EasternPAFootball.com

Kim Moerschbacher

  • Selinsgrove routs Jersey Shore 35-7 for District 4 Class AAA title

     

    SELINSGROVE – It wasn’t the way Jersey Shore wanted things to go.

    Two drives, two big turnovers.

    For Selinsgrove, it was all the momentum the team needed.

    Cameron Benner had a 53-yard interception return in the first quarter, and a JS fumble just a few minutes later led to another seven points. Those two plays gave the Seals all the momentum they needed for a 35-7 victory over the Bulldogs in the District IV Class AAA championship Friday in Selinsgrove.

    “I told the kids that step No. 1 was a league championship, and step two was a district championship,” Selinsgrove head coach Dave Hess said. “I said to the guys about taking the next step, and they all said yes.”

    That next step will involve facing Hollidaysburg, a 39-14 winner over Johnstown in the District VI Triple-A championship. Shore will graduate 19 seniors, and end its campaign with a 4-7 record.

    As soon as Selisngrove (11-1) put up those 14 first-quarter points, the Bulldogs were in trouble.

    Offensively, the Seals were blitzing and rushing quarterback Taylor English in the pocket. On defense, the Bulldogs could do nothing to stop Selinsgrove’s potent attack.

    Signal-caller Cory Briggs completed 11-of-15 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Both his strikes were to Ryan Keiser – the first being a 27-yard throw in the second, while the other was a 47-yard bullet that gave the junior the school record for TD passes with 26.

    That TD gave the Seals a 35-0 lead, putting the exclamation point on another offensive onslaught.

    Selinsgrove put up 402 yards of offense to Shore’s 134, with over half those yards coming from the arm of Briggs.

    “Our defense was a little sloppy in terms of their tackling. We were leaving our feet and letting the quarterback escape a few times,” Hess said. “Overall, they got the job done. They got good field position for us all night long. Really, that’s been the hallmark of our team this year. Our offense is very very effective when the defense puts them in good field position. That’s common knowledge about our team. That’s what our team is able to do. The defense was a little sloppy. We have some thing to get a grip on before we face Hollidaysburg.”

    While Jersey Shore did manage to plunge into the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter, it was really a struggle up until that point.

    Selinsgrove allowed the Bulldogs into its territory only three times in the game. Two of those drives came in the first quarter, and both times Shore got to the Seals’ 48-yard line.

    On its first drive of the game, Shore drove into Seals territory, but Benner’s interception put a sudden hault to that drive.

    The next series resulted in another big play, as a JS fumble on its own 25 led to more points for a quick, 14-0 lead in favor of the Seals. Along with Briggs’ strikes, Bryant Troutman also found the end zone twice in the game – with both rushes being 1-yard scampers for paydirt.  

     “Those 14 points at the beginning we killers. It was like somebody stuck a dagger in our hearts,” Shore skipper Steve Eck said. “We came back and battled, and they got a couple there in the second quarter. Some bad things happened there. Hopefully, we’ll get things going for next year.

    “We knew they were going to blitz. Later on, there were sometimes where I wasn’t sure we were blocking anybody. Two, three or four guys were in there and were making it real miserable for Taylor. Hopefully, we can get things started and start over again.”

    Shore’s lone touchdown drive started at its own 29-yard line with 2:57 left in the game. A couple of rushes stalled, and on third-and-5 Taylor English found Eli Skinner downfield for a 57-yard gain, putting Shore at the Seals’ 9.

    Two plays later, Logan Shay pulled in an English pass from 10 yard out for the score

    “We weren’t going to kick a field goal. We were going to go for it,”Eck said. “We wanted to salvage seven points at least. We didn’t get shut out all year, and have played against some tough opponents.”

    English completed 8-of-18 passes for 112 yards with one interception. Ian Berry had a theft in the game, intercepting a Briggs pass in the third period.

    District IV Class AAA Final

    SELINSGROVE 35, JERSEY SHORE 7

    JS 0-0-0-7 – 7

    S 14-14-7-0 – 35

    Scoring Summary

    First Quarter

    S – Cameron Benner 53-yard interception return (Matt Salsman kick), 10:36

    S – Bryant Trautman 1 run (Salsman kick), 9:03

    Second Quarter

    S – Ryan Keiser 27 pass from Cory Briggs (Salsman), 9:35

    S – Trautman 1 run (Salsman), 2:45

    Third Quarter

    S – Keiser 17 pass from Briggs (Salsman kick), 3:04

    Fourth Quarter

    JS – Logan Shay 10 pass from Taylor English (Eli Skinner kick), 11:52

    TEAM STATISTICS

    JS S

    First Downs 6 18

    Rushes-Yards 13-17 39-195

    Yards Passing 117 207

    Passing 8-18-1 12-17-1

    Total Offense 134 204

    Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0

    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    Rushing – JS, Jake Potter 4-18; English 2-(-4); Ian Berry 1-(-4); Kasey Kemmerer 1-(-2); Logan Mariano 3-4; Cody Ulmer 2-3. S, Dylan Elliott 3-9; Matt Wenrich 2-59; Trautman 4-11 2 TD; Benner 2-6; Kyle Reinard 14-56; Briggs 1-7; Seth Lauver 6-35; Grant Fleetwood 6-22; Tyler Kerstetter 1-1; Ben Morrow 1-(-2).

    Passing – JS, Taylor English 8-18-112-1-1. S, Briggs 11-15-205-2-1; Morrow 1-2-2-0-0.

    Receiving – JS, Berry 3-17; Cody Wheeler 2-18; Logan Welshans 1-10; Skinner 1-57; Logan Shay 1-10. S, Keiser 5-106; Teighler Doak 2-8; Lauver 1-25; Kyle Reinard 2-34; Kyle Shuck 1-4; Matt Ruby 1-2.

    Interceptions – JS, Ian Berry. S, Benner.

  • Shore downs East Juniata 54-25; moves on to face Selinsgrove

    JERSEY SHORE – Each time Jersey Shore was near East Juniata’s 20-yard line, people started looking for Eli Skinner lined up on the outside.

    The lengthy wide receiver took off from scrimmage and waited for the pigskin to find his hands.

    That sequence happened more often that East Juniata would have liked.

