Special teams plays provide spark in Lampeter-Strasburg’s 5th straight win
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
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(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline
FREDERICKSBURG — Don’t look now, but Lampeter-Strasburg has found its groove and the Pioneers’ football team is very much up to cruising altitude.
The Pioneers picked up their fifth victory in a row Thursday, barreling past Northern Lebanon 59-13 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 game.
| Final | |
| Lampeter | 59 |
| N. Lebanon | 13 |
Lampeter-Strasburg (4-0, 6-1) joined Wyomissing and Twin Valley (3-0, 6-0) atop the standings.
Asher Jones had a touchdown pass and a TD run, Brady Cunningham had a TD run and kickoff return for a TD, Peter Fiorello booted a career-long 46-yard field goal, and Alex Salaki broke the game open with a blocked punt return for a TD for Lampeter-Strasburg , the reigning section and District 3 Class 4A champ.
Northern Lebanon (0-4, 1-6) got a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, including Blake Burdick’s 78-yard TD bomb to Bryce Yocum, but the Vikings dropped their sixth game in a row.
Already up 14-0 in the first quarter, Lampeter-Strasburg cashed in when the Vikings lined up to go for it on fourth-and-5 at their own 26. Northern Lebanon quarterback Bryan Mitzel tried drawing the Pioneers offsides.
But when Lampeter-Strasburg didn’t bite, Mitzel took a shotgun snap and tried to punt it away. The ball ended up ricocheting off another Viking player in the backfield, and Salaki was at the right place at the right time. He scooped up the bouncing ball and zoomed 31 yards for a TD, and the Pioneers were up 21-0 with 4:21 to go in the first quarter.
“All I saw was the ball bounce right in front of me, and I picked it up and went,” Salaki said. “Our energy definitely went up and everybody starting locking into the game. We were able to bring it to them.”
And Lampeter-Strasburg never really slowed down.
Colby DeJessa from 6 yards out, and Andre Flaud, from 10 yards out, had TD runs, Jones hit Cole Lopez for a 38-yard TD strike, and Jandel Pena capped it with a 27-yard TD burst early in the fourth quarter.
Keegan Curtis and Easton Cunningham tacked on interceptions on defense for the Pioneers.
“Any time you can get a score on special teams or on defense, it’s almost like scoring twice,” Lampeter-Strasburg coach Victor Ridenour said bout Salaki’s game-changing scoop and score. “It happens so fast. It’s like a one-play thing. Boom. And if you can get another quick stop and score again, it’s like scoring twice. That play really gave us a lot of momentum.”
Cunningham helped Lampeter-Strasburg ice it in the third quarter. His 24-yard TD sprint made it 45-0 in the third. Later, after Northern Lebanon’s Christian Spencer slammed in from a yard out to put the Vikings on the board, Cunningham returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a TD.
“We’re going to focus on three things the rest of the year,” Northern Lebanon coach Jason Rice said, “and that’s attitude, effort and focus. Tonight, especially in the second half, I was very proud of their attitude. The guys continued to fight, no matter what the score was. I’m really proud of them for that. Adversity is something we’re familiar with. Now we have to learn how to respond to it.”
