GOTW-5

MANSFIELD – After ending one of the all-time greatest streaks in Pennsylvania high school football history last week by knocking off Southern Columbia, Troy had to guard against a letdown in Friday’s District 4 Class AA championship game against an upstart Warrior Run team that was making its first-ever appearance in a district championship contest.

And while the Trojans did start a little slow, by the time the final horn went off, there was no doubt who the best team is in AA this season in District 4, and potentially the entire state.

Troy racked up 611 yards of total offense, including 524 on the ground, and the state’s top-ranked AA team blew open the game in the second half as the Trojans captured their third all-time district title, and first since 2013, with a 59-14 over Warrior Run.

“We played a little tight and tentative early. Sometimes when you’re the favorite, you play not to lose and you’re not loose but I felt as the game went on, we asserted ourselves and looked more like us and I’m proud of how they finished the game,” said Troy coach Jim Smith.

The win makes Troy the first District 4 AA champion not named Southern Columbia since Montoursville in 2014. Up until Troy’s win over the Tigers last week, Southern’s last loss in the district playoffs came to that Montoursville team in the district semifinals 10 years ago.

The Trojans advance to the state quarterfinals next week, where they will face District 5 champion Bedford. They will also have an opportunity to showcase the depth of District 4 behind Southern Columbia, which has ensured otherwise great teams – most notably Mount Carmel and Troy most recently – haven’t had a chance to get beyond districts for the last decade until this year.

“Double A football in District 4, I always say that the state champion goes through District 4. There’s a lot of small schools and teams like Southern and Mount Carmel have raised the bar and we’ve tried to emulate some of the things that those teams do in the way of strength and speed training and work ethic because that’s the only chance you have,” said Smith. “We’re proud to have come through the district like we have. I felt like if we didn’t beat Southern last week, they’d be right back in the state championship again. This week, the fear was a letdown after that because our sights were set on Southern all year but our kids really showed up tonight and I’m really proud of how tonight went.”

Troy made an initial onslaught on its first two possessions of the game, as quarterback Evan Woodward took a pair of read options 75 and 66 yards, respectively, for touchdowns, making it 12-0 less than halfway through the opening quarter after the PAT and two-point conversion failed after both touchdowns. Those two plays were a big part of Woodward’s final stat line, as the senior signal-caller finished with 197 rushing yards on nine carries and he also completed 5-of-7 passes for 87 yards.

The Defenders then got a 44-yard kickoff return by Sam Hall – one of the few times the dynamic receiver was able to find open space all night – and took advantage when Eli Butler capped a short, six-play, 36-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 12-7 with 2:23 left in the quarter.

Warrior Run was unable to take advantage of Troy’s only turnover of the night on the Trojans’ ensuing drive, as it was forced to punt. Troy also punted on its subsequent possession, but the Trojans then got the first break of the game when it was able to capitalize on the Defenders’ first turnover.

Lincoln Chimics picked off James Keifer at the Warrior Run 28, and four plays later, Brendan Gillilland punched it into the end zone behind a crushing lead block from fullback Kael Millard to make it 18-7.

“We had it at 12-7 and had some momentum and the kids were competing, the defense was playing great except for those long runs early, but then we didn’t do anything with the ball and then had a turnover,” said Warrior Run coach Derrick Zechman. “Troy is a hard team to game plan for. They’re hard to get a real look at their speed, and their quarterback does great with that read option. They’re a great team and a credit to them, but I’m so proud of my kids and how they fought all year. It says a lot about them.”

After another Warrior Run three-and-out and subsequent punt, Troy went 64 yards in seven plays, capped by another Gillilland touchdown run, this one from 19 yards to make it 25-7 heading into halftime.

Warrior Run was held to just four first downs in the first half, with three coming on their lone scoring drive.

“We did a really good job, there was an interference call and another penalty when they converted that aided in their score but otherwise I think we could have come out in the first half with a zero on the board (defensively),” said Smith. “But they got here because they’re a good football team and they’re great tacklers, very aggressive, and their expectations change after tonight. They’ve got some strong kids, some great athletes, a nice scheme and if they keep working, they’ll be back in a game like this soon. I like their team and what they’re doing.”