    Shore quarterback Taylor English hooked up with Skinner for three touchdowns, and the Bulldogs pounded the ball into the end zone a total of seven times for a 54-25 win over the Tigers in the District IV Triple-A semifinals at Jersey Shore.

    “Eli is just a fantastic athlete,” Shore head coach Steve Eck said. “We threw it out to him and he makes things happen. We figured that he could beat anyone of their tacklers, being tall and athletic like he is.

    “(Skinner and English) have got better. Early in the season, they struggled a little bit ä particularly at Central Mountain. Since then, they have picked it up a little bit. They do the things that receivers and quarterbacks should do.”

    The win advances the Bulldogs to the district final against Selinsgrove, which blanked Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 35-0 last night.

    Although East Juniata (3-8) started its first series off with a sensational, 76-yard pass from EJ’s J.J. Wert to Dexter Herman for the game’s first points, Shore came back and scored four unanswered touchdowns – shaking off the cobwebs that were apparent in the Bulldogs’ first two series. Shore (5-6) went three-and-out on its first drive, and fumbled the ball on the third play after East Juniata’s kick off.

    “We started off slow,” said Skinner, who had 81 yards receiving. “It took us a while to get going, but we just stepped up – especially Logan Mariano and Logan Shay. They got the running game going. We just started playing good.

    “We just called the right plays at the right time, and Taylor threw three awesome passes right to me. I think we underestimated them and didn’t come out as serious as we should have.”

    Herman was the star for his team – catching three TD strikes in the game. Two came from Wert – one being the 76 yarder in the first while the other was a 22-yard pass in the second. The third was an 18-yard strike from Cody Cutler with 6:20 left in the game.

    Cutler was on the receiving end of a 25-yard pass with 4.8 seconds left in the game that gave the Tigers its final points of the contest. On the ground, Cutler had 14 rushes for 57 yards. Wert was 9-for-19 with 229 yards passing and two interceptions. Herman ended the game with 200 yards receiving.

    “It was fun. Actually, we told the guys at halftime that it was probably the first time ever that Tiger football had ever been ahead in a game,” assistant coach Joel Snyder said. “You can call it lucky, but we kicked off, stopped them and they punted. Then, we scored. That’s part of football. Whether it’s luck or not, it’s part of football.

    “Dexter Herman had a heck of a game. It was great to watch him. He was hurt all year, and he was hurt (tonight), but he played really hard. It was 28-6, and we moved the ball and threw it down the field. We scored and that made it 28-13. What more could we ask from the team. Coming from where we are at, being 3-7, I thought that was a pretty good deal. Defensively, we had some pretty good things happening. We got beat a number of times, and the coaches have talked about that in the past. Overall, I think we should be pleased. We were outmanded quite a bit, but we’ll be back next year and see what we can do.”

    Unfortunately, East Juniata couldn’t enjoy its final touchdown. Shore’s Ethan Robbins ran back the ensuing kickoff 84 yards, capping the scoring on the evening.

    The Bulldogs (5-6) had a knack for finding the end zone, especially in the first half. Shore took a 42-13 lead into the locker room, giving the starters a chance to rest in the second half.

    Signal-caller English completed 5-of-8 passes for 110 yards and three TDs – the third time this year the junior has had a three-touchdown game. The other came against Central Mountain at the beginning of the season. English also had a 1-yard scamper into the end zone.

    Skinner was his main target on the night, as the senior caught four of those passes. Logan Shay had the other completed pass.

    On the ground, three other Bulldog players found paydirt. Jake Potter, Ethan Robbins and Mariano each found the end zone from 1 yard out.

    “It really wasn’t that tough,” Eck said in reference to preparing for the game. “We took a look at them. You never want to look ahead too far. I thought our kids responded well and came out and played. Our offensive line is quite a bit bigger than theirs, and we’re very athletic. We just got up in there and ran at them. We did that and pushed them around.”

    Mariano ended the night with 53 yards on six touches, while Potter had eight carries for 52 yards. Shawn Ulmer touched the ball six times in the first half for 44 yards.

    District IV Class AAA Semifinals

    JERSEY SHORE 54, EAST JUNIATA 25

    First Quarter

    EJ – Dexter Herman 76 pass from J.J. Wert (kick blocked), 10:22

    JS – Jake Potter 1 run (Eli Skinner kick), 5:25

    JS – Skinner 31 pass from Taylor English (Skinner kick), 2:46

    Second Quarter

    JS – English 1 run (Skinner kick), 11:37

    JS – Skinner 22 pass from English (Skinner kick), 8:22

    EJ – Herman 22 pass from Wert (Tyler Erhard kick), 5:39

    JS – Skinner 17 pass from English (Skinner kick), 1:52

    JS – Logan Mariano 1 run (Skinner kick), 31.6

    Third Quarter

    JS – Ethan Robbins 1 run (kick failed), 41.0

    Fourth Quarter

    EJ – Herman 18 pass from Cody Cutler (kick failed), 6:20

    EJ – Cutler 25 pass from Wert (kick failed), 4.8

    JS – Robbins 84-yard kickoff return (no kick), 0.0

    Team Statistics

    JS EJ

    First Downs 18 7

    Rushes-Yards 43-274 20-56

    Yards Passing 110 247

    Total Offense 384 303

    Passing 5-9-110 10-22-222

    Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1

    Individual Statistics

    RUSHING: EJ, Cutler 14-57; Chris Swanger 2-6; Dominic Trader 3-(-6), Jake Wenrich 1-(-1). JS, Kasey Kemmerer 6-29; Mariano 6-53 TD; Potter 8-52 TD; Logan Shay 2-33; English 1-1 TD; Ian Berry 1-13; Logan Enders 5-23; Robbins 7-17 TD; Shawn Ulmer 6-44; Casey Rishel 1-9.

    PASSING: EJ, Wert 8-17-2, 204 yards 2 TD; Sam Wray 0-1; Herman 0-1; Cutler 1-1-0 18 yards TD. JS, English 5-8-0, 110 yards 3 TD; Rishel 0-1.

    RECEIVING: EJ, Herman 7-200; Cutler 1-(21); Wray 1-26. JS, Logan Shay 1-29; Skinner 4-81.

    INTERCEPTIONS: EJ, none. JS, Logan Welshans, Jake Rogers.

