Junior Shane Edwards pushing in for his third touchdown.

The Jim Thorpe Olympians drove up Route 209 to Lehighton Area High School tonight to defend its possession of the Route 209 Trophy and after four quarters Thorpe succeeded in keeping the trophy for another year.

Shane Edwards had a huge game as did the entire offense. On defense, Terry Moll forced three fumbles with at least two converting to touchdowns.

Here’s the breakdown on touchdowns. Note that JT scored on seven out of nine possessions:

JT – Johnson 35 run (Denny kick)
JT – Edwards 4 run (Denny kick)
L – Keer 41 pass from Agosto (Nalesnik kick)
JT – Johnson 19 pass from Cinicola (kick failed)
L – Nalesnik 22 pass from Agosto (kick failed)
JT – Edwards 1 run (Denny kick)
L – Keer 30 pass from Agosto (Nalesnik kick)
JT – Cinicola 1 run (Denny kick)
L – Rebovich 8 pass from Agosto (Nalesnik kick)
JT – Edwards 8 run (kick failed)

Here are the individual statistics corrected to account for Tom Acker’s 18-yard catch that was not recorded in the TIMES-NEWS’ box score:

Rushing – Jim Thorpe: Edwards 27-117, Cinicola 18-60, Johnson 9-75. Lehighton: Agosto 5-74, Rebovich 8-17, Farole 3-7, Angst 1-6, Hunter 4-2.

Passing – Jim Thorpe: Cinicola 9-16-0-151. Lehighton: Agosto 9-13-0-152, Hunter 1-2-0-5, Keer 0-1-0-0.

Receiving -  Jim Thorpe: Moll 3-40, Acker, 1-18, Schron 3-37, St. Hill 1-37, Johnson 1-19. Lehighton: Keer 5-98, Stauffer 2-16, Nalesnik 1-22, Farole 1-13, Rebovich 1-8.

What an ending to the season. Thanks guys!

More photos for purchase here.

The Indian, created by Joni Bensinger (Carp's mom)

Tonight, the Jim Thorpe Olympian football team honored its seniors along with the band and cheerleaders at Olympian Stadium. The rescheduled Senior Night included a short parade from the high school around the block and into the stadium. Seniors were acknowledged and then everyone went to the bonfire where an “Indian” was ceremoniously thrown into the fire.

Everyone please come out to the Fan Bridge at 4:30 tomorrow to cheer the bus over Route 903 on the way to Lehighton and then come to the game.

Click here for photos from Senior Night and the bonfire. Please remember all photo purchases benefit The Touchdown Club, aka your kids!

Senior Michael Carpenter breaks a block.

After coming back from a 20-point deficit, the Olympians beat Marian 37-34 Friday, Oct. 30 in Hometown. What a game! It started with three turnovers and ended with a three-point field goal by Kicker James Denny.

Congratulations guys!

We’ll have more photos from Mr. Lynch and Mr. Lesisko later. Click here for the first batch from Kathy Schwartz.

Game Press:

Times-News Article, 10/31/2009
Republican-Herald Article, 10/31/2009
Varsity570 statistics

The Olympians lost to Schuylkill Haven last night. We were not at the game so there are no pictures. Click here for the Pottsville Republican-Herald’s story about the game.

We still do not know when Senior Night will be held. It’s a real shame that after four years of representing Jim Thorpe in athletic and musical programs, the seniors will not be recognized in front of the residents and fans of Jim Thorpe.

Let’s hope the fix to the field is not a temporary patch. The field requires a complete overhaul since a major part of the problem is the lack of proper drainage.  A new drainage system or something would have to be put in place to ensure the field doesn’t become a swamp after one day of rain.

Just putting more dirt on top of the faulty foundation won’t work. Sure, it may only cost $50,000 this time around but in three years we’ll have to spend another $50,000 and three years after that another $50,000. Let’s just do it right the first time.

Remember, it’s always true — you get what you pay for.

Please let the School Board know how important the field is to you and your children and ask them to do the right thing by our kids and the town of Jim Thorpe.

Thank you!

Carl St. Hill, 20, is taken down in a sea of mud.

The weather was horrible and so was the field. The Olympians had lots of chances to beat visiting Pocono Mountain West but didn’t pull it off in a heartbreaking loss, 8-6.

Sean Green acknowledges Cinicola after a key catch in the red zone.

Click here for more pictures from the game. Please remember all pictures are copyright. If you’d like to keep a photo, please purchase it. All purchases benefit the Olympian Football Touchdown Club (aka – your children).

Related links: Jim Thorpe falls to PMW, Republican-Herald.

Wide Receiver Terry Moll, 17, turns up field after a catch.

Jim Thorpe (1-4) beat Minersville (1-4) to improve their record to 2 and 4 thanks to a strong offense.  For more photos from tonight’s game, please visit the photo store. Please remember that all photo reprints benefit the Jim Thorpe Booster Club.

Senior QB Corey Cinicola runs the ball. For more pictures visit the Photo Store.

Another L in the stat category but at least we scored some points! Click here for more photos from the game and please remember that all photos are Copyrighted. We appreciate your patronage in our photo store. All proceeds benefit the Jim Thorpe Touchdown Club which is the booster club for the football program.

Olympian Offense

For more pictures from tonight’s game, click here. Please remember all photos are copyrighted and are for purchase to support The Touchdown Club.

Red Swarm take down Spartan #8 Scott Hauser.

The North Schuylkill Spartans improved to 3-0 after spanking Jim Thorpe at home 38-7. The only saving grace? The Olympians are the first team of the season to score against the Spartans.

Congratulations to Shawn Scott Lignore, #25, and QB Ben Moore for getting the first score against the Spartans and the first of their Varsity Career!

Click here for more photos from tonight’s game. Please remember that photos are copyrighted. If you want to keep a photo, please purchase it.

All proceeds benefit The Touchdown Club which uses funds to offset equipment purchases, send kids to camps, feed the kids after both varsity and junior varsity games and numerous other activities that keeps the team running smoothly.

Thank you – Kathy Schwartz and The Touchdown Club

The Jim Thorpe Olympians obeyed the sign at Olympian Car Wash on North Street: “Maul the Bears.” They did just that with a final score of 42-0.

See pictures here.