Lackawanna Trail’s Cooper Rosiak dives to tackle a Mid Valley defender during the Lions’ 35-21 loss to the Spartans at Lions Pride Stadium on Friday. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALICE STUFFLE

BY DAVE LAURIHA

Times-Shamrock Writer

THROOP – Tyler Collins ran for 130 yards for Mid Valley, but his biggest contribution came on defense Friday night at Spartan Stadium.

The junior chased down Lackawanna Trail’s Jeremy Greenley at the Spartans 10-yard line on a kickoff return to save a potential game-tying touchdown late in the first half.

The defense took over in the second half, holding the ninth-ranked Lions high-powered offense to 12 yards over the final 24 minutes, as Mid Valley won the nonleague game, 35-21.

“There were a lot of big plays,” Spartans coach Frank Pazzaglia said. “It was our most complete game, offensively and defensively. We played hard and with a lot of enthusiasm.”

Mid Valley (3-2) has won five straight games against the previously undefeated Lions (4-1).

The Spartans took nearly seven minutes off the clock to score with 3:36 left in the second quarter, but Greenley almost countered that moments later, breaking through an opening and racing down the right sideline.

Collins didn’t give up, and ended up putting his team in position to take command with his desperation tackle.

“It was a big play,” Collins said. “I didn’t have an angle at first. I just wanted to make a play, to try to save a touchdown.”

He not only prevented a score, but when the Lions committed a pair of false starts and were dropped for a loss, they came away with nothing as Pete Murazzi missed a 34-yard field goal.

That left the Spartans enough time to march 80 yards in 90 seconds, capped by Ronny Tomasetti pulling down a 31-yard scoring catch over three defenders with 9 seconds left in the first half. Collins’ extra-point kick gave Mid Valley a 28-14 halftime lead.

“A couple of times we shot ourselves in the foot,” Lions coach Steve Jervis said. “Give them credit. Tomasetti was a difference in the game.”

Tomasetti finished with 160 yards and two touchdowns on six catches, helping Martin Walsh throw for 177 yards. He also caught a 34-yard option pass from Chris Rebar that led to the game’s final touchdown.

Greenley returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, but Mid Valley answered with a 59-yard scoring drive that chewed 7 minutes, 39 seconds off the clock. The Spartans converted three third downs and featured a Walsh-to-Tomasetti 15-yard pass play on a fourth-and-13 to set up the game’s final touchdown. By the time the Lions got the ball back, they trailed by 14 with nine minutes to play.

After halftime, Lackawanna Trail ran just 14 plays, five of them incomplete passes, as Mid Valley held the ball for 17:16 of the second half.

“They have a very good offense, and part of our game plan was to try and control the ball as much as we could,” Pazzaglia said. “Up front, we were at a size disadvantage.”

The first half featured 466 yards of offense between the teams, including 301 by the Spartans. Walsh threw three touchdown passes in that span.

Trail                  7    7  7 0  – 21

Mid Valley     13 15 0 7 – 35

LT            MV

First Downs        7              18

Rushes-yards  26-91    42-165

Comp-Att-Int  5-12-0   10-14-1

Passing                86          211

Total yards        177         376

Fumbles-Lost     1-0         3-1

Penalties-Yds     8-60      6-58

Rushing: LT – J. Greenley 9-73; P. Murazzi 7-41, 1 TD; J. Zedar 4-6; Z. Goodrich 4-(-13); Team 2-(-16). MV – T. Collins 23-130; M. Tanner 12-34, 1 TD; T. Shay 1-8; T. Davis 2-5; M. Walsh 1-(-6); C. Tomasetti 2-0; Team 1-(-6).

Passing: LT – J. Greenley 1-1-0, 45; Z. Goodrich 4-11-0, 41, 1 TD. MV – M. Walsh 9-13-1, 177, 3 TDs; C. Rebar 1-1-0, 34.

Receiving: LT – L. Dougherty 2-51; P. Murazzi 1-5; J. Zedar 1-10; M. Harris 1-20, 1 TD. MV – R. Tomasetti 6-160, 2 TDs; 2-44, 1 TD; T. Collins 2-7.