     

  • Jersey Shore puts up fight despite loss to Selinsgrove

    JERSEY SHORE – Very rarely does Selinsgrove not score in the first half of a football game.
    With the scoreboard only showing seven points for the Seals after two quarters, Jersey Shore was feeling optimistic despite not finding the end zone in the first half.
    But with all-state candidate Cory Briggs firing from the pocket, and Cameron Benner and Ryan Keiser striding across the grass, Selinsgrove couldn’t be stopped.

    The Seals scored three times in the third quarter and once in the fourth, and went on to pick up a 35-7 victory at Thompson Street Stadium Friday night.

    The lopsided score wasn’t necessarily an indication of how close the first half was between the two teams, as the total offense gained by both sides – 92 for Shore and 149 for the Seals – was closer than many expected.

    “Jersey Shore was in this game the first half. They came out and had a nice gameplan,” Seals head coach Dave Hess said. “Their kids played well. I told our kids coming in that Jersey Shore was a good football team. Coming into this game, they were in contention for a league title. They were 3-1 in the conference, and they had gotten better every week. They did some nice things, and we made some mistakes. The second half, we straightened things out and got some points on the board. They (Shore) are a good football team and they played well.”

    Holding Selinsgrove (8-1) to a mere seven points in 24 minutes isn’t something that many teams have been able to do this year. Mount Carmel shut out the Seals to start the season, but since then, it’s been a scoring assault by the Snyder County squad.

    Jersey Shore (3-6) contained Briggs heavily in the first half, sacking the junior signal-caller four times for a loss of 27 yards. Clark Thompson had two sacks, while Kyle Miller and Jack Heck combined for the other two. Coupled with key penalties against the Seals, and the Bulldogs were right in sync with the defending district champs with two quarters left to play.

    “The kids played with their hearts,” Shore head coach Steve Eck said. “Offensively, we had a couple of opportunities. We got the ball moving, but couldnát get it down there. We just can’t find a way to get in the end zone against these guys. Hopefully, we’ll have another shot at them.

    “I think everybody figured we would be three or four touchdowns down by halftime, and our kids came out and played and did a heck of a job. I’m just really proud of them.”

    The final 24 minutes was all about the Seals.

    Briggs matched his passing mark from the first half, and ended the night 18-for-23 with 222 yards. He hit wide receiver Ryan Keiser seven times for 111 yards, and also found Teighler Doak eight times for 73 yards.

    “Cory is, at this point, an exceptional player,” Hess said. “I take no credit for that whatsoever. Our quarterbacks coach, our offensive coordinator Mike Bowman, does a terrific job with him. He sees things on the line of scrimmage, he’s reading coverage and making calls on the field. He’s the entire package right now. What we need to do is protect him a little bit better.

    “I thought our kids were playing well the first half. It really wasn’t about fire in the second half. It was more about straightening up some mistakes. We had three big plays in the first half, and all three came back because of penalties. We didn’t protect the quarterback very well. So, that’s less fire and more technical stuff. We just tried to straighten up what we were doing and make less mistakes the second half and be more consistent.”

    Briggs ran in his team’s lone touchdown in the first half, and hooked up with Keiser for the Seals’ first TD in the third on a seven-play, 79-yard drive.

    After forcing the Bulldogs to go three-and-out, Selinsgrove tacked on seven more points on a drive that started at the Shore 48. This time, it was Cameron Benner who found paydirt on a 3-yard scamper. Benner also had a 42-yard TD run in the fourth to cap the Seals’ scoring.

    Late in the third, Keiser returned a punt 82 yards, giving the Seals a 28-point advantage with 1:54 remaining.

    “Selinsgrove came out and showed that their No. 5 (Keiser) is better than who we could cover him with,” Eck said. “Our punt team wasn’t executing and was letting them get some quick run backs. That is Selinsgrove. They’ll make adjustments. They have a good coaching staff and they do that type of stuff. They take advantage of special teams, and we have to take care of that.”

    Shore was finally able to put together a scoring drive with the clock running continuously in the fourth quarter.

    Starting from their own 27, the Bulldogs got a huge 56-yard run from Jake Potter, planting them at the Selinsgrove 17. Two plays later, Potter hit paydirt for Shore’s lone points on the game. He ended the night with 10 carries for 98 yards.

    At 5-0 in the HAC-I, Selinsgrove will battle for the division crown next week with Montoursville, a winner over Danville last night. Shore, which is 3-2 in the league, will meet up with the Ironmen in its final regular-season contest in hopes of solidifying a spot in the District IV playoffs.

    Heartland Conference, Division I

    SELINSGROVE 35, JERSEY SHORE 7

    S 7-0-21-7 – 35

    J 0-0-0-7 – 7

    Scoring Summary

    First Quarter

    S – Cory Briggs 1 rush (Matt Salsman kick), 1:33

    Third Quarter

    S – Ryan Keiser 21 pass from Briggs (Salsman kick), 9:01

    S – Cameron Benner 3 run (Salsman kick), 4:24

    S – Keiser 82 punt return (Salsman kick), 1:54

    Fourth Quarter

    S – Benner 42 run (Salsman kick), 11:43

    J – Jake Potter 1 run (Eli Skinner kick), 9:33

    Team Statistics

    S JS

    First Downs 13 9

    Rushes-Yards 26-119 24-129

    Yards Passing 228 72

    C.-A.-T. 19-26-1 8-15-0

    Total Offense 347 201

    Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-1

    Individual Statistics

    RUSHING: S, Kyle Reinard 8-48; Matt Wenrich 2-32; Briggs 5-(-27); Benner 3-50 2 TD; Bryant Trautman 2-4; Seth Lauver 3-15; Grant Fleetwood 2-5; Ben Morrow 1-(-8). JS, Kasey Kemmerer 4-13; Potter 10-98 TD; Skinner 1-2; Taylor English 2-(-10); Logan Mariano 1-5; Logan Shay 1-4; Ethan Robbins 1-3; Logan Enders 1-4; Ryan Shay 3-10.

    PASSING: S, Briggs 18-23-226-1-1; Morrow 1-3-6-0-0. JS, English 8-14-72-0-0; Skinner 0-1-0-0-0.

