CENTER VALLEY – Like a thunderbolt, it came out of nowhere.

Furious, powerful and lightning quick.

That is the best way to describe Southern Lehigh’s excellent football team, as it held off an early rally by a bunch of Jim Thorpe upstarts who kept finding the way to an answer the bell early.

Only problem was the Olympians ran out of ammo as things wore on and could only watch the Spartans pull away in the second half en route to an impressive 56-27 victory in a District 11 Class 4A quarterfinal Thursday night.

The win vaults top-seeded Southern Lehigh (9-2) into the district semifinals where the Spartans will host No. 5 Pottsville, a 14-7 winner over Allentown Central Catholic, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7. The other semifinal will feature Lehighton at Bethlehem Catholic.

Early on, the Spartans needed to find a way to shake loose from pesky Jim Thorpe. On the Olympians’ first three possessions, they surged to the fore. They turned to a pair of juniors who figured out a way to score early and often. Quarterback Cole Lazorick and dual threat Josh Louk kept throwing haymakers at the Southern Lehigh defense.

Jim Thorpe needed six plays to go up 7-0, when Lazorick fired a 41-yard scoring strike to the fleet-footed Louk, who raced to paydirt. This combo was so prolific they combined for all four of their team’s touchdowns. Louk was stellar with 307 yards of total offense, 224 yards in receptions and 83 on the ground.

However, when the Spartans needed answers they got them in a huge way, thanks to tough, physical running back Sean Steckert, who had a career night. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior re-wrote the school record when he rushed for 352 yards on 15 carries. He hit the end zone four times and his longest run 81 yards from the line of scrimmage.

“Whoa, that’s something,” Southern Lehigh coach Colton Sams said. “He’s got good balance, loves the weight room and he is very physical.”

After Thorpe hit the scoreboard, the Olympians attempted an onside kick, which looked favorable, but it failed to travel 10 yards. Four plays later, Steckert was in the end zone on a 4-yard run and Noah Tepler’s PAT kick tied it.

Back came Jim Thorpe. This time it was a 9-play, 25-yard scoot to the end zone by Louk and Noah Geiser booted his second PAT to send the Olympians in front 14-7. Southern Lehigh answered back in three plays, Stecker at the forefront, this time a 57-yard race to the end zone to draw even for a second time, 14-14.

Ah, but back came Jim Thorpe. It answered the bell in a jiffy. Lazorick reared back and found Louk flying past the Spartans’ secondary and that resulted in a terrific 73-yard touchdown to send the Olympians in front for the third and final time.

“We struggled all year long with defense, and that came back to haunt us,” Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger said.

Like a tsunami, the home team just engulfed Jim Thorpe thereafter. When Southern Lehigh quarterback Colton Sams, son of the coach, found his All-State receiver, 6-5 tight end Andrew Olesh, breezing past the Thorpe secondary, the Michigan recruit latched onto a 73-yard score.

Moments before the half, Stecker took off on an 81-yard monster run to the end zone, bullying his way past would-be Jim Thorpe tacklers to put the Spartans in front 28-21. Southern Lehigh made it 35-21 at intermission when Sams found Darius Roman for a 67-yard TD pass.

It didn’t take long for Southern Lehigh to put things out of reach. The Spartans scored three touchdowns in a hurry to open the third quarter. Olesh caught a 6-yard pass for a score, Steckler finished off a 94-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run and Olesh latched on to a 13-yard strike from Sams.

Jim Thorpe had one more say when Lazorick flung an 80-yard pass to Louk to se the final score.

“We had a lot of fight in us tonight, and I was proud of their efforts,” Rosenberger said.

BIG-TIME PLAYER … Olesh has all the tools to make it to the next level. He is fast, tough to watch, physical and great hands. He will be in Happy Valley on Saturday for the Penn State-Ohio State game.

QUOTABLE … “I can’t say enough about their efforts … this was one of the best efforts that we had all year,” Rosenberger said on the way his club performed against a very good team.

YOUNG BUT AGED … Jim Thorpe loses seven seniors and Rosenberger was quick to point that out after the game.

District 11 Class 4A Quarterfinal

Southern Lehigh 56, Jim Thorpe 27

Scoring Summary

JT – Louk 11 pass from Lazorick (Geiser kick)

SL – Stecker 11 pass from Sams (Tepler kick)

JT – Louk 25 run (Geiser kick)

SL – Steckler 57 run (Tepler kick)

JT – Louk 73 pass from Lazorick (Geiser kick)

SL – Olesh 60 pass from Sams (Tepler kick)

SL – Steckler 81 run (Tepler kick)

SL – Roman 67 pass from Sams (Tepler kick)

SL – Olesh 6 pass from Sams (Tepler kick)

SL – Steckler 24 run (Tepler kick)

SL – Olesh 13 pass from (Tepler kick)

JT – Louk 80 pass from Lazorick (kick failed)

Individual Highlights

Passing

JT – Cole Lazorick – 393 yards – 3 TDs

SL – Colton Sams – 191 yards – 4 TDs

Rushing

SL – Sean Steckert – 352 yards (15 carries) – 4 TDs

JT – Joshua Louk – 71 yards – TD

Receiving

SL – Andrew Olesh – 6-83 yards – 3 TDs

JT – Joshua Louk – 10-253 yards – 3 TDs