STRASBURG — Few people believed Lucas had a chance at the high school football playoffs when the Cubs fell to 2-5 with three straight losses just a month ago.
Most likely believed Lucas was finished at halftime Friday night, trailing 21-0 at Strasburg (8-3) in the first round of those Division VII, Region 27 playoffs at Ron Hurst Field.
But the 32 players and the entire coaching staff still believed in each other, secure in the knowledge they closed the regular season with three straight wins to battle their way into Week 11.
Lucas, after all, is a team that has now qualified for the postseason 12 consecutive years.
Tradition belies fear.
Armed with that belief, Lucas stormed back in the second half to throw a scare into the hosts, cutting the lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter before giving up a late score in a 28-14 defeat.
“At halftime, we kind of made some adjustments and we executed those adjustments in the second half,” Lucas coach Jim Sweat said.
“But I just led (halftime) with, ‘Hey, guys, we’ve been here before, right? We’ve dug ourselves so many holes this year and we’ve been able to dig out.’
‘I said you have a couple of options in life … to go out standing up, fighting, or go out on your knees. I can’t be prouder of these kids for what they did in the second half and going out fighting. We were one possession away,” Sweat said.
The loss ended the Lucas season at 5-6 with a schedule that included four opponents who qualified for the playoffs and three others who finished with winning records.
Perhaps the biggest of those victories came after a 135-mile bus ride when the Cubs knocked off Reynolds, Pa., 22-15, in Week Eight to snap the losing streak and began to right the ship.
“That whole week, we talked about preparation and doing the right things right in practice and doing things that winning programs do consistently,” Sweat said.
“Most importantly, when we got to Pennsylvania and got off the bus, we played with the mindset that we’re not going to be denied. You saw that mindset in the second half (against Strasburg.) Unfortunately, it was a little too late to to overcome the hole that we had dug ourselves into,” he said.
“We’re probably winning a football game tonight if we play that way for four quarters. But hats off to Strasburg. They answered the bell early and they took care of business tonight,” Sweat said.
(Photos from the Lucas at Strasburg high school playoff game on Friday night, a game won by the home team, 28-14. The gallery includes photos from the Lucas High School marching band. The story continues after the photos.)
Strasburg didn’t start the game like the team that stumbled in the second half of the season, losing three of its last five games after a 5-0 start.
The Tigers built their halftime lead on a 30-yard run by junior Keizer Thomas, an 8-yard pass from sophomore Brody Baughman to senior Gage Moore and then an improbable 82-yard run by Baughman on a scramble that saw him break several tackles before racing down the sideline into the endzone.
“We just didn’t answer the bell early in the game,” Sweat said. “We made some mistakes offensively that cost us some points and we missed tackles on defense.”
But the Cubs, knowing they still had at least 24 minutes left in their season, battled back.
Junior running back Brady Guegold, who finished with 94 yards on 21 carries, scored twice on runs of 2 yards, and 1 yard, the second cutting the deficit to 21-14 with 10:20 to play.
The improbable rally seemed even more possible when Lucas got the ball at its own 20-yard line with 4:41 remaining.
But three short runs left the Cubs facing a fourth-and-five and a halfback pass failed to connect, giving the Tigers possession and the chance to tack on a final score with just 2:39 remaining.
It was a tough way to end a season, even more for the eight Lucas seniors who played in their final game — Alegacy Grose, Mason Guegold, Hayden Malony, Tim Daley, Noah Kinnard, Tanner Green, Charlie Reede and Gabe Brenner.
None of those eight ever failed to help produce a playoff team.
“That can never be taken away from them,” Sweat said. “The way they battled just to even get us here, I couldn’t be more proud of those young men. It is a tough loss tonight, but I want these seniors to enjoy what little time left they have in these uniforms.
“My message to my seniors was the great thing about this football program is you never lose football players. Once you are part of the Lucas football family, you are part of it for life. There will be times when you need a friend, you need a brother and you can count on those guys for the rest of your life. That is the most important thing in this program,” Sweat said.
The challenge for any high school football team to produce a playoff team is difficult. It’s perhaps even tougher for the smallest of schools, like Lucas.
“I don’t think the outside world understands the kind of pressure these kids are under since the very first practice of the season. Lucas football had the expectation to be in the football players and win football playoff games,” Sweat said.
“The expectation is to play for regional championships and state titles and that is where we want to be. They are lofty expectations, but we don’t shy away from that.”
It’s also the final year for Lucas to compete as a football independent, something that has forced the Cubs to play a rugged schedule every season. Lucas moves into the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in 2026, joining a league that includes Carey, Mohawk, Colonel Crawford and more.
“Just because we’re going into a conference doesn’t mean it’s going to get any easier next year. That conference is full of giants and full of great football programs, so we’ll have our work cut out for us again next year,” Sweat said.
Strasburg 28, Lucas 14
1st quarter
Strasburg — Keizer Thomas 30-yard run (PAT Roque Gimenez Munoz kick), 7-0
Strasburg — Gage Moore 8-yard pass from Brody Baughman (PAT Roque Gimenez Munoz kick), 14-0
2nd quarter
Strasburg — Baughman 82-yard run (PAT Roque Gimenez Munoz kick), 21-0
3rd quarter
Lucas — Brady Guegold 2-yard run (PAT Guegold kick), 21-7
4th quarter
Lucas — Guegold 1-yard run (PAT Guegold kick), 21-14
Strasburg — Micah McVay 23-yard run (PAT Roque Gimenez Munoz kick), 28-14