    RECEIVING: S, Teighler Doak 8-73; Reinard 2-27; Keiser 7-111; Kyle Shuck 1-11; Dan Bausinger 1-6. JS, Ian Sander 1-14; Potter 2-31; Skinner 2-18; Mariano 2-9; Logan Welshans 1-0.

    INTERCEPTIONS: JS, Skinner.

     

     

     

  • Shore keeps playoff hopes alive with win over Milton

    JERSEY SHORE – After last week’s big loss to Mount Carmel Area, Jersey Shore needed a feel-good victory to boost their spirits.

    A win also wouldn’t hurt the Bulldogs’ playoff hopes, either.

    The orange and black started off the game with a three-play, 66-yard drive for a touchdown – which included a 64-yard reception from Taylor English to Ian Berry – and went on to defeat Milton 31-8 Friday night.

    The win at Thompson Street Stadium was the Bulldogs’ third of the season, and helped Shore make a push for the postseason, as the Lycoming County team was in fifth entering last night’s contest.

    East Juniata and Cowanesque Valley and Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech  – the second-, third- and fourth-place teams behind first-place Selinsgrove – all lost Friday night. That should give the Bulldogs a huge boost in the standings.

    For now, Steve Eck and his squad will relish this victory first before looking ahead.

    “We knew that they were hurting for numbers, and we had a pretty good idea that they were going to have to go with a young kid at quarterback,” the Jersey Shore head coach said. “What I was concerned with was our guys coming out and just being flat because they weren’t expecting a tough game. They came out and played tough. We got lucky on that first pass right through the kid’s hands. I thought it was an interception. The kids responded well, so we’re pretty happy about that.”

    The pass Eck was talking about was the 64-yarder that gave the Bulldogs their first points of the game. That was Berry’s only reception – but it really set the tone for the rest of the contest.

    Shore got a nice performance all around from Eli Skinner, who connected on all four PATs and also had a 32-yard field goal and a 14-yard TD scamper on a reversal from Jake Potter.

    Milton – which is struggling at 1-7 on the season – had a brand new quarterback in the form of Codye Miller. The senior threw for 81 yards and had one rushing touchdown for the Black Panthers – a 2-yard scamper in the fourth. He was sacked twice by Shore’s Clark Thompson.

    “Codye Miller did a real nice job. He never played quarterback before, but he made some nice decisions and did a good job,” Milton head coach Mike Bergey said.

    “I tried to make things as simple as possible for him, but still, that’s probably the most difficult position on offense to do, mentally as well as just focusing on what to do. He did a nice job. It wasn’t an easy task.

    “Our focus was to keep our energy level up and play hard. We wanted to play hard no matter what the situation was and play 110 percent every snap. Our kids did that. We emphasized to not put their heads down and keep playing no matter what, and they did that.”

    After Jersey Shore’s opening drive, the Bulldogs (3-5) scored on their next two possessions.

    The first was a 10-play, 88-yard drive that started from the Shore 12. The Bulldogs got four first downs in the series, which was capped by a 2-yard scamper by Kasey Kemmerer.

    The next drive started at Shore’s 44-yard line in the first quarter and ended with paydirt in the second, as Potter took the pigskin in from 4 yards out.

    Potter ended the night with 77 yards on 11 carries, while Kemmerer had seven touches for 81 yards.

    “We wanted to run the ball. They run that 3-5, which is the same as Selinsgrove,” Eck said. “We wanted to get out there and get after it and see what worked and what didn’t. When Selinsgrove comes next week, they’ve been running that a lot longer, so that gives us a good look and we can make some judgments.”

    Shore signal-caller Taylor English had another solid outing for Shore, completing 6-of-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth time this season he’s thrown for more than 100 yards.

    On defense, Shore’s Logan Shay and Aaron Reidell each has seven tackles. Reidell got the call on defense in the second half as Eck got the chance to put some new faces on the gridiron.

    “He did a nice job,” the Shore skipper said of Reidell. “He needs to make those tackles a little closer to the line of scrimmage, though. We knew (Milton) was struggling, and there was no sense in beating them up. We were down in the numbers last week, so it was good for those kids to get in and play.”

    With playoffs looming in a few weeks, the focus now shifts to Selinsgrove, a powerhouse that Shore last faced off with in last year’s District IV Class AAA final.

    “We’re just going to focus on that,” Eck said. “We can’t be thinking about two or three things. We have to focus on them. They have a heck of a football team. What we need to do is come out and have a good week of practice and come out and play football like we did (tonight).”

    Heartland Conference, Division I

    JERSEY SHORE 31, MILTON 8

    M 0 0 0 8 – 8

    J 14 10 7 0 – 31

    First Quarter

    JS – Ian Berry 64 pass from Taylor English (Eli Skinner kick), 11:10

    JS – Kasey Kemmerer 2 run (Skinner kick), 2:07

    Second Quarter

    JS – Jake Potter 4 run (Skinner kick), 10:04

    JS – Skinner 32 field goal, 3:08

    Third Quarter

    JS – Skinner 14 run (Skinner kick), 10:00

    Fourth Quarter

    M – Codye Miller 2 run (Miller run), 10:16

    Team Statistics

    JS M

    First Downs 13 10

    Rushes-Yards 38-259 32-111

    Yards Passing 131 81

    Total Offense 390 192

    Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-2

    Individual Statistics

    Rushing – M, Tyrone Short 8-24; Bobby Turnbaugh 14-86; Brandon Bower 3-13; Miller 5-(-17) TD; Bobby Trostle 2-5. JS, Potter 11-77 TD; Kemmerer 7-81 TD; Skinner 2-33 TD; Logan Shay 4-25; Ethan Robbins 4-22; English 1-5; Ian Berry 1-1; Ryan Shay 5-5; Logan Enders 2-15; Shawn Ulmer 1-(-5).

    Passing – M, Miller 4-13-81-0-0. JS, English 6-11-131-1-0; Ulmer 0-2-0-0-0.

    Receiving – M, Short 1-2; Luke Tillinghast 2-50; Ryan Lopes 1-29. JS, Skinner 3-40; Berry 1-64 TD; Logan Welshans 1-9; Logan Shay 1-18.

    Interceptions – None.

    Records – M 1-7. JS 3-5.

  • Jersey Shore handles Mifflinburg, 31-10

    JERSEY SHORE – Steve Eck has been waiting for his Jersey Shore Bulldogs to make the big plays.

