Cedars edge Mounts

LEBANON — Though there were dramatic moments late in the game, Lebanon never trailed in a 28-21 win [boxscore] over Ephrata on Friday night at Lebanon Alumni Stadium.

The Cedars (1-1) had leads of 21-0 and 28-7 in the first half before the Mounts (0-2) made a second-half push for their first win since 2012.

After getting to within one score, Ephrata drove to the Lebanon 21 early in the fourth quarter, but was stopped by a fourth down incompletion.

On their last possession, the Mounts never got past their own 11.

Turning point: Jeremiah Beckley’s 36-yard touchdown reception with 14 seconds left in the second could not have come at a better juncture for the Cedars.

Ephrata had just scored on a 90-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a five-yard run by Caden Keefer, to get within 21-7.

Also, two plays before Beckley’s score, a touchdown pass to Luis Aquino-Rios had been called back on a holding penalty. But Beckley’s scoring catch put the home team up 28-7 at the half.

Star of the game: Zakee Sailsman threw for four touchdown passes, two to Beckley, and one each to Aquino-Rios and Jahlil Young. He was 14 for 25 for 224 yards, to go along with 81 yards rushing. The only blemish: a third-quarter interception that Bryson Rhee ran back 20 yards for a touchdown.

Key statistic: The average length of Lebanon’s four first-half touchdown drives was just under 38 yards. In the first two quarters, every time the Cedars took possession on Ephrata’s side of the 50, they found the end zone. The two times they started in their own territory, the Mounts stopped them.

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