Pottsville's defense getting in position against Southern Lehigh (Photo by Eli Doyle).

CENTER VALLEY — A nearly perfect first half had Pottsville up by three touchdowns in Thursday’s District 11 Class 4A semifinal against Southern Lehigh.

A dominating second half by Southern Lehigh running back Sean Steckert left the Crimson Tide heartbroken and wondering what could have been.

Steckert scored his sixth touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run with 9 seconds left to lift the Spartans to a dramatic 41-34 victory over Pottsville, ending the Crimson Tide’s season.

The win advances top-seeded Southern Lehigh (10-2) to next Thursday’s district championship game against Bethlehem Catholic, a 35-14 winner over Lehighton, at 7 p.m. at Catasauqua High School.

“They played their hearts out, did a lot of great things, learned a lot … but this hurts,” Pottsville coach Mike Brennan said. “My heart goes out to our team, especially our seniors, who paved the way this year, who bought into 100 percent to everything we did, and our underclassmen followed.

“We did so much good this year. I’m extremely proud of them and extremely hurt for them right now. We left it all on the field. This is part of the game of football.”

Pottsville (6-6) did everything right offensively in the first half.

JuJu Bainbridge ran wild, rushing 25 times for 168 yards and scoring four touchdowns on runs of 14, 1, 16 and 5. Andrew Allen was 10-for-10 passing for 98 yards and scored a rushing touchdown on an 8-yard scamper.

With offensive coordinator Tyler Hartranft nailing every play call, Pottsville racked up 18 first downs and scored on its first five possessions, three of which were 10-play drives.

The Tide defense chimed in, too, as Jacob Filiac recovered a Southern Lehigh fumble that led to a touchdown, and sacks by Max Clews and Logan Kessler in the second quarter forced a quick three-and-out that preceded Pottsville’s fifth touchdown.

When Bainbridge powered into the end zone on a 5-yard run with 47 seconds left in the first half, Pottsville led 34-13.

“We had rhythm and we had confidence,” Brennan said. “It all starts with the running game and with those offensive linemen who developed so well over the course of the year.

“JuJu is a workhorse. He had 25 carries in the first half, doesn’t need a break. Andrew was efficient. He’s responded to coaching all year, played within himself and distributed the ball to our playmakers. We had lots of guys step up.

“To score 34 points in the first half … I was real proud of our kids.”

A key turning point in the game happened over those final 47 seconds of the half.

Despite losing tight end Andrew Olesh, a Michigan recruit, to a lower abdomen injury on its previous possession, Southern Lehigh marched 74 yards in six plays.

After a late hit penalty by Pottsville gave Southern Lehigh some life, the Spartans converted a fourth-and-2 play to the Tide 46 with 17 seconds left.

On the next play, quarterback Colton Sams hit Steckert over the middle. Steckert bounced off a strong hit by a Pottsville defender and scampered into the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in the half, cutting the Tide lead to 34-20 at intermission.

The hit was so hard that Steckert fell over injured in the end zone after scoring.

“Steckert is a physical player,” Brennan said. “He was able to bounce off and score, cut it to two scores. That put us in a little different position heading into halftime.

“They made a football play before the half and it had a huge impact at the end of the game.”

Added Southern Lehigh coach Philip Sams: “The touchdown at the end of the half was huge. I can’t tell you how big that is to score (right there).

“He got decked in the ribs, finished the touchdown catch, then went down. That’s different. That’s a different football player.”

The injury didn’t bother Steckert, who dominated the second half.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior rushed 27 times for 156 yards over the final two periods as Southern Lehigh took control of the game with a ball-control offense.

The Spartans took the second-half kickoff and went 83 yards in 12 plays, with Colton Sams connecting with Steckert on a 11-yard screen pass for the score.

After Pottsville turned the ball over on downs at the Southern Lehigh 34, the Spartans followed with a 10-play, 66-yard drive that was all Steckert.

His 1-yard run brought Southern Lehigh within a point, but Noah Tapler’s PAT kick hit the upright. With 10:16 remaining, Pottsville clung to a 34-33 lead.

“We knew we had to win. We couldn’t go out like that,” said Steckert, who finished with 37 carries for 223 yards and three catches for 65 yards. “We knew we had to step up our effort.

“Our offensive linemen flipped the switch.”

The combination of Southern Lehigh’s ball-control offense and the Spartans’ defense limited Pottsville to just 17 plays in the second half.

The Crimson Tide only had two possessions and had only three first downs. After racking up 267 total yards in the first half, Pottsville gained just 106 in the second half.

Bainbridge finished with 187 yards rushing on 34 carries, but had just 19 yards on nine carries in the second half.