The Defenders appeared to have some momentum on their initial drive of the third quarter after receiving the second half kickoff, going all the way from their own 20 to the Troy 29, but Mason Smith picked off Keifer, making a great catch and barely touching his foot in bounds on the sideline to stop that drive.

The Trojans then went 82 yards in just six plays, capped by Millard’s four-yard touchdown, with Woodward flipping the field with a 36-yard pickup earlier in the drive.

The Defenders then committed another turnover, losing the ball at their own 35, and after being pushed back 15 yards with a penalty, Troy extended its lead to 39-7 when Woodward made a tremendous throw across the field, hitting Smith for a 51-yard touchdown.

Troy pushed the game into the mercy rule on its next drive, as Millard flipped field position with a 59-yard run before Jack Burbage punched it in from five yards out to make it 45-7 and put the game into the mercy rule.

Hall gave the Defenders another long kickoff return of 44 yards on the final play of the third quarter, and then got into space again, hauling in a receiver screen pass and then beating his defender one-on-one for a 43-yard touchdown, but that would be the extent of Warrior Run’s scoring for the remainder of the night. Hall, in his final high school outing, finished his career with a 211 all-purpose yard performance, as he notched a total of 112 kickoff return yards.

Gillilland scored his third touchdown of the night and put a cap on a 188-yard rushing performance by getting loose for a 47-yard touchdown run on Troy’s ensuing drive following Hall’s touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, freshman quarterback Spencer Martin also got loose for a 46-yard touchdown to cap the scoring.

The game marked the seventh straight contest that the Trojans reached the 50-point mark, and they came just a single point shy of making it five straight games with 60 or more points scored. Troy has scored at least 41 points in 12 of 13 games this year, going over 50 nine times and over 60 five times.

Troy 59, Warrior Run 14
Warrior Run (8-5) 7 0 0 7 – 14
Troy (13-0) 12 13 20 14 – 59

First quarter
10:21 – (T) Evan Woodward 75-yard run (kick blocked), 3-78, 1:39
6:53 – (T) Evan Woodward 66-yard run (run failed), 4-80, 1:35
2:23 – (WR) Eli Butler 7-yard run (Hunter kick), 6-36, 4:30

Second quarter
6:58 – (T) Brendan Gillilland 9-yard run (pass failed), 4-28, 1:42
2:01 – (T) Brendan Gillilland 19-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 7-64, 3:25

Third quarter
6:24 – (T) Kael Millard 4-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 6-82, 1:47
3:31 – (T) Mason Smith 51-yard pass from Evan Woodward (Lykon-Leffler kick), 2-35, :39
:01 – (T) Jack Burbage 5-yard run (pass failed), 3-68, 1:13

Fourth quarter
9:33 – (WR) Sam Hall 43-yard pass from James Keifer (Hunter kick), 4-46, 2:28
7:49 – (T) Brendan Gillilland 42-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 3-52, 1:44
3:20 – (T) Spencer Martin 46-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 4-55, 2:15

Statistics
WR T
First downs 10 19
Rushes-net yards 25-60 37-524
Passing yardage 118 87
Passing 13-26-1-3 5-7-1-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 7-42 7-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Warrior Run: Eli Butler (14-49-1), Colby LeBarron (6-12), James Keifer (3-(-19)), Stone Allison (1-15), Sam Hall (1-3); Troy: Brendan Gillilland (13-188-3), Evan Woodward (9-197-2), Kael Millard (9-74-1), Spencer Martin (2-49-1), Jack Burbage (2-9-1), Mason Smith (2-7)
PASSING: Warrior Run: James Keifer (13-26-118-1-3); Troy: Evan Woodward (5-7-87-1-0)
RECEIVING: Warrior Run: Sam Hall (7-96-1), Stone Allison (2-8), Eli Butler (2-7), Tyler Ulrich (1-5), Cohen Zechman (1-2); Troy: Mason Smith (3-62-1), Reed Palmer (1-24), Lincoln Chimics (1-1)

To run in the November 14th Bucks County Herald

Special teams.

