WILLIAMSPORT – Ray Melnikoff and Kody Cresswell each ran for two touchdowns while leading a 360-yard ground game Friday night as Lackawanna Trail returned to the PIAA Class A football semifinals with a 26-13 victory over Muncy.
The District 2 Lions, who lost in the state final last season, have reached the semifinals for the fourth time in school history. They will play District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle next week.
Lackawanna Trail followed up a victory over Old Forge, the state’s top-ranked Class A team at the time, by mashing three straight state playoff opponents with its ground game. The Lions rushed for 478 yards in a 54-20 victory over Morrisville, then 379 while beating Williams Valley, 44-30.
Muncy scored three plays into Friday night’s game when freshman quarterback Branson Eyer broke a 58-yard run on third-and-five.
The Lions answered with an 11-play, 63-yard scoring drive for the first of Melnikoff’s two first-quarter touchdowns.
Melnikoff broke a 63-yard run to set up his second touchdown to put the Lions ahead to stay in the last minute of the first quarter.
Lackawanna Trail converted Muncy’s only turnover into a touchdown with 1:35 left in the second quarter for a 20-7 halftime lead.
After taking 6:25 off the clock in their first-quarter scoring drive, the Lions opened the second half with a 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive that consumed 4:51.
Cresswell ran 12 yards on fourth-and-five for his second touchdown and a 26-7 lead.
Muncy answered with a 14-play scoring drive, but used almost five minutes in doing so.
The Indians got to the Lackawanna Trail 1 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lions came up with a goal-line stand to preserve the win.
Lackawanna Trail 26, Muncy 13
Muncy`7`0`0`6`—`13
Lackawanna Trail`14`6`6`0`—`26
First quarter
MUN – Branson Eyer 58 run (Isaac Boring kick), 10:59
LT – Ray Melnikoff 6 run (Melnikoff kick), 4:34
LT – Melnikoff 3 run (Melnikoff kick), 0:39.4
Second quarter
LT – Kody Cresswell 10 run (kick failed), 1:35
Third quarter
LT – Cresswell 12 run (run failed), 4:51
Fourth quarter
MUN – Gage Wertz 4 pass from Eyer (run failed), 11:55
Team statistics`MUN`LT
First downs`9`17
Rushes-yards`29-159`52-360
Passing yards`56`5
Total yards`215`365
Passing`5-13-0`2-6-1
Sacked-yards lost`1-1`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-32.5`1-22.0
Fumbles-lost`1-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`3-20`6-49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — MUN, B. Eyer 10-106, Ethan Gush 10-22, Christian Good 5-20, Ross Eyer 1-6, Josh Brown 1-5, Elijah Weikle 1-0, Wertz 1-0. LT, Melnikoff 21-165, Cresswell 9-84, Nico Berrios 11-60, Resto 8-22, Tyler Rozanski 1-19, Miguel Ella 1-7, Luke Baldwin 1-3.
PASSING — MUN, B. Eyer 5-12-0-56, Good 0-1-0-0. LT, Berrios 2-5-0-5, Melnikoff 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING — MUN, Wertz 2-48, Nathan Palmatier 1-4, Gush 1-3, Brown 1-1. LT, Cresswell 1-4, Melnikoff 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — MUN, Chase Crawley 1-0. LT, None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.