Scranton, PA – With the #2 ranking and a possible bid to the NJCAA National Championship Game on the line, the Lackawanna College Football team faced its toughest challenge of the season when it welcomed in #9 Georgia Military College to Scranton Memorial Stadium. The Falcons came into the game 9-0 on the season and were riding 21 game win streak. Head Coach
Mark Duda had preached all week that the two teams were very similar and just like Lackawanna, Georgia Military College had a number of NCAA Division I commits on their roster.
As the game got started, on a chilly afternoon in Scranton, Lackawanna's defense would force the Bulldogs to go 3 and out on the first series. The Falcons' offense would waste no time as
Calvin Bell rushed for 53 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Bell would get the ball again and rush for a 2-yard touchdown to give Lackawanna the early 6-0 lead, after the extra point was blocked. The Falcons' offense would get the ball back after
KeShaun Moore forced a Georgia Military fumble that was recovered by
Greg Rose, at the Bulldogs' 45-yard line. While Lackawanna was able to move the ball, they would come away with no points after Cam Ceccotti missed a 36-yard field goal, wide right. Ceccotti would bounce back, though, after
David Amankwaa intercepted a Bulldogs pass and the offense put him in position to hit a 32-yard FG, increasing the Falcons' lead to 9-0. Lackawanna's defense once again forced another Bulldog turnover, when
Mike Crawford recovered the Nicholas Bohn fumble at the Georgia Military 43-yard line. QB
Matt Cavallaro and the offense would take advantage of the turnover, converting it into a touchdown on a Cavallaro 1-yard QB keeper, increasing their lead to 16-0. The Bulldogs added a field goal at the end of the 2
nd quarter, as the teams would go into the half with Lackawanna College leading 16-3.
In the 3
rd quarter, the Falcons would once again rely on the running of
Calvin Bell, as they gave him the ball on every play of their first series. His hard running resulted in another Falcons' TD, extending their lead to 23-3. Lackawanna added another TD on a
Matt Cavallaro 1-yard run to give the Falcons a commanding 30-3 advantage. However, behind the play of QB Nicholas Bohn, Georgia Military would stage a strong comeback by scoring 20 unanswered points, to pull within 7 of the Falcons, 30-23.
In the 4
th quarter, the Falcons' defense would settle in and force the Bulldogs to punt. With 5:55 left in the game,
Calvin Bell once again put Lackawanna on his back and ran the ball in from 2-yards out to put Lackawanna back on top by 2 touchdowns, 37-23. However, Georgia Military would mount one last scoring drive when Bohn found Torenio Davis in the end zone for a 28-yard TD. This pulled the Bulldogs to within one score, 37-30, with :47 seconds left in the game, but they would fail to convert the ensuing onside kick. That is all Lackawanna would need as the offense came out in the victory formation to end the game and secure the 37-30 win.
Calvin Bell finished the game rushing for 139 yards and 3 TD's, while the other Falcons' running backs added another 137 yards between them, to give Lackawanna a total of 276 rushing yards on the day. The Falcons' defense had 3 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions. Both
DeJahn Warren and
David Amankwaa returned the interceptions for 19 and 20 yards respectively. Punter
Luke Payne also had to deal with the strong winds, but had a great day punting, going 6-188 with one punt going inside the 20.
The win gave the Falcons their 10
th win of the season to move them to 10-0 and it was also their 22
nd consecutive win in a row. As Head Coach
Mark Duda gathered his team after the game, he told them they fought hard for 60 minutes, they fought hard all season and "We're going to the Natty". Lackawanna will await official word on the National Championship, but with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and the Falcons both undefeated and sitting at #1 and #2 in the polls, it would seem very likely Lackawanna College will be traveling to Pittsburg, KS to play in the NJCAA National Championship game on December 5
th.
