LEHMAN TWP. — Jim Mitkowski never played a game of organized football until week five of his sophomore year. Exactly two years later, the Lake-Lehman senior had the game of his life.
Mitkowski scored three touchdowns to lead Lake-Lehman to a 42-0 shutout over Holy Redeemer on Friday. At the midway point of the season, the Black Knights (3-2) own a winning record.
It was Mitkowski that delighted a packed Lake-Lehman stadium with his running attack. He gained a career-best 252 yards on the ground, averaging nearly 16 yards per carry.
His 16th and final run will be one that the fiery Lake-Lehman student fans will be reminding him at school on Monday morning. Mitkowski carried the ball 20 yards before being dragged by a host of Royal defenders. Somehow, he escaped from the pile to scurry downfield for a 63-yard touchdown.
“I got hit and I just kept spinning and keeping my feet moving,” Mitkowski said. “I was trying not to get down. I found a hole and I got through.”
On the opening possession of the game, Mitkowski needed seven carries to gain 70 yards en route to a 3-yard score. Lake-Lehman took a 7-0 lead at the 8:07 mark of the first quarter.
Lake-Lehman tight end Benjamin Dowling scored a pair of back-to-back touchdowns. He scored on a wide-open 39-yard catch. Bowling followed that with a 7-yard rushing touchdown to close the first quarter with a 21-0 lead.
Black Knights’ wideout Christopher Sholtis caught three passes for 88 yards. Quarterback Hayden Evans had a rushing touchdown to complement 127 passing yards.
At the break, Lake-Lehman seems poised at competing for its first winning record since 2020. The Black Knights take on Nanticoke Area and Tunkhannock in the coming weeks.
“We have a good team here,” Mitkowski said. “Everyone has each other’s backs. Everyone knows what they are doing and doing their job right. Everybody just has to play as a team every single game.”
Lake-Lehman’s offense had 550 total yards.
Lake-Lehman 42, Holy Redeemer 0
Holy Redeemer`0`0`0`0 — 0
Lake-Lehman`21`21`0`0 — 42
First quarter
LL — Jim Mitkowski 3 run (Valetino Cassano kick), 8:07
LL — Benjamin Dowling 39 pass from Hayden Evans (Cassano kick), 6:56
LL — Dowling 7 run (Cassano kick), 1:06
Second quarter
LL — Mitkowski 31 run (Cassano kick), 11:22
LL — Evans 7 run (Cassano kick), 8:06
LL — Mitkowski 63 run (Cassano kick), 1:17
Team statistics`HR`LL
First downs`2`16
Rushes-yards`7-10`39-423
Passing yards`29`127
Total yards`39`550
Passing`10-26-1`4-6-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`8-32`2-28.5
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-2
Penalties-yards`2-10`4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HR, Brady McDermott 5-8, Thomas Dugan 2-2 . LL, Mitkowski 16-252, Chris Yetter 5-19, Evans 2-7, Sammuel Plummer 1-8, Dowling 1-7, Damon Bond 7-16, Anthony Magnotta 3-7, Hunter Lee 1-11, TEAM 3-(minus-4).
PASSING — HR, Dugan 2-10-11-0, Wildy Rodriguez 8-16-18-0. LL, Evans 4-6-127-0
RECEIVING — HR, Kyaire McLean 3-21, Mike Zbierski 4-(minus-7), McDermott 1-6, Josh Grochowski 1-5, Dugan 1-4. LL, Dowling 1-39, Christopher Sholtis 3-88
INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Logan Deyo 1-5
MISSED FGs — None