ALMEDIA – One of the most notable streaks in District 4 was broken on Friday night when Shamokin defeated Mount Carmel to take home the Coal Bucket for the first time since 1995, ending a 27-game winning streak for the Red Tornadoes in the Coal Bucket game.
One of the lesser known but no less dubious streaks in District 4 was also on the line to be potentially broken on Saturday afternoon, as Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech had an opportunity to clinch its first winning record in 17 years.
Much like Shamokin’s streak of futility in the Coal Bucket game was snapped last night, so, too was CMVT’s on Saturday, as behind Braxtyn Brown’s 374 rushing yards and three touchdowns, the Rams defeated Bucktail 36-6.
The win improves the Rams to 6-4 on the season, and regardless of the outcome of CMVT’s Week 11 game next Saturday against Northwest, they will finish the season with a winning record for the first time since 2007, when the Rams finished 6-4.
“This team has done a great job all year. Even in our losses we played well at times, and we kept our heads up,” said CMVT coach Mark Varner. “We felt we gave away two earlier this year, but every time we faced adversity, someone stepped up, took over that position and we’re rolling right now and feel good about ourselves.
“The biggest difference is we don’t have those feeder programs, so we’re bringing them in for ninth or tenth grade and we’re teaching them from the get-go what we want to do. They don’t come in as ninth or tenth graders knowing our offense or defense, so it’s a testament to these kids that want to learn when they get here and to our coaching staff that does a great job teaching these kids.”
Most people that watched even just a single quarter of a Rams’ game this season would know that their offense was built around the running game and specifically Brown. Once again, it was Brown leading the way, as he posted his fifth 300-yard rushing performance of the season. He amassed 284 of his yards before halftime, helping CMVT build a 20-0 cushion by the end of the first quarter. Brown accounted for all 53 yards of CMVT’s opening drive, finishing it with a 15-yard touchdown.
The Rams made it 14-0 on their second drive, as Brown ran for 81 more yards on five carries and Myles Koser hit Axton Koser for a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap a seven-play, 91-yard drive, with Brown also running in the two-point conversion.
CMVT then engineered a 95-yard drive on its next possession following a 69-yard punt by the Bucks. Brown posted rushes of 23, 12, and 43 yards on that drive, with the last one going for another touchdown on the final play of the first quarter.
Bucktail then managed to put together a drive that lasted over nine minutes and went for 88 yards, but ended without any points. After starting their ensuing drive at their own 10, the Bucks then went 16 plays all the way down to the CMVT 2, but the drive ended with Logan Bracey picking off Brody Pentz in the end zone.
Pentz, who helped lead the Bucks to a District 4 playoff appearance last season and the Bucks’ first-ever home playoff game, ran for 73 yards on that drive, and for the game finished with 211 rushing yards. That pushed him over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, giving him back-to-back seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards – the first player in Bucktail program history to accomplish that feat.
“I’ve been around Bucktail football since I played in the early 1990s, and Brody is the best athlete I’ve seen since I was in school,” said Bucktail coach Kevin Ransom. “He’ll run around you as quick as he’ll run through you. When we step on the field, we have the best athlete on it, as well as the smartest and toughest kid. Losing him is going to be incredibly difficult. I’m not 100% certain what his plans are for next year, but whatever it is – whether he’s playing college football or entering the workforce or decides to become a white collar professional, he’s going to be awesome, because that’s the kind of kid he is.”
The Bucks also put together a drive the took up nearly half of the third quarter after getting the ball to start the second half, but that drive, too, ended without any points as the Rams stopped them on downs with 6:03 left in the third, taking over at their own 35.
CMVT would then need just three plays to find the end zone again, as Brown went for a 40-yard run on the first play of the drive, and two plays later, Myles Koser his Bracey in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown reception to make it 28-0.
“These kids have really believed in what we’ve been teaching them this year, and it doesn’t matter is Braxtyn is running for 200 yards and the receivers get three catches for the game,” said Varner. “When they get those three catches, they make the most of them, so that’s what it takes. It takes everyone believing in what we’re teaching and the whole team is doing that.”
Bracey recorded another interception to stop the Bucks on Bucktail’s subsequent drive, returning it to midfield. And three plays later, Brown put a cap on his afternoon with a 50-yard touchdown to put the game into the mercy rule with 1:20 left in the third.
Pentz capped his day by breaking up the shutout as he scored on a 22-yard touchdown run on the final offensive play of his high school career, capping another long drive for the Bucks, this one 10 plays for 65 yards with 5:37 remaining in the game.
Although Pentz went for over 200 yards on the ground, that was essentially the extent of Bucktail’s offense for the game, as the Bucks didn’t have any passing yards, and the Rams stopped the two long Bucktail drives without allowing any points. That negated a time of possession advantage for the Bucks, who held onto the ball for 33:08, over 18 minutes more than the Rams.
“We worked really hard on keeping our gaps,” said Varner. “If we get out of that gap or play too much vertically, it opens up gaps underneath them so we stressed all week to play horizontally and not vertically, and we did that well today. There were a few times we gave up a long run to Pentz but we maintained our gaps for almost the whole game.”
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 36, Bucktail 6
Bucktail (0-8) 0 0 0 6 – 6
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (6-4) 20 0 16 0 – 36
First quarter
10:33 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 15-yard run (run failed), 5-53, 1:27
4:31 – (VT) Axton Koser 7-yard pass from Myles Koser (B. Brown run), 7-91, 3:07
:00 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 43-yard run (pass failed), 4-95, 1:05
Third quarter
4:41 – (VT) Logan Bracey 20-yard pass from Myles Koser (Bloom pass from M. Koser), 3-65, 1:22
1:20 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 50-yard run (Bracey pass from M. Koser), 3-50, :23
Fourth quarter
5:37 – (B) Brody Pentz 22-yard run (pass failed), 10-65, 7:43
Statistics
B VT
First downs 16 19
Rushes-net yards 44-252 30-432
Passing yardage 0 62
Passing 1-11-0-2 4-8-2-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 2-15 11-96
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bucktail: Brody Pentz (28-211-1), Jaden Intallura (7-18), Gavin Yachymiak (5-7), Stephen Heiser (4-16); CMVT: Braxtyn Brown (21-374-3), Charlie Sego (4-31), Tyson Brown (2-27), Myles Koser (2-1), Team (1-(-1))
PASSING: Bucktail: Brody Pentz (1-11-0-0-2); CMVT: Myles Koser (4-8-62-2-0)
RECEIVING: Bucktail: Stephen Heiser (1-0); CMVT: Axton Koser (2-34-1), Logan Bracey (1-20-1), Tyson Brown (1-8)