    Finally, with some help from Mifflinburg miscues, his squad got it done.

    Shore’s defense held Mifflinburg to a mere field goal in the second half, and the offense stepped up with big scores in the final 12 minutes as the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 31-10 Friday at Thompson Street Stadium.

    Tied at 7-all with eight minutes remaining in the first half, Eck’s kids needed a big play to feed off of.

    Kasey Kemmerer delivered the dessert.

    The Wildcats fumbled deep in their own territory, and Kemmerer – who ended the night with 84 yards rushing – scooped up the pigskin at the 6-yard line to set up the tie-breaking score. English scampered into the end zone from 1 yard out, giving the Bulldogs a seven-point advantage before the half.

    “I was just thinking to pick it up and get it in the end zone. I ended up a little bit short, though,” said Kemmerer, who had eight tackles. “It is just a great feeling overall. It’s great to get the win.”

    The Bulldogs (2-4) kept Wildcat quarterback Barry Tomasetti scrambling in the pocket on numerous occasions, sacking the freshman five times. Jake Heck had two, Logan Shay had one unassisted and combined with Kemmerer for another. Late in the game, Kyle Miller popped the ball loose from Tomasetti’s hands, which led to a Shore field goal.

    “The defense really stepped up,” Eck said. “A couple of times, they stopped them on fourth down. (Mifflinburg) actually changed their option and ran it to the open side almost exclusively last week. This week, they caught us a little bit by running to the tight-end side. They made some yardage there in the first quarter. The coaches made some adjustments and the kids did, too. They did a good job.”

    Mifflinburg (1-5) used the option to move down the field in the first half.

    After Clark Thompson gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard scamper, Tomasetti got the Wildcats down to the Shore 6 to begin the second quarter. Wildcat workhorse Matt Brouse rushed the ball in from 5 yards out for paydirt. Brouse earned 68 yards on 17 carries.

    The second half was paced early by Mifflinburg as the Wildcats got close enough for a 40-yard field goal, pulling within four points.

    “We have a freshman at quarterback that made some great plays, and then some that weren’t so great,” Mifflinburg head coach Mark Reitz said. “The option worked all game. That play relies a lot on the quarterback. To rely on a freshman, he did pretty well. We didn’t take advantage of a couple of things that we should have. That’s the way it goes when you play a freshman quarterback running the option.”

    After getting fired up by a questionable fumble call in the third stanza, the Bulldogs rebounded in the fourth quarter with two consecutive scores.

    A QB keeper by English put Shore at the Mifflinburg 2, and the junior ran it in for paydirt.

    On the Bulldogs’ next series, Kemmerer had a huge rush from the Shore 24 to the Wildcat 30 with 6:30 remaining in the game. A bullet from English to Ian Sander put the Bulldogs at the Wildcat 8-yard line, and on third-and-goal, English caught Jake Potter on the TD strike.

    The QB ended the night 13-for-18 with 194 yards passing, one TD and two rushing scores.

    His main target was Sander, who had four catches for 45 yards. Ian Berry caught three for 51 yards, while Logan Mariano caught two for 34.

    “That was certainly huge,” Eck said of Kemmerer’s fumble recovery. “At 14-10, it was still a tight game. (Mifflinburg) could have won it. That turned things in our favor.

    “This was a big-play game. We had a couple big runs and had a lot of different people catching the ball. We set ourselves up for playing well next week. It’s going to be a challenge for sure, but we’re ready.”

    The Bulldogs will travel to Mount Carmel Area for a showdown with the Red Tornadoes next week.

    PHAC Division I

    JERSEY SHORE 31, MIFFLINBURG 10

    M 0-7-3-0 – 10

    J 7-7-0-17 – 31

    Score By Quarters

    First Quarter

    JS – Clark Thompson 1 run (Eli Skinner kick), 4:39

    Second Quarter

    M – Matt Brouse 5 run (Jon Himes kick), 11:56

    JS – Taylor English 1 run (Skinner kick), 7:01

    M – Himes 40 field goal, 5:38

    Fourth Quarter

    JS – English 2 run (Skinner kick), 9:37

    JS – Jake Potter 5 pass from English (Skinner kick), 6:04

    JS – Skinner 42 field goal, 2:28

    Team Statistics

    JS M

    First Downs 11 14

    Rushes-Yards 25-89 43-168

    Yards Passing 194 95

    C.-A.-I3-18-0 5-11-1

    Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1

    Individual Statistics

    Rushing: M, Darren Reynolds 1-3; Barry Tomasetti 11-27; Travis Hartman 3-17; Matt Brouse 17-68; Chad Wolfgang 9-45; Derek Wiand 1-6; Travis Schreck 1-2. J, Jake Potter 10-(-5); Kasey Kemmerer 7-81; Clark Thompson 2-5; Eli Skinner 1-2; Taylor English 3-6; Shawn Ulmer 1-(-1); Logan Enders 1-1.

    Passing: M, Tomasetti 5-11-95-0-1. JS, English 13-18-194-1-0.

    Receiving: M, Reynolds 3-51; Anthony Wagner 1-33; Shawn Hurst 1-11. JS, Ian Sander 4-45; Ian Berry 3-51; Kemmerer 1-18; Logan Mariano 2-34; Skinner 1-19; Chad Wheeler 1-22; Potter 1-5.

  • Athens pounces on Jersey Shore, 25-15

    JERSEY SHORE – Jack Young and Steve Eck will both admit this one wasn’t pretty.

    Yellows being thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct and personal fouls marred both sides throughout the game. But in the end, that’s not what it came down to.

    Athens just threw the ball more efficiently, and Jersey Shore couldn’t prevent it from happening.

    The Wildcats’ Shane Raupers connected with wide receiver Jarred Gambrell twice, and Athens went on to win 25-15 Friday at Thompson Street Stadium.

    Raupers, who was injured last week against Danville, fought through his injury by completing 14-of-36 passes for 227 yards. His main target, Gambrell, ended the night with 121 yards receiving and two scores – both of which came in the first half.

    “Shane is hurting,” Athens head coach Young said. “We didn’t play him on defense at all, and he’s not going to kick the ball for a few weeks. He’s a gutsy kid, and I believe this was his 40th varsity start, which you don’t see too often. When it does happen, it happens for a reason.

