Justin Beiter

MOUNT CARMEL-Even after the lights on the visiting side of the field and scoreboard were hastily turned off at what was a packed Silver Bowl, there was still plenty of celebrating going on. Fans, students, players, and coaches from Shamokin remained on the field for a long time after the game to relish in the moment. In a scene that was 29 years in the making, Shamokin finally broke the streak. For the first time since 1995, the Coal Bucket will be adorned in purple, as a dominant defensive performance propelled Shamokin to a 21-0 victory over archrival Mount Carmel.

“I think our defense played great,” Shamokin quarterback Logan Steele said. “We have Zakem (Clinton) coming off the edge, we have great inside linebackers. Our front line is the biggest around, and then in our backfield we have Ryan Bickert at corner, he’s just locking everyone down. Chase (Pensyl) and myself coming down at safety, and I think our defense is going to be really hard to play against for the rest of the teams we have on our schedule.”

Shamokin (10-0) completed its first perfect regular season since 1991, and perfect would appropriately describe how things started for the Indians. On the third play of the game, Steele found Pensyl down the middle on a 52-yard completion that was definitely a tone-setter for the historic night. Five plays later, Clinton powered his way across the goal line from a yard out to complete an outstanding opening drive for Shamokin.

“I think it really set the tone,” Steele said of the long pass to Pensyl. “Like, Mount Carmel had to keep eyes on him, and we’re going to go deep and we’re going to impose our will on them.”

Mount Carmel (7-3) struggled to generate any kind of consistent offense throughout the night. The Red Tornadoes were held to only 54 total yards in the opening half. Pass protection was an issue, as the Indians’ defense consistently pressured Gavin Marshalek, while tallying three sacks in the second half when the Red Tornadoes were in catch-up mode. Shamokin only allowed Mount Carmel to cross midfield twice, and the Red Tornadoes never came close to reaching the red zone.

“It just wasn’t our night,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “All around, everyone, players, it just wasn’t our night. I told our guys, we’re strong enough to handle this. We’re a very resilient team. They’ve been battling all year, and we’ll weather the storm. We’re looking forward now to the playoffs.”

Late in the second quarter, Shamokin took a 14-0 lead when Clinton broke free on a 28-yard touchdown run. The sprint to paydirt capped off an 11-play, 82-yard drive with 35 seconds left before halftime. After holding Mount Carmel to a three-and-out to begin the third quarter, Steele delivered the knockout punch. The sophomore quarterback delivered a strike to Rylan Price down the left sideline that went for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Given the way Shamokin’s defense was playing, the three-score lead was more than enough cushion.

“Rylan did great on that play,” Steele said. “I saw the safety cheating over, so I knew Rylan was going to be one-on-one with the corner, and he can win that one-on-one battle every day.”

It looked like Mount Carmel finally hit the scoreboard shortly after Price’s touchdown catch, as Jaylen Delaney hauled in a 64-yard reception from Marshalek, but the play was negated due to offensive pass interference. The drive ultimately stalled when a 4th and 2 pass fell incomplete. Shamokin used its balanced running attack to successfully run clock and win the field-position battle. Jayce Ginck led all rushers with 90 yards on 19 carries, and Clinton finished with 74 yards to go with a pair of touchdowns.

“They’re big, and they have a lot of size,” Darrah said. “I thought in the first half, we had a couple opportunities to get off the field on third down, and we just couldn’t do it, so hats off to them. They’re a very good team, and like I said, our guys are strong enough. We’re resilient enough, and we’re looking forward to the district playoffs.”

The District 4 playoffs start next week, and Shamokin will be the top seed in the Class 4A field. The Indians will host Athens in one semifinal, then look forward to a potential rematch with Jersey Shore in Week 12. Mount Carmel will face Milton in a Class 3A quarterfinal that is a rematch from last Friday night. The Red Tornadoes won that game 48-28, and could have trip to Lewisburg on the horizon the following week if things go well.

“We were really confident coming into this,” Steele said. “We always knew there was a chance something bad could happen, but we gotta fight through the storms, and when something bad does happen, we’ve just got to fight through it, and that’s what we did.”

Shamokin 7 7 7 0-21
Mount Carmel 0 0 0 0-0

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
S-Zakem Clinton 1 run (Chase Pensyl kick) 7:58

Second Quarter
S-Clinton 28 run (Pensyl kick) :35

Third Quarter
S-Rylan Price 40 pass from Logan Steele (Pensyl kick) 7:21

Team Statistics
………………………….S………………..MC
1st downs…………16…………………8
rush-yds…………43-215………….25-60
comp-att-int….5-11-2…………….8-24-0
pass yds………..145…………………84
total yds…………360………………144
fumb-lost……….1-0……………….0-0
pen-yds…………..9-80…………….6-53

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Shamokin: Jayce Ginck 19-90; Zakem Clinton 11-74, 2 TDs; Logan Steele 11-51; Chase Pensyl 1-1; Team 1-(-1). Mount Carmel: Luke Blessing 15-65; Al Bailey 3-12; Cooper Karycki 2-0; Jaylen Delaney 1-0; Team 1-(-1); Gavin Marshalek 3-(-16).

Passing-Shamokin: Steele 5-11-2, 145 yds., TD. Mount Carmel: Marshalek 8-24-0, 84 yds.

Receiving-Shamokin: Pensyl 3-88; Rylan Price 1-40, TD; Ben Delbaugh 1-17. Mount Carmel: Tait Adams 1-42; Delaney 4-22; Chase Balichik 2-16; Blessing 1-4.

MILTON-Mount Carmel had a bit of an uneven performance in a 48-28 win over Milton on Friday. There was plenty of good that featured big production by Cooper Karycki and Chase Balichik. However, silly penalties, breakdowns on kickoff coverage and communication issues were mixed in, which took a little bit away from a victory that wasn’t quite as easy as the Red Tornadoes had hoped for.

“Well, kind of just like what I told them (in the postgame meeting), between the lines I thought we did well,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “I thought we ran the ball well, we tackled well, we did some good things, but the sloppiness – we’ve got to fix it. We’re a senior team that has to learn from our mistakes, and we can’t play sloppy football like that.”

Things started out well enough for Mount Carmel. The Red Tornadoes reached the end zone on their first two drives. Karycki scored the first of his three touchdowns, and Chase Balichik won a one-on-one battle in the end zone on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Marshalek to give Mount Carmel a quick 14-0 lead. That’s when things started to get a little dicey.

Milton (3-6) got some life when Monte Fisher broke the second of his two long kickoff returns. The first one resulted in a blocked field goal after a drive stalled, but the next one gave the Black Panthers another short field, and fittingly, Fisher caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Izayah Minium to cut the lead in the half. The Black Panthers would tie the game following a 3-yard quarterback sneak by Minium. On the ensuing kickoff, a brief scuffle broke out, and Mount Carmel was whistled for two personal fouls, while luckily avoiding any ejections.

“We’ve just got to execute,” Darrah said of the kickoff coverage. “I mean, it’s something we go over all the time. We’re not executing what we’re supposed to, so we just have to execute better on that. It’s definitely a priority.”

Mount Carmel (7-2) quickly righted the ship with a couple of scores before halftime to once again seize control. Karycki hit pay dirt on a short touchdown run, and Jon Morgante provided the Red Tornadoes with a big special tams play of their own when he returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown with 1:29 left in the first half. It was the third punt taken to the house in the last two weeks, and the second by Morgante.

“I felt like besides those kick returns, the defense was playing pretty good,” Darrah said. “We gave up two big plays, kind of jump ball things. Otherwise, we weren’t giving up too much. I was confident we were going to get it rolling, but again, we’ve got to clean stuff up.”

In the third quarter, Mount Carmel put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was helped by an offsides penalty on fourth down. Marshalek threw a perfect pass to Balichik in the front-right corner of the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown pass which extended the lead to 34-14. Balichik finished with five catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two interceptions on defense and a potential pick-six that was nullified by a roughing the passer penalty.

“I thought Chase probably had the game of his life up to that point,” Darrah said. “He had the one interception that unfortunately got called back too, but he just made tons of plays all night.”

In the fourth quarter, Fisher caught his second touchdown pass of the night from 14 yards out that temporarily made things interesting. Fisher had a game-high 143 yards receiving on eight catches. On the next two Mount Carmel series, Michael Kimsal scored on a 2-yard run, and Karycki capped off his 115-yard night by crossing the goal line with a 2-yard run of his own after he scampered 41 yards on the previous play to put things out of reach.

“Cooper did a really nice job running the ball,” Darrah said. “I thought he made a couple of really nice bounces where he got to the second level and was able to kind of get around the edge and get around everybody. I thought he had a really good game.

The win sets up one of the most-anticipated Coal Bucket games in decades for Week 10. Shamokin enters the game seeking its first victory over Mount Carmel since 1995, and its first undefeated regular season since 1991. Needless to say, it will be quite the atmosphere at The Silver Bowl for an intense rivalry game.

“Shamokin week starts now,” Darrah said. “Definitely something we’ve been looking forward to, and we’ll be ready to roll next Friday.”

Mount Carmel 14 14 6 14-48
Milton 7 7 0 14-28

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Cooper Karycki 8 run (Robert Schoppy kick) 8:55
MC-Chase Balichik 28 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 3:31
M-Monte Fisher 38 pass from Izayah Minium (Luke Osman kick)

Second Quarter
M-Minium 3 run (Osman kick) 6:45
MC-Karycki 37 run (Schoppy kick) 2:44
MC-Jon Morgante 68 punt return (Schoppy kick) 1:29

Third Quarter
MC-Balichik 33 pass from Marshalek (kick failed) 1:31

Fourth Quarter
M-Fisher 14 pass from Minium (Osman kick) 11:01
MC-Michael Kimsal 2 run (Schoppy kick) 8:10
MC-Karycki 2 run (Schoppy kick) 5:53
M-Jaeden Canelo 63 run (Osman kick) 1:06

Team Statistics
………………………MC…………………….M
1st downs………….20…………………..10
rush-yds…………38-183…………….27-120
comp-att-int….16-26-2…………..12-27-2
pass yds………….159…………….166
fumb-lost………1-0……………………1-0
pen-yds………….10-93……………….6-30

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 15-116, 3 TDs; Luke Blessing 6-29; Michael Kimsal 6-24, TD; Aiden Deitz 7-15; Jaylen Delaney 2-12; Al Bailey 1-8; Team 1-(-21). Milton: Jaeden Canelo 16-94, TD; Izayah Minium 8-19, TD; Monte Fisher 3-7.

Passing-Mount Carmel: Marshalek 16-26-2, 159 yds., 2 TDs. Milton: Minium 12-27-2, 166 yds., 2 TDs.

Receiving-Mount Carmel: Delaney 7-52; Chase Balichik 5-89, 2 TDs; Jon Morgante 3-15; Bailey 1-3. Milton: Fisher 8-143, 2 TDs; Chase Lytle 2-9; Brady Wolfe 1-11; Lucas Ditty 1-3.

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.

MOUNT CARMEL-Coming off two good wins and facing a huge game against Danville next week, it would have been easy for Mount Carmel to look past Hughesville in what was a classic trap game. The Red Tornadoes didn’t take the cheese, and were rewarded with an easy victory for their efforts. In the first half, Mount Carmel was flawless offensively. Using a balanced attack, the Red Tornadoes scored on all six of their possessions and racked up 345 yards. Five different players found the end zone, as Mount Carmel cruised to a 42-21 win.

“I think we’ve got a very resilient team,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “A couple of games in the beginning of the year – our guys know, they’re mature. They know we started slow, so we’re really, really just getting after it to get better, taking every opportunity. I was happy with the way we came out, and took another opportunity to get better tonight.”

Mount Carmel (5-1) celebrated homecoming by winning for the fifth consecutive week. The Red Tornadoes got things started with a 15-play, 93-drive that looked easy. Cooper Karycki got his big night underway by carrying the ball nine times on the opening possession for 50 yards. Karycki capped off the long march with a 2-yard run with 4:01 left in the first quarter, and continues to fill in nicely for the injured Luke Blessing. For the game, Karycki finished with 139 yards on 15 carries that included an 83-yard touchdown run on his team’s third series.

