9/3/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College offense wasn't quite clicking in their opening game, but the defense looked more like its old self, forcing turnovers and living in the opponent's backfield. The Falcons rallied from a third quarter deficit to win 21-14 over Nassau Community College in the 2022 season opener on Saturday afternoon at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  
 
Prior to kickoff, there was a ceremonial coin toss with a few special guests from Lackawanna College's past, as former College presidents Raymond Angeli and Colonel Mark Volk joined with current Lackawanna president Dr. Jill Murray to celebrate the start of the 30^th season of Lackawanna College football.  
Lackawanna College (1-0) got the scoring started when, after a penalty backed the Falcons up to 3^rd and 18 from their own 39, Barry Brown found Kyree Hinton on 61-yard go-route to put the Falcons up 7-0 with 2:46 to go in the first quarter.
 
Nassau CC (1-1) put together a solid drive to respond, but turned it over on downs deep in Falcon territory. Early in the second quarter, Lackawanna gave it right back with a fumble inside their own 20. Given new life, Lions quarterback Luke Sprague showed off some athleticism by lofting a pass on the run to a wide open receiver to knot things up at 7-all with 12:48 to go in the second.
 
On the next possession for the Falcons, a roughing the passer penalty on Nassau wiped out an interception, and Jordan Sellers featured heavily on the ground, capping the drive with a 23-yard scamper to pay dirt. Lackawanna missed the extra point, but held a 13-7 lead with 9:38 to go in the half.
 
Lackawanna College had an opportunity to add to their lead, when a line drive kickoff bounced off one of the up-men for Nassau, allowing the Falcons to scoop the ball up inside the Lions' 35-yard line. But, as would be the theme for both teams this afternoon, the offense couldn't capitalize on the good fortune and was forced to punt away.
 
Later, Nassau threw an interception, with linebacker Jay Wright returning the ball all the way to the five-yard line, but Lackawanna stumbled again, this time throwing an interception of its own in the end zone with 4:49 remaining before halftime.
 
The Lions took advantage, when Sprague connected on a deep pass to get the ball to the Falcon 2-yard line, and then scored on a bootleg to the left pylon, stretching and diving to put Nassau up 14-13 with under two minutes to go in the half.
 
After half, the Falcons took the opening kick and marched inside the Nassau 30-yard line, but the Lions defense rose to the occasion, holding the Falcons on fourth down. After a punt, Lackawanna marched again, this time getting into the red zone, but the Lions stood tall once again, holding the Falcons on downs inside the ten-yard line.
 
With Nassau leading 14-13 with 3:40 to play in the third and threatening to move the ball, linebacker Lonnie Rice came to life for the Falcon defense, recording back-to-back sacks to pin the Lions back and force a punt. A solid return from James Westry set Lackawanna up inside the 25-yard line with a little over 90 seconds left in the third, giving the offense yet another short field and opportunity to score.
 
After a pass interference in the end zone wiped out a Nassau interception and gave the Falcons a fresh set of downs on the first play of the fourth quarter, Lackawanna College got the go-ahead score when Sellers ran for his second touchdown of the game from two yards out. Brown would run it up the middle himself for two, stretching the Falcon lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter.
 
Nassau, aided by a pass interference call, advanced the ball into Falcon territory on the ensuing possession, and looked to have a big third down conversion in the red zone, but a holding penalty erased it, and Rice came up with his third sack of the half on fourth down to turn the Lions over on downs with 9:21 to go, and the Falcons still leading 21-14.
 
The ball stayed on the ground, primarily, for the Falcons on the next possession, as Lackawanna shaved off almost seven minutes of game time before punting, putting Nassau on their own 21-yard line with 1:24 to play, trailing by seven. Any hope of a spectacular comeback was erased when Janaasah Boone stepped in front of a Sprague pass and raced inside the 20 with 40 seconds to play. The Falcons were able to kneel it out and escape with the win from there.
 
Lackawanna College improves to 27-3 all-time in season-openers, and has now won seven straight against Nassau, dating back to 2015.
 
The Falcons will now be on the road for the next four games, starting with a marquee match-up on the road with another east coast rival, the Monroe College Mustangs. Kickoff is set for 4:00pm ET on Saturday, September 10^th at Joseph F. Fosina Field in New Rochelle, NY.