CHESTER – A short-handed Etna Lions varsity football team made the long trek to Chester, and came back with a 36-14 win over the Volcanoes.

The Lions racked up over 400 yards in offense (262 rush, 144 pass), and the defense was, as always, solid.

Brothers Alex and Lucas Case proved to be a nearly unstoppable tandem in the back field. Sophomore Lucas Case rushed for 152 yards on 18 carries, and scored a TD. Senior Alex went 65 yards on 19 carries, and registered three TDs.

Quarterback Jordan Pehle-Munson was 9/15 for 144 yards, and rushed for a TD. Seth Jordan led the Lions’ receivers with four catches for 86 yards. Taylor Pehle-Munson pulled in two passes for 40 yards, and Ryan Hicks had two receptions for 29 yards.

The Lions were playing with seven seniors missing, including five starters, due to disciplinary reasons.

Two of the missing starters were from the offensive line, which hurt the Lions in the first half. However, Etna was able to make adjustments in the second half. According to head coach Ken Dysert, there was a “night and day” difference between the first and second halves for the O-line.

Overall, Dysert was happy with his team’s performance.

“We didn’t know how we were going to react to all the things that happened. The kids came out and played pretty good defensively. They (Chester) had a couple of opportunities to score and we held them out. I thought the defense did real well,” said Dysert. “Offensively we executed real well the first drive. Then after that, we had some trouble. We made adjustments at half time and they came out and played well.”

Etna (4-1) hosts the Burney Raiders (1-4) this Friday.