“It was good,” Darrah said. “We got a couple different guys involved in the some things. I thought we ran the ball well. This is one of the better games we ran the ball, so definitely a step in the right direction.”

A recurring theme in the game was the ability of Mount Carmel to overcome some penalties and long down-and-distance situations. On Mount Carmel’s second drive, the Red Tornadoes conquered a 3rd-and-19 when Michael Kimsal made a couple of defenders miss on a screen pass which went for a 50-yard gain. Kimsal would score two plays later on a 1-yard run. Leading 21-0 early in the second quarter, Mount Carmel got some help from Hughesville to get past a 3rd-and-27. Tait Adams caught a 24-yard pass, and then the Spartans jumped offsides on 4th down to extend a drive that was completed when Jaylen Delaney scored on a 13-yard run.

“Usually our defense does a good job, and stops teams like that,” Hughesville coach Howard Rainey said. “Whenever they throw the ball, we’re usually there. They put a couple of formations in that we thought were going to be runs, then they snuck a guy out there and got it done. They’re a good team, they’ve been doing it for years.”

Hughesville (3-3) did hold Delaney without a catch after his huge game at Montoursville last week, but plenty of other Red Tornadoes picked up the offensive slack. Chase Balichik hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Marshalek, and finished with 60 yards receiving on four catches. Andrew Lukoskie got some touches, and scored on a 5-yard run in the waning seconds of the first half. Marshalek continued to put up good numbers and not turn the ball over. The junior quarterback completed 9-of-13 passes for 156 yards in just two quarters of work.

“We know those guys have a lot of ability,” Darrah said. “A lot of times, the ball’s going to go based on what the defense gives us. Tonight, those guys had some good opportunities, and they’ll make the most of them when they get that opportunity.”

In the fourth quarter, Hughesville had its starters in, and got a couple of Blake Davis touchdown passes against Mount Carmel’s reserves. The Red Tornadoes used four different quarterbacks for the second straight week, and had ten different ball carriers. Heading into a matchup with Danville that will have both PHAC and District 4 playoff implications, it appears as if Mount Carmel accomplished what it wanted to on Friday night, and more importantly, came away healthy.

“Every game on our schedule is a big game,” Darrah said. “Danville is a team we haven’t seen in a couple years, but we’re going to prepare just like any other game. This year is obviously different with the new playoff field, being in Triple-A and things like that. But again, we just take one game at a time, and we want to treat everyone the same.”

Hughesville 0 7 0 14-21
Mount Carmel 21 21 0 0-42

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Cooper Karycki 2 run (Robert Schoppy kick) 4:01
MC-Michael Kimsal 1 run (Schoppy kick) 1:28
MC-Karycki 83 run (Schoppy kick) :10

Second Quarter
MC-Jaylen Delaney 13 run (Schoppy kick) 7:48
H-Conor Knight 24 pass from Blake Davis (Keegan Smith kick) 6:11
MC-Chase Balichik 10 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 3:23
MC-Andrew Lukoskie 5 run (Schoppy kick) :28

Fourth Quarter
H-Luke Stutzman 5 pass from Davis (Smith kick) 9:54
H-Carson Stackhouse 20 pass from Davis (Smith kick) 1:58

Team Statistics
………………………..H………………….MC
1st downs…………14…………………21
rush-yds………..14-55………………49-186
comp-att-int…11-19-0……………..16-30-1
pass yds………….229………………….195
total yds………….284………………381
fumb-lost………2-0………………….4-0
pen-yds………..5-35…………………10-82

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Hughesville: Luke Stutzman 7-34; Jed Abernatha 4-19; Blake Davis 2-3; Connor Anstadt 1-(-1). Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 15-139, 2 TDs; Michael Kimsal 5-20, TD; Al Bailey 3-20; Andrew Lukoskie 5-17, TD Jaylen Delaney 2-17, TD; Matthew Balichik 3-7; Aiden Dietz 7-3; Gavin Marshalek 2-(-10); Logan Shuder 5-(-10); Aidan Brokenshire 2-(-17).

Passing-Hughesville: Davis 10-18-1, 214 yds., 3 TDs; Anstadt 1-1-0, 15 yds. Mount Carmel: Marshalek 9-13-0, 156 yds., TD; Brokenshire 1-3-0, 28 yds.; M. Balichik 1-3-0, 11 yds

Receiving-Hughesville: Conor Knight 10-157, TD; Carson Stackhouse 3-35, TD; Brenden Fisher 1-15; Stutzman 1-14, TD; Anstadt 1-8. Mount Carmel: Chase Balichik 4-60, TD; Tait Adams 2-32; Kimsal 1-50; Ezikiel Noel 1-28; Jon Morgante 1-11; Bailey 1-9; Lukoskie 1-5.

MONTOURSVILLE- Coming off back-to-back one-point victories, it was logical to wonder how Mount Carmel would respond against a dangerous Montoursville team. As it turned out, the Red Tornadoes had plenty left in the tank from both a physical and emotional standpoint. The big-play combination of Gavin Marshalek and Jaylen Delaney struck numerous times, which was complemented by Mount Carmel playing shutdown defense in the second half. In the end, Mount Carmel was able to pull away, and walk out of Memorial Stadium with a satisfying 41-17 win.

“I thought we played well,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “I really think the difference in tonight’s game – it felt a little bit closer than the score was, but we created a lot of turnovers. That’s something we kind of been lacking. We’re usually pretty good with that. We’ve been lacking a little bit this year, so it was great to see. Hopefully that becomes contagious, but I think that was the difference in the game.”

Indeed, the Red Tornadoes created four turnovers which led to 10 points, but Delaney had a fantastic night. The sophomore receiver continues to impress, as he keeps gaining chemistry with Marshalek. Delaney caught eight passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He also chipped in with two carries, one of which went for an 11-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to give Mount Carmel a 7-3 lead.

“I mean, he’s a great player,” Darrah said of Delaney. “If we give Gavin time, Gavin can deliver the ball on those strikes, so hats off to them. I think we did a nice job, and I still think we can get better.”

Mount Carmel (4-1) hit the daily double on the last possession of the first half and the opening possession of the second half. A perfectly-executed tunnel screen to Delaney on 4th-and-4 went for a 23-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left before halftime. On the first play of the third quarter, Delaney took a quick hitch from Marshalek, gained a head of steam, and outran the defense down the right sideline for an 81-yard touchdown that temporarily gave Mount Carmel a two-touchdown lead. Marshalek completed 13-of-18 passes for 216 yards and three scores, with all of them going to Delaney.

“It’s just carrying out assignments, doing little things, and I told the team that’s where little things catch up to you against a good team,” Montoursville coach Joe Hanna said. “They make you pay when you’re not aligned right or doing things the right way.”

Montoursville (3-2) used a big play on special teams to immediately slice the lead in half. Michael Reeder returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to match Delaney’s big play. It was the only hiccup on special teams for Mount Carmel on an otherwise excellent night. The kick coverage units were solid, and Jon Morgante recovered a fumbled punt which was cashed in after Marshalek delivered an absolute perfect throw to Delaney for a 49-yard touchdown pass. Robert Schoppy continued to be an important weapon in the the kicking game, as he connected on both of his field goal attempts from 20 and 30 yards respectively.

“Bobby did a great job,” Darrah said. “That was a long field (from 30 yards). He made all of his extra points. It was a tight game, I thought he did a great job. We can’t give up that kick return. We gave them some life with that kick return, but we always try to talk about point differential on special teams. We’ve got to win the point differential, and we did that in a couple places.”

The Red Tornadoes did a lot of good things defensively against Southern Columbia last week, and their play on that side of the ball picked up as the game went on. Montoursville was limited to just four first downs and 53 yards after halftime. Morgante and Chase Balichik came away with second-half interceptions, and the Warriors’ run game was held in check.

“We were very concerned about their heavy pro-I sets, and I think we did a really, really good job on them,” Darrah said. “We struggled a little bit in some of their spread sets. So, at halftime we cleaned that stuff up. We were having a little bit of trouble getting to the quarterback on the sprint out, so we did a couple different things. I thought we cleaned that up in the second half, and then created some turnovers.”

Mount Carmel Area 41, Montoursville 17
Mount Carmel 7 10 17 7-41
Montoursville 3 7 7 0-17

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
M-Gavin Hawley 22 field goal 7:28
MC-Jaylen Delaney 12 run (Robert Schoppy kick) 3:19

Second Quarter
MC-Schoppy 20 field goal 11:14
M-Christian Banks 13 run (Hawley kick) 3:09
MC-Delaney 23 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Schoppy kick) :18

Third Quarter
MC-Delaney 81 pass from Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 11:40
M-Michael Reeder 89 kickoff return (Hawley kick) 11:29
MC-Delaney 49 pass from Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 5:48
MC-Schoppy 30 field goal :58

Fourth Quarter
MC-Al Bailey 50 run (Schoppy kick) 8:17

Team Statistics
…………………………….MC………………M
1st downs…………….17…………………..15
rush-yds…………..40-151………………29-140
comp-att-int…….13-18-0…………………7-17-2
pass yds……………..216……………………..65
total yds………………367………………….205
fumb-lost……………1-0…………………….2-2
pen-yds………………3-45……………………..4-20

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 21-59; Al Bailey 1-50, TD; Luke Blessing 2-30; Aiden Deitz 7-23; Jaylen Delaney 2-11, TD; Gavin Marshalek 3-(-3); Logan Shuder 2-(-3); Andrew Lukoskie 1-(-7); Team 1-(-9). Montoursville: Christian Banks 17-77, TD; Hayden Harvey 5-60; Kaden Kleinman 4-13; Alex Felver 1-(-1); Team 1-(-1); Jimmy Mussina 1-(-8).

Passing-Mount Carmel: Marshalek 13-18-0, 216 yds., 3 TDs. Montoursville: Mussina 7-16-1, 65 yds.; Elijah Eck 0-1-1.

Receiving-Mount Carmel: Delaney 8-183, 3 TDs; Tait Adams 2-20; Chase Balichik 2-13; Bailey 1-0. Montoursville: Todd Crawford 2-24; Owen Kleinman 2-14; Michael Reeder 1-15; Banks 1-7; Noah Kemmerer 1-5.

MOUNT CARMEL-Throughout the first three weeks of the season, Mount Carmel had its share of struggles defensively. Subpar performances against North Schuylkill and Mifflinburg had raised some doubts as to whether or not the Red Tornadoes had what it took to slow down a Southern Columbia offense that put up 96 combined points in wins over Loyalsock and Milton. After Friday night’s strong effort, all doubts have been erased.

Mount Carmel (3-1) stopped Southern inside the 10-yard line on three separate occasions in a classic bend-but-don’t-break performance. The Red Tornadoes didn’t a do a lot offensively, but they did enough to win. Jaylen Delaney’s 68-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter proved to be sufficient, and a blocked extra point by Ben Miller was a substantial play on special teams, as Mount Carmel held on for a hard-fought 7-6 victory.

“Yeah, it was just a really gritty win,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “I thought our guys gave great effort. The biggest thing is, I think we were just able to control our emotions. There were a lot of times we were in a bad position, they had the ball down in the red zone, or down near the goal line, and we were able to just get big stop after big stop. I’m really proud of the kids.”

Southern (2-2) looked like it was poised to finally take the lead twice in the second half. Early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers reached the Mount Carmel 7, and sent out Preston Shadle for a 24-yard field goal attempt. The referees waved Shadle off the field for not having his mouthpiece in. After some confusion forced Darrah to call timeout, quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch ended up trying the kick, which sailed low and wide left.

“We’re being creative in ways to hurt ourselves,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “We’re a young team, but just too many mistakes in crucial situations. We obviously became pretty one-dimensional tonight as far as running the ball, working on the right side, and so forth. But the bottom line is, we’ve just got to establish some better balance on offense.”

Penalties hurt Southern on a 17-play drive in the first half that came up empty. Brayden Andrews picked up 22 yards on two consecutive running plays that put the ball on the 2-yard line. However, a false start and holding penalty backed the Tigers up, and three consecutive incomplete passes ended it. Just before halftime, a quarterback sneak was stuffed for no gain on a fourth down play inside the 10.