With four minutes left in the second quarter in Friday’s District One 6A quarterfinal and both offenses stuck in neutral, CB South head coach Tom Hetrick reached into his bag of tricks on 4th and 10.

Punter and backup quarterback Cade Crim lined up deep to kick and instead tossed a shovel pass to Braylen Cape, who raced 60 yards for a touchdown that put #1 South (12-0) up 14-0 against #8 Plymouth-Whitemarsh. The Titans cruised to a 35-0 win, earning them a semi-final date with #4 North Penn next Friday.

Those teams were pretty special after all.

“We have faith in our defense. If for some reason that play doesn’t hit, our defense has been playing very good football all year,” Hetrick shared. “We took our chances. Nobody is thinking you’re going to do that when there are ten yards to go. Cade Crim has a lot of moxie. He got the ball to Braylen Cape, who has been making plays for us all year.”

“I was ecstatic,” Crim shared when Hetrick called it. “We’ve been practicing that play the entire year. With playoffs, a big game and only 7-0, it was the perfect time to run it and we got a big momentum swing.”

Crim’s prior beautiful 42-yard punt set the stage for South’s first touchdown. He pinned the Colonials at their own four.

“I never punted before this year,” Crim admitted. “The special teams coordinator talked to me early in the year. Our starter was playing both ways and we needed another guy. The punt today just flowed off my foot.”

When P-W went three and out, giving the Titans a short field, South took advantage. Three plays later, quarterback Owen Pinkerton raced 20 yards for a score.

P-W twice marched deep- inside the Titan 22- in the second quarter. But South’s defense twice repulsed them, first by forcing a fourth down incompletion and then with Brandon Zubyk getting a huge fourth down sack on the Colonials’ next drive.

The Titans, who have allowed zero or single-digit points in their last seven games, held P-W to just 121 total yards.

“They are a tough, physical team. Our cornerbacks have great eyes and our defense is constantly getting pressure,” said Jimmy Wade, who joined Eddie Bowen, Nick Micewski, and Dan McCusker as Titans on the SOL National first-team defense. “Coaches draw up some great schemes and executing them gets the job done.”

The defense “really made it hard for their quarterback,” added Hetrick. “We were sound in the run game and we had bodies on bodies. We were covering guys on the back end and our front three and four were having a night.”

South could not have opened the second half any better. They used three runs of 14 yards or more to rip off a five-play, 62-yard drive. It ended with Wade’s eight-yard rushing touchdown.

“We lost some depth when Kaden Kube went down so I had to step up at running back,” said Wade, who ran six times for 67 yards. “I like it. I’m a fan of it.”

Wade knocked down a P-W fourth down pass and the Titans marched 41 yards in five plays. Pinkerton, who led the Titans with 88 yards on 17 carries, ran it in from the four with 52 seconds left in the third to put South up 27-0. The quarterback went over 1,000 rushing yards in last week’s playoff win over #16 Spring-Ford.

Cape ran it in from six yards and Matt Harmon scored the two-point conversion on a reverse with 9:31 remaining to start the running clock. Cape, who had 134 yards on 13 touches, has rushed for 600 yards and nine touchdowns in the last seven games.

“We made a couple of adjustments,” said Hetrick, who had high praise for P-W linebacker Kevin Hegarty. “Football is a game of individual plays. You just have to keep grinding and keep your nose down. I was real happy with our ability to stay the course.”

#3 CB West (10-2) will also be playing in a semi-final next Friday. The Bucks punched their ticket to #2 Downingtown West with a 35-21 quarterfinal win over #11 Downingtown East. Knotted at 14 at halftime, Vance Morelli returned a blocked kick 70 yards for a score and Ryan Clemens added a 50 yard touchdown run to put West up 28-14. Noah Miller scampered 45 yards for his second touchdown of the night early in the fourth quarter to extend the Buck lead to 35-21.

EMMAUS – The Emmaus Hornets defense turned many heads last week in the Lehigh Valley when they shutout rival Parkland 27-0 to clinch the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference West Division title.

