Jermyn, PA — BY MARTY MYERS CORRESPONDENT SCOTT TWP. — In a game dominated by the offenses for 59½ minutes, Honesdale’s Conlan Keast came up with a defensive stop the Hornets will remember most. Moments after hauling in a 76-yard slant pass for the go-ahead score from backup sophomore quarterback Abe Bryant, Keast spoiled a six-touchdown night by Lakeland quarterback David Naniewicz, batting away a two-point conversion pass with 30.2 seconds remaining, and Honesdale hung on for a 41-40 Lackawanna Football Conference Division II victory, snapping a four-game losing streak. “I was hoping we could hold them out at the end, but sometimes it comes down to that two-point conversion,” Keast said. “I think I can cover anyone and my coaches were trusting me, and getting me into position to make that play.” Two of them. Bryant, who entered with one career pass, tossed two touchdown passes, the dart to Keast and sprint, breaking tackles near midfield, saw Honesdale, up by two scores early, then down by one with 5 minutes left, rally. “On Monday our theme was grit,” Honesdale head coach Paul Russick said. “Mondays we like to talk to the kids, bring the life lessons to things, and the last four weeks, a lot of games with heartbreak and a lot of games with simple mistakes that were very correctable, we talked about how you’ve got to show grit. “We lost our starting quarterback, lose your middle linebacker, we lost an outside linebacker, and we got freshmen and sophomores to step up. They didn’t stop fighting.” After Keast’s grab gave Honesdale a 41-34 lead, Naniewicz, who had 390 yards in total offense, directed his sixth scoring drive, firing his fourth touchdown pass, a perfect post-pattern strike to Chase Rosenkrans for 29 yards. “I said we get this and we’re going for two,” said Naniewicz who rushed for 164 yards and two scores, and threw for 226. “All 11 guys on the field wanted to go for two and that was just the decision.” Naniewicz said his two-point throw could have been better, but Rosenkrans got two hands on it. Keast never gave him a chance to haul it in, ripping the ball away to lock up the win. “Conlan will literally do anything we ask,” Russick said. “I think a kid like that deserves something like that to happen to him. “We talked to our 15 seniors all week about stepping up. A lot of them play a lot and we kept preaching, it’s your turn. How bad do you want it kind of deal and he obviously showed it there.” Honesdale was quickly in command, scoring twice in the first 4:40. Mason Avery went off tackle and 45 untouched yards later, the Hornets (3-4 overall, 1-2 Division II) led, 7-0. Gabe Duda doubled the advantage when he fielded a bouncing punt, split a pair of defenders and streaked 70 yards for a touchdown. Naniewicz led Lakeland back, hitting Gavin Roberts for a 5-yard score on fourth-and-goal, but after the only two scoreless drives of the first half, Avery made it 21-7, dashing 67 yards with 8:15 left in the second. “I can’t take all the credit for that, though,” said Avery, who rushed for 220 yards and caught three passes for 33 yards and another touchdown. “Our line, and our receivers blocking downfield, it was just great. We all came together as a team at the end. “When (quarterback) Aiden Collins went down (ankle), when Rob Quinn went down (leg) it was really hard, but we knew we had to come back as a team and work together to get the win.” Especially given Naniewicz’s performance. His 43-yard keeper cut it to 21-14 midway through the second, only to see Bryant find Avery for an over-the-shoulder 32-yard touchdown. Naniewicz gave Lakeland a spark at the end of the half, hitting five of seven passes to set up his 6-yard scramble with 9 seconds left in the half. The junior pulled the Chiefs even with a 5½-minute drive to start the third, accounting for 53 of the 75 yards, connecting with Roberts for five yards, the second of his three scoring catches. Naniewicz finally put Lakeland ahead with a fourth straight touchdown march, capping it with a 39-yard swing pass to Roberts on third-and-21. Lakeland stopped Honesdale at its own 3 on the next drive, only to see the Chiefs (2-5, 0-3) fail on a fourth-and-2 play from their own 13, Quinn dropping Rocco Spataro for a 3-yard loss. Avery made sure the Hornets would shake off back-to-back false start penalties, faking inside and racing for the pylon on a 12-yard run to tie it at 34. The Chiefs were poised to reclaim the lead, but Charlie Propst gave the Hornets life, recovering a fumble at his 32. That’s when Bryant showed enormous poise, hitting Keast for the go-ahead score with 2:12 left. So did Naniewicz, almost rallying the Chiefs. “Hopefully there’s more to come but yeah, probably by far my best offensive performance,” Naniewicz said. “It’s tough, but we’ve got to look forward to next week. This one stings a lot, but we’ve got to recover and get ready for Western Wayne.”