LAMPETER, Pa. — For the last three seasons, Lampeter-Strasburg found the District 3 Class 4A title game to be an insurmountable hurdle. The Pioneers saw three promising campaigns end with losses in the championship game.
Last week, L-S finally cleared that obstacle with a pulse-pounding 30-27 overtime victory over Wyomissing. The win boosted the Pioneers' record to 13-0 and gave them the fourth district title in program history.
Now L-S gets set for the next challenge: a date with western PA powerhouse Thomas Jefferson in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals Friday afternoon in Altoona's Mansion Park.
The Jaguars surged to their 14th straight victory with a 35-0 rout of District 9 champion Clearfield in the state quarterfinals, ensuring that Friday's semifinal will be a battle of unbeatens.
L-S and TJ met once before in the state playoffs; the Jaguars ended the Pioneers' 2019 season with a 44-2 triumph in the state semifinals that year.
Here's a closer look at Friday's game.
Lampeter-Strasburg (13-0) vs. Thomas Jefferson (14-0)
Friday, 1 p.m. at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona
ABOUT THOMAS JEFFERSON: The Jaguars are no stranger to deep postseason runs, having won five state titles since 2004, when they hammered perennial District 3 kingpin Manheim Central to capture their first crown.
Thomas Jefferson last got to the top of the mountain in 2020, when the Jaguars defeated Jersey Shore 21-14.
This year, TJ boasts the highest-scoring offense and stingiest defense among the WPIAL's Class 4A teams. The Jags average 38.4 points per game on offense, while their defense has yielded 10.8 points per game.
Last week's rout of Clearfield was TJ's first shutout of the season, and the game was shortened by the Mercy Rule. Clearfield came in averaging 37 points per game, but was unable to find the end zone once against the Jaguars' powerful defense.
TJ forced three first-half turnovers and led 28-0 by the break.
The Jaguars' offense is also tough to stop, racking up 334 yards per game. Most of the heavy lifting is done by sophomore running back Tyler Eber, who has 2,089 yards and 36 touchdowns on a whopping 378 attempts. Eber had 131 yards and a touchdown on the ground and took a 19-yard screen pass to the end zone against Clearfield last week.
Senior QB Luke Kosko has completed 103 of 168 passes for 1,911 yards and 24 touchdowns this season. Senior wideout Brayden White leads the Jaguars with 61 catches for 1,226 yards and 15 TDs.
ABOUT LAMPETER-STRASBURG: The Pioneers survived their rematch with Wyomissing in the district title game last week, tying the game on a 5-yard TD pass from Calieb Howse to Christian Nolt with 28 seconds left in regulation and winning it with a 22-yard field goal from Peter Fiorello in overtime.
Wyomissing had taken the lead in the back-and-forth battle when Chase Eisenhower scored on an 80-yard TD run with 3:15 left in regulation.
But L-S drove for the game-tying touchdown, thanks in large part to a miraculous 30-yard pass from Howse to Mason Hostetter to convert a 4th-and-13. Howse found Nolt in the end zone three-plays later.
It was the Pioneers' second win over Wyomissing this season. They also beat the five-time defending District 3 champs 20-7 on Oct. 26.
Howse has been the catalyst for L-S all season. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior has thrown for 1,508 yards and 16 touchdowns and is one of two 1,000-yard rushers for the Pioneers this year, with 1,259 yards and 19 scores on 131 carries.
Dominic Brown, a 6-0, 175-pound senior, is the top rusher for L-S, with 1,425 yards and 22 TDs on 230 attempts.
Danny Weichler (29-496, 7 TDs) and Emory Fluhr (22-339, 4 TDs) are the top receiving threats for the Pioneers, but Howse doesn't mind spreading the ball around. Hostettler's clutch fourth-down catch to set up the game-tying touchdown last week was just his 13th of the season, while Nolt's TD grab was just his sixth catch and his second score.
The Pioneers average 40.1 points and 371 yards per game on offense. Wyomissing and Warwick are the only teams that have held them to less than 30 points this season.
Defensively, L-S allows 233.4 yards per game. The Pioneers have forced 24 turnovers. The 27 points they allowed to Wyomissing last week were a season-high; only one other team scored more than 20 points against them all year.
This is already the most successful season in program history for L-S, which is making its fourth foray into the state playoffs and their third trip to the semifinals. Their last visit came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when they fell 39-35 to Jersey Shore, who went on to fall to Thomas Jefferson in the title game a week later.
Friday's winner advances to the state championship game, set for Thursday, Dec. 5 at Cumberland Valley High School's Chapman Field. District 12 champ Bonner-Pendergast (10-2) and District 11 champ Southern Lehigh (12-2) are squaring off in the other state semifinal.