“The time we got to the 2, the penalties killed us, because we had the five-yarder, which changed the complexion of things, and we had the holding right after it,” Roth said. “We just went backwards by not executing at that point. It was frustrating, and in a game like this, I’m thinking all along that they may be critical points we left on the field if we don’t score in that situation, and that’s kind of the way it played out.”

What little scoring there was started with 9:03 left in the second quarter. Quarterback Gavin Marshalek threw a strike to Delaney, who beat man coverage. Delaney did the rest by sprinting the final 45 yards to pay dirt. It continues to be a breakout season for the sophomore receiver, as Delaney finished with 156 yards on seven catches. Marshalek completed only 8-of-20 passes for 163 yards, but did not turn the ball over.

“It’s just crazy,” Darrah said. “You just never know what’s going to happen. I didn’t think that would be the last touchdown we scored. You wouldn’t think that blocked extra point would play so big, but it just goes to show you football’s a funny game, and any play could be a difference-maker.”

On the first possession of the second half, Joey Williams broke loose on a 67-yard touchdown run, pulling Southern to within a point. Try as they might, the Tigers couldn’t finish off a go-ahead scoring drive. Chase Balichik intercepted a long pass inside the 10, and Max Karycki came through with one last huge defensive play by coming up with a sack on 4th-and-3 at the Mount Carmel 27 with 4:30 left. Mount Carmel churned out four first downs on the final series of the game, led by a 15-yard run from Michael Kimsal, and a couple of completions to Delaney.

“I think we’ve been working hard,” Darrah said. “I think we have a really, really good team, but we just haven’t been able to click, so we’ve been seeing some different stuff, stuff that we haven’t really seen in the past. But they’re a familiar foe, and our kids have been locked in this week. Hopefully, this is a springboard now for the rest of the season.”

Southern Columbia 0 0 6 0-6
Mount Carmel 0 7 0 0-7

Individual Scoring
Second Quarter
MC-Jaylen Delaney 68 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Robert Schoppy kick) 9:03

Third Quarter
SC-Joey Williams 67 run (kick blocked) 9:59

Team Statistics
………………….SC………………MC
1st downs……17……………….12
rush-yds…..48-209…………..28-54
comp-att-int…9-17-1………8-20-0
pass yds……..87………………..163
total yds………296………………217
fumb-lost…..2-0…………………1-0
pen-yds………..6-65……………3-25

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Southern Columbia: Brayden Andrews 23-91; Joey Williams 10-84, TD; Grady Garcia 6-25; Ayden Hockenbroch 6-11; Nate Gallagher 3-(-2). Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 14-53; Michael Kimsal 7-27; Gavin Marshalek 2-(-7); Team 5-(-19).

Passing-Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 9-17-1, 87 yds. Mount Carmel: Marshalek 8-20-0, 163 yds., TD.

Receiving-Southern Columbia: Jace Malakoski 4-39; Blaise Kissinger 3-31; Andrews 1-9; Gallagher 1-8. Mount Carmel: Jaylen Delaney 7-156, TD; Tait Adams 1-7.

“I believe we’re defined by how we handle adversity,” Patrick said. “I mean, we just did that. It didn’t go our way in the first half. We weren’t playing our game, but in the locker room, I just told everybody we’re a team. Everybody has to do a job for us to be good.”

Danville (3-0) struggled in the first half against a pesky Montoursville defense that put pressure on Patrick. An intentional grounding call, followed by an interception, resulted in Patrick being taken out of the game for what appeared to be non-injury reasons. Cole Duffy took over at quarterback for four series, and the Ironmen scored on a Bo Sheptock 13-yard run to take a 9-6 lead, but also gave up a safety after a running play was blown up in the end zone.

On the first possession of the second half, Danville had a drive kept alive on what looked to be a phantom late hit call. On fourth-and-goal, Sheptock crossed the goal line from two yards out to give the Ironmen a 16-8 lead with 9:09 left in the third quarter. Sheptock finished with 165 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. In addition to a 300-yard passer and 100-yard rusher, the Ironmen also had a 200-yard receiver in Duffy who hauled in seven balls from Patrick.

“We’re loaded with playmakers,” Patrick said. “We’re dangerous. We’ve gotta continue to get healthy, dive deep in the film, and just continue to do little things.”

Montoursville (2-1) counterpunched on two different occasions to keep things very interesting through three quarters. Jimmy Mussina threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this one to Owen Kleinman from 17 yards out that closed the gap to 16-14. After Patrick connected with Duffy on the first of his two scores, once again the Warriors answered. Christian Banks hit paydirt with a 28-yard touchdown run that pulled his team to within 23-20 entering the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot to prove this season,” Montoursville coach Joe Hanna said. “We have a lot of kids that are just (first-time) starters or are in a new role, so I’m really happy with the effort. We’ve just got to clean some things up.”

In the fourth quarter, the big plays really started to pile up for Danville. Patrick hit Duffy on a 39-yard pass to put the Ironmen in the red zone, and on a 2nd-and-15 play, he delivered a strike to Landon Kehoe for a 24-yard touchdown. On the last two drives, Duffy finished off his big night in style thanks to a 76-yard touchdown reception to overcome a 3rd-and-15 situation, and Sheptock also went out with a bang by making a house call from 69 yards out to complete the scoring.

“Just playing Ironmen football, and it came down to that,” Patrick said. “I mean, we can run the ball and we can throw that ball around, but I believe the game needs to be won up front, and the linemen did just that. I challenged them at halftime, and they came out, they completed it, and handled that challenge very well.”

The score was not necessarily indicative of how competitively the game was played. Trailing 30-20, Montoursville had a 50-yard touchdown pass called back by a holding penalty. Despite having Danville backed up several times in the second half, the Warriors were unable to get a stop when they needed it. Four of the five scoring drives were 69 yards or longer.

“They have some athletes that are going to make some plays,” Hanna said. “I just told them, I’m disappointed, because I think we left some plays on the field, some things we need to clean up, but I can’t fault the effort. It’s just Week 3, we’re getting there.”

Montoursville 6 2 12 0-20
Danville 3 6 14 21-44

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
D-Garrett Hoffman 27 field goal 9:03
M-Todd Crawford 21 pass from Jimmy Mussina (kick failed) 2:41

Second Quarter
D-Bo Sheptock 13 run (kick blocked) 6:47
M-Team Safety 2:26

Third Quarter
D-Sheptock 2 run (Hoffman kick) 9:09
M-Owen Kleinman 17 pass from Mussina (run failed) 6:27
D-Cole Duffy 27 pass from Madden Patrick (Hoffman kick) 2:51
M-Christian Banks 28 run (kick blocked) 1:52

Fourth Quarter
D-Landon Kehoe 24 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick) 11:13
D-Duffy 76 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick) 6:37
D-Sheptock 69 run (Hoffman kick) 2:26

Team Statistics
…………………………..M……………..D
1st downs…………….19……………20
rush-yds…………35-153………..32-137
comp-att-int……9-23-0………14-25-1
pass yds…………….100………….311
total yds……………253…………..448
fumb-lost………….2-1………………3-0
pen-yds…………..6-79…………….10-92

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Montoursville: Hayden Harvey 14-84; Christian Banks 8-54, TD; Alex Felver 8-30; Noah Kemmerer 1-4; Chase Jones 1-(-1); Jimmy Mussina 3-(-18). Danville: Bo Sheptock 23-165, 3 TDs; Cole Duffy 4-8; Madden Patrick 2-(-7); Cameron Kiersch 1-(-8); Team 2-(-21).

Passing-Montoursville: Mussina 9-23-0, 100 yds., 2 TDs. Danville: Patrick 14-25-1, 311 yds., 3 TDs.

Receiving-Montoursville: Todd Crawford 2-30, TD; Owen Kleinman 2-27, TD; James Williams 1-27; Kane Moore 1-5; Michael Reeder 1-5; Brayden Burkett 1-3; Jacob Schon 1-3. Danville: Duffy 7-228, 2 TDs; Kiersch 5-62; Kehoe 2-21, TD.

Photo by Mount Carmel Area School District

MOUNT CARMEL-It was a history-making night at the Silver Bowl. With a 43-16 victory over Central Columbia, Mount Carmel became the first school in Pennsylvania to win its 900th game. Before the game, the Red Tornadoes unveiled their brand new video board, which included a fabulous pregame montage that relived some of the greatest moments the program has experienced. The third time proved to be the charm, as Mount Carmel finally captured its landmark achievement after a couple of losses to Southern Columbia and North Schuylkill delayed the inevitable.

“We were running the clock out there at the end, and I forgot about it,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “It means a lot. I grew up here, I’ve been following Mount Carmel football my whole life. I was on the team for 700, I was in the stands for 600. We have such a great tradition here. It’s nice to be a part of it, and to keep the program moving forward.”

Despite the win, it was a bit of an uneven performance for the Red Tornadoes. Mount Carmel (1-1) committed 13 penalties and had three turnovers. Yet, despite those slip-ups, the offense did pile up yards in bunches. Cooper Karycki rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Jaylen Delaney had 14 receptions for 133 yards, and Michael Kimsal chipped in on special teams with an 87-yard punt return that went for a touchdown.

“I think right now, we’re our own worst enemy,” Darrah said. “I think we played really well offensively. I felt like we were in a rhythm the whole night. We were moving the ball very well, and I think the only thing that was stopping us was ourselves. Whether it would be penalties, turnovers, or miscues, we’ve just gotta eliminate that. We’re a veteran team, we can do that. It’s just a matter of gelling and kind of using our heads a little bit.”

Al Bailey crossed the goal line from 2 yards out to give Mount Carmel a 22-7 lead with 5:36 left before halftime. Central (1-1) had a chance to pull to within one score early in the second half. Dylan Shultz intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards to set up the Blue Jays at the Mount Carmel 6. However, the Red Tornadoes’ defense would tighten up, and Central had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Maguire Blake.

“That was a great stand,” Darrah said. “I think at times our defense did good. We kind of had a couple of miscues, a couple of missed tackles, and stuff we’ve got to clean up. I think we showed flashes, and some great potential, but I think our guys understand we’ve got to keep getting better.”

Things really weren’t wrapped up until early in the fourth quarter when Karycki scored his second touchdown of the night from 38 yards out with 11:31 left. Going exclusively to the ground game, Karycki was responsible for all six carries on the drive that totaled 79 yards. Mount Carmel rushed for 241 yards on 37 carries, and without the services of Luke Blessing, it appears as if the Red Tornadoes have some capable replacements in the backfield.

“I was happy at the end of the game with how we ran the ball,” Darrah said. “I think that one possession after halftime, we got a little cute. We were throwing the ball well, don’t get me wrong, but I think we were getting a little cute, and we needed a touchdown to kind of pull away, and we just decided, we’re running the ball right down the field. I was happy to see our line move, and Cooper ran well. It was very good to do that.”

Despite committing 16 penalties themselves, Central was able to hang around through three quarters. Shultz briefly tied the game in the first quarter after he caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Parker Day. Ty Regan, who ran hard all night, matched Karycki with an 182-yard performance of his own. He broke loose on a 62-yard scoring run with just over five minutes left in the game, which was a just reward for his efforts.

“Ty, he’s a captain, a four-year starter,” Central coach E.J. Smith said. “He was banged up a lot last year, banged up the year before. He’s staying healthy right now, and he’s just a great kid. I’m so happy for him, and I’m happy for our offensive line. I mean, he doesn’t get those yards without them blocking. Great effort, we’ve just got to fix some of the little things that are kind of biting us. I think it’s promising moving forward.”

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS-The hill was too steep to climb for Mount Carmel against a quality opponent. A forgettable first half that was filled with mistakes proved to be the Red Tornadoes undoing. North Schuylkill capitalized on its opportunities, jumped out to a big lead, and withstood a second-half comeback attempt, as the Spartans were able to hang on for a 37-30 victory.

