BY SHANE HENNIGAN
Times-Shamrock Writer

For the past two weeks, Susquehanna’s star player, senior quarterback Austin White, was hampered by a hip pointer.

The injury took a toll on the Sabers, as they stumbled into the District 2 playoffs with losses to Carbondale Area and Old Forge.

Despite the pain, White said he couldn’t — and wouldn’t — let his teammates down. On Friday night, he came through in the clutch and his performance kept Susquehanna alive for another week.

White totaled 215 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the game’s final quarter, as third-seeded Susquehanna overcame an early fourth quarter deficit and hung on for a 31-28 victory over No. 2 Lackawanna Trail in a Class A semifinal game at Lions Pride Stadium.

Susquehanna advances to next week’s championship game and will seek revenge against top-seeded Old Forge, which trounced

No. 4 Holy Cross, 59-0, in its semifinal game.

The Sabers lost to Old Forge, 26-12, in last week’s regular season finale.

“This feels great,” said White, who had 164 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, said. “We had a rough time the past few weeks but we came back and came out intense and we executed.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Lackawanna Trail (7-4) struck early in the second. On a first-and-10, Cooper Rosiak took a handoff to the left side, cut back to his find, found a hole and sprinted 17 yards into the end zone to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.

But the Sabers came right back. A 30-yard kick return by Nolan Hausser gave the Sabers the ball at midfield. A pair of penalties, however, set them up with a third-and-22.

That’s when White dropped back, rolled out to his left and threw a perfectly-placed ball over an outstretched defender into the arms of Austin Felter, who ran up the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown and a tie ballgame.

“They were blitzing guys in the middle so when I rolled out, I kind of stepped to the left and evaded it,” White said. “Felter ran a great pattern. We drew the safety in with a pattern across the middle and it left (Felter) open. He just went up and got the ball and it was just a great play and a great run in the end zone.”

The Sabers got the ball back with 42 seconds left and took a 10-7 halftime lead when Steve Jesse booted a 25-yard field goal as time expired.

On the fifth play of the second half, Lackawanna Trail nearly took the lead when Vic Mallory connected with Ross Fauquier for a 43-yard completion. But the ball came loose at the 5-yard line and Susquehanna recovered it in the end zone, resulting in a touchback out to the 20.

Susquehanna took advantage. Three plays after a 22-yard run by Hausser, the Lions were whistled for offsides on a third-and-4, giving the Sabers a first down. White then called his own number, running the ball up the middle, breaking a tackle and bursting into the open field for a 38-yard score and a 17-7 lead.

Lackawanna Trail, though, cut the deficit back to three when Rosiak beat his defender and hauled in a 34-yard touchdown with 26 seconds left in the third.

The Lions defense then forced a three-and-out and on the fourth play of the ensuing drive, Fauquier, who finished with 231 total yards, took a handoff from Rosiak, followed his blockers and powered his way in for a 25-yard score, giving the Lions a 21-17 lead with 9:21 left.

That lead, though, lasted just 56 seconds. A four-yard run by Brett Hepler to start the drive, set the stage for White, who once again called his own number.

White followed his blockers to the left side, sprinted up the sideline and cut back at the 10 before reaching the end zone for a 60-yard score.

“All year, we didn’t play really well with a lead,” Lackawanna Trail coach Steve Jervis said. “For some reason, whenever we got the lead, we kind of relinquished it and against good teams, you can only do that so many times.”

Susquehanna stopped the Lions on a fourth down with three minutes to go and four plays later, White scored his third rushing score, a 10-yarder to put the Sabers up, 31-21.

Lackawanna Trail drove down and Mallory threw a 14-yard touchdown to Fauquier, cutting the deficit to three with 49 seconds left.

But the Lions couldn’t recover the onside kick, as Christian Miller jumped on the ball after a couple bounces to seal the game.

“I’m just elated,” coach Kyle Cook said. “We had a couple rough weeks where we didn’t play good at all. I’m just really happy for these kids.”

Susquehanna will face the No. 1 ranked Old Forge for the 2014 Class A Championship at Old Forge on Friday, Nov. 14. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.