    “We are kind of licking our wounds after last week, and I don’t think we quite showed up to play. I think once we started playing defense, things leveled out a bit. It was an ugly ballgame. But, anytime you can win on the road is a good win. That is what we were looking for – to get back in the ‘W’ column.”

    Things started off bright for Jersey Shore (1-3), which marched down the field on its opening drive. The Bulldogs capped a four-play, 62-yard drive with a 38-yard run by Jake Potter for a quick, 6-0 lead.

    After that, the scores didn’t come near as often for Shore.

    A field goal by Eli Skinner in the second knotted the game at 6, and the orange and black didn’t score again until the beginning of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Taylor English.

    “When we practiced all week, we practiced for the things that we thought they would do, even with (Raupers) in there,” Eck said. “I should have probably anticipated that. We needed to step up, and our offensive line did that in the first series. They just took it to them; then I don’t know what happened.

    “I just told the team, I was embarassed the way we lost our composure. We just gave them all those extra yards. That’s not the way I play football.”

    The Wildcats (3-1) fired back after Shore’s score in the first as Raupers connected with Gambrell for a 30-yard TD strike. Athens went three-and-out on its next drive, giving Shore the ball which eventually led to the Bulldogs 32-yard field goal.

    Then, the Northern Tier school really opened things up.

    Athens drove 80 yards down the field – which included a 40-yard reception by Garrett Morgan to put the Wildcats at the Shore 37. Raupers got his team up to the 20-yard line, and again found Gambrell in the end zone.

    The Wildcats got the ball back quickly for their next two series, as two Shore fumbles gave Athens more opportunities. On the drive after Shore’s first turnover, Raupers threw an interception to Jake Rogers, but it came to no avail as the Bulldogs turned it over again, which led a Morgan 10-yard scamper for paydirt.

    There was some hope for Shore, which started off the fourth quarter with a touchdown. After getting to its own 45-yard line, Shore punted the ball away but Athens fumbled, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs. Two penalities pushed Shore to the Wildcats’ 12-yard line, and English ran it in for paydirt.

    The Shore QB was limited through the air, however, as he completed 11-of-22 passes for only 62 yards.

    “We did a nice job of that,” Young said of his teamás pass protection. “We talked about that all week, just taking care of the little things. We took care of some little things, but it was a real sloppy ball game. As a coach, you don’t want to see that kind of a ballgame. There were too many flags, but a win on a long road trip is a good win.”

    “Now we go and play five league games. We have to take each one at a time. We just wanted to get back in the ‘W’ column, and now we can see what happens in our league.”

    Next week, the Bulldogs will be tested on the road when they travel to Montoursville, which is a PHAC Divison I contest. The Warriors easily defeated Milton 47-7 last night.

    ATHENS 25, JERSEY SHORE 15

    A 6 12 7 0 – 25

    J 6 3 0 6 – 15

    First Quarter

    JS – Jake Potter 38 run (kick failed), 10:00

    A – Jarred Gambrell 30 pass from Shane Raupers (kick failed), 7:25

    Second Quarter

    JS – Eli Skinner 31 field goal, 10:40

    A – Gambrell 20 pass from Raupers (pass failed), 7:20

    A – Garrett Morgan 2 run (pass failed), 3:10

    Third Quarter

    A – Josiah Lesser 8 run (Cody May kick), 8:29

    Fourth Quarter

    JS – Taylor English 1 run (pass failed), 11:56

    TEAM STATISTICS

                         A                    JS

    First Downs 16                   11

    Rushes-Yards 29-121       29-130

    Yards Passing 227             62

    Total Offense 348             192

    C.-A.-T 14-36-1            11-22-1

    Fumbles-Lost 1-2           2-2

    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    Rushing: A, Garrett Morgan 18-76; Josiah Lesser 6-20; Shane Raupers 5-25. J, Jake Potter 16-115; Taylor English 5-(-11); Kasey Kemmerer 2-5; Logan Mariano 6-21.

    Passing: A, Raupers 14-36-227-2-1. J, English 11-22-62-0-1.

    Receiving: Gambrell 7-121; Josh Clark 4-48; Morgan 2-48; Dan Riley 1-10. JS, Eli Skinner 4-26; Jake Potter 1-(-6); Ian Berry 2-16; Logan Welshans 3-20; Ian Sander 1-6.

    Interceptions: A, Dan Riley. J, Jake Rogers.

     

  • Southern Columbia outruns Jersey Shore, 31-3

    JERSEY SHORE – It’s safe to say Jim Roth’s team has perfected the run.
    The veteran head coach his drilled into his kids’ head about wearing the other team down defensively, and Friday against Jersey Shore, the Tigers did just that.

    Steve Roth and Sam Springer combined for over 230 yards rushing with three touchdowns, and the Tigers simply outplayed the Bulldogs in a 31-3 victory at Thompson Street Stadium.

    Southern (3-0) didn’t need to make a comeback like the Class A team did against Montoursville one week ago. It came down to the big plays for the Tigers, which couldn’t get out of its own territory in the first quarter.

    Three separate drives led to points and a quick, 21-0 lead in the second quarter.

    “They were playing real physical and were flying around and were well prepared for the game,” Tiger head coach Jim Roth said. “They were doing a good job against our offense and on our plays. I have to give them credit for holding us down. On our side of the ball, I credit our guys for working through it. We spent time on the sideline talking to them about making adjustments and so forth. Eventually, we made some big plays and got more consistent with the offense and put points on the board. It was a nice win.”

    Springer hit paydirt first for Southern on a 49-yard reversal play that was executed perfectly. After holding the Bulldogs (1-2) to their own 36-yard line, the Tigers went 74 yards on two plays as signal-caller Jeremy Campbell threw a bullet up the middle to Matt Miller for the 65-yard score. Campbell ended the night 7-of-14 with 149 yards and one TD.

    Up 14-0, Southern tacked on another tally with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Steve Roth got the call this time, and the senior darted up the middle from 49-yards out for paydirt.

    Down 21-3 at the half, Steve Eck’s team was a bit shell-shocked. The Bulldogs’ run game was nearly nonexistent as the experienced defensive line of Southern held the orange and black to only 72 yards on the ground. In the air, junior QB Taylor English was held to just 50 yards.