“I’ve never really been in a game like that where we’ve come out that poorly,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “In a big game, it’s my fault. I take the blame for it. We’ve got to be ready to play. I don’t really know why we played so poorly, especially in the first quarter and the start of the second quarter. Obviously, I’m the head coach, so that’s on me.”

North Schuylkill (1-0) marched right down the field on its opening possession. Luke Miller, who had a a huge night, got things started with a 29-yard touchdown run off the left side. Mount Carmel (0-1) got a brief jolt of momentum when Jaylen Delaney intercepted a pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. However, things would go south in a hurry. Errant shotgun snaps were a problem throughout the game, and the first of several that got away was recovered by Chase Slotcavage. That miscue led to a 49-yard field by Gavin Mentzer, with room to spare. Another fumbled snap, this one from under center, was quickly cashed in with Miller crossing the goal line from 21 yards out. The Red Tornadoes had three snaps go haywire, resulting in a loss of 40 yards. Ironically, shotgun snaps were not a major problem during preseason practices.

“Not that to that extent,” Darrah said. “We had one here or there, but that was just something that had an effect on us there in the first half, especially.”

Thanks to the lost yardage and good defense, North Schuylkill had plenty of short fields to navigate in the early part of the game. Miller completed the first-half hat trick with a 1-yard touchdown run, and added one more for good measure when he scored on a 5-yard scamper with 2:51 left before halftime, giving the Spartans a 30-7 lead. The junior finished with 29 carries for 193 yards and four touchdowns.

“Luke’s an athlete,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said. “He’s definitely one of the guys that we’re going to get the football to. He was prepared for that. There’s definitely other guys that are capable. Going from the scrimmage (against Danville) to only running the ball twice, and passing the ball very effectively, a lot of people see that on film. The past couple years, we’ve been spreading the ball all over the football field. We can line up and run, and we’re going to obviously do that with our offensive line.”

Delaney finally brought some life to the Mount Carmel sideline after he hauled in a 66-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Marshalek with just over a minute left in the first half. The Red Tornadoes, who lost running back Luke Blessing to an injury, closed the gap to 30-22, thanks to a Michael Kimsal 4-yard run midway through the quarter. The big deficit made Mount Carmel throw the ball almost exclusively in the second half. Marshalek completed 19-of-32 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

“I thought he had an alright game,” Darrah said of Marshalek. “He threw some good balls. Like I said, it’s not where we want to be right now. Got to get back to the drawing board, all our goals are still ahead of us. We’ve got to have a great week of practice, and get better.”

Leaning heavily on its offensive line, the Spartans put together an impressive 15-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off with a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Caden Mengel. Mount Carmel answered with a Tait Adams touchdown catch on a fade pattern with just under eight minutes left to play. The Red Tornadoes actually got a fourth down stop, and had a chance to provide some late-game dramatics. However, North Schuylkill came up with a prompt fourth down stop of its own, and picked up two first downs to deny Mount Carmel win No. 900, while giving Hall win No. 100 in his career.

“That’s the most important part, the first four minutes of the game and the last four minutes of the game are crucial,” Hall said. “A lot of games are won at that time. We’re definitely going to lean on our offensive line and our defensive line. Our defensive line has played great as well. Things are starting to fall together. We had some good months of preparation leading up to this. We lost a lot of skill guys from a year ago, but we certainly replaced them, and some of the things that we’re doing, we’ll just keep building from that.”

Mount Carmel 7 7 8 8-30
North Schuylkill 10 20 0 7-37

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
NS-Luke Miller 23 run (Gavin Mentzer kick) 7:59
MC-Jaylen Delaney 49 interception return (Bobby Schoppy kick) 6:18
NS- Mentzer 49 field goal

Second Quarter
NS-Miller 21 run (Mentzer kick) 11:52
NS-Miller 1 run (Mentzer kick) 7:08
NS-Miller 4 run (run failed) 2:51
MC-Delaney 66 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 1:34

Third Quarter
MC-Michael Kimsal 4 run (Kimsal pass from Marshalek) 6:33

Fourth Quarter
NS-Caden Mengel 1 run (Mentzer kick) 10:26
MC-Tait Adams 8 pass from Marshalek (Delaney pass from Marshalek) 7:59

Team Statistics
…………………………….MC………………NS
1st downs……………10……………………20
rush-yds………..19-(-8)………………..53-295
comp-att-int…..19-33-0…………….7-13-1
pass yds…………..261……………….63
total yds………..253…………………358
fumb-lost………..5-2………………..1-0
pen-yds…………3-20……………………..6-50

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Mount Carmel: Luke Blessing 5-19; Michael Kimsal 5-16, TD; Al Bailey 1-1; Gavin Marshalek 2-(-1); Cooper Karycki 3-(-3); Team 3-(-40). North Schuylkill: Luke Miller 29-193, 4 TDs; Caden Mengel 16-91, TD; Kolten Joyce 6-15; Michael Mogish 1-0; Team 1-(-4).

Passing-Mount Carmel: Marshalek 19-33-0, 261 yds., 2 TDs. North Schuylkill: Mengel 7-13-1, 63 yds.

Receiving-Mount Carmel: Jaylen Delaney 6-85, TD; Tait Adams 5-67, TD; Chase Balichick 4-27; Karycki 1-33; Bailey 1-23; Andrew Lukoskie 1-16; Blessing 1-10. North Schuylkill: Kevin Jones 3-31; Miller 3-26; Mogish 1-6.

PECKVILLE – As players, coaches, and fans look forward to the upcoming 2024 season, there was one last game to be played by graduated seniors who finished their high school careers in 2023.

The 90th annual Scranton Lions Dream Game was played on Thursday night, and there was no shortage of big plays at Valley View’s John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium. In the end, the County team was able to hold on for a 35-28 win over a City team that came close to providing a fantastic finish. Mid Valley’s Jordan Chmielewski intercepted a pass with just over two minutes left in the red zone that enabled the County to preserve the victory. The interception wrapped up a huge night for Chmielweski, who gained a small measure of satisfaction after a broken wrist ended his fall season prematurely.

“In my senior year, I couldn’t finish it,” Chmielewski said. “So I had a lot of faith in myself, and to finish the senior year with one last game, I just had that chip on my shoulder, and continued playing through that.”

It was Chmielewski who got things going for his team offensively. After Lukas Gumble of Lackawanna Trail opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown that capped off a efficient 11-play drive for the City team, Chmielewski provided a swift answer. The speedy quarterback got loose, and took off on a 55-yard run to paydirt, pulling the County team to within 7-6 midway through the opening quarter. Chmielewski led all rushers with 121 yards on just nine carries.

“This was a great experience,” Chmielewski said. “It was a lot of fun meeting all these new guys, and just building memories and relationships with everyone. I’m going to cherish it forever, definitely.”

Western Wayne’s Frankie Layshon made an immediate impact when he took over at quarterback. On the very first pass he threw, Layshon connected with Jayden Ramirez on a 38-yard touchdown pass to give the County team a 14-7 lead. The City would come right back, and even things up thanks to a 6-yard run by Dunmore’s Danny Pigga with 5:03 left before halftime.

The final two minutes of the first half would prove pivotal. Chmielewski scored on a 6-yard run of his own to put the County team up 21-14. Cameron Hedgelon of Honesdale then intercepted his second pass of the night, allowing Ramirez to strike again in dramatic fashion as time expired. A well-executed play saw Chmielewski find Ramirez all alone down the right sideline, and the Delaware Valley graduate did the rest by winning a race to the front-right pylon for a 47-yard touchdown, while opening up some separation on the scoreboard.

“Oh, I trusted my guys,” Chmielewski said. “(Riverside coach Harry) Armstrong drew up a great play. It wasn’t supposed to go to him, but I saw Jayden was wide open. I threw it to him, and I trusted he would make a great play.”

Trailing by two scores, the City team immediately cut the lead in half. Liam Barnett of Scranton Prep made a gorgeous one-handed catch on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Scranton’s Billy Maloney with 7:30 left in the third quarter. Riverside’s Reese Gaughan crossed the goal line from a yard out on the opening play of the fourth quarter, but once again Maloney would make it a one possession game. This time, he would use his legs to score on a 14-yard run to cap off a 76-yard scoring march. Maloney totaled 59 yards on 10 carries, and also hooked up with Scranton teammate Elijah Ortiz one last time on a 50-yard pass play.

“Billy is a superb athlete,” City and Dunmore coach Kevin McHale said. “We had some plays for him as a receiver, and he made a great play down there at the end. He was a little gassed, and we wanted to get him back in, but he was great to coach the last few days.”

The City defense got a stop, getting the ball back for one last chance to tie or win in the waning moments. Eight consecutive running plays, including a nifty 14-yard dash by Maloney, moved the ball to the County 16 yard line. However, a screen pass was sniffed out for a loss of two, and Chmielewski sealed the deal on the very next play by stepping in front of a pass. Four consecutive runs by Gaughan churned out two first downs, and ran out the clock.

“It was a great experience, besides the outcome of tonight’s game,” McHale said. “I really couldn’t have asked for anything else. It was a super bunch of kids. I was fortunate to have a bunch of guys from Dunmore, Lackawanna Trail, North Pocono, Scranton Prep, all great kids. All were coached well by their high school coaches, obviously.”

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
CI-Lukas Gumble 6 run (Brady Mapes kick) 7:15
CO-Jordan Chmielewski 55 run (pass failed) 6:00

Second Quarter
CO-Jayden Ramirez 38 pass from Frankie Leyshon (Resse Gaughan run) 9:07
CI-Danny Pigga 6 run (Mapes kick) 5:03
CO-Chmielewski 6 run (Carter Mistishin kick) 2:18
CO-Ramirez 47 pass from Chmielewski (Mistishin kick) :00

Third Quarter
CI-Liam Barrett 26 pass from Billy Maloney (Mapes kick) 7:30

Fourth Quarter
CO-Gaughan 1 run (Mistishin kick) 11:56
CI-Maloney 14 run (Mapes kick) 9:48

Team Statistics
……………………..CI…………………….CO
1st downs……….21…………………….16
rush-yds………42-260………………28-181
comp-att-int….5-11-2……………….10-20-0
pass yds…………90…………………..178
total yds………350…………………….359
fumb-lost………0-0…………………..1-0
pen-yds…………9-55………………….7-60

Individual Statistics
Rushing-City: Lukas Gumble 15-109, TD; Billy Maloney, 10-59, TD; Danny Pigga 8-59, TD; Hunter Patterson 3-24; Stephen Jervis 4-7; Liam Barrett 1-6; Thomas Bowen 1-(-4). County: Jordan Chmielewski 9-121, 2 TDs; Reese Gaughan 7-35, TD; Joe Granko 5-16; Robby Garvey 1-4; Anthony Curra 1-3; Victor Holt 1-3; Dominic Memo 1-2; Frankie Leyshon 2-(-1); Jacob Cottle 1-(-2).

Passing-City: Maloney 3-5-0, 85 yds., TD; Bowen 2-5-2, 5 yds.; Gumble 0-1-0. County: Chmielewski 4-11-0, 78 yds., TD; Leyshon 5-6-0, 74 yds., TD; Kyle Rupp 1-1-0, 26 yds.; Memo 0-2-0.

Receiving-City: Elijah Ortiz 1-50; Barrett 2-33, TD; Pigga 1-9; Gumble 1-(-2). County: Jayden Ramirez 3-101, 2 TDs; Rupp 3-31; Holt 2-30; Gaughan 1-10; Christopher Savkov 1-6.

“Again, the line did a nice job against a big, physical front, and the backs just really running hard and turning what could be an average gain into big runs,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “They really made it look easy early on. We were consistently hitting big runs, all three backs, and it was as good as I can recall our offense playing this year, in terms of the running game.”

It certainly did come easy for Southern all throughout a dominant opening half. Short drives set up by good returns on special teams and defensive stops were a recurring theme, as the Tigers piled up 307 yards of total offense by halftime. The running back trio of Garrett Garcia, Louden Murphy, and Carter Madden was responsible for almost all the damage inflicted on an overmatched Dunmore defense. Murphy got things started by capping off an efficient, five-play drive that saw him cross the goal line from six yards out just over two minutes into play. Murphy finished with 81 yards on 10 carries behind a stellar offensive line, and he scored again on a 13-yard run early in the second quarter that made the score 32-0.

