 p.m., L-S will play Southern Lehigh or Bonner-Prendergast.
After Thomas Jefferson (14-1) stopped three plays from inside the five, L-S was forced to settle for Fiorello’s 19-yard boot on their second possession. After one quarter, Matt Martinis’ blocked punt and safety created a 3-2 score.
The WPIAL winners led by two possessions at the half on to two short touchdown runs from Eber, who collected 132 of his 202 rushing yards in the first half.
It wouldn’t endure.
Fiorello’s initial 3-pointer was made possible by Nolt’s interception. Howse was 3 of 8 for 84 yards and the game-winning toss to Nolt, and he ran for 88 yards. In the defeat, Eber carried 41 times.
Lampeter-Strasburg RB Dom Brown made 16 attempts and gained 66 running yards. Thomas Jefferson’s record in the PIAA semifinals dropped to 5-2 overall. A 44-2 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg in 2019 was one of those triumphs.
Strasburg-Lampeter (13-0) 3-0-14-3-20
Jefferson Thomas (14-0) 2-14-0-0 16
The first quarter
LS-FG Fiorello, Peter 19, 5:46
TJ-Safety Punt through end zone stopped by Matt Martinis, :23
The second quarter
TJ-Tyler Eber 1 run (6:05) (kick from Sam Wessel)
Wessel kick, TJ-Eber 2 run, :25
The third quarter
45-meter run by LS-Caileb Howse (Fiorello kick), 8:03
LS-Christian Nolt (Fiorello kick), 70 pass from Caileb Howse, 2:30
Quarter four
32, 9:48 LS-FG Fiorello
Eric Epler can be followed on Twitter and X at @threejacker.
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