Now it has back-to-back shutouts and the victim this time was none other than defending District XI 6A Champion Nazareth.

Behind a complete effort on defense and an overpowering rushing attack, the fourth-seeded Hornets rolled past the fifth seed Nazareth 35-0 in the first round of the District XI 6A playoffs on Friday night at the EPSD stadium.

“Any time you can slow a team like that down or even shut them out it is a great feeling,” Emmaus head coach Harold Fairclough said. “Our kids were dialed in and ready to go and they came out and did a heck of a job executing a great game plan put forth by our staff.”

One week after scoring 55 points in a 63-55 shootout loss to Easton, Nazareth was shutout for the first time since 2009 when they lost 28-0 which also came at the hands of Easton.

“We were out of sync on every play,” Nazareth head coach Tom Falzone said. “There were either two or three guys not on the same page or some other mistake was being made. We just could not get it together.”

The Hornets defense will get the spotlight in the victory, but it was the Emmaus offense that made the opening statement. Quarterback Jerek Cooper needed just five plays to lead the Hornets (9-2) down the field and raced 37 yards down the left sideline to put Emmaus ahead 7-0 just over two minutes into the contest.

“I am most proud of the relentless effort our kids gave tonight,” Fairclough said. “It was awesome to see those guys fly around while making big and timely plays.”

Nazareth’s offense did not even come close to crossing into Hornets territory on its first two drives, but seemed to get a spark right at the very end of the first quarter when Luke DePietro ran a punt back 54 yards to the Emmaus 14-yard line. Instead, the Eagles (7-4) finished the drive losing four yards and were turned over on downs following back-to-back drops on 3rd and 4th downs.

The Eagles defense did its best to keep the offense in the game by forcing a pair of three-and-outs in the second quarter.

However, the struggles on offense hit a fever pitch when quarterback Peyton Falzone tossed a 37-yard pick-6 to linebacker Cole Moreau with 5:29 left in the second quarter to put Emmaus up 14-0.

“A couple plays before they ran the same mesh route and coach told me I had to stay on my guy because I was behind the last time,” Moreau said. “I read the route and when he (Falzone) threw behind him I capitalized on it.”

Now suddenly the pressure was on the Eagles defense again late in the first half and the walls began to cave in when the Hornets took advantage of short field to go up 21-0 with 26 seconds left in the second quarter. Emmaus rushed with ease on all six plays that started from the Eagles 32-yard line and Reilly Bechtel capped the drive with a 6-yard score.

“Tonight, I thought our defense was great, but we just did not do enough to help them out,” Tom Falzone said. “We put them in bad situations all night and it finally caught up to us.”

The Hornets did not score a point in the third quarter but completed a 13-play drive that took off 5:34 off the clock which wore down a tiring Eagles defense. Nazareth put together a good-looking drive to start the second half until once again having it end in a turnover on downs in the red zone. The Eagles advanced as far as the Hornets 6-yard line before Peyton Falzone was sacked by Bechtel.

“It is so thrilling every time to step on the field knowing we are capable of pitching a shutout like that on defense,” Bechtel said. “I am excited what next week brings for us and more importantly just to have another week together with these guys.”

Bechtel ended any chance the Eagles had at a potential rally when he burst through the middle of the line untouched on 3rd-and-11 from the Nazareth 41-yard line for his second touchdown of the game to make it 28-0. Javier Santos put the finishing touches on the Emmaus win with a 17-yard touchdown with just over five minutes left in regulation.

“I think we ultimately got our run game going on that last drive in the first half,” Fairclough said. “Mark Scisly, our offensive line coach, made some great adjustments at halftime. Nazareth did about one or two things we did not see on film coming into this game so credit to our kids to buy into the adjustments and execute.”

The Hornets ended the game with 324 rushing yards as a team on 39 carries to average 8.3 yards per carry. Bechtel had 147 of those yards on 17 carries while Cooper posted 88, and Santos finished with 81.

Emmaus limited Virginia Tech commit Peyton Falzone to throw for just 137 yards on 19-of-39 passing with his interception.