“They stepped up against a very, very good defensive line,” Murphy said. “We’re outsized almost every game I feel like, but our guys have the aggressiveness that you can’t teach. That really separates us. You can’t key on anybody. You can lineup in one formation and run seven different plays. It’s a three-headed dragon in the backfield.”

Garcia made his presence felt early as well. Of his 11 carries, seven of them went for 19 yards or longer. On his way to a 188-yard, three-touchdown night, Garcia set the tone by ripping off a 22-yard run the first time he touched the ball. He scored on a 2-yard run to complete another short march, and perhaps his best run came on a 48-yard sprint to pay dirt late in the first quarter, where he shed multiple tackles with ease on his way to the end zone. Madden did his best to make solid contributions as well. He rushed nine times for 79 yards and found his way into the scoring column with a 21-yard dash in the first quarter.

“The line was getting off the ball, and the backs were running extremely hard,” Roth said. “We felt the last couple weeks at times, we weren’t as aggressive running the ball like they were almost a little bit tentative. They certainly weren’t tonight. They just took off with the football, and everything was just kind of a natural feel — get it and go.”

Dunmore (12-3) finished the first half with minus-3 yards of offense on 24 plays. The run-heavy attack was forced out of its comfort zone by a defense that was physical and swarmed to the ball. Even when Domenick DeSando set up the Bucks in the red zone thanks to a long kickoff return, Southern had an answer by forcing a turnover on downs. The defense was responsible for ten rushing plays that went for no gain or negative yardage in the half.

“Can’t say enough about the defense,” Roth said. “We felt coming in that we matched up well, because for a team to line up and run the ball at us and not have much of a passing game, we felt we were really going to match up. When you watched them on film the last couple of weeks, their line was really coming off the ball and their backs were running hard, including the quarterback. But again, our defensive front — they’ve been that way all year, and barring injury, one more time.”

Westinghouse and Southern met last year in the state championship, where the Tigers emerged with a 37-22 victory. Roth will be in search of his 496th career win, and yet again has his team peaking at the right time. Southern has now come up big against four consecutive quality opponents, which appears to be one of the trademarks of this group.

“The way they’ve been able to rise up in some big games, they’re an emotional bunch,” Roth said. “When they decide they want to play, the best example of that is Mount Carmel. I know in the first Mount Carmel game, we didn’t take the field with the proper attitude. In the second game, to go out and reverse the outcome so dramatically like that, it was all attitude. When they get cranked for a game, they’re just so much tougher.”

DANVILLE-It’s no secret Danville has a dangerous passing game led by the arm of Madden Patrick. On Friday night, the Ironmen proved they can also run the ball pretty well. Bo Sheptock rushed for a career-high 316 yards and four touchdowns, as Danville pulled away from Loyalsock in the fourth quarter for a 40-7 win to capture its fourth consecutive District 4 championship. Danville (12-1) will travel to face the survivor of today’s West Perry-Wyomissing game next weekend in the PIAA Class 3A state playoffs.

“I want to first say that I wouldn’t have went anywhere without the O-line, for sure,” Sheptock said. “I feel like in past games when we pass a lot, it really opened it up for me in this game. The O-line — phenomenal game. I was able to run behind them, and read their blocks really well. It was a great game for everybody.”

The running game got going early for Danville. Sheptock broke loose for a 48-yard run on his team’s second offensive play. Two plays later, he would cross the goal for the first time from six yards out. After Loyalsock answered with an 11-play drive of its own that saw Tyler Gee connect with Jaylen Andrews on a 24-yard touchdown pass, Sheptock went right back to work. He carried the ball seven times on Danville’s next possession, and gave the Ironmen a lead they would never relinquish, when he found the end zone on a 5-yard run early in the second quarter.

“Our offense really stepped it up tonight with the the running attack,” Danville coach Carl Majer said. “Bo had over 300 yards rushing, that’s just awesome. One night it might be (Aaron) Johnson, one night it might be (Cameron) Kirsch. Bo excelled tonight. The line blocked very well. Madden made some nice plays, and it was just a great team win to get our fourth straight district title.”

Loyalsock (9-4) did have some chances keep things interesting, and maybe even grab a halftime lead. Late in the first half, Gee extended the ball out inches from the goal line on a quarterback sneak. The ball was knocked out of his hands, and while Gee was over halfway to the sidelines celebrating what he thought was a touchdown, one of his teammates recovered a fumble for a loss of three yards. Two plays later on fourth down, the drive came up empty, as Kiersch intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards.

“They played us great,” Majer said. “Loyalsock, it was a great game for them, even though the score didn’t show that. They’re a tough, well-coached team. Our defense has been really playing hard.”

After halftime, it was time for the Danville defense to really assert itself. The Ironmen held Loyalsock to minus-5 yards on only six plays in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Patrick threw a strike down the middle to Carter Raup for a 26-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 19-7, helping complement a running game that was owning the time of possession battle.

“Our defense has been getting better every week,” Sheptock said. “We’ve been striving to get better every week, day in, day out. We’ve just been playing our game and doing our assignments. It was just a great team win tonight.”

Midway through the fourth quarter is where Danville put the game away. Sheptock hit pay dirt on another 5-yard run to cap off an eight-play, 86-yard drive that was aided by a 37-yard run from Johnson. Less than a minute later, Johnson made a huge play on defense by scoring on a 55-yard interception return. Even with the game well in hand, Sheptock, who also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, continued to get a steady workload. He capped off his huge night by sprinting 47 yards to the house with 1:22 left to play, setting up a road trip to somewhere in District 3 over the holiday weekend.

“You expect four quarters of hard-nosed, smash-mouth football this time of year,” Majer said. “We’ll go down and see them play (today). We’re not too shabby of a football team ourselves. We’ll see who comes out on top, we’ll start getting ready on Monday, cook Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and have a lot of fun with these guys.”

Loyalsock 7 0 0 0-7
Danville 6 7 6 21-40

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
D-Bo Sheptock 6 run (kick failed) 7:09
L-Jaylen Andrews 24 pass from Tyler Gee (Chris Cooley kick) 4:25

Second Quarter
D-Sheptock 5 run (Garrett Hoffman kick) 11:19

Third Quarter
D-Carter Raup 26 pass from Madden Patrick (run failed) 4:01

Fourth Quarter
D-Sheptock 5 run (Hoffman kick) 6:20
D-Aaron Johnson 55 interception return (Hoffman kick) 5:34
D-Sheptock 47 run (Hoffman kick) 1:22

Team Statistics
…………………………L…………………………D
1st downs………….18……………………….20
rush-yds………..28-70…………………..42-418
comp-att-int….19-36-3………………..5-12-0
pass yds………270…………………………88
total yds……….340………………………506
fumb-lost…….2-0…………………………1-0
pen-yds………….7-50………………..10-80

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Loyalsock: Tyler Gee 12-47; Logan Bastian 7-20; Dolan Harman 5-13; Jaylen Andrews 3-5; Team 1-(-15). Danville: Bo Sheptock 30-316, 4 TDs; Aaron Johnson 7-85; Madden Patrick 5-17.

Passing-Loyalsock: Gee 19-36-3, 270 yds., TD. Danville: Patrick 5-12-0, 88 yds., TD.

Receiving-Loyalsock: Andrews 12-169, TD; Will Burdett 3-65; Bastian 2-6; Danny Dowell 1-24; Harman 1-6. Danville: Johnson 3-31; Cole Duffy 1-31; Carter Raup 1-26, TD.

FRANKLIN TWP. – While it can be an inexact science to predict what the future holds, Southern Columbia put together a performance that resembled a team who is once again capable of playing into the second week of December. On Friday night, the Tigers were simply brilliant in a 43-0 victory over Mount Carmel. The defense pitched a shutout, forced three turnovers, and watched Isaac Carter wreak havoc all over the place. Offensively, things moved along quite nicely as well. Southern scored on its first five possessions, while Louden Murphy ran for 87 yards and three touchdowns to lead a balanced rushing attack. Troy (12-0) awaits Southern next week in the District 4 Class 2A championship game.

“I was very confident that our defense would play well,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “Did I think we would get a shutout, no. You can’t expect that after the way Mount Carmel has played the whole second half of the season, and the way they played against us in the first game. I knew our defense was going to respond, and they played at a much higher level than we did in the first game, there was no question.”

Mount Carmel (9-3) saw its season ended by Southern for the sixth time in seven years. The Red Tornadoes had scored 40 points in seven consecutive games. They were averaging 465 yards of total offense coming in. None of it mattered to a defense that got revenge for a 42-30 loss just four weeks ago. Carter had four sacks and recovered a fumble. Murphy and Nate Gallagher each had an interception. Southern (11-1) held Mount Carmel to just 42 yards in the first half on 27 plays.

“I think they’re a really good football team,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “When you make mistakes like that and you kind of lose momentum, it’s definitely really tough to get the stops, and make some of the plays you need. I think just from the start, we came out, kind of did some uncharacteristic things, and couldn’t recover.”

Garcia scored on a 31-yard run just five plays in to open the scoring. Carter then recovered a fumble on Mount Carmel’s second offensive play. It didn’t take long to cash in the turnover, as Murphy got his big night going with a 7-yard run to the end zone. On the ensuing Mount Carmel possession, Murphy intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards to set up another short field. After Garcia crossed the goal line from a yard out for his second touchdown, it was 22-0 with 3:39 left in the opening quarter, and it felt like an early knockout punch had been delivered. Southern converted all three takeaways into points.

“We moved the ball,” Roth said. “It’s always good when you can walk away from a game without any punting statistics at all. The turnovers certainly helped kind of getting the snowball effect, but I was also very happy with the way the offense played, and I can’t say enough about all three backs until Garrett got hurt. Both (Carter) Madden and Murphy ran really well. There were times where there wasn’t a whole lot there, and they made something out of it.”

In the early part of the second quarter, Garcia, who rushed for 61 yards on eight carries, left with a lower-body injury, and did not return. Madden helped pick up the slack by finishing an 11-play drive with a short 1-yard touchdown run. Following another Mount Carmel series that was abruptly ended when Carter blew up a reverse for a 12-yard loss on fourth down, Murphy hit pay dirt thanks to an 8-yard run with 4:52 left before halftime.

“We knew what we had to do,” Murphy said. “I like being patient and waiting for stuff to open up. Sometimes it gets me killed, but other times when plays don’t look the greatest, I can make things happen. When I wasn’t getting the ball, Joey Williams had to step in and fill a big hole for Garrett Garcia. He did what he had to do. Carter had a great game. He ran and got tough yards.”

Roth returned to the sidelines following his two-game suspension after some questionable officiating at Wyoming Area. His defense certainly rose to the occasion. In addition to denying the Red Tornadoes their 900th win in program history, the Tigers held Cole Spears to just 31 yards on 5-of-16 passing. It was quite a dramatic turn of events from the first meeting that saw Mount Carmel score four times in the first quarter.

“Isaac wasn’t here the first time we played them this season, but his presence was felt this game,” Murphy said. “He was a nightmare for the Mount Carmel offense. Other than that, everybody else just had a great game overall.”

PECKVILLE-In what turned out to be his final game as interim head coach, Bo Orlando saw his Berwick team play its most inspired football of the season. Not only were the Bulldogs competitive with Valley View, but they were knocking on the door late for what could have been a game-winning score. It took some late heroics by Tyler Scoblick to provide a narrow escape for the Cougars. Scoblick intercepted a pass with a little over minute remaining, as Valley View fought off an upset by a valiant Berwick team in a 12-7 win. No. 2 seed Valley View (9-2) will host No. 3 seed Wyoming Area (10-1) next week in a District 2 Class 4A semifinal.

“Guys woke up, we started playing defense,” Orlando said. “That was the best defense in the second half that we’ve played all year. I’m so damn proud of these guys. We challenged them. We have three wins. It’s been an up-and-down season. They came out in their last 24 minutes, some of those seniors, and I’m so proud of the way they played. All of those guys came out and played. That’s Berwick football. That’s what we want all the time.”

