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SUNBURY – The Jersey Shore Bulldogs came into Shikellamy Stadium ready to play last night, pitching a shutout and posting 430 yards of offense in a 53-0 victory over the Braves.
The team looked like it didn’t miss a beat from last season’s team that went all the way to the Class 4A State Quarterfinals.
Jersey Shore used hurry-up offense and a few quick turnovers in the opening quarter put things out of reach early.
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs drove 74 yards in eight plays to cap off a two-and-a-half-minute drive to take an early 7-0 lead. Jersey Shore found the endzone when senior quarterback Branden Wheary connected with junior standout Cayden Hess for a three-yard touchdown reception.
Hess led all players in terms of yardage gained on the night, hauling in eight passes from Wheary for 110 yards and a pair of scores.
Shikellamy went three-and-out in its first possession of the game, and a long punt return from Dalton Dungan set the Bulldogs up in prime territory once again. This time sophomore fullback Hayden Packer punched in one of his two rushing touchdowns in the game from just one yard away.
On the following drive, Shikellamy quarterback Drew Balestrini rolled left on a third down pass attempt but was sacked. The ball squirted out and was scooped up by Quincey Myers and returned 20 yards for a score.
This still wasn’t the end of the Jersey Shore touchdown spree in the opening quarter. Another fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff set the Bulldogs up again. Five plays later it was Wheary hooking up with Owen Anderson on a 17-yard catch-and-run for the score.
Just like that the Bulldogs found themselves up 28-0 just eight minutes and 12 seconds into the game.
“We wanted to come out and set some kind of tone that we were in charge early,” said Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “We were able to do that.”
“The kids worked hard in practice all week,” said Shikellamy head coach Jim Keiser. “For some reason we got out here on the field and we couldn’t execute anything. We’re just going to keep working hard and see if we can get any better at it.”
In the second quarter, Jersey Shore’s Cam Allison scored a rushing touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 34-0. Allison was the leading rusher in the game, carrying the ball 21 times for 84 yards and a TD.
In all, the Bulldogs ran the ball 49 times for 244 yards and four rushing touchdowns in the game. They ran 67 offensive plays in the game, as the team’s fast-paced offense controlled the tempo all night.
“We run (up tempo) pretty fast,” said Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “We challenged them last week because we didn’t think they were running it fast enough. There was a time or two we didn’t line up fast enough tonight.”
Shikellamy’s best drive of the night came at the end of the third quarter. Junior running back Coltyn Sempko busted off an 11-yard run to open the drive – the longest run of the night for the Braves. Sempko also kept the same drive alive early in the fourth quarter, picking up a first down on fourth-and-one.
Sempko led the Braves in offense, carrying the ball 12 times for 30 yards.
Fellow junior John Peifer led the team in receiving, hauling in a reception for 11 yards.
Jersey Shore capped off the night with a late touchdown run from sophomore Brady Jordan to give the Bulldogs a 53-0 advantage. Jordan carried the ball 10 times in the game for 74 yards.
“Any time the kids can get to be out here together and play, it’s a positive.” said Coach Keiser.
Shikellamy falls to 0-2 on the season with the loss and will travel to take on the Milton Black Panthers (0-2) next Friday night.
Jersey Shore improved to 2-0 on the young season and will host Central Mountain (2-0) next Friday night.
Jersey Shore 53, Shikellamy 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Jersey Shore 28 12 13 0 — 53
Shikellamy 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
JS—Cayden Hess 3-yard reception from Branden Wheary (Cam Allison PAT Good), 9:36.
JS—Hayden Packer 1-yard run (Allison PAT Good), 7:00
JS—Quincey Myers 20-yard fumble return (Allison PAT Good), 5:27
JS—Owen Anderson 17-yard reception from Wheary (Allison PAT Good), 3:48
Second Quarter
JS—Allison 2-yard run (PAT No Good), 9:48.
JS—Hess 16-yard reception from Wheary (PAT No Good), 2:03.
Third Quarter
JS—Packer 1-yard run (PAT No Good), 6:38
JS—Brady Jordan 1-yard run (Allison PAT Good), 1:48
TEAM STATISTICS JS S
First downs 18 4
Total yards 430 25
Rushes-yards 49-244 27-14
Yards passing 186 11
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 12-18-0 2-16-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties-yards 2-10 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Jersey Shore: Allison 21-84 TD, Jordan 10-74 TD, Packer 9-36 2 TD, Nicholas Williams 5-32, Anderson 3-18, Gabe Andrus 1-0. Shikellamy: Coltyn Sempko 12-30, Gage Wolfe 4-3, Chase Morgan 2-3, Isaac Schaffer-Neitz 3-(-1), Braydon Wertman 1-(-8), Drew Balestrini 5-(-13).
PASSING—Jersey Shore: Wheary 12-18 186 yds, 3 TD. Shikellamy: Balestrini 2-16 11 yds, INT.
RECEIVING—Jersey Shore: Hess 8-110 2 TD, Anderson 2-48 TD, Dalton Dungan 1-29, Allison 1-(-1). Shikellamy: John Peifer 1-11, Wolfe 1-0.
