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Besten shines in Chiefs homecoming win

The Lakeland Chiefs enter the stadium on Friday, Oct. 5. The team defeated Mid Valley 40-20 in their 2007 homecoming game.

Abington Journal Photos/Aaron Vail

Lakeland’s Craig Chopko, left, is brought down by Brandon Chorba and Corey Novak on Friday night. Chopko had 128 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

JERMYN – Sometimes a little bit of patience goes a long way.
During Lakeland’s homecoming victory over Mid Valley, 40-20, on October 5, junior running back Cory Besten had a number of opportunities to show his worth to the Chiefs team. With nearly every opportunity he was given, he excelled.
Besten had opportunities to carry the ball more often, following an injury to fellow junior running back Randy Nichols, who took a helmet to the back on the Chiefs’ first offense play of the game.
Besten opened scoring early for Lakeland, capping a 52-yard sprint with an endzone dance with little more than six minutes ticked off of the game clock.
“It’s unbelievable,” Besten said. “It just feels so good to be able to get in the game like that. That hole was wide open, and I just told myself to run fast.”
During his many sprints down the field, Besten was spun around by the oncoming defense. The reason, he said, is built into the way he runs. “I just roll my way through. I try to stay on my toes, make sure I keep off of my heels.”
“Cory’s a good kid,” Lakeland coach Dan Case said. “He’s played quite a bit in most of our games, and he did a good job tonight. That was his biggest game this season.”
Besten added to the eventual win less than four minutes later. His two-point conversion following a 63-yard interception return by senior linebacker Ian Specht took Lakeland to a 14-0 lead with 2:30 left in the first.
He put in 25 yards on a 15 play drive to set up senior full back Craig Chopko’s first of three scores Friday. He then added another 34 yards, including his own three yard touchdown rush, to open the third quarter and improve the Chiefs’ lead to 33-0 and his total rushing yards against Mid Valley to 115 over 14 carries.
Chopko’s third touchdown of the game with just under a minute left in the third would be Lakeland’s last, bringing the score to 40-0. The fourth quarter brought in a small army of underclassmen who, unfortunately for the Chiefs, gave up three touchdowns to the visiting Spartans – one each from wide receiver Jason Karlavige, full back Paul Jaskulski and running back Briton Hendricks.
“We played hard for the first three quarters, but you can’t give up those easy ones at the end,” Case said. “Mid Valley is well-coached and they did a good job against us.”
The Chiefs continue their season on Friday, Oct. 12, with a visit to the undefeated Dunmore Bucks. “They’ve got a ton of players back, and they’re an excellent football team,” Case said. “We’re going to have to play a very good game to stay with them.”