BLOOMSBURG – Friday’s opening night matchup of Shikellamy and Central Columbia was of a pair of teams coming off dismal seasons in 2022 and looking to get off on the right foot en route to what will hopefully be more successful seasons in 2023.
And while there’s still 90 percent of the regular season left for both teams to make their mark, it was Shikellamy that got off to the better start, as the Braves equaled their win total from the last two seasons with a 21-7 win over the Blue Jays.
The win marks the first time since 2017 that the Braves have won their first game of the season. That year, incidentally, was also the last time Shikellamy finished with a winning record. The Braves were 1-9 in each of the last two seasons.
“We just made a little adjustment in our scheme and starting running some of the straight T stuff that we have,” said Shikellamy coach Jim Keiser. “We were having issues with our linemen, lots of cramping and injuries – same thing as last year. Hopefully, we can get through that because I think we have a heck of a group of kids. Brody Rebuck put on a heck of a show, and made some plays when he was getting pressured. We’ve got playmakers, we’ve just got to give them time to make plays.”
Rebuck, the sophomore quarterback for the Braves, had a solid game as he threw for 146 on 9-of-12 passing. His passing was complemented by Luke Snyder out of the backfield, who
finished his night with 111 yards on 21 carries and a pair of touchdowns, both of which were scored in the second half to break a 7-7 tie with the Blue Jays.
“Luke is a stud. I think he’s one of the best backs in the area,” said Keiser. “He can run with power, he can run with speed. The offense that we’re running right now, if we just give him a little bit of room, he’s going to be fine. He played a heck of a game on both sides of the ball. He played really well at linebacker as well.”
The Braves had a few big plays on offense in the first half but were largely inconsistent on offense early on. They saved their two best offensive drives of the night for late, as they found the end zone in two of their final three possessions of the game, the first to go ahead late in the third quarter, and the last to chew up over half of the fourth quarter clock and ice the game with a late touchdown.
While Shikellamy’s offense improved as the game wore on, the Braves’ defense was solid all night. It pitched a shutout, as Central’s lone score came on special teams. Shikellamy limited Central to just a single first down in the first half and just 40 yards. For the game, the Blue Jays managed 166 yards, of which 36 came on its final drive after the Braves had gone ahead by two scores with under a minute to play.
“Last week when we got home from the scrimmage, that was one thing we were worried about – defense,” said Keiser. “We were a little late to the ball at times and we just didn’t look like we were going to be physical enough, but tonight, everybody hit their keys well, ran downhill, and made tackles. I’m proud as heck of them.
“We had about seven guys out tonight and at one point were out of running backs, so that’s certainly not the way you want to start your season,” said Central coach EJ Smith. “We need to take care of our bodies a little bit better, but hats off to them. They had a great game plan and played hard. I thought defensively, we played very well. We started to get some momentum coming out at halftime after making some adjustments but then players started dropping left and right.”
The Blue Jays gained a pair of first downs on their first drive of the second half, moving the ball 38 yards before being stopped on downs. Their second drive also started off promising, but a lost fumble stalled it.
“We struggled tonight. We just need to go back to the grind this week and get after it,” said Smith. “I’m sure when we look at the film, we’ll see that we missed some blocks, but I’m still very confident that we’re going to be able to run the ball pretty well. We just struggled tonight and started going down with cramps and had some guys in there that I definitely didn’t expect to play tonight, and they were able to get some experience, but I think we’ll be fine.”
Shikellamy drew first blood on its second possession of the game when freshman Thomas Pollock got behind Central’s secondary hauled in a pass from Rebuck and managed to turn it into a 78-yard touchdown reception.
The Blue Jays answered immediately on the ensuing kickoff, though, when AIden Huntington took it back 84 yards for a touchdown to tie things up.
It was a stalemate from that point forward until late in the third quarter when the Braves took over at their own 34 with 2:19 left. They put together a five-play, 66-yard drive capped by an eight-yard run by Snyder, who also had a 14-yard run earlier in the drive, and Rebuck connected with Charlie Walter for a 23-yard reception.
In the fourth quarter, the Braves got a 19-yard punt return from Asher Moyer to start on the Central 33. Shikellamy converted a pair of fourth downs and a third down on the drive, which lasted 13 plays, and Snyder capped it with a four-yard touchdown run with :50 left to clinch the win.
Shikellamy 21, Central Columbia 7
Shikellamy (1-0) 7 0 7 7 – 21
Central Columbia (0-1) 7 0 0 0 – 7
First quarter
8:02 – (S) Thomas Pollock 78-yard pass from Brody Rebuck (Steese kick), 2-78, :43
7:52 – (CC) Aiden Huntington 84-yard kickoff return (Blake kick)
Third quarter
:32 – (S) Luke Snyder 8-yard run (Steese kick), 5-66, 1:47
Fourth quarter
:50 – (S) Luke Snyder 4-yard run (Steese kick), 13-33, 7:35
Statistics
S CC
First downs 14 9
Rushes-net yards 47-100 22-78
Passing yardage 146 88
Passing 9-12-1-0 7-28-0-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 10-50 5-42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Shikellamy: Luke Snyder (21-111-2), Brody Rebuck (21-3), Bysaire Baez (2-10), John Rosinski (1-(-8)), Asher Moyer (1-(-8)), TEAM (1-(-17)); Central Columbia: Talon Piatt (11-44), Gaje Gombert (3-24), Barron Oyar (3-5), Caius Morrow (3-(-3)), Eli Book (1-7),
Ty Regan (1-1)
PASSING: Shikellamy: Brody Rebuck (9-12-146-1-0); Central Columbia: Caius Morrow (7-26-88-0-1), TEAM (0-2-0-0-0)
RECEIVING: Shikellamy: Thomas Pollock (5-113-1), Charlie Walter (1-23), Luke Keally (1-8), Owen Elliott (1-2), Luke Snyder (1-0); Central Columbia: Eli Book (3-47), Grant Snavely (2-30), Talon Piatt (1-7), Parker Day (1-4)
