ALTOONA, Pa. — The first half of Friday’s PIAA Class 4A semifinal was near perfect for District 7 champion Thomas Jefferson.
The Jaguars found a strong rhythm on offense with the ground game and kept District 3 winner Lampeter-Strasburg’s offensive playmakers completely off the board for 24 minutes. But, the Pioneers made a complete turnaround when they came out of the locker room for the third quarter.
Lampeter-Strasburg tallied 17 unanswered points over the final two frames to turn a 13-point halftime deficit into the Pioneers’ first-ever trip to the state title game with a 20-16 victory at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona.
“They made plays and we didn’t,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “We just didn’t play well enough in the second half to win the game. A lot of things we don’t normally do, we did in the second half, mistake wise. They stepped up and made the plays when they needed to.”
With Thomas Jefferson leading 16-3 and opening the second half with possession of the ball, the Jaguars were undercut by back-to-back holding penalties that led to a turnover on downs. Thomas Jefferson then punted on its next possession after driving to the Lampeter-Strasburg 45-yard line following a dropped a touchdown pass.
The Pioneers capitalized on both defensive stands.
After stopping the Jaguars on downs, Lampeter-Strasburg scored just five plays later on a 45-yard run from quarterback Caileb Howse to pull within 16-10. Howse then found Christian Nolt for a 70-yard touchdown pass along the left sideline to put the Pioneers ahead 17-16 after three quarters.
“We had a chance to go up 30-3,” Cherpak said. “In a state semifinal game, you have to make those plays. We just didn’t. That’s the way it is. You lose when you don’t make those plays.
“I think our kids maybe panicked a little bit. I think they were a little shell shocked when we got backed up 20 yards because of those penalties. Then they ended up scoring both times really quick right after. That definitely was a huge swing in the game.”
Lampeter-Strasburg, after compiling just 12 total yards of offense in the first half, had 153 in the third quarter alone.
“We honestly really didn’t say a whole lot (to the team),” Lampeter-Strasburg coach Victor Ridenour said of his team’s halftime adjustments. “We just knew we had to execute. We had to do a better job blocking and getting to the linebackers. (Thomas Jefferson) did a phenomenal job in the first half of controlling the line of scrimmage. We made enough plays in the first half to keep us in the game at halftime, but we got those big plays to start the third and went from there.”
The Pioneers set the final with its third consecutive scoring drive in the second half, as Peter Fiorello hit a 32-yard field goal with 9:48 left in the fourth.
Thomas Jefferson engineered a strong drive in an attempt to regain the lead, but turned the ball over on downs for the second time in the half after reaching the Lampeter-Strasburg 32 yard line.
Howse then led the Pioneers to the finish by running off the final 4:30 on the clock. He finished with 94 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while completing 3 of 8 passes for 83 yards and another score.
“When your back’s against the wall and all you have is 24 minutes, you need to get a little push behind you,” Ridenour said. “They just don’t quit. It’s been that way for a long time at L-S, even before I was there. Our kids just don’t know how to surrender, which is good.”
Thomas Jefferson was able to quickly gain momentum in the opening half after Fiorello converted a 19-yard field goal to open the game’s scoring at 5:46 of the first quarter. Christian Nolt’s 52-yard interception return set up the Pioneers’ points.
After a Jaguars’ punt, a Shep Turk sack of Howse and a false start penalty pushed Lampeter-Strasburg back to its own 2-yard line. The Pioneers attempted to punt, but Matt Martinis blocked the kick out of the back of the endzone for a safety, cutting Thomas Jefferson’s deficit to 3-2 with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Jaguars then turned to their workhorse in running back Tyler Eber, with the sophomore spearheading a 13-play, 58-yard drive, all being runs, to put Thomas Jefferson ahead 9-3 with 6:05 remaining in the first half after Eber scored on a 1-yard run.
Eber tallied a 20-yard score on the Jaguars’ next possession, giving Thomas Jefferson a 16-3 lead at the half. The Jaguars ran the ball 19 times out of 21 plays on their two scoring drives in the second quarter, totaling 114 yards.
Eber finished with 43 carries for 207 yards along with scoring both of the Jaguars’ touchdowns.
“We were doing a lot of things in different formations,” Cherpak said. “Our one lineman got hurt last week, so were just trying to feel out what was working best. We ran effectively sometimes, but overall, they did a good job of defending us.”
Lampeter-Strasburg (14-0) picked up its first-ever victory in the PIAA semifinal round after coming in 0-3 all-time. The Pioneers fell to Thomas Jefferson 44-2 in the same round in 2019.
The Pioneers will face the winner of District 12 champion Bonner Pendergrast and District 11 champion Southern Lehigh in the state title game on Thursday night at Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field. Thomas Jefferson closed a 14-1 season.
“I’m just proud of these kids and the program,” Ridenour said. “They’ve done a great job being leaders. The culture has been good at L-S, and it was great today.”
