Juniata Valley vs Lackawanna Trail - A Semifinal

[Parasite]

Friday, Nov. 30
Danville HS
7:00

Lackawanna Trail is located in Factoryville, PA, about a fifteen miles northwest of Scranton. Led by Head Coach Steve Jervis, the Lions play in Division 4 of the Lackawanna Football Conference. Their only setback this year so far was to Old Forge, 28-21, in a week seven contest. They would later go on to avenge their defeat in the District II championship game, 29-12. This was Trail's second District II title in three years. 
On the year the Lions' defense has only surrendered 144 points through 14 games, giving up an average of 10.2 ppg. On the offensive side of the ball they have scored 464 points, averaging 33.1 ppg. Through four playoff games Trail has only surrendered 31 points while scoring 143. To make it to the semifinals they defeated D-1 Bristol (45-7), D-11 Tri-Valley (41-6), and D-3 Halifax (28-6).

Highlights
Lackawanna Trail vs Old Forge
Lackawanna Trail vs Tri-Valley
Lackawanna Trail vs Halifax

Trail has not updated their MaxPreps page since 8/24, so statistics are unavailable. They may be behind the paywall on the Scranton Times-Tribune website, but I am not paying to look for them.

David Mika of EasternPAFootball did a team preview and a player preview of senior quarterback Nathan Rolka.
2018 Team Previews – Lackawanna Trail Lions (2)
Player Previews in 100 Days – Day 4: Nathan Rolka, Lackawanna Trail

Prior to the regular season matchup with Old Forge, Coach Jervis was quoted as stating, "overall we have a senior laden team that senior leadership is really important. We are also unique that we have a four year starter at quarterback on offense. A four year starter at free safety in Jordan Edwards, we are excited to be where we are at.” Rolka added, "Our offense is based off the run, just the physical style of running and getting different guys in the offense involved in it".

From what I was able to glean from the broadcast of the Halifax game, they are a run-first team that operates out of a Wing-T base. 
The Lions have a total of eight district championships in program history. Historically, they have a 2-8 record in the PIAA playoffs, and have advanced to the Class A Eastern championship on two occasions. In 2000 they lost to Southern Columbia by a score of 56-6. They again fell to the Tigers in 2003, 42-8. Southern Columbia would go on to defeat Bishop Carroll in the 2003 State Championship, 49-20.

Hopefully Juniata Valley can give them a good game and head to Hershey.

[Goldeneagles12]

Lets go JV.

[guru1]

I believe the Hornets will get it done and make it to Hershey! They are on a roll...

[billmurray]

Trail QB Nate Rolka can throw the ball well.  Has over 3300 yds passing in his 4 years there. He's also a threat to run and does it well.  He's very similar to Zinobile in his role on offense. Tall with a big arm but mobile. They have 4 players with over 600 yards rushing this year. They are averaging over 300 yards on the ground in the playoffs. Their defense is strong and fast. For JV to win their offensive line will have to play lights out and Zinobile will need to be accurate as the LT defense is very opportunistic and usually wins the turnover battle. Defensively  JV will have to play assignment ball, stay in their gaps and not get too aggressive. Trail is a strong team and plays very disciplined football. Their offensive line does a great job of moving the defense.  Three times in the playoffs they've to rushers over 100 yards.  Hornets have their work cut out for them.

[PaSportsGuy]

Sadly won’t be close. LT has been rolling teams. 

[Earl34]

Valley lost Collins game 1 and sort of fell apart in that one. They got dominated by Bellwood, but let's face it, who in the ICC doesn't a majority of the time. That's a mental thing. Valley has trailed in multiple games after halftime, during the regular season and playoffs. They have displayed resilience and desire to finish games all season. I see no reason for Zinoble to slip now, and they go how Quinn goes. Not saying that he is all they have at all, but when he is making plays the team follows. I would love to see an ICC team in the finals. I just say don't count them out until the game is over. Good luck Hornets!

[guru1]

Trail QB Nate Rolka can throw the ball well.  Has over 3300 yds passing in his 4 years there. He's also a threat to run and does it well.  He's very similar to Zinobile in his role on offense. Tall with a big arm but mobile. They have 4 players with over 600 yards rushing this year. They are averaging over 300 yards on the ground in the playoffs. Their defense is strong and fast. For JV to win their offensive line will have to play lights out and Zinobile will need to be accurate as the LT defense is very opportunistic and usually wins the turnover battle. Defensively  JV will have to play assignment ball, stay in their gaps and not get too aggressive. Trail is a strong team and plays very disciplined football. Their offensive line does a great job of moving the defense.  Three times in the playoffs they've to rushers over 100 yards.  Hornets have their work cut out for them.

Nice job of breaking some of the stats down. LT is definitely a good team... it’s the states final 4 so not a big surprise. That said, for JV, Zinobile has only been the QB for two seasons and is close to the same yards as Rolka.. and far ahead on a per season basis. JV has not one but two 1000 yard rushers. JV has played several rushing attacks as good or better than LT this season and shut them down (as in held them far below their season average). United has two rushers that combined for over 3000 yards and JV kept them well under their per game average. I will say LT will also have their hands full with JV. Should be a good one.... 

[guru1]

Sadly won’t be close. LT has been rolling teams. 

Be careful on basing an opinion solely on scores of other games. We don’t truly know how good any of teams were that LT beat. I’m fact... if you look at all of their games where they won in big fashion (15 or more) I think only 2 all year had a winning record. Just some food for thought... 

[billmurray]

Trail QB Nate Rolka can throw the ball well.  Has over 3300 yds passing in his 4 years there. He's also a threat to run and does it well.  He's very similar to Zinobile in his role on offense. Tall with a big arm but mobile. They have 4 players with over 600 yards rushing this year. They are averaging over 300 yards on the ground in the playoffs. Their defense is strong and fast. For JV to win their offensive line will have to play lights out and Zinobile will need to be accurate as the LT defense is very opportunistic and usually wins the turnover battle. Defensively  JV will have to play assignment ball, stay in their gaps and not get too aggressive. Trail is a strong team and plays very disciplined football. Their offensive line does a great job of moving the defense.  Three times in the playoffs they've to rushers over 100 yards.  Hornets have their work cut out for them.

Nice job of breaking some of the stats down. LT is definitely a good team... it’s the states final 4 so not a big surprise. That said, for JV, Zinobile has only been the QB for two seasons and is close to the same yards as Rolka.. and far ahead on a per season basis. JV has not one but two 1000 yard rushers. JV has played several rushing attacks as good or better than LT this season and shut them down (as in held them far below their season average). United has two rushers that combined for over 3000 yards and JV kept them well under their per game average. I will say LT will also have their hands full with JV. Should be a good one.... 

thanks...we covered their game last week. This team is a bit stronger than United but I expect a good game

[Wrasslerfan]

anybody going to the game so we can get updates