    “Three big plays. That seems to be our problem all year is those plays,” Eck said. “We play tough, then we let them run right down the middle of the field. We had three guys missing over there on the sidelines, and they end up running over there for the touchdown. Our kids are playing hard. Right now, things aren’t clicking and we are giving up the big plays.

    “Offensively, the game plan didn’t work and that’s my fault. We tried to throw the ball down the field, and that’s not our game. We’re going to scrap that garbage and go back to running the ball and throwing the ball short. We’ll get out there on Monday and get after it.”

    Shore’s best chance of the game to hit the end zone was late in the second quarter when three pass interference plays put the Bulldogs into Southern’s red zone with a little less than minute to play. On first-and-goal, English was sacked, and Shore was held to a mere field goal before halftime.

    “Our schedule is such that there aren’t going to be too many breathers,” Jim Roth said. “We kind of challenged the players to play a good, physical football game. I think they did that for the most part. Defensively, it was a great sign to see a team play as well as they did against a team that throws the ball like (Jersey Shore) did. Teams left on our schedule are going to throw the ball like that and have had success doing that. For the defense to play like they did like that against a team that has had a lot of success the past two games throwing the ball, it was a great sign.”

    In the second half, it was mostly Southern gaining ground.

    A 14-play, 80-yard drive by the Tigers ended with a 15-yard Springer touchdown run in the third quarter, giving Southern a 28-3 lead with one stanza to play. Bryan Snyder, Jr. added a 22-yard field goal in the fourth to cap the scoring for the Tigers.

    “They run, run, run and throw,” Eck said. “We were playing man and did a great job covering, and then for one play he forgot and let them run right by into the backfield. That kid can throw the ball, and they run so much that they can catch you by surprise. We knew we could do that, but we just thought we could stop them.

    “They run that offense very well, and they take it to you. I think they did wear us down some. There’s no doubt about that. We just have to come back. At 1-2, the season is certainly salvageable at this point.”

     

     

  • Central Mountain handles Williamsport, 46-0

    WILLIAMSPORT – Nobody saw this one coming.

    Not Steve Turchetta, Tom Gravish, the fans or even the band.

    Central Mountain’s Matt Overdorf found the end zone four times, and the Wildcats unleashed a flurry similar to Hurricane Hanna’s strength on Williamsport in a 46-0 victory Friday night on the road.

    All of CM’s points came in the first half – 34 of which came in the second quarter.

    “They played with a lot of heart and were up to the challenge of coming down here to Williamsport,” Wildcat head coach Turchetta said. “Everybody was playing this up as the game of the week, and our kids came to play. Defense came out and was down a bit in the first then got that underneath them. The offense came out and just made those big plays again, and it steamrolled from there.”

    Big plays might be an understatement.

    The Wildcats put the ball in paydirt both times they touched it in the first half. Overdorf was on the end of both tallys, the first being a 13-yard run after a drive from the CM 31. On the Wildcats’ next possesion, the senior running back caught a tipped pass from Cody Dolan and shot down the field 41 yards – using a nice juke move at the 20-yard line to scoot around a Williamsport blocker and into the end zone.

    The second quarter was more of the same, with the defense doing its job to perfection.

    “It makes us feel pretty good,” said Overdorf of his team’s performance. “The line was doing good and the coaches were calling good plays and everything. It definitely does feel good. We are a good team, and we just have to see how things play out.

    “(Turchetta) was a little bit mad about giving up the points last week, but the thing that he liked about it was that we didn’t just hang our heads. We came back and responded to him a little bit. It was just all of us. It was a big motivation to just build upon everything.”

    Central Mountain ran 18 plays in the first half and scored on five of them, averaging paydirt almost every fourth play.

    That stat isn’t something Gravish payed any attention to, nor does the Williamsport head coach probably want to know.

    “The Central Mountain kids played hard. I knew they were a good team,” the second-year head coach said. “We didn’t have a very good practice (Thursday), and we had a lackluster practice on Wednesday. I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to play, you have to have the right frame of mind from your practices.

    “It’s embarassing. We are capable of playing a lot better than that. That isn’t the team that we are. Yes, we lost a couple people from last week’s game that are emotional leaders. They should be back next week. Give the Central Mountain kids credit because they played hard. They have good, tough kids. They didn’t do anything fancy, and they just played hard. The bottom line is, we didn’t play hard and we didn’t play with enough effort.”

    Williamsport signal-caller Michael Person threw two interceptions – one to Logan Houtz which the Wildcat put in the end zone from 37 yards out – and the other to Zuback, which eventually led to a Dolan pass to Overdorf for CM’s final score of the half. The other interception came on a pass play by Nahshon Braggs, who threw right to Blaine Counsil.

    “You have to look at everything,” Turchetta said. “You look at the one-two punch with Overdorf and Zuback, and that whole thing. You can’t concentrate on just one thing or person, which helps out a lot. I hate to single just one person out, because they all played so well. Zuback ran well, Overdorf ran hard, and they all are playing well right now.

    “There were some shades early. I think coach Gravish came out early with a gameplan to attack us. I think he saw some things from Jersey Shore, but the difference was we didn’t break. We bent a little bit, but we kept things in front of us. I thought we were much better this week.”

    Dolan ended the night 7-for-8 with 137 yards and two TDs, while Person came up with 88 yards passing. Nick Turchetta had one pass for nine yards. Overdorf rushed for 59 yards on 10 carries, while Zuback had two for 35 yards.

    CM had 289 yards of offense to Williamsport’s 175, and the Millionaires had four fumbles, all of which they recovered.

