Tornadoes Dispatch Defenders 41-13
It was very fitting for Mount Carmel Area that week 8 of the high school football season contained “Back to the Future” day. On Friday night, the Red Tornadoes looked like a team that climbed into Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine, erased all memories of the past two weeks, and cruised to a 41-13 victory over Warrior Run. “In practice we reminded our kids that the last two games weren’t what our football team is about. We used this week as a turning point not only for the remainder of this season, but as a building block for the program. The guys responded, had their best practice of the year on Tuesday, and played great tonight,” said head coach John Darrah.
Mount Carmel wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as they moved the ball well right from the opening kickoff as Lane Tanney’s 52 yard kick return set up the Tornadoes with excellent field position at the Warrior Run 37. Kyle Karycki would finish off the drive by taking the ball the final 28 yards into the end zone for his first of four touchdowns on the night. Rosolino Mangipane added his first career PAT, giving the Tornadoes an early 7-0 lead.
Things would click throughout the majority of the first half for the Big Red as their offense moved the ball at will. On Mount Carmel’s next drive, the Tornadoes marched all the way to the Defender goal line, only to be turned away, as Zach Zarkowski was ruled inches short on 4th down. On the drive, and throughout the night, fans witnessed some very hard running by Zarkowski who is growing into a very nice backfield weapon for the Tornadoes’ rushing arsenal. Lane Tanney also added a big catch on the drive which was a 28 yard reception from quarterback John Ayres. “We were able to spread the ball around and I thought it was good we got a lot of guys involved,” said Mount Carmel Coach John Darrah. “We had a lot of guys make plays. I was very pleased with the overall effort from everyone. Lane and Zach played well offensively and Kyle obviously had a big game.”
How big? Karycki, who would total 249 yards on the night on only 16 carries, eclipsed both the 1,000 yard mark for the season and 2,000 for his career at Mount Carmel Area. In the second quarter, he added two more touchdowns of 7 and 4 yards. Mangiapane would also add two more PATs and the Tornadoes found themselves leading 21-0.
It looked as if the Tornadoes would be carrying a shutout into the locker room, but Warrior Run had their biggest burst of momentum right before the half and scored with 2 seconds remaining as Defender quarterback Gage Anzulavich found Matt Truckenmiller for a 11 yard scoring strike. Austin Soltesz added the PAT and Warrior Run had cut the deficit to 21-7 at the half.
The Tornadoes remained resilient after the break, holding Warrior Run on downs, and Karycki struck once again. His fourth and final touchdown of the night was his most amazing as he took it coast to coast in scoring a 95 yard touchdown. Mangiapane’s PAT would make it 28-7. Karycki’s touchdown would prove to be the back breaker for the Defenders as Warrior Run coach Mark Burrows said, “Hats off to the Karyicki kid. He was tough to bring down. We misfired and it happened at inopportune times.” Karycki would add, “We knew this was a big game for us and we had a great week of practice. We know we have to win out to have a chance at playoffs. We needed to win this game to get momentum rolling for the next couple of weeks.” When asked about his game performance on the ground, Karycki was quick to share the accolades with his blockers, “I give all the credit to my linemen. They opened up a lot of holes tonight and even got on their linebackers. As a running back it makes it tat much easier when you only have one man to beat. The line did an amazing job tonight.”
The line would also pave the way for two more Tornado scores.“Night Train” Lane Tanney would add the first, a 27 yarder to close out the scoring in the third quarter. Mangipane would hit his 5th PAT and the Tornadoes increased their lead to 35-7. The second was scored by Senior fullback Allen Yancoskie who would add a 1 yard touchdown plunge in the fourth to make it 41-13, which was his first career varsity touchdown. Yancoskie’s number was called after he also spent a majority of his evening clearing paths for his teammates. “It was great to see our hard work pay off tonight. It was also nice to score my first touchdown on varsity and for Kyle to go over 2,000 career yards. It was great to get back on top with a big win,” said Yancoskie. Warrior Run’s final score of the night came in between those Tornado touchdown runs by Tanney and Yancoskie with Noah Showers notching a 1 yard touchdown plunge for the Defenders.
What does the future hold for the Big Red? If their play Friday night is any indication, the Tornadoes’ next few weeks will be looking bright. The Tornadoes will host Central Columbia next Friday at the Silver Bowl, while Warrior Run will be playing at Lewisburg.
GAME STATS
MCA: 7-14-14-6 = 41
WARRIOR RUN: 0- 7- 0- 6 = 13
MOUNT CARMEL (4-4)
RUSHING:
Kyle Karycki 16-249 4 TD; Lane Tanney 4-53; Allen Yankoskie 3-7; Zach Zarkowski 8-70; Tommy McDonald 1-4; Cameron Britt 1-2; John Ayres 6-19; Team 1- (-2)
PASSING:
John Ayres 5-8-0, 114 yards
RECEIVING:
Lane Tanney 2-60; Wes Shurock 2-53; Mason Duran 1-1
Mount Carmel Area Stats provided by Jose Gonzalo
WARRIOR RUN (3-5)
RUSHING:
Tyler Brown 16-63; Matt Gummo 2-7; Gage Anzulavich 2-5; Noah Showers 3-12 TD; Ty Kirkner 4-7; Tony Null 1-1; Ozzie Guillen 5-55; Team 3 – (-20).
PASSING:
Gage Anzulavich 14-22-1, 85 yards, TD
RECEIVING:
Kade Meyer 5-28; Matthew Gummo 3-12; Ty Kirkner 1-12; Matt Truckenmiller 3-35 TD; Tyler Brown 1-4