With the EPC new conference realignment, the Hornets and Eagles did not get to face each other in the regular season. However, Emmaus gets its first EPC rematch next week at Cottingham Stadium against top-seeded Easton after the Red Rovers easily dispatched Stroudsburg 42-7.

Emmaus missed a game-winning field goal in regulation as time expired after letting an early 14-0 lead slip away in the September 21st meeting at EPSD Stadium, falling 28-21. Now, the Hornets get their second chance at the Red Rovers.

“We are going to enjoy this one first, but our kids knew we were possibly going to see them (Easton) down the road.” Fairclough said. “They have a very good offense, but I just want to see this effort showed tonight out of our guys again.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS	1	2	3	4	Final
Nazareth	0	0	0	0	0
Emmaus	7	14	0	14	35

 

Scoring summary

1	EM	Cooper, 37 run (Buck kick)	9:32
2	EM	Moreau 37 interception return (Buck kick)	5:29
2	EM	Bechtel, 6 run (Buck kick)	0:26
4	EM	Bechtel, 41 run (Buck kick)	10:56
4	EM	Santos, 17 run (Buck kick)	5:37

Team statistics

	Nazareth	Emmaus
First downs	13	16
Rushes-yards	25-92	39-324
Passing yards	137	14
Total yards	229	338
Passes COMP-ATT-INT	19-39-1	3-6-0
Fumbles-lost	0-0	0-0
Punts-average	4-32.0	4-38.0
Penalties-yards	7-65	11-126

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Nazareth: Falzone 12-58, Wimberly 10-20, Angione 2-11, Smith 1-3

Emmaus: Bechtel 16-147, Cooper 13-88, Santos 7-81, Jefferson-Rushing 3-8

PASSING

Nazareth: Falzone 19-39-1–137

Emmaus: Cooper 3-6-0–14

RECEIVING

Nazareth: Newsome 4-40, Zelachowski 3-41, DePietro 3-19, Wimberly 3-1, Kilareski 2-20, Boyce 2-8, Simpson 2-8

Emmaus: Jefferson-Rushing 2-12, Duggan 1-2

INTERCEPTIONS

Emmaus: Moreau

YATESVILLE — Randy Spencer challenge the members of his Wyoming Area secondary to plan man-to-man coverage Friday night against Pittston. By doing that, Spencer could ensure some help on Patriots leading receiver Lucas Lopresto.
The Warriors’ secondary lived up to the challenge. They not only picked off three Pittston passes Friday night, they challenged nearly every ball put in the air by three Patriots quarterbacks.

Wyoming Area pitched its second consecutive shutout Friday night, winning convincingly despite a less-than-clean night from its offense. The 28-0 victory over Pittston means the Warriors solidified its spot in the District 2 Class AAA standings and will host a first-round playoff game next week.

The back-to-back shutouts are a first for Wyoming Area since it shut out Hanover Area and Pittston in Weeks 9 and 10 in 2019. The Warriors went on to win the state championship that year.

“Our secondary just handled our assignments,” said Wyoming Area senior Damian Lefkoski, who had a tide-turning interception in the end zone near the end of the first half. “And then in the second half the coaches adjusted everything so out linebackers and line were able to get in the backfield.”

Wyoming Area defenders nearly caught more passes from Pittston quarterbacks last night than Pittston receivers did. Lopresto, who came in averaging nearly 15 yards per reception this season, was held without a catch.

Kevin Wiedl’s third-quarter interception set up the second of three Lidge Kellum touchdown runs. But it was Lefkoski’s pick near the end of the first half which changed Friday night’s game.

The Warriors struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half thanks to a pair of lost fumbles. Only Kellum’s 71-yard touchdown run — which was sprung by a brilliant seal block from Trustin Johnson — kept Wyoming Area from being shut out in the first half. And when Pittston capitalized on one of the fumbles to put together a nearly 8-minute drive in the second quarter, Lefkoski shut the drive down when he jumped a route in the end zone for his fourth interception of the season, which leads the Warriors.

The pick allowed Wyoming Area to carry a 7-0 lead into the half and reset a little bit.