  • Central Mountain defeats Jersey Shore, 43-28

    LOCK HAVEN – One sensational play after the other.
    That seemed to be the theme for Central Mountain and Jersey Shore’s clash at Lock Haven University Friday night.
    In the end, the Wildcats’ plays were just a little bit more spectacular.
    Up 30-22 in the fourth, a series of three consecutive flags forced the Wildcats to put something together on first-and-35 at their own 16-yard line. Cody Dolan hooked up with Scott Zuback for an 84-yard touchdown reception, and CM rode the momentum wave to a 43-28 win over the Bulldogs in both teams’ season opener.
    Dolan hit most of his targets on the night, going 9-for-16 with 261 yards passing. Zuback was on the receiving end five times for 154 yards.
    “We knew this was a big game coming in,” Zuback said. “Even though we beat them with a bunch of deep plays, we knew that we couldn’t do that. We have been playing together since junior high. We know each other pretty well. He knows where to pass and where I am going to be, so it works.
    “It’s pretty important to get a win your first start because it gets the nerves out.”
    Central Mountain had a couple of impressive runs from Matt Overdorf, who ended the night with 175 yards on 20 carries. He had a 59-yard rush for a touchdown in the second to put CM up 10-0, then had a 6-yard scamper in the fourth after the Dolan-Zuback connection took the wind out of Shore’s sails.
    To go along with his two TD catches, Zuback also had a 47-yard run in the second.
    “That was what we were hoping for. That’s what we were hoping to accomplish with that 1-2 combination,” CM head coach Steve Turchetta said. “Scott was out at wideout, then we put him in at tailback. He did a nice job opening things up.
    “They played well. You have to give Jersey Shore a lot of credit because they played very well. They never quit and kept coming at us. Our kids made some big plays down the stretch.”
    On his first varsity start, Shore’s Taylor English was quite impressive.
    The junior signal-caller connected on 17-of-36 passes, throwing for 237 yards. He put a touchdown pass in the hands of Eli Skinner in the fourth, and also led several Shore charges down the field in the second half.
    “Taylor worked his butt off. I certainly didn’t expect to throw the ball that much,” Shore skipper Steve Eck said. “I thought we could control them a little better up front. But he stepped up and did a good job.
    “We just gave them too many big plays. I think four plays were over 50 or 60 yards. The kids came back. At 30-22, I really thought we had a shot at them. They got pushed back toward their own endzone. That play there was a killer. For us to win the game, we had to stop them right there and get the ball back and score. That was huge there.”
    English had three interceptions – two by Logan Houtz and one by Nick Turchetta. Dolan was picked off once by Kyle Stabley in the first quarter.
    A killer for Shore was rushing yards, as CM was able to stop most of the plays on the ground. Shore only accumulated 11 yards on the ground, putting a stop to most rushes. Jake Potter had 29 yards on 11 carries, while Logan Shay picked up six.
    “The Skinner kid was pretty tough,” Turchetta said. “That one whole series they just took the ball right down the field with him. We have to go back and look at that and go from there.”
    Shore will move on to face Shikellamy next week, while the Wildcats will travel to Williamsport.

  • Jersey Shore football preview

    JERSEY SHORE – With its first trip back to the District IV championship game in nearly 10 years, the Jersey Shore Bulldogs were feeling pretty good last season. 

     This year’s version of the orange and black aren’t feeling too bad, either.

    The Bulldogs – who will begin this year in the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference – boasted a tough defense in 2007 with a much-improved offense. Steve Eck’s squad this season has some of those same characteristics. The orange and black have a healthy senior class of 22, all of whom were playmakers last year and hope to continue that trend this season.

    “Our group of seniors had a lot of success last year playing, particularly on the offensive line. Defensively, we really only lost Skyler Wool. So, we’re looking for big things from both sides. This group of seniors has a lot of talent, and with the combination of the juniors, hopefully we can make something happen.”

    Shore’s 2007 might have ended a little sour with a loss to Selinsgrove in the district title tilt, but the remainder of the season was pretty sweet.

    Thrilling wins over Shamokin and Athens highlighted the year, as did a postseason semifinal victory over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech. Now, it will be up to this year’s kids to repeat that same success.

    Filling the vacant spot at quarterback left by Derek Smith will be Taylor English, who moves up from the JV team.

    Smith was a verstatile signalcaller capable of making those long passes and finding holes in the line to burst through. While English might not have that same speed or experience on varsity, Eck feels that he is ready for the challenge.

    “It looks like Taylor English will be our quarterback. Heás looked really good during the summertime,” Eck said. “He doesn’t have any varsity experience, but he played a lot of JV last year and has really grown up this summer. We’ll have good things offensively.

    “We kept everything the same on offense for him. Last year, where Taylor got himself in trouble with the JV team was that he wasn’t making the reads. He was coming out and trying to throw the home run ball all the time. This year, he has come out and realized that you throw to the guy that is open and you look at the guy you are supposed to look at. I’m real pleased with him. He worked hard in the weight room, and the kids really have a lot of confidence in him.”

    English’s targets will vary as the season goes, but look for wide receiver Eli Skinner to be on the end of some of those passes. Kyle Myers, Ian Berry, Jake Potter and Kasey Kemmerer may also see the ball in their hands as well. Kemmerer and Jason Bartges saw the ball a combined 22 times last year.

    Also returning in 2008 is running back Jaron Smithgall, Shore’s leading rusher last season. He accumulated 758 yards on 178 carries with six touchdowns.

    “Defensively, we are in pretty good shape, too,” Eck said. “We have all our our defensive backs returning. We had three senior linebackers that graduated, so we’re looking for some kids to step in there and do the job for us. But we’re feeling pretty good there.”

    Defensively, Shore has some kids on the line that have valuable experience under their belts.

    Five seniors – Logan Mariano, Berry, Kemmerer, Kyle Stabley and Clark Thompson – racked up the tackles last year. Stabley had 65 tackles – 45 unassisted – while the other four had a combined 120-plus takedowns.

    As mentioned above, the Heartland Conference debuts this season, and features 25 schools from seven different counties. Mount Carmel and Southern Columbia are two new opponents for Shore, which are in Division I. The Bulldogs will host Southern Sept. 12, and will travel to The Silver Bowl to square off with Mount Carmel on Oct. 10.

    “The schedule change is kind of exciting,” Eck said. “We are switching around and playing Central Mountain first. It’s become a little more of a rivalry with us beating them up there two years ago, and then they beat us up here last year in a close game. Being at Lock Haven University is kind of a neutral site, so we’re pretty excited about opening the season up there. With the addition of Southern and Mount Carmel, as well are our matchups with Danville and Montoursville and Selinsgrove, there is some newness to it.”

    Along with Southern, Jersey Shore’s other home games will be Athens, Mifflinburg, Milton and Selinsgrove. The orange and black will travel to LHU, Shikellamy, Montoursville, Mount Carmel and Danville. The Bulldogs’ homecoming is Oct. 17 against Milton.