Sean Steckert had trouble holding onto the District 11 Class 4A championship trophy during Thursday night’s celebration at Catasauqua’s Alumni Field.
The senior gets a pass after carrying the ball 46 times for 277 yards and five touchdowns to lead Southern Lehigh to its second consecutive title with a 49-28 victory over Bethlehem Catholic.
“It’s everything you dream of,” he said. “I mean, I’ve got no words. Everything worked tonight. We had a few mistakes, but we played so hard that it didn’t matter. We had so much heart.”
Steckert showed the heart of a champion by falling forward at the end of most plays and breaking free of first contact.
But, similar to how he nearly fumbled the trophy, he handed off the credit the Spartans’ offensive line.
“The vision plays a little bit into it,” he said, “but that line, they get that first little push and just them blocking to the end of the whistle and sometimes a little bit after, it helps so much. You get that extra second to really look and see what they’re doing, it gives me all the time in the world.”
Southern Lehigh (12-1) plays in next weekend’s PIAA quarterfinals against the winner of the game between District 4 champion Shamokin (12-0) and District 6 champion Bellefonte (6-6) at a District 11 site, date and time to be determined. Shamokin and host Bellefonte play at 7 Friday.
Southern Lehigh’s Sean Steckert (3), Luke Kawczenski (80) and Dylan Gretz (58) celebrate their second consecutive District 11 Class 4A title. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
The Spartans dominated the second half, scoring on three of their four possessions before taking a knee in the final minute.
Coach Phil Sams’ club, leading 28-21, drove 63 yards in nine plays on the opening drive of the third quarter. Steckert capped it off with a 1-yard TD run. A pass interference play in the end zone aided the Spartans.
The Golden Hawks were hurt by penalties throughout the game on both sides of the ball.
A personal foul stalled their first offensive series of the second half and led to a punt.
They forced a punt on Southern Lehigh’s next drive but another personal foul call negated a 48-yard completion and led to another punt after Dylan Gretz’s third-down sack.
Steckert, after missing most of the previous offensive series with a cramp, went back to work on the next drive. Otto Young’s 10-yard punt return to the Bethlehem Catholic 17-yard line was followed by four Steckert carries, the last into the end zone for a 42-21 advantage on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“They did a nice job up front and running the football and we didn’t do a good job stopping them,” Golden Hawks coach Joe Bernard said. “It’s as simple as that.
“I thought we did a good job getting that late score at the end of the half to make it a one-score game, just like we did last week [against Central Catholic in the district semifinals]. At critical times, though, when we needed a stop, we didn’t get it.”
Down by three touchdowns, Bethlehem Catholic again drove deep into Southern Lehigh territory, but Jack Pavis’ interception at the 4-yard line was a dagger.
Southern Lehigh then put together a 12-play, 96-yard drive, all on the ground, that was finished off by another Steckert touchdown. The last of his 11 carries on that series was a 10-yard TD run that sealed the repeat.
“The kids, they pay attention,” Sams said. “They’re intense. They focus. They are physical. Physical football wins you games and we won one tonight. That’s an insane night [for Steckert]. That’s crazy. He just kept wanting the ball more and more.
Southern Lehigh led 28-21 at the break after the teams combined for three touchdowns in the final 1:51 of the second quarter.
The Spartans twice led by two scores in the opening half, the last after Colton Sams hit Otto Young on a 40-yard TD pass and Steckert’s two-point run with 38 seconds left.
The Golden Hawks responded with a three-play, 69-yard drive capped by Axel Burkart’s 17-yard TD pass to Cayden Vassa, who made a leaping catch in the right corner of the end zone with four seconds left in the half. An acrobatic catch by Carter Vassa for 28 yards on the previous play.
Bethlehem Catholic opened the game with an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped by Cayden Vassa’s 32-yard TD pass to Rodney Brodie.
Southern Lehigh responded by scoring the next three times it had the ball and picked up a safety when Steckert tackled Cayden Vassa in the end zone after a bad shotgun snap/exchange.
The Spartans first got a 4-yard TD run from Steckert to finish off a nine-play, 60-yard drive to get within 7-6 after the extra point was blocked.
They forced a three-and-out before going 63 yards in seven plays for another touchdown, a 16-yard pass from Sams to Tanner Traub for a 12-7 lead.
Steckert’s safety pushed the lead to 14-7 before Southern Lehigh scored again on his 1-yard TD run on third down with 7:24 left in the first half. The Spartans also converted a fourth down to keep the drive alive. The extra point attempt hit the left upright, so Southern Lehigh led 20-7.
Bethlehem Catholic got back within a score when Cayden Vassa scored on a 7-yard TD run with 1:51 left in the half.
Southern Lehigh then scored four plays later, only to have Bethlehem Catholic respond in three plays to cap an entertaining first half.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
SOUTHERN LEHIGH 49, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 28
Bethlehem Catholic; 7; 14; 0; 7 — 28
Southern Lehigh; 14; 14; 7; 14 — 49
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
BC: Cayden Vassa 32 pass to Rodney Brodie (Aaron Geiger kick), 8:16
SL: Sean Steckert 4 run (kick failed), 5:13
SL: Colton Sams 16 pass to Tanner Traub (kick failed), 1:11
SL: Steckert tackles Cayden Vassa in end zone for safety, 0:56
Second quarter
SL: Steckert 1 run (kick failed), 7:24
BC: Cayden Vassa 7 run (Geiger kick), 1:51
SL: Sams 40 pass to Otto Young (Steckert run), 0:38
BC: Axel Burkart 17 pass to Cayden Vassa (Geiger kick), 0:04
Third quarter
SL: Steckert 1 run (Declan Walsh kick), 7:24
Fourth quarter
SL: Steckert 3 run (Walsh kick), 11:54
SL: Steckert 10 run (Walsh kick), 1:43
BC: Burkart 38 pass to Mason Thomas (Geiger kick), 1:11
TEAM STATISTICSBC; SLFirst downs; 16; 25Rushes-yards; 21-79; 50-282Passing yards; 222; 113Comp-Att-INTs; 13-23-1; 9-14-0Punts-avg.; 4-31.3; 2-38.5Fumbles-lost; 1-0; 0-0Penalties-yards; 7-67; 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Bethlehem Catholic) Antonio Salomoni 4-8; Cayden Vassa 11-32, TD; Axel Burkart 6-39; (Southern Lehigh) Sean Steckert 46-277, 5 TDs; Jacoby Jacobs 1-3; Jake Trembler 1-4; team 2-(2).
Passing: (Bethlehem Catholic) Cayden Vassa 4-6-0, 54 yards, TD; Burkart 9-17-1, 168, 2 TDs; (Southern Lehigh) Sams 9-14-0, 113 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving: (Bethlehem Catholic) Carter Vassa 3-55; Cayden Vassa 2-20, TD; Rodney Brodie 4-66, TD; Mason Thomas 3-60, TD; Armando Thom 1-21; (Southern Lehigh) Jacobs 1-7; Luke Kawczenski 3-17; Darius Roman 1-11; Otto Young 2-56, TD; Tanner Traub 1-16, TD; Trembler 1-6.