By Patrick Connelly
Allied News Sports Editor
EDINBORO — Getting back to the Sharon High brand of football seen for decades under former coach Jim Wildman is something the Tigers latest mentor Bob Fromm has made his personal mantra.
And as far as Fromm is concerned, the Tigers did just that with a huge 21-14 win Saturday night over the unbeaten Lancers to advance to the District 10 Class AA championship tilt.
“We’re FINALLY back to playing Sharon High football!,” the excited and emotional coach said moments after watching his defense shutdown McLane’s last-ditch effort to tie the game in the contest’s whining moments.
“That was his thing ... being on that (practice and game) field and seeing the Christmas lights come on,” Fromm said of Wildman's philosophy, one he came to understand well while playing for the great coach in the 1990s.
“It’s been a goal of ours ... we're excited,” the coach continued. “I’m real proud of the kids this season ... It’s a fun bunch to coach nothing bothers them. They just overcome any kind of adversity that's thrown at them.”
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to set the tone in the contest, scoring on just the team’s 4th play from scrimmage off a 15-yard touchdown run by Kevin Brown about 2 1/2 minutes into the game.
Jason Sypolt’s extra point sailed through the uprights to give Sharon a 7-0 lead.
The Lancers fired right back, as quarterback Nick Lombardo orchestrated a 12-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Kyle Shinn ran the ball into the end zone from 1 yard out for the 6 points and a PAT by David Olszewski knotted the score at 7 apiece.
An offensive drought that ended the 1st fram continued into the 2nd as both teams only tallied 4 first downs and each exchanged 2 punts.
On Sharon’s first offensive possession of the 2nd half, the Tigers took the ball 68 yards on 6 plays on a drive sustained by a 38-yard run on a quarterback keeper by Sharon’s fill-in signal-caller Jason Ondic.
Kevin Brown scored on a 12-yard run. The Lancers blocked Sypolt’s PAT to leave the Tigers up only 13-7.
Ondic, who relieved Ron Howard late in the season after an injury benched the senior, ran for 184 yards on 22 carries on the Lancers.
Lombardo ran for a McLane TD from 8 yards out with 7:13 remaining in the 4th. Olszewski’s PAT put McLane up 14-13.
The Tigers then rallied for an 11-play drive, scoring off a 2-yard Brown run. Another run by Brown on the 2-point-conversion attempt into the end zone put Sharon up 21-14 with 1:22 left.
McLane moved the ball 64 yards in 6 plays in the remaining time, but incomplete passes by Lombardo on consecutive plays stymied the Lancers chances.
The Sharon win ended the unblemished Lancers (11-1) season.
The Tigers (10-2) will take on a familiar foe in Wilmington as the teams vie for the D-10 title.
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D-10 CLASS AA SEMIFINALS
SHARON 7 0 6 8 21
G. McLANE 7 0 0 7 14
Scoring plays
S — Ondic, 15 run (J. Sypolt kick)
GM — Shinn, 1 run (Olszewski kick)
S — K. Brown, 12 run (kick blocked)
GM — Lombardo, 8 run (Olszewski kick)
S — K. Brown, 2 run (K. Brown run)
Team stats
SHARON G. McLANE
13 First downs 11
237 Rushing yards 163
-6 Passing yards 59
5-2-0 Att-comp-int 14-7-1
231 Total yards 222
0-0 Fumbles-lost 4-1
7-60 Penalties-yards lost 5-35
Individual stats
Rushing: SHARON — Ondic 22-184, K. Brown 14-41, Spicer 2-7, C. Brown 2-5; GEN. McLANE — Lombardo 8-75, Lee 21-46, Shinn 8-35, Shesterenko 1-7.
Passing: SHARON — Ondic 4-2-0-(-6), Crawford 1-0-0-0; GEN. McLANE — Lombardo 13-6-1-48, Astorino 1-1-0-11.
Receiving: SHARON — Bittler 1-0, Spicer 1-(-6); GEN. McLANE — Kulka 4-34, Niswonger 2-12, Ponsoll 1-13.
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