More importantly, the Tide didn’t score in the final two quarters.

“They came out with energy. It was hard for us to establish anything,” Brennan said. “We didn’t get continuity. We couldn’t get rhythm in the second half. We couldn’t get enough stops to get enough offensive rhythm.

“We knew we had to put points on the board in the second half and we weren’t able to do that. Defensively, they took over a little bit. They ran the ball with Steckert and limited our snaps in the second half. We couldn’t move the sticks at key times when we needed to generate more offensive productivity.”

Trailing 34-33, Southern Lehigh successfully executed an onside kick and put together another drive. This time, however, Pottsville’s defense held on a fourth-and-3 play at the Tide 26 and regained possession with 5:51 remaining.

Pottsville, however, gained just one more first down and was forced to punt. Allen’s 51-yard boot pinned the Spartans at their own 16 with 2:30 remaining.

“I knew we were going to score,” Steckert said of his team’s mindset for the final drive. “We just had to make sure that we left enough time at the end and got into the end zone. I was pretty confident we were going to score.”

A 32-yard pass from Colton Sams to Talan Hite on the first play got Southern Lehigh rolling, and a 30-yard pass from Sams to Darius Roman put the Spartans at the Tide 7-yard line with 55 seconds left.

Three straight runs by Steckert finished the drive, with a two-point conversion pass from Sams to Bryan Tobin making it 41-34 with 9 seconds left.

A hook-and-ladder type play by Pottsville ended in a fumble as time expired.

“They’re a very good football team,” Brennan said of Southern Lehigh. “I’m proud of our kids for what they did. They battled for 48 minutes tonight. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come and I’m so excited for the future. But I’m disappointed for this team walking off this field tonight because they left it all on the field.”

Brennan praised his 16 seniors for their hard work this season. Losing senior starters Tsirell Curry, Letrel Montone, Luke Schane, Jacob Filiac, Derek Watkins, Averey Maroukis, Brayden Evans and Tahlil Flucker-White and other key contributors like Evan Galavage, Gage Hammer, Landon Templeton and injured captain Ryan Galen will be tough, but the future looks bright for the Crimson Tide with a bevy of underclassmen starters returning.

Allen, a sophomore, finished with 1,838 yards passing while Bainbridge, a junior, compiled 1,123 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing.

“All of those kids have been outstanding. They totally bought in,” Brennan said of his seniors. “They put so much time in during the spring and summer. They came to work every day, came to practice every day, came to lift every day and laid the foundation for Tide teams to come. I’m so proud of those seniors. It’s so hard to see them go under these circumstances. But they’ve given us so much.

“I know where we’re heading, our kids know where we’re heading, everybody in that locker room knows where we’re going to go. We’ll go back to work. We’ll lick our wounds and learn from this experience. They’ll understand what it’s going to take to get to the next round the next time.

“We have a lot of young guys coming back next year and we’re going to spend a lot of time in the weight room. We’ll come back stronger in 2025.”

Game Summary

District 11 Class 4A Semifinal

Southern Lehigh 41, Pottsville 34

Pottsville (6-6)           13        21        0          0  —    34

So. Lehigh (10-2)       7          13        7          14  — 41

P — Bainbridge 14 run (kick failed)

SL — Steckert 1 run (Tapler kick)

P — Allen 8 run (Allen kick)

P — Bainbridge 1 run (Allen kick)

SL — Steckert 10 run (kick failed)

P — Bainbridge 16 run (Allen kick)

P — Bainbridge 5 run (Allen kick)

SL — Steckert 46 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)

SL — Steckert 11 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)

SL — Steckert 1 run (kick failed)

SL — Steckert 2 run (Tobin pass from Sams)

Team Statistics

                                          Potts           SL

First Downs                      21                20

Rushes-Yards                    37-223        42-218

Passes                                15-18-0       15-24-0

Passing Yards                   150              219

Total Yards                       373              437

Fumbles/Lost                    1-1              1-1

Penalties                            2-20            5-47

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Pottsville — Bainbridge 34-187, Allen 2-1. Southern Lehigh — Steckert 37-223, Olesh 1-15, Team 1-(-2), Sams 3-(-18).

PASSING: Pottsville —- Allen 15-18-0, 150. Southern Lehigh —- Sams 15-24-0, 219.

RECEIVING: Pottsville — Curry 6-48, Alvarez 4-36, Montone 4-26, Bainbridge 1-25, Team 0-15. Southern Lehigh — Steckert 3-65, Kawczenski 5-61, Roman 2-35, Hite 1-32, Tobin 1-17, Olesh 3-9.

INTERCEPTIONS: None.