No. 7 seed Berwick (3-8) faced an early deficit after Valley View put together an impressive opening drive. Cam Higgins had major success on the ground at the start. Higgins rushed for 115 yards in the game, 75 of which came on his first four touches. He crossed the goal line from three yards out less than three minutes into the game to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead. Late in the second quarter, Higgins scored on a 7-yard run to finish a short, five-play drive that was aided by a personal foul facemask penalty. Valley View struggled to generate any sort of consistency in the second half, as the Berwick defense created negative plays against a pretty one-dimensional offense.

“I just told the kids, survive and advance,” Valley View coach Scot Waslichak said. “It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t our best performance, but we’ll be playing next week, and they’re not. So, we’re just happy with that.”

After halftime, Berwick got back in the game, thanks to a well-executed, time-consuming drive. With running back Tyler Winter lost to injury in the first half, quarterback Ethan Lear and Jimmy DeAndrea picked up the slack. Lear capped off a 10-play, 75-yard march that chewed up half of the third quarter clock with a 9-yard touchdown run. The second half featured only six total possessions, as both teams relied heavily on their respective running attacks. Lear finished with 78 yards on 14 carries, while DeAndrea totaled 56 yards on 12 attempts.

“That’s what Berwick football traditionally was, and it was kind of nice to get back to that,” Orlando said. “I was telling them before the game, you guys are better than you think you are. We’ve had some bad luck and some injuries, but we don’t take any sympathy. You guys have got to keep playing, We’re a good football team when we play.”

In the middle of the fourth quarter, Berwick started on its own 31. Using a run-heavy personnel package, DeAndrea started to gain chunks of yards off the right side that helped the Bulldogs move into the red zone. He carried the ball six times for 38 yards, but his seventh carry of the drive resulted in a four-yard loss. Facing a passing situation for the first time in a while proved to be fatal, as Scoblick stepped in front of a short throw over the middle and intercepted it. Scoblick fumbled as he was hit, but the Cougars fell on the loose ball, then grinded out one first down to preserve the win.

“Tyler has worked his way into the starting lineup due to injury, and he really has done a nice job,” Waslichak said. “He stepped up when we needed him to, and I can’t be more proud of him.”

Orlando did an admirable job stepping in over the last ten weeks under difficult circumstances, adding to his busy Athletic Director duties. Although the Bulldogs did not achieve the desired results, they did play hard in their final game, and nearly pulled off a first-round surprise. Valley View beat Berwick 34-19 back in Week 2, but this win proved to be much more difficult, thanks to an excellent defensive effort.

“I never had the urge to be a head coach,” Orlando said. “I’ve coached high school football for over 20 years. I tried to be positive. A head coach is a very hard position. It’s a lot of stress. It’s a lot more than people think it is. You have to be a parent, you have to be a psychologist, kind of all the above. I owe the program so much. I hope all those guys had a good time. It was a good group of kids. They played hard. We didn’t have any trouble. I love those guys and I’m very, very proud of them.”

Berwick 0 0 7 0-7
Valley View 6 6 0 0-12

Individual Scoring

First Quarter
VV-Cam Higgins 3 run (kick failed) 9:16

Second Quarter
VV-Higgins 7 run (pass failed) 1:51

Third Quarter
B-Ethan Lear 9 run (Luke Peters kick) 6:03

Team Statistics 
…………..B……………….VV
1st downs…..11…………………13
rush-yds…..36-173………..33-211
comp-att-int..4-13-2……….1-6-1
pass yds…….55………………….12
total yds…..228………………223
fumb-lost…..2-1…………….1-0
pen-yds……5-40…………..2-20

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Berwick: Ethan Lear 14-78, TD; Jimmy DeAndrea 12-56; Braylon Hawkins 2-23; Tyler Winter 6-16; Billy Hanson 1-1; Team 1-(-1). Valley View: Cam Higgins 16-115, 2 TDs; Preston Reed 7-77; Nick Kucharski 4-22; Dom Memo 3-14; Gianni Marino 1-(-4); Casey Malsberger 2-(-13).

Passing-Berwick: Lear 4-13-2, 55 yds. Valley View: Malsberger 1-6-1, 12 yds.

Receiving-Berwick: Hanson 2-28; Hawkins 1-20; Josh Kishbaugh 1-7. Valley View: Memo 1-12.

SHAMOKIN- In an odd game with a few interesting subplots, it was easy to find where the game turned for Shamokin against Central Columbia. Facing a third-and-long on its own 1 in a tie game, Indians coach Marc Persing decided to take a shot. The gamble paid off handsomely, as quarterback Brad Latsha connected with Chase Pensyl on a 99-yard touchdown pass. That was just the start of a strong finish, which enabled Shamokin to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 33-21 victory.

“Not many things you can do on your own 1-yard line, 3rd-and-10,” Persing said. “They were timing up our cadence all night. We even tried to go on hard counts, and on two, and it still seemed like they knew what our count was. They were timing up the quarterback. If they were going to do that and vacate the middle of the field, we took a chance, and this time it worked for us.”

Shamokin (4-4) rolled the dice on the very next play, and once again it worked. Pensyl recovered an onsides kick, setting up the Indians at the Central 48. Six plays later, Logan Steele scored on an 8-yard run with just over ten minutes left to open up some separation on the scoreboard, giving his team a 27-14 lead. Steele also contributed with two second-half interceptions on defense. Less than three minutes after Steele scored, Latsha crossed the goal line for his second score of the night effectively putting the game away. Za’kem Clinton was also a factor late in the running game, as he finished with 70 yards on 13 carries.

“When you can run the ball like we can run the ball, it wears on you,” Persing said. “We got Za’kem back, and he’s a bruiser. Not many people want to tackle him over the course of the game, let alone in the fourth quarter. We have a lot of things we need to get better at moving forward.”

Central (0-8) will look back at some missed opportunities, penalties, and a really bad sequence in each half that cost the Blue Jays any opportunity to pick up their first win of the season. Eli Book outran the defense after catching a slant from Caius Morrow for an 87-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring midway through the second quarter. However, Shamokin would answer by scoring twice in the span of 15 seconds. Latsha found the end zone on a 1-yard keeper, and on the very next play from scrimmage, Rylan Price stepped in front of a quick out for an easy six points on a 6-yard interception return. Penalties thwarted potential scoring drives, as the Blue Jays racked up 111 yards on 16 infractions.

“The penalties hurt us really, really bad tonight,” Central coach E.J. Smith said. “We were driving down the field several times. Some of it, I don’t know. It was rough for us. I think we were the better team, and we lost.”

Aiden Huntington tied the game on a 13-yard touchdown run with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter and had Shamokin backed up after a punt pinned the Indians deep before the strike to Pensyl flipped the momentum in the blink of an eye. In addition to all of the penalties, Central turned the ball over five times. Winnable games against Athens and Bloomsburg remain over the final two weeks of the season.

“The kids are motivated, they’re playing hard, there’s no doubt about that,” Smith said. “I love their fight. They didn’t quit all the way up until the end. It’s the mistakes. Caius had some really good moments, and he had some bad moments. 111 yards in penalties isn’t going to help.”

Much like in the beginning of the game where Shamokin went backward on each of its first three drives, the end of the game lacked any sort of rhythm as well. Shamokin fumbled the ball away as the Indians were trying to take a knee and run out the clock, which was almost fitting given how the nearly three-hour game moved along. There were fumbles on three consecutive plays before a knee was taken – this time out of the shotgun, to finally bring an end to things.

“I know we won, and I know that I should feel good that it’s homecoming and senior night, but that may have been the worst game of football I’ve seen this team play,” Persing said. “We came out flat, and that’s on me. We looked like that at practice. I don’t know why I expected anything different, so that falls on me, and we’ll be better moving forward.”

Central Columbia 0 7 7 7-21
Shamokin 0 14 7 12-33

Individual Scoring
Second Quarter
CC-Eli Book 87 pass from Caius Morrow (Maguire Blake kick) 5:58
S-Brad Latsha 1 run (Chase Pensyl kick) 3:11
S-Rylan Price 6 interception return (Pensyl kick) 2:56

Third Quarter
CC-Aiden Huntington 13 run (Blake kick) 7:02
S-Pensyl 99 pass from Latsha (Pensyl kick) :09

Fourth Quarter
S-Logan Steele 8 run (kick failed) 10:14
S-Latsha 3 run (kick blocked) 7:20
CC-Morrow 1 run (Blake kick) 2:03

Team Statistics
……………………CC…………S
1st downs……..13………….12
rush-yds……33-125….41-119
comp-att-int..10-24-3….8-19-0
pass yds…..180……..175
total yds…305…….294
fumb-lost….5-3……7-3
pen-yds…16-111……10-61

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Central Columbia: Ty Regan 9-92; Aiden Huntington 4-20, TD; Talon Piatt 6-7; Chase Williams 3-7; Caius Morrow 11-(-1), TD. Shamokin: Za’kem Clinton 13-70; Jayce Ginck 9-29; Brad Latsha 11-22, 2 TDs; Logan Steele 4-3, TD; Chase Pensyl 1-2; Kegan Gallagher 2-(-4); Team 1-(-3).

Passing-Central Columbia: Morrow 10-24-3, 180 yds., TD. Shamokin: Latsha 7-18-0, 160 yds., TD; Steele 1-1-0, 15 yds.

Receiving-Central Columbia: Eli Book 3-109, TD; Jaxson Hoffman 4-37; Parker Day 1-14; Piatt 1-11; Huntington 1-9. Shamokin: Pensyl 4-118, TD; Ben Delbaugh 3-28; Steele 1-29.

SOUTH CENTRE TWP.-It’s no secret Loyalsock has playmakers that can make life difficult for an opponent on both sides of the ball. Following a sluggish first half, those playmakers took over and quickly turned a competitive game into a blowout. Loyalsock scored on four consecutive possessions to start the second half, and added a pick-six for good measure. Central Columbia was able to hang around for a while, but the Lancers used an explosive third quarter to pull away. Led by five touchdown passes from Tyler Gee, Loyalsock cruised past Central for a 50-10 victory.

“We knew (Central) was going to come out and fight as hard as they could,” Loyalsock coach Justin Van Fleet said. “I cautioned our guys about coming out slow. We had to be precise, do our jobs, and recognize that this is a better team than its record indicates. With this travel situation coming down here, we just didn’t have it in the beginning. We were a little flat, and it certainly looked that way in the first half. At halftime, the message was simple. We had to do our jobs and understand our assignments. Our special teams had to get it in gear, and finally, the players had to step up and lead.”

Loyalsock (4-2) led just 17-10 at halftime, but any upset hopes the Blue Jays had briskly evaporated. Gee threw his third touchdown pass of the night on the opening drive of the third quarter. Jamaire Harden tiptoed the sideline and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the front-right corner of the end zone to cap off a seven-play, 50-yard drive. Following a Jeremiah Johnson interception, the duo connected again on a very similar play that went for a 26-yard scoring strike, which basically put the game away less than five minutes into the second half.

“Teams that become great are not led by the coaches, they’re led by the players,” Van Fleet said. “In this situation, they’ve kind of adopted the idea that I’m always the voice, along with the coaching staff. We’re the ones that talk them out of the gutter, and at halftime I said, I’m not doing it. The locker room is yours. We don’t have any adjustments. The adjustments have to be, you take control of this game by doing your job, focusing on your assignments, and I’m getting out of your way.”

Gee continued his big night with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Will Burdett down the right sideline that made the score 37-10. Jaylen Andrews, who had five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, made an impact on defense with two interceptions. The first one was returned 30 yards for a touchdown. Kaden Keefer scored on a 3-yard run to close out the scoring midway through the fourth quarter. Gee finished with 240 yards on 13-of-20 passing. Burdett chipped in with 72 yards receiving, as both of his catches went for touchdowns.

“He played with very clean eyes tonight,” Van Fleet said of Gee. “He was confident the entire time. He was really understanding what we could take, what we couldn’t take. He was very methodical. He threw the ball out of bounds when we needed to. He made the big plays when he needed to, and he also took the short stuff. In the second half, everybody worked to their jobs, worked up to their potential, and the score changed pretty rapidly.”