“It was a big momentum change,” Lefkoski said. “All our heads were down. I think that just opened things up for us and got us hyped again.”

“That’s such a big stop at that point in the game,” Spencer said. “We were fortunate to stem the tide there, get into the half, gain possession in the second half, and extend the lead.”

Wiedl continued Wyoming Area’s momentous ways when he intercepted a second pass with less than 2 minutes gone in the third quarter. That’s when Kellum seemed to get his confidence back after the two first-half fumbles.

He went 22 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive and, three plays later, ran through two defenders trying to strip the football from him for a 20-yard touchdown run which extended the Warriors’ lead to 14-0. Kellum added a 24-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter which iced the game.

The junior finished with 264 yards on 22 carries despite getting just one tote in the second quarter after the two fumbles. Kellum went over 1,700 rushing yards for the season last night.

“As outstanding as he is, a lot of outstanding players have adversity during games,” Spencer said. “But you saw his response to it. That’s part of growing up. He responded exceptionally well in the second half.”

“In the first half I kept telling him to have a short memory,” Lefkoski said. “And in the second half he came out and did what he does. If he just gets a little crack, he’s going to take it and go.”

Kellum provided a little breathing room for a Wyoming Area defense which gave absolutely none to Pittston’s offense. The Patriots gained just 112 total yards of offense, averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, and completed just 4 of 21 passes.
Pittston (2-8) lost for the sixth consecutive week, but its the first loss in that stretch by more than 12 points. Wyoming
Area (9-1) will carry a seven-game winning streak into next week’s district playoffs.

“Adversity is part of football and it’s aprt of life,” Spencer said. “The kids were able to work through it and come out with a victory. So that is a positive. We have a lot of things to clean up going forward, but the result tonight is positive.”

Wyoming Area 28, Pittston 0
Wyoming Area 7 0 13 8 – 28
Pittston 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
WA—Lidge Kellum 71 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:29
Third quarter
WA—Kellum 20 run (Ciampi kick), 8:50
WA—Michael Crane 8 pass from Anthony DeLucca (kick failed), 1:57
Fourth quarter
WA—Kellum 24 run (Kevin Wiedl pass from DeLucca), 2:17

WA PA
First downs 16 7
Rushes-yds 33-320 30-76
Com-att-int 7-11-1 4-21-3
Pass yards 78 36
Total yards 398 112
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-87 7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Wyoming Area, Lidge Kellum, 22-264, 3 TDs; Trustin Johnson, 6-54; Michael Crane, 4-10; Anthony DeLucca, 1-(-8). Pittston, CJ Pietrzak, 15-71; Matt Walter, 11-12; Lucas Lopresto, 2-0; Santino Capitano, 2-(-7).
Passing—Wyoming Area, DeLucca, 7-10-0, 78 yds., TD; Kellum, 0-1-0. Pittston, Walter, 3-11-2, 26 yds; Capitano, 1-9-1, 10 yds.; Paulie Ferentio, 0-1-0.
Receiving—Wyoming Area, Luke Kopetchny, 4-36; Kevin Wiedl, 2-34; Crane, 1-8, TD. Pittston, Colten Lis, 2-17; Walter, 1-10; Jakob Bolchune, 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wayoming Area (3), Damian Lefkoski, Kevin Wiedl, Gage Speece.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (9-1); Pittston (2-8).

To run in the October 31st Bucks County Herald

CB West’s Ryan Clemens, listed at 5’6”, continues to be the biggest playmaker on the field.

Late in the first quarter of Friday’s archrivalry game against CB East (4-6, 2-5 SOL National), Clemens pounced on a Patriot fumble at the West 8.

One play later, Clemens raced for 21 yards, the opening salvo of a 10 play, 92 yard drive capped by a two yard touchdown from…Clemens….with the point after kicked by…Clemens.

Clemens booted five PATs in West’s 35-7 win.

“We played our brand. We executed up front really well,” said West head coach Rob Rowan. “I think Ryan is the best back in the league and he continues to put that on display each week. We want to be sound in all three phases of the game and I think we were tonight.”

