DANVILLE-There was no question Mount Carmel coach John Darrah had constructed the proper blueprint to defeat Danville. Run behind a big offensive line using heavy personnel, control the clock, and keep a potent offense that has a couple of bigtime playmakers off the field. The plan nearly worked to perfection, but the Red Tornadoes couldn’t slam the door, thus giving Danville a window of opportunity just large enough to escape.
Madden Patrick and Bo Sheptock engineered a perfect late-game drive which saw Sheptock leap across the goal line from six yards out with 1:46 left for this third touchdown of the night. Couple that with a Mount Carmel running back dropping what potentially could have been a game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds, and Danville survived. The Ironmen kept their undefeated season alive, while taking a big step towards securing the top seed in the District 4 3A playoffs, thanks to a 22-19 victory.
“I think our kids left it all on the field,” Darrah said. “I’m really proud of the way they played. Obviously, they’re a good team. We were concerned about the explosive plays. They made a couple plays there when they needed to, but I’m just really proud of the way our kids played.”
Danville (7-0) was facing a 19-14 deficit when Mount Carmel got the ball back with just under eight minutes left. Relying almost exclusively on a ground attack that helped the Red Tornadoes run 71 plays, Mount Carmel had picked up two first downs, and was beginning to grind even more clock. However, a negative running play and a false start put the offense behind the chains, and the Ironmen defense forced a punt. When Danville got the ball back on its own 40, there was no panic. On the very first play, Sheptock took a short pass from Patrick and turned it into a 44-yard gain. Patrick connected with Cole Duffy for an 8-yard gain to overcome a 2nd-and-12 situation, and two plays later, Sheptock capped off his clutch performance with a run off the left side to paydirt. He finished with 97 yards on 16 carries.
“It was great,” Sheptock said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it over the pylon, but I did. I just read my keys from my offensive linemen, and I’ve got to give credit to them tonight.”
Mount Carmel (5-2) used lengthy, time-consuming drives to play keep away from the Danville offense. The Red Tornadoes scored on a 12-play march in the first quarter that saw Gavin Marshalek score on 1-yard quarterback sneak to open the scoring. In the second quarter, Andrew Lukoskie took an inside handoff, and made the most of his only carry to score on a 4-yard touchdown run, capping off a 14-play, 80-yard drive. Early in the fourth quarter, Jaylen Delaney gave his team the lead when he finished a 13-play possession by sprinting 14 yards to the end zone.
“We wanted to play good defense, and that definitely doesn’t hurt to keep a really good offense off the field,” Darrah said. “We’re just going to keep working hard. We’re a resilient group. Not the outcome we wanted, but all our goals are still ahead of us, so we’re just going to keep plugging away.”
Trailing 13-7 at halftime, Danville came out strong on both sides of the ball to begin the second half. The defense held Mount Carmel twice, and Sheptock made it look easy on a 17-yard touchdown run with 7:07 left in the third quarter. Sheptock provided an immediate answer to Mount Carmel’s first score by racing 59 yards down the left side on his team’s second possession. Each of Danville’s first two touchdown drives were kept alive by pass interference penalties on third down.
“You gotta learn how to push things to the side quickly,” Patrick said. “The first half didn’t go the way we wanted it to go, but I continued to challenge my brothers up front to just continue to do what they were doing. Bo had a heck of a game running the ball and just blocking. When everybody does their job, we’re a great team.”
Statistically speaking, Mount Carmel had the advantage. The Red Tornadoes had a huge edge in time of possession, and outgained Danville by over 120 yards. There is a very good possibility the teams could meet again in Week 12 or 13 with a lot more on the line than just a PHAC Division II championship. The good news for the Ironmen is, despite not playing their best game, they made the most of their limited opportunities, and churned out a win over a quality opponent.
“I think it’s definitely good for us,” Sheptock said. “Because we could see that we can be a lot better than we were tonight, and I think the adversity that we faced tonight is going to be very good for us late in the season.”
Mount Carmel 7 6 0 6-19
Danville 7 0 7 8-22
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Gavin Marshalek 1 run (Robert Schoppy kick) 6:52
D-Bo Sheptock 59 run (Garrett Hoffman kick) 5:18
Second Quarter
MC-Andrew Lukoskie 4 run (kick blocked) 11:56
Third Quarter
D-Sheptock 17 run (Hoffman kick) 7:07
Fourth Quarter
MC-Jaylen Delaney 14 run (run failed) 9:21
D-Sheptock 6 run (Cameron Kiersch pass from Madden Patrick) 1:46
Team Statistics
……………………………MC…………………D
1st downs………………22………………11
rush-yds………………55-294………..22-122
comp-att-int……..11-16-0…………..7-16-0
pass yds………………..69………………104
total yds……………….363…………….226
fumb-lost……………..2-1………………1-1
pen-yds………………8-90………………1-5
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 20-88; Jaylen Delaney 10-78, TD; Michael Kimsal 14-64; Al Bailey 6-54; Gavin Marshalek 4-6, TD; Andrew Lukoskie 1-4, TD. Danville: Bo Sheptock 16-97, 3 TDs; Madden Patrick 5-26; Team 1-(-1).
Passing-Mount Carmel: Marshalek 11-16-0, 69 yds. Danville: Patrick 7-16-0, 104 yds.
Receiving-Mount Carmel: Delaney 4-38; Tait Adams 3-10; Karycki 2-17; Chase Balichik 1-5; Kimsal 1-(-1). Danville: Carter Raup 3-18; Cole Duffy 2-30; Sheptock 1-44; Landon Kehoe 1-12.
