Record-setting running back Sean Steckert ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Record-setting quarterback Colton Sams completed his first 12 passes and threw for 266 yards and four scores.
It added up to Southern Lehigh’s 56-20 rout of Saucon Valley on Senior Night in Center Valley.
Steckert set school rushing records earlier this month. Sams on Friday night broke the school’s career passing touchdowns mark with 63, two more than Travis Edmond.
Sams (5,181 yards) needs 101 passing yards to break Edmond’s career total.
That could come in next Friday’s regular-season finale at Northwestern Lehigh in a matchup of 9-0 teams.
“We haven’t waited and watched film on them,” Steckert said, “but it’s such a relief now that we can fully focus on Northwestern. We couldn’t slack off tonight against Saucon. But the scoreboard showed what we are.
“We have a lot of potential, and I hope we show that next week.”
Southern Lehigh has won last five meetings with Saucon Valley by an average of 31.6 points per game.
The Spartans scored on all seven first-half possessions and racked up 423 yards to put the game into the mercy rule to start the third quarter.
Sams threw touchdown passes to four seniors: Steckert, Luke Kawczenski, Darius Roman and Jacoby Jacobs.
Kawczenski caught his, a 32-yarder, on Southern Lehigh’s first offensive play. Sams audibled at the line when he saw single coverage and Kawczenski, who missed the last two games with an injury, blew by the defender for the score.
“I dropped the ball in warmups,” Kawczenski said. “I said, ‘I’m not doing that again.”
The Spartans scored again on their next series when Sams hit Roman for a 27-yard score.
Steckert followed with a 42-yard run and Sams hit Jacobs for a 29-yard TD pass on the last play of the first quarter for a 28-0 lead.
Saucon Valley got on the board when Braden Rohn threw the first of his two touchdown passes, a 22-yarder to Thomas Cahill, who caught 11 passes for 179 yards and three scores.
Steckert’s 33-yard TD on the next series got Southern Lehigh back on track.
Saucon Valley, which didn’t call a running play until the final minute of the third quarter, got a 20-yard TD pass from Rohn to Cahill to get within 42-12 with one minute left in the first half.
But Southern Lehigh scored with two seconds left on a 43-yard pass from Sams to Steckert.
“We executed real well in all facets,” Spartans coach Phil Sams said of the offense. “Run, pass, our line blocked really well. Our H-back [Jack Trembler] scored a touchdown. Colton threw for a lot of yards. Sean ran for a lot of yards. It was great.”
For Saucon Valley, it’s back to the film room to fix things defensively and clean up the kind of mistakes that hindered its offense early against Southern Lehigh.
“We focused on two things: four yards a play and tackling,” Panthers coach Anthony Brinkley said. “We fell a little short on the tackling. They are a tremendous team. They are ranked number one in the state for a reason.
“I’m proud of our guys for competing throughout the second half and keeping their heads on straight with a young bunch.”
Looking ahead
Southern Lehigh (9-0) visits Northwestern Lehigh (9-0) at 7 p.m. Friday. Saucon Valley (5-4), which saw its four-game winning streak end, hosts Northern Lehigh, also at 7 Friday in the final weekend of the regular season.
Both teams have secured District 11 playoff berths. Southern Lehigh will be a top-2 seed in Class 4A and host a quarterfinal on Thursday, Oct. 30. Saucon Valley is the fourth seed in 3A and will host a quarterfinal also on Oct. 30.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
SOUTHERN LEHIGH 56, SAUCON VALLEY 20
Saucon Valley: 0; 12; 0; 8 — 20
Southern Lehigh: 28; 21; 0; 7 — 56
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
SL: Colton Sams 32 pass to Luke Kawczenski (Declan Walsh kick), 9:44
SL: Sams 27 pass to Darius Roman (Walsh kick), 4:29
SL: Sean Steckert 42 run (Walsh kick), 3:04
SL: Sams 29 pass to Jacoby Jacobs (Walsh kick), 0:00
Second quarter
SV: Braden Rohn 22 pass to Thomas Cahill (kick failed), 8:45
SL: Steckert 33 run (Walsh kick), 6:42
SL: Jake Trembler 8 run (Walsh kick), 3:04
SV: Rohn 20 pass to Cahill (kick failed), 1:00
SL: Sams 43 pass to Steckert (Walsh kick), 0:02
Fourth quarter
SV: Chris Chaffier 10 pass to Cahill (Chaffier pass to Cahill), 4:57
SL: Walsh 5 run (Walsh kick), 1:28
TEAM STATISTICSSV; SLFirst downs; 15; 18Rushes-yards; 16-14; 22-241Passing yards; 253; 266Comp-Att-INTs; 18-32-1; 15-17-0Punts-avg.; 5-30.8; 1-42.0Fumbles-lost; 3-0; 0-0Penalties-yards; 4-30; 5-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Saucon Valley) Braden Rohn 9-15; Eli Szlachtianshyn 1-(-1); Lucian Strybuc 2-6; Sahalay Hernandez 3-6; team 1-(-12); (Southern Lehigh) Sean Steckert 10-142, 2 TDs; Colton Sams 1-7; Taso Kiprislis 2-43; Silas Adasavage 3-6; Jayson Stock 1-7; Jake Trembler 1-8, TD; Declan Walsh 3-19, TD; Chris Romero 1-9.
Passing: (Saucon Valley) Rohn 14-25-1, 194 yards, TD; Chris Chaffier 4-7-0 59 yards, TD; (Southern Lehigh) Sams 13-14-0, 266 yards, 4 TDs; Walsh 2-3-0, 13 yards.
Receiving: (Saucon Valley): Thomas Cahill 11-179, 3 TDs; Taylor Rohn 4-56; Mickie McClarin 1-5; Isaiah McNally 1-6; Parker Skoda 1-7; (Southern Lehigh) Luke Kawczenski 3-88, TD; Darius Roman 2-42, TD; Jacoby Jacobs 3-49, TD; Steckert 1-43, TD; Jack Fistner 2-26; Otto Young 2-18; Ryan Kusse 1-2; Omar Romero 1-11.