Central (0-6) did some good things, and held a brief lead in the first half. The Blue Jays put together a well-executed nine-play drive that saw Caius Morrow score on a quarterback keeper from 15 yards out. When Loyalsock took a 17-7 lead, Eli Book promptly responded by returning the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to set up Central at the Loyalsock 12. Although Gaje Gombert had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty, Maguire Blake did kick a 22-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the first half to make it a one-score game at intermission.

“I hope I see the team that was out here in the first half for the rest of the season,” Central coach E.J. Smith said. “That’s kind of what I told the team. The effort was there, and that’s what we’ve been looking for. They played hard. We limited mistakes, and then in the second half, we reverted back to kind of putting our heads down and not flying to the football. We made mistakes in the first half, but we did it going 100 miles an hour, and that was the difference in the second half.”

The first two drives of the second half netted Central minus-10 yards on six plays. Throw in four interceptions, six penalties and no defensive stops, it was easy to see how things escalated quickly. Things won’t get any easier, as the Blue Jays face Southern Columbia next week.

“They’ve got some athletes, and I thought we competed pretty well with them,” Smith said. “Like I said, that effort in the first half is what we need for the rest of the season.”

Loyalsock 3 14 26 7-50
Central Columbia 0 10 0 0-10

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
L-Chris Cooley 35 field goal 3:43

Second Quarter
CC-Caius Morrow 15 run (Maguire Blake kick) 10:38
L-Jaylen Andrews 30 pass from Tyler Gee (Cooley kick) 5:14
L-Will Burdett 23 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 2:09
CC-Blake 22 field goal :25

Third Quarter
L-Jamaire Harden 27 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 10:03
L-Harden 26 pass from Gee (kick blocked) 7:11
L-Burdett 52 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 4:40
L-Andrews 30 interception return (pass failed) 4:23

Fourth Quarter
L-Kaden Keefer 8 run (Cooley kick) 6:37

Team Statistics
……………………………..L………………………CC
1st downs……………18………………..8
rush-yds……..31-118…………….37-83
comp-att-int…13-20-0…….5-15-4
pass yds…..240………………30
total yds….358………………..113
fumb-lost…1-0…………..2-0
pen-yds…….6-43…………….9-95

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Loyalsock: Dolan Harman 9-41; Tyler Gee 8-37; Logan Bastian 7-25; Jaylen Andrews 1-13; Kaden Keefer 3-3, TD; Nick Avalos 1-1; Jamaire Harden 1-(-1); Jalil Coates 1-(-1). Central Columbia: Gaje Gombert 8-42; Talon Piatt 6-13; Tanner Regan 3-13; Ty Chapin 2-7; Aidan Huntington 5-6; Caius Morrow 8-4, TD; Chase Williams 1-2; Alex Zeisloft 3-(-1); Kole Hummer 1-(-3).

Passing-Loyalsock: Gee 13-20-0, 240 yds., 5 TDs. Central Columbia: Morrow 4-13-3, 23 yds.; Josiah Hosler 1-2-1, 7 yds.

Receiving-Loyalsock: Andrews 5-90, TD; Will Burdett 2-75, 2 TDs; Harden 4-73, 2 TDs; Bastian 1-6; Deryk Kulp 1-(-4). Central Columbia: Parker Day 2-24; Regan 1-7; Piatt 2-(-1).

MOUNT CARMEL-It was evident early on that any offensive struggles Mount Carmel encountered at Milton were clearly in the rear-view mirror. An angry group of Red Tornadoes came out firing on all cylinders, and put together a first-half performance that was pretty close to perfect. Mount Carmel (3-2) rolled up 526 yards of total offense, while scoring on its first seven possessions, as the Red Tornadoes bounced back from the upset loss last week with a convincing 69-20 win over Bloomsburg.

“We knew we were a good team, it was very uncharacteristic,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “It’s still hard to say how that happened last week, but we did what we needed to do this week. I’m proud of these guys the way they handled it. We just want to keep getting better.”

The Red Tornadoes raced to a 55-6 lead at halftime, and it was every bit as easy as the score would indicate. Short, productive drives resulting in touchdowns were a recurring theme early and often. Of the 34 plays Mount Carmel ran in the first half, 18 of them went for 10 yards or more. Luke Blessing got homecoming underway in style with a pair of touchdown runs from 13 and 47 yards, as he finished with 119 yards on just five carries. Xavier Diaz then followed with two more touchdown runs and added a 74-yard punt return for good measure. Cole Spears completed 8-of-9 passes for 175 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Both scoring strikes went to Chase Balichik.

“We wanted to have a good week offensively,” Darrah said. “We felt we were having a really strong offensive season, and then last week we had the hiccup. We came out tonight and wanted to prove it was just that. We’ll see on film how we did, but we were making a lot of plays. I thought Cole looked really sharp. We were pleased with our offensive performance early in the game.”

Early in the second quarter, the Spears-to-Balichik connection did most of its damage. Balichik beat man coverage and took a pass to the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown, then made another house call when he scored on a slant from 10 yards out. Balichik caught four passes for 102 yards. Milton held Mount Carmel to just 79 yards passing last week, but the aerial attack regained its form from the first three games of the season Friday night.

“Tough loss last week, but coach challenged us,” Spears said. “He said we have to finish our blocks, carry out our fakes full-speed, run full speed every single play, and I think we did it. We executed great tonight. The coach was calling the right plays. They were giving us the right looks.”

Bloomsburg (1-4) came out throwing on almost every down. Wyatt Brosious attempted 16 passes in the first quarter and finished with 162 yards to go with one touchdown and one interception. The Panthers got on the board when Cole Davis perfectly executed a halfback option pass and found Jack Katulis for a 13-yard touchdown with 6:09 left before halftime. Brady Horan also made a couple of long receptions that totaled 96 yards.

“I knew Mount Carmel was a good football team, not to take anything away from them,” Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut said. “I thought we would execute better. We didn’t. We certainly got out-physical. In the line of scrimmage, they absolutely dominated on both sides. Did we have some opportunities? Yeah, we did some good things at times, very inconsistent. We need to get better.”

The schedule is very favorable for Mount Carmel over the next couple of weeks. Very winnable games against Midd-West and Hughesville are on the horizon. That will give the Red Tornadoes two more opportunities to continue finding improvement before a Week 8 test against Southern Columbia arrives.

“Every game, we’re just striving to get better,” Darrah said. “With our new offense, and I know I keep saying this, but there’s a learning curve. What we were doing before, we were doing for eight years. We just have to get better every week. It’s good to be challenged and see some different things that maybe we weren’t expecting. Our coaches learn how to adjust, and our players learn how to adjust, so we’re just looking to get better every week.”

Bloomsburg 0 6 7 7-20
Mount Carmel 28 27 14 0-69

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Luke Blessing 13 run (kick failed) 9:18
MC-Blessing 47 run (run failed) 5:01
MC-Xavier Diaz 36 run (Blessing run) 3:47
MC-Diaz 1 run (Jacob Schultz pass from Cole Spears) 1:39

Second Quarter
MC-Chase Balichik 73 pass from Spears (Robert Schoppy kick) 11:29
MC-Balichik 10 pass from Spears (Schoppy kick) 8:51
MC-Diaz 74 punt return (kick failed) 6:54
B-Jack Katulis 13 pass from Cole Davis (run failed) 6:09
MC-Cooper Karycki 26 run (Schoppy kick) 2:58

Third Quarter
B-Katulis 11 pass from Wyatt Brosious (Justin Pegg kick) 10:45
MC-Jon Morgante 85 kickoff return (Schoppy kick) 10:31
MC-Karycki 78 run (Schoppy kick) 3:31

Fourth Quarter
B-Shane Frey 4 run (Pegg kick) 4:48

Team Statistics
…………………..B………………..MC
1st downs……9…………………..22
rush-yds…..16-(-20)………36-416
comp-att-int…15-35-1…..14-18-1
pass yds….270………234
total yds….250………..650
fumb-lost….4-1…..2-1
pen-yds…2-10……..9-85

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Bloomsburg: Shane Frey 4-5, TD; Cole Davis 2-1; Jack Katulis 1-1; Cristian Cruz 3-(-4); Team 1-(-8); Wyatt Brosious 5-(-15). Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 10-142, 2 TDs; Luke Blessing 5-119, 2 TDs; Xavier Diaz 5-57, 2 TDs; Andrew Lukoskie 3-40; Cole Spears 2-38; Gavin Marshalek 2-16; Thomas Berezovski 9-4.

Passing-Bloomsburg: Brosious 11-25-1, 162 yds., TD; Frey 3-9-0, 95 yds.; Davis 1-1-0, 13 yds., TD. Mount Carmel: Spears 8-9-0, 175 yds., 2 TDs; Marshalek 6-9-1, 59 yds.

Receiving-Bloomsburg: Katulis 5-33, 2 TDs; Ryan Scherer 4-48; Brady Horan 2-96; Krue Wheadon 1-53; Davis 1-20; Gabe Dube 1-15; Jackson Lunger 1-5. Mount Carmel: Chase Balichik 4-102, 2 TDs; Diaz 2-60; Jacob Schultz 2-23; Jon Morgante 2-18; Karycki 1-14; Daniel Velazquez 1-13; Al Bailey 1-2; Ezekiel Noel 1-2.

MILTON-All of the smiles, hugs and handshakes on the Milton sideline after the game were well-deserved. That’s because the Black Panthers earned every inch of what has to be considered one of the more surprising victories so far this season. Behind the tough running of Chris Doyle and a defense that fought its heart out all night, keeping a high-octane offense bottled up, Milton walked out of Alumni Field with a hard-earned 12-7 win over Mount Carmel.

“I don’t think I can describe it at this point,” Milton coach Curt Zettlemoyer said. “We went out Week 1 and we got our (butts) beat physically. We came back here, we went against Mount Carmel and we recovered, we responded. We finally played four quarters of football. That’s what we preach.”

A breakdown in coverage gave Milton reason to start believing on its second possession. Monte Fisher got behind the Mount Carmel secondary, and quarterback Cale Bastian didn’t miss his wide open receiver. The 55-yard touchdown pass gave the Black Panthers an early lead along with some confidence.

“It’s a springboard,” Zettlemoyer said. “Monte Fisher is a good receiver. They gave us the coverage we wanted the play before, so we were like, hey, let’s take a shot. In the second half we tried to hit it again, but we just didn’t complete it.”

Mount Carmel (2-2) had no problems moving the ball throughout the first three games, but the Red Tornadoes failed to establish any consistent rhythm on offense. The running game was held in check. Dropped passes, coupled with untimely penalties, stopped potential momentum-seizing drives. A bad snap, leading to a 7-yard punt, gave the Red Tornadoes a short field to navigate early in the second quarter. Luke Blessing cashed in on the mistake with a 4-yard touchdown run that gave Mount Carmel a brief 7-6 lead. Blessing rushed for 70 yards on 18 carries.

“I just thought right from the start we struggled,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “I’m not sure what the reason was, but we just had a lot of miscues. In reality, I’m the head coach, so it’s on me. At the end of the day, I’ve got to figure out where the disconnect was. I thought we had a really good week of practice. Like I said, it’s on me. We’ve got to get better.”

Doyle was a workhorse for Milton, as he carried the ball 30 times for 156 yards, which included the game-clinching first down on a 17-yard run with just under two minutes remaining. Milton (3-1) had success running behind the left side of its offensive line, and Doyle was the beneficiary. His 27-yard scamper in the second quarter set up what turned out to be the game-winning score. Bastian broke out of something resembling a rugby scrum, and plowed his way across the goal line on a 2-yard sneak with 2:41 left in the first half.

“Phenomenal,” Zettlemoyer said of his offensive line. “Phenomenal. We had some injuries early that kind of hurt us at the end of the first quarter, and beginning of the second. They came back in the second half, and they produced like they need to.”

Milton had multiple chances to build on the lead in the second half, but failed to do so. A 38-yard field goal attempt was blocked, and another drive was stopped on downs in the red zone. Mount Carmel got the ball back with 7:32 left to play, and it looked like the Red Tornadoes were ready to provide some late-game dramatics. Blessing had a 12-yard touchdown run called back on a holding penalty, and the 16-play drive came to end on fourth down when a Cole Spears’ pass fell incomplete.

