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The Loyalsock school record for most interceptions in a game was unclear Friday night. But Rian Glunk's three interceptions, all in the first half, were definitely a personal record. Glunk also caught five passes for 149 yards and a touchdown as Loyalsock advanced in the District 4 Class AAA football playoffs with a 47-7 home win over Cowanesque Valley.
The No. 4-seed Lancers (7-4) advanced to play top seed Danville next weekend. While Danville will play that game coming off a bye, the Lancers will play it riding a four-game win streak, all via the mercy rule.
"I think we did really good all around," said Glunk. "Stopping the run, the defense was good, the offense was doing good, and everyone was playing their part."
Glunk got help from quarterback Tyler Gee, who completed 13 of 14 passes for 268 yards and threw for two touchdowns, a 56-yarder to Clark and a 33-yarder to Naz Smith. The Lancers also saw Davion Hill run 13 times for 96 yards and three touchdowns, including a 56-yarder.
The Loyalsock defense allowed 377 yards on 77 plays as CV held a 2-1 possession time advantage, but it consistently guarded the red zone and intercepted Jacob Schmitt 4 times. Cy Cavanaugh returned the last interception 50 yards for a touchdown, the Lancers' lone second half score.
The first CV (6-5) drive reached the Lancer 26 before Glunk intercepted Schmitt in the end zone and returned it near midfield. The second CV drive stalled on downs at the Lancer 9-yard line. Glunk ended the next two CV drives with interceptions, one on a tipped ball, and another CV drive stalled on downs at the Loyalsock 1 as the first half ended.
"When the field is big, we can stretch them and use our scheme, but when it shortens we got outmatched inside," said CV coach Mike Schmitt."We have 5 seniors and one junior out there. When we have to get nitty-gritty, it's tough."
Cowanesque might have earned the top seed in the bracket, which saw no team win more than six games in the regular season, if not for a last-second loss two weeks ago to Montgomery in a game that also saw them lose all-time leading receiver Tanyan Brown for the season.
But CV, which dressed only 20 players, struggled to stop the Lancer offense that needed only 38 plays to rack up 408 yards. CV, which would be a single-A school without its co-op with other schools, wasn't using that as an excuse Friday night, but rather an acceptance of a reality that it gets just one player from Williamson more than a half-hour away. Friday night's lineup saw just five seniors and one junior against the Lancers.
Jacob Schmitt threw a 9-yard touchdown to Fletcher Good in the third quarter for CV's lone score.
"The mentality is pretty good with these boys," said Mike Schmitt. "We won some character games this season, beat some teams we weren't supposed to. We weren't expected to get six wins, but there's a benefit there and some possibilities after we take a look at our numbers and do this over a time period and not just one good season."
Loyalsock, the district champ in 2017 and runner-up in 2019 under coach Justin Van Fleet, is very much alive for more.
"We just have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask are we executing appropriately," said Van Fleet, who said his team was passing and defending the pass well but could use some improvement up front and on the ground. "We just have to tighten up in our overall technique. We get sloppy when things are secure. Everyone just has to ask, 'Am I doing my job?'"