MOUNT CARMEL – When one football team is significantly bigger, faster and stronger than the other in a given game, the result is often lopsided.
That was exactly the case on Friday as Hughesville was held to just five offensive yards and did not cross midfield until late in the fourth quarter as a bigger, faster, stronger and ultimately better Mount Carmel team recorded its second straight shutout with a 48-0 win over the overmatched Spartans, who fall to 0-7.
“I thought our defense played well,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “Anytime you play a Wing T team and you have all the pulling and misdirection and stuff like that it’s a challenge so I was happy with the way our defense played. We had a good week of practice and our guys defended it well in practice and had a good feel for what they were going to get and it was nice to see them go out and execute it.”
Mount Carmel recorded seven sacks and was in the backfield all night, as it tackled the Spartans for a loss on 19 plays, meaning nearly half of Hughesville’s 39 total plays went for negative yardage. Hughesville had -29 yards on the ground and just 34 through the air.
“Mount Carmel is bigger, faster and stronger and well-coached,” said Hughesville coach Adam Gehr. “We prepped but we can’t simulate their speed at practice and bigger, faster and stronger usually wins in a football game. Penetration will mess up an offense and they were getting penetration all night.”
Meanwhile, while the Red Tornadoes defense spent most of the night in the Hughesville backfield, the Mount Carmel offense was efficient and balanced. The Red Tornadoes scored touchdowns on four of their first nine offensive plays of the game to take a 28-0 lead by early in the second quarter, and finished with 444 yards for the game. All seven of their touchdowns were scored by seven different players.
Two of Mount Carmel’s first five offensive plays were receptions for big gains by tight end Jack Chapman. He caught a 45-yard pass from Tom Reisinger on the Red Tornadoes first offensive play of the game after Hughesville had gone three-and-out on their first possession, which was followed by a four-yard touchdown run by Shane Weidner. Chapman then capped Mount Carmel’s second drive with a 25-yard touchdown reception. On the evening, Chapman caught four passes for 106 yards, while Reisinger threw for 120 yards on 5-of-6 passes.
“We’re trying to do some different things to get the ball in his (Chapman’s) hands and let Tom throw a little bit more and also get Avery (Demko) move involved so it’s still a work in progress but we’re getting better at it every week,” said Darrah.
John Ayres found a gaping hole for a 71-yard touchdown run on the second play of Mount Carmel’s next drive, and Mount Carmel made it 28-0 on the second play of its next drive as Tanner Karycki found the end zone from 15 yards out. Another touchdown with just :15 left in the first half, this one a two-yard plunge by Damon Dowkus on a direct snap, capped a seven-play drive for the Red Tornadoes and ensured a running clock throughout the second half.
Hughesville managed just two first downs in the first half, one of which came by a penalty, and had just five for the game, with the other three coming on the Spartans final possession of the game, which was the only time in the game that Hughesville crossed midfield. The Spartans got to the Mount Carmel 17-yard line with under a minute to go but the shutout was preserved by back-to-back sacks that ended the game.
“It may not have looked like it tonight but the kids played their butts off and I was proud of them. We’ve got three games left and we’ll keep fighting and hopefully get a win here in one of our last three,” said Gehr.
The Red Tornadoes scored twice in the second half, on a 35-yard run by Noah Berkoski early in the third quarter, and on a 13-yard run by Dylan Pupo late in the fourth quarter that capped over an eight-minute, 15-play drive with the running clock.
Mount Carmel 48, Hughesville 0
Hughesville (0-7) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Mount Carmel (5-2) 21 14 7 6 – 48
First quarter
9:42 – (MC) Shane Weidner 4-yard run (Julien Stellar kick), 2-49, :29
5:10 – (MC) Jack Chapman 25-yard pass from Tom Reisinger (Stellar kick), 3-43, 1:00
:35 – (MC) John Ayres 71-yard run (Stellar kick), 2-71, :43
Second quarter
10:29 – (MC) Tanner Karycki 15-yard run (Stellar kick), 2-55, :41
:15 – (MC) Damon Dowkus 2-yard run (Stellar kick), 7-64, 2:39
Third quarter
9:04 – (MC) Noah Berkoski 35-yard run (Stellar kick), 5-58, 2:56
Fourth quarter
5:34 – (MC) Dylan Pupo 13-yard run (kick failed), 15-64, 8:18
Statistics
H MC
First downs 5 19
Rushes-net yards 32-(-29) 39-297
Passing yardage 34 147
Passing 3-7-0-1 8-10-1-0
Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 5-42 8-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Hughesville: Jase Wright (12-7), Colton Yocum (9-19), Ethan Snyder (6-(-38)), Carter Marquardt (5-(-17)) ; Mount Carmel: Shane Weidner (7-71-1), John Anyres (6-92-1), Tyler Owens (6-26), Dylan Pupo (5-30-1), Tanner Karycki (4-16-1), Julien Stellar (4-0), Noah Berkoski (2-58-1), Damon Dowkus (2-2-1), Michael Reed (1-8), Nick Troutman (1-2), Tom Reisinger (1-(-8))
PASSING: Hughesville: Ethan Snyder (2-4-28-0-1), Jase Wright (1-3-6-0-0); Mount Carmel: Tom Reisinger (5-6-120-1-0), Julien Stellar (3-4-27-0-0)
RECEIVING: Hughesville: Jonah Durham (1-16), Ryan Swink (1-12), Hunter Laird (1-6); Mount Carmel: Jack Chapman (4-106-1), Thomas Davitt (2-18), Avery Demko (1-14), Dylan Pupo (1-9)