West (8-2, 6-1 SOL National) opened with an 80 yard drive, ending in quarterback Noah Miller’s 20 yard touchdown. Clemens’ plunge made it 14-0 and the Bucks entered halftime up 21-0 after Miller’s 22 yard scramble set up Vance Morelli’s three yard touchdown run.

Miller hit speedster Devin McGowan- once on a pass in the flat and once on a slant- for two more West second half touchdowns.

“Anytime you’ve got a guy like Devin, you’re almost guaranteed 20 yards every time he touches the ball. We have full confidence in him to carry that load,” Miller praised. “I have full trust in him.”

Mike Price, East’s standout running back pressed into emergency quarterback duty out of the wildcat due to starter Logan Simkiss’ injury, raced 34 yards late in the fourth quarter for East’s lone score.

“We knew they would challenge us offensively with some things that we hadn’t seen and I was proud of how our defense, after that first drive, settled in. They caught us off guard at first,” Rowan offered, “and we cleaned things up a bit.”
Price, who went over both 1,000 and 1,100 yards last week in East’s win against Pennridge, picked up 134 yards on 23 touches.

Clemens rushed for 147 yards on 16 carries while Miller added 77 on nine lugs. West averaged over 10 yards per carry.

“Honestly, it was preparation,” credited West co-captain and offensive lineman Finn McGowan. “What I liked the most is that we never gave up. We finished nearly every drive. The scoreboard showed that and we’re most proud of that.

“That’s part of the mix too,” Finn McGowan added, “when we see them tired and making mistakes. We emphasize that.”

“That’s the CB West way: we like to run the ball. When we’re running the ball 40 or 50 times, you may only get two passes but you let it ride,” added Miller, who completed five of six passes for 54 yards. “Tonight was a great night throwing the ball. Sometimes you get openings like you get on the second touchdown.”

The Bucks bring a five game win streak into District playoffs, which start on Friday; they have allowed just 44 points during that span. West was seeded third in 6A at press time, with final playoff pairings to be determined on Sunday.

The win extends West’s winning streak over East to seven. “The coaches don’t need to say much on Rivalry Week,” Miller explained. “They know we’re going to go into that game with a ton of energy because it’s a massive rivalry, a rivalry we love to play.”

SOUTH CENTRE TWP – Warrior Run was coming off a pair of very tough losses the last two weeks to teams they are battling with for playoff position in District 4 Class 2A.

The Defenders dropped a one-point game to Loyalsock two weeks ago, then followed that up with a double overtime loss to Hughesville last week. So, Warrior Run desperately needed to get back on track in Week 9 as the Defenders traveled to 2-6 Central Columbia.

While it wasn’t particularly easy, especially in the first half, the Defenders defense stepped up big, particularly in the second half, and shut out the Bluejays after Central had scored a pair of touchdowns on long passes in the first half, and Warrior Run did get back on track with a 30-12 win over the Bluejays.

“The last two weeks really sucked a lot out of us mentally, emotionally and physically, so I’m proud of how they responded after having those last two games slip away,” said Warrior Run coach Derrick Zechman. “Central came out and played a good game tonight, scoring early. We still need to clean some things up that need to be fixed going into the playoffs, but tonight is a step in the right direction. Our defense is always going to keep us in games.”

That defense held Central to just 11 yards of offense in the second half, which allowed the Defenders to extend a slim two-point halftime lead with three scores in the second half. Overall, Warrior Run held the Bluejays to -11 yards rushing on the night.

“I was disappointed with our running game tonight so we’ll have to look and see what happened on film,” said Smith. “Their linebacker, Butler, was very good and he hit us on a couple of blitzes, well-timed, but I was proud of how we threw the ball because if this was three or four weeks ago, we’d have been in big trouble.”

The air game, at least in the first half, was one of the bright spots for Central. After the Bluejays received the opening kickoff, Parker Day tossed a 36-yard touchdown to offensive lineman-turned tight end Kole Hummer on a fourth-and-seven play to put Central up 6-0.

Day later tossed another long touchdown pass of 50 yards, hitting Dylan Shultz in stride late in the second quarter. Day threw for 155 yards