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Muddy conditions can’t stop Nanticoke Area from claiming Eastern Conference title

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River Street Jazz Cafe marks 25 years of music

CHAPMAN LAKE &#8212; The brand of football that Lake-Lehman spent the past four months perfecting and fine-tuning was reduced to its most basic level: pee-wee football-style running up the middle, and, more importantly, chance.And not even chance went without a hitch: after neither team scored in regulation, the officials&#8217; quarter was so caked in mud that they needed a do-over on the overtime coin toss.Lake-Lehman came up short in a 6-3 overtime loss to Lakeland Friday in the District 2 Class 3A first round. The third-seeded Chiefs advance to the semifinals to face No. 2 Wyoming Area next week.&#8220;You throw your playbook out the window,&#8221; Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. &#8220;It&#8217;s nose-to-nose football. You can be Johnny Sweater Vest on offense, and it levels you down to a very elementary level of football right now.&#8221;Two inches of rain in as many hours left behind 3 inches of mud and a 20-yard stretch of midfield that was, for all intents and purposes, unplayable. Players on both teams were unable to get any traction with their cleats, and any open field of running room were quickly stifled by slips and falls.&#8220;It takes a lot. You can&#8217;t pull guards. It takes away our speed,&#8221; Gilsky said. &#8220;Now you force your lineman, and the dive is your only play. You go to toe-to-toe. You hope to get a fumble. You hope to find a crease. You can&#8217;t even run the ball outside. It is what it is.&#8221;The inability to get much of anything accomplished offensively opened the door for a questionable officiating call to decide the fate of the game.Lake-Lehman kicker Justin Timonte nailed a 33-yard field goal in overtime to take a 3-0 lead. His low-liner kick came just inches above the cross bar for the first points of the game after a scoreless regulation.Lakeland took its turn at the 10, opening with a 7-yard pass to Josh Kovaleski on first down. After the Chiefs fumbled but retained possession on second down &#8211; their seventh of the game &#8211; to set up a third-and-five, Giovanni Spataro&#8217;s run up the middle was initially met by a host of Black (now Brown) Knights defenders.The officials did not whistle forward progress, and Jonathan Naniewicz essentially picked up his halfback and thrusted him forward. Spataro somehow made it four yards before sliding into the end zone, much to the bewilderment of the Lake-Lehman defense and the frustration of their head coach.&#8220;The forward progress was stopped. It was like three seconds,&#8221; Gilsky said. &#8220;It is what it is. You can&#8217;t blame it on that. The mud is a great equalizer of chance. You force teams to be in the 10- yard line.&#8221;Lake-Lehman had two chances to take a lead during regulation. Timonte just missed a 41-yard field goal that was long enough but sailed just wide left. With six minutes left in the game, his 25-yard field goal was tipped at the line.Both teams finished with just five first downs. Lake-Lehman was kept to 90 yards of total offense, entirely on the ground. The Black Knights averaged exactly 2 yards per rush.Scott Robbins showed some success on a fullback dive with 47 yards on 15 carries.<ins>Lakeland 6, Lake-Lehman 3 (OT) </ins><ins>Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`0`3`&#8212;`3 </ins><ins>Lakeland`0`0`0`0`6`&#8212;`6 </ins><ins>Overtime </ins><ins>LL &#8211; Justin Timonte 33 FG </ins><ins>LAK &#8211; Giovanni Spataro 5 run </ins><ins>Team statistics`LL`LAK </ins><ins>First downs`5`5 </ins><ins>Rushes-yards`45-90`31-87 </ins><ins>Passing yards`0`40 </ins><ins>Total yards`90`127 </ins><ins>Passing`0-5-1`4-12-0 </ins><ins>Sacked-yards lost`3-14`2-8 </ins><ins>Punts-avg.`5-37.2`8-27.25 </ins><ins>Fumbles-lost`4-1`7-2 </ins><ins>Penalties-yards`4-27`6-35 </ins><ins>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS </ins><ins>RUSHING &#8212; LL, Matt Kurtz 12-34, Zack Kojadinovich 8-5, Ethan Adams 4-(minus-13), Ryan Eiden 5-17, Scott Robbins 15-47, TEAM 1-0. LAK, GSpataro 21-80, C.J. Dipree 6-2, Josh Kovaleski 2-4, Thomas Pidgeon 1-1 </ins><ins>PASSING &#8212; LL, Adams 0-4-0-0, Kojadinovich 0-1-1-0. LAK, Dipree 4-12-0-40 </ins><ins>RECEIVING &#8212; LAK, James Lewis 2-32, Pidgeon 1-1, Kovaleski 1-7 </ins><ins>INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; LAK, Pidgeon 1-0 </ins><ins>MISSED FGs &#8212; LL, Timonte 2-66 </ins><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jay MonahanFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

Lakeland eliminates Lake-Lehman from district football