“I think they played hard, definitely give them credit,” Darrah said. “They came out here and they fought hard. I thought towards the end of the game, they were physical, but we had opportunities. We had some uncharacteristic mistakes, and I guess I’ll take the blame for it.”

Three weeks ago, Milton was shutout against South Williamsport. The Black Panthers were able to bounce back with easy wins over Towanda and Midd-West. Friday’s victory should definitely erase much of the disappointment that came out of opening night.

“It’s a very exciting win,” Zettlemoyer said. “I’m so happy for the boys, and more importantly, I’m happy for this community.”

MOUNT CARMEL-It was an outcome that was foreshadowed throughout much of the second half. Mount Carmel, despite playing well and holding a two-score lead against a very good opponent, started losing players to cramping on what seemed like every play. That opened the door for North Schuylkill to take advantage of an exhausted and depleted defense. The Spartans roared back from a 14-point deficit and took the lead for good on Ricky Halford’s 30-yard run with 47 seconds remaining that gave North Schuylkill a hard-fought 34-27 win.

“We went through this last year with them,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “It was very similar. I think this year was a little bit worse. We knew it was going to be like this. It’s a hot, humid day. We got a lot of guys involved. We told all our guys to be ready to play. Honestly, I’m proud of our guys. We gave it everything we had. I don’t think there’s anything else anyone could have done. They just had a couple more guys not cramp up, and not go out in the second half.”

North Schuylkill (1-0) made big plays on both sides of the ball to spark the comeback. Quarterback Trevor Minalda was at the center of overcoming some challenging situations. On a 3rd and 20 play, Minalda found Collin McGee down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Spartans to within 27-20 late in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Minalda once again came through, as he connected with Joey Flail for a 10-yard scoring strike that tied the game with 8:09 left. The senior signal caller completed 18-of-32 passes for 202 yards to go with three touchdowns and one interception.

“It’s tough, and he’s in a tremendous pressure position,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said of Minalda. “We put a lot of pressure on him because that’s the expectation we have for him. Through the pressure, and the good and the bad, you could see he’s obviously made plays.”

Mount Carmel (0-1) saw its defense be on the field for 83 snaps against a talented offense. Whereas North Schuylkill came through on a couple of big fourth downs, the Red Tornadoes failed to convert fourth downs with the game hanging in the balance. Early in the 4th quarter, a 4th-and-1 play in the red zone was stuffed for a one-yard loss, and after Ryan Weidner recovered a fumble that gave some much-needed momentum to Mount Carmel with the score tied, a screen pass on fourth down from the Spartans’ 34 was blown up for a 5-yard loss.

“I thought we were close there on that screen, we had it set up,” Darrah said. “The timing was just a little bit off. Obviously, that short run, those are two plays that if we would have converted, the game might have been totally different.”

Following the second fourth-down stop, the Spartans put together an eight-play, 61-yard drive that resulted in the winning points. Jaxson Chowansky had a big part in it, as he rushed four times for 26 yards. Halford broke multiple tackles on his way to pay dirt against a defense that fought valiantly all night. North Schuylkill got a measure of revenge for a 25-17 loss last year on opening night that ended its recent dominance in the series.

“It shows, you go Week 1, you play with tremendous emotion,” Hall said. “It’s a physical game. You’re making mistakes, and stuff like that, but it just shows how resilient our kids are. The halftime was really easy. We went through everything, went inside, and told them, You’ve got two quarters, do what you want with it. That was it, they made that choice.”

Despite the defeat, there were plenty of bright spots for Mount Carmel. A fully healthy Cole Spears looked good. Spears was 13-for-22 through the air for 233 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Xavier Diaz opened the scoring by going the distance on an 87-yard pass. Early in the second half, Spears hit Chase Balichik on a 33-yard touchdown pass that gave the Red Tornadoes a 27-13 lead.

“I think we were just trying to take advantage of what they gave us,” Darrah said. “When we see man coverage, we feel real confident with our receivers being able to beat man coverage, and we were able to do that.”

North Schuylkill 6 7 7 14-34
Mount Carmel 6 14 7 0- 27

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Xavier Diaz 87 pass from Cole Spears (kick failed) 7:01
NS-Joey Flail 4 run (kick failed) 3:16

Second Quarter
MC-Diaz 5 run (Robert Schoppy kick) 3:35
NS-Flail 22 pass from Trevor Minalda (Gavin Mentzer kick) 1:05
MC-Luke Blessing 1 run (Schoppy kick) :17

Third Quarter
MC-Chase Balichik 33 pass from Spears (Schoppy kick) 11:13
NS-Collin McGee 45 pass from Minalda (Mentzer kick) 3:07

Fourth Quarter
NS-Flail 7 pass from Minalda (Mentzer kick) 8:09
NS-Ricky Halford 30 run (Mentzer kick) :47

Team Statistics
…………………..NS……………….MC
1st downs………25…………………12
rush-yds……51-230……………..36-181
comp-att-int…18-32-1……..13-25-1
pass yds……..202……………..233
total yds…..432……………..414
fumb-lost…..5-1………….1-0
pen-yds…..4-25……………….5-34

Individual Statistics
Rushing-North Schuylkill: Jaxson Chowansky 12-98; Ricky Halford 6-55, TD; Trevor Minalda 20-50; Joey Flail 7-27, TD; Collin McGee 1-18; Luke Miller 1-6; Ben Carr 1-(-4); Team 3-(-20). Mount Carmel: Luke Blessing 15-119, TD; Cole Spears 12-44; Xavier Diaz 4-18, TD; Andrew Lukoskie 2-8; Cooper Karycki 1-0; Gavin Marshalek 2-(-8).

Passing-North Schuylkill: Minalda 18-32-1, 202 yds., 3 TDs. Mount Carmel: Spears 13-22-1, 233 yds., 2 TDs; Marshalek 0-2-0; Blessing 0-1-0.

Receiving-North Schuylkill: Flail 6-62, 2 TDs; McGee 4-68, TD; Collin Stanakis 3-21; Kevin Jones 2-28; Chowansky 2-21; Halford 1-2. Mount Carmel: Diaz 4-111, TD; Balichik 2-42, TD; Jaylen Delaney 2-9; Blessing 2-(-4); Al Bailey 1-39; Jacob Schultz 1-31; Michael Kimsal 1-5.

MOUNT CARMEL-Southern Columbia is a program with championship mettle firmly entrenched in its DNA. Once again, that was on display Friday night. After being counted out by many following a regular season that had its share of injuries and adversity, the Tigers showed why they are among the elite in Pennsylvania high school football.

Southern broke open a close game by executing its running game to perfection in the second half. The Tigers scored on six consecutive possessions and pulled away from Mount Carmel for a 48-18 win. The victory marked Southern’s 30th District 4 title in the last 32 years. Southern (10-3) will play District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle next week in a matchup of defending state champions. Bishop Guilfoyle (10-3) captured the PIAA Class A title in 2021 before moving up to 2A this season.

“We’ve been working hard to improve our run defense from the Loyalsock game on,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “When we played Mount Carmel the first time, that was a disappointing effort. Defensively, we gave up a lot of yards. They controlled the tempo of the game. We got behind, tried to throw, and obviously had a bunch of turnovers. The whole key was improving the run defense and basically doing a better job upfront. Tonight we played against them as we played against them the last couple of years. We certainly didn’t do that in the first game.”

Mount Carmel (12-1) took a lead when Garrett Varano bulled his way across the goal line on a 5-yard touchdown reception with 4:22 left in the second quarter. Heavy snow squalls that started 50 minutes before kickoff covered the field at the Silver Bowl with about a half-inch of snow. An offense that came in averaging almost 45 points a game was held in check by a defense that limited the Red Tornadoes to just 44 yards on 26 carries. Michael Farronato scored a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns, but it was too little too late, as Southern was able to avenge a 35-21 loss from five weeks ago.

“Those guys played on the same field we did,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “We practiced out in the snow this week, so we’re not going to make any excuses.”

Isaac Carter made a play late in the first half that may have been a turning point. Trailing 6-0, Carter made an outstanding one-hand catch on a high punt snap and ran for 12 yards on a broken play, which resulted in a first down. The drive was kept alive, and Wes Barnes was able to finish it off with a 7-yard touchdown with just eight seconds left before halftime.

“He’s a very good kicker and punter, and he’s a good defensive lineman, but that’s was his first display of running and he looked pretty good,” Roth said of Carter. “That was huge. Looking back on this season, when you look at all those undefeated years, after you’ve done it so long, when you have a team that loses three games in the regular season –  that’s huge for us do that. But when you get the kids to work, improve and come out with the right mindset to have this kind of finish, at least at the district level, that’s really rewarding. Because we came a long way from where we were earlier in the year.”

In the second half, Southern’s running back duo of Barnes and Braden Wisloski dominated. Wisloski scored three times, two of which came on big runs of 51 and 57 yards respectively, as he finished with 188 yards on 17 carries. Barnes didn’t necessarily make the splash plays like Wisloski, but he was very consistent. The senior rushed for 174 yards on 24 carries and was able to keep his team in favorable down-and-distance situations throughout the decisive final two quarters.

“Obviously our two big backs did it again tonight, even on a sloppy field,” Roth said. “It wasn’t as easy to cut. Maybe you weren’t as fast, but they ran hard, got yards and I know we didn’t punt since early in the game. We did a great job of just keeping the football and putting the ball in the end zone.”

Carter Madden chipped in with a couple of rushing touchdowns, helping the Tigers to finish with 397 yards on 58 carries. Southern didn’t attempt a pass after halftime and put together long, time-consuming drives against a defense that couldn’t find any answers. With Mount Carmel pressing late, Kyle Christman finished the game in style with a 47-yard pick-six.

“It’s tough to say, we were doing some different things,” Darrah said. “I think when we got behind there, I don’t know if we were trying to do too much, or what it was, but we couldn’t get stops when we needed to. You have to give them credit. They made plays when they needed to. Obviously, we’ll check out the film and see what was going on. It was a tough one.”

Southern Columbia 0 7 14 27- 48

Mount Carmel 0 6 0 12-18

Individual Scoring

Second Quarter

MC-Garrett Varano 5 pass from Cole Spears (run failed) 4:27

SC-Wes Barnes 7 run (Isaac Carter kick) :08

Third Quarter

SC-Carter Madden 1 run (Carter kick) 7:29
SC-Braeden Wisloski 51 run (Carter kick) 4:34

Fourth Quarter
SC-Madden 4 run (Carter kick) 9:52
MC-Michael Farronato 24 run (pass failed) 9:18
SC-Wisloski 13 run (kick blocked) 6:16
MC-Farronato 12 pass from Spears (run failed) 3:52
SC-Wisloski 57 run (Carter kick) 3:35
SC-Kyle Christman 47 interception return (Carter kick) 3:18

Team Statistics
……………….. SC……….MC
1st downs……21………..10
rush-yds…..58-397……26-44
comp-att-int…1-2-1….14-24-3
pass yds…(-6)………….161
total yds…..391………205
fumb-lost…4-1……..2-1
pen-yds….10-104….2-20

Individual Statistics
Rushing-Southern Columbia: Braden Wisloski 17-188, 3 TDs; Wes Barnes 24-174, TD; Carter Madden 8-26, 2 TDs; Isaac Carter 1-13; Tyler Arnold 5-9; Team 3-(-13). Mount Carmel: Michael Farronato 5-24, TD; Luke Blessing 12-19; Ryan Weidner 1-5; Cole Spears 2-0; Garrett Varano 1-0; Xavier Diaz 5-(-4).

Passing-Southern Columbia: Blake Wise 1-2-1, (-6) yds. Mount Carmel: Spears 14-24-3, 161 yds., 2 TDs.

Receiving-Southern Columbia: Barnes 1-(-6). Mount Carmel: Varano 5-55, TD; Farronato 4-22, TD; Jacob Schultz 3-65; Blessing 1-13; Michael Scicchitano 1-6.