Hodur puts St. Laurence into playoffs

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There was plenty of thunder and lightning Friday in Burbank — and not just the kind that comes down from the heavens.

Josh Hodur ran for 203 yards and four touchdowns to help St. Laurence clinch a playoff spot with a 34-12 victory against visiting Leo. The game was delayed because of lightning at the half and again with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

‘‘Josh is a very tough kid,’’ St. Laurence coach Jim Grannan said. ‘‘Everybody knows he’s getting the ball, and he still piles up the yards.’’

Hodur’s performance was as spectacular as the lightning coming from the sky. The senior tailback had 156 yards rushing and four touchdowns before the second delay to stake the Vikings (6-3) to a 27-12 lead.

St. Laurence drove 73 yards on nine plays after the opening kickoff and took a 6-0 lead on a seven-yard touchdown run by Hodur. Hodur carried the ball eight times on the drive.

The Lions (6-3) responded when quarterback Darwin Rogers threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Herron early in the second quarter to tie the score 6-6. Later in the quarter, Rogers threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Paul Beene that pulled Leo to 13-12.

Hodur added touchdown runs of two and six yards in the second quarter, then scored on a 45-yard breakaway right before the game was delayed in the third.

The weather might have cost the Lions at the end of the first half. Leo was driving when Rogers was stopped near the goal line with four seconds left in the half, but a thunderbolt distracted everyone on the field, allowing time to run out.

St. Laurence’s Jacob Rotkvich returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown with 4:47 left to seal the victory.

‘‘We were very determined from the beginning of the game on knowing that the playoffs were on the line,’’ Grannan said.