BY JEFF FALK
LANCASTER – Of the 45 touchdowns that the Northern Lebanon football team has scored this season, a remarkable 24 of them have come from 32 yards or farther away. And the Vikings have tallied an amazing nine scores of 80 yards or longer.
But none have been bigger than the plays Michigan Daub made last night.
Time. Place. Situation.
On a cool Friday night at brand-new Lancaster Catholic Crusader Stadium, Daub made not one, but two season-defining plays in the waning moments that helped the Vikings claim the Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three championship, with a dramatic 21-14 showdown triumph over the home side. The Section title was the Vikings’ third in the last four years.
With the game tied at 14, but momentum squarely in Lancaster Catholic’s corner and the Crusaders playing for overtime, Daub made the play of the game – in the game of the year for Lebanon County – when he stripped Crusader running back Malkam Lawrence of the ball, and recovered the fumble in one fell swoop, at the Lancaster Catholic ten-yard line. On the very next snap, Daub took a stutter step, split the Crusader defense and ran ten yards up the middle, nearly untouched, for the eventual winning touchdown, with exactly one minute left on the fourth-quarter clock.
The Crusaders’ last gasp ended at the Northern Lebanon 25-yard-line.
“Wow. That’s all I’ve got to say. Wow!,” said Daub. “It’s just fun to beat a team as good as Lancaster Catholic. We played our hearts out, and they played their hearts out. We just had more points at the end.
“It was two great teams,” Daub continued. “I’m at a loss for words. We wanted to get another one (section championship) real bad. We just came out and did our jobs.”
“The first one was special because it was the first one,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Roy Wall, the architect of the three titles. “The second one was expected. We were close last year, but injuries and our depth hurt us. The kids we have play hard. You can’t ask more as a coach.
“This sort of validates our run,” Wall added. “Catholic was up in Section Two when we won our first two.”
It also validated what has become the most successful period in Northern Lebanon football history, and has put the Vikings on the verge of a gridiron dynasty. Now 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the section, Northern Lebanon has won eight straight, following a 35-7 Week Two loss at Cedar Crest.
The Vikings, who were seeded fourth in the latest power rankings, are a lock to qualify for the District Three Class AAAA playoffs, and could host an opening-round game next Friday night. Lancaster Catholic fell to 5-5 on the fall and 5-1 in Section Three.
“He just took it out of the kid’s hands,” said Wall of Daub’s play of plays. “It doesn’t matter, as long as we get the win. He’s just a competitor. He walked into the end zone. But it was a total team effort.
“We were prepping for this game for the last three weeks,” Wall continued. “It just didn’t go the way we wanted it to. We talked about offense and defense, and it’s the same kids.”
“They (the Crusaders) made some really nice adjustments,” said Daub. “We made some adjustments too. I just went for the ball, and luckily I got it. I had to make up for the interception I threw earlier.”
“I saw a lane,” Daub added. “My guys made a nice hole, and I had to make one move. Then I just gave the ball to the ref.”
Before the Crusaders made their move late in the third quarter, Northern Lebanon had controlled the action and led 14-0.
Following a score-less opening quarter, the Vikings notched their first touchdown, 6:17 before halftime. Daub’s 24-yard flea-flicker to Christian Daub was the perfect ending to a six-play, 72-yard march.
“They’re just a great group of kids,” said Wall. “And they’re fine athletes. We don’t have a lot, but they’re pretty freaking good.
“Beating Catholic on their field in the final game of the season, it’s a good feeling,” continued Wall. “They have a heck of a team. But we play 13 kids. That’s it.”
“I couldn’t do anything without my teammates,” said Daub. “They blocked their hearts out. We had each other’s backs every play.”
The Vikings extended their lead to two touchdowns on the opening play of the second half. Senior Stevie Herb accepted the second-half kickoff, bounced off the Crusaders’ first wave of tacklers at the 30-yard line then raced 90 yards down the left sideline for the score.
“We took the momentum with that right away,” said Daub of S. Herb’s kick-off return. “Then we calmed down, and they took the momentum.
“But we’re a family,” Daub added. “We just pick each other up.”
Lancaster Catholic’s patience with its running game began to pay dividends in the middle of the third period.
The Crusaders got on the scoreboard with 3:00 left in the quarter, when Lawrence capped an 11-play, 57-yard march with a seven-yard touchdown scamper. Lancaster Catholic knotted the score at 14-apiece 1:46 into the final stanza, as C.J. Zimmerman turned an interception into an 11-yard scoring run.
“They wore us down,” said Wall. “They play 20-some kids and rotate running backs. Their kids played hard and our kids played hard.”
The Northern Lebanon defense limited the Crusaders to 253 total yards, 195 of which came on the ground, on 45 rushing attempts.
Daub completed 11 of 24 pass attempts for 173 yards. Five of those balls were hauled in by Trader, who totaled 70 receiving yards.
“Everyone’s been doubling him all year,” said Wall of Trader. “And he still gets open. He’s had some big games. They (the Crusaders) knew we were going to try to get him the ball.
“We stepped up, defensively,” continued Wall. “All of our coaches do a great job of getting them ready. That’s been our biggest improvement this year.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.
2017 Northern Lebanon Football Results
Date | Teams | Score | |
8/25 7:00 pm |
Pine Grove at Northern Lebanon |
7 32 |
|
9/08 7:00 pm |
Cedar Crest at Northern Lebanon |
35 7 |
|
9/15 7:00 pm |
Daniel Boone at Northern Lebanon |
21 24 |
|
9/22 7:00 pm |
Northern Lebanon at Pequea Valley |
40 6 |
|
9/28 6:30 pm |
Northern Lebanon at York Suburban |
31 28 |
|
10/06 7:00 pm |
Northern Lebanon at Donegal |
35 21 |
|
10/13 7:00 pm |
Annville-Cleona at Northern Lebanon |
13 41 |
|
10/20 7:00 pm |
Elco at Northern Lebanon |
20 49 |
|
10/27 7:00 pm |
Northern Lebanon at Columbia |
55 14 |
|
11/03 7:00 pm |
Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Catholic |
PIAA District Three
Class AAAA Power Rankings
AAAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
1 | Berks Catholic | 9- | 0- | 0 | 0.788515 | 1.000000 | 0.530033 | 9.3 | 47.7 | 0.0 | 42.3 |
2 | Bishop McDevitt | 6- | 2- | 0 | 0.719282 | 0.809524 | 0.608986 | 6.8 | 50.2 | 1.6 | 32.2 |
3 | Lampeter Strasburg | 6- | 3- | 0 | 0.651116 | 0.727273 | 0.558036 | 6.8 | 50.0 | 2.6 | 39.6 |
4 | Northern Lebanon | 8- | 1- | 0 | 0.645986 | 0.902857 | 0.332033 | 7.9 | 29.8 | 0.9 | 60.0 |
5 | East Pennsboro | 7- | 2- | 0 | 0.633596 | 0.756614 | 0.483240 | 7.2 | 43.3 | 2.3 | 46.3 |
6 | Susquehannock | 7- | 2- | 0 | 0.627942 | 0.781421 | 0.440357 | 7.2 | 39.5 | 2.0 | 50.2 |
7 | Conrad Weiser | 5- | 4- | 0 | 0.589160 | 0.619048 | 0.552632 | 5.9 | 49.4 | 3.6 | 40.0 |
8 | Shippensburg | 5- | 3- | 0 | 0.582715 | 0.672619 | 0.472833 | 5.7 | 36.6 | 2.8 | 40.8 |
9 | Northern York | 5- | 4- | 0 | 0.568639 | 0.595628 | 0.535652 | 5.5 | 46.2 | 3.7 | 40.1 |
10 | Gettysburg | 6- | 3- | 0 | 0.568279 | 0.710383 | 0.394598 | 6.5 | 33.6 | 2.7 | 51.6 |
11 | Susquehanna Township | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.542297 | 0.526316 | 0.561829 | 4.5 | 49.8 | 4.1 | 38.8 |
12 | West Perry | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.523206 | 0.485549 | 0.569231 | 4.2 | 48.1 | 4.5 | 36.4 |
13 | Donegal | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.500594 | 0.467836 | 0.540630 | 4.0 | 48.9 | 4.6 | 41.6 |
14 | Milton Hershey | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.477262 | 0.439306 | 0.523652 | 3.8 | 47.6 | 4.9 | 43.3 |
15 | Big Spring | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.441510 | 0.473373 | 0.402567 | 4.0 | 34.5 | 4.5 | 51.2 |
16 | West York | 2- | 7- | 0 | 0.439314 | 0.257669 | 0.661325 | 2.1 | 61.9 | 6.1 | 31.7 |
17 | Kennard Dale | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.416664 | 0.464088 | 0.358702 | 4.2 | 32.1 | 4.9 | 57.3 |
18 | Greencastle Antrim | 2- | 7- | 0 | 0.377198 | 0.276243 | 0.500588 | 2.5 | 42.6 | 6.6 | 42.5 |
19 | York Suburban | 1- | 8- | 0 | 0.300482 | 0.100592 | 0.544793 | 0.9 | 48.7 | 7.6 | 40.7 |
20 | Hamburg | 1- | 8- | 0 | 0.300458 | 0.101604 | 0.543501 | 1.0 | 51.9 | 8.4 | 43.6 |
21 | James Buchanan | 0- | 5- | 0 | 0.200884 | 0.000000 | 0.446409 | 0.0 | 20.2 | 5.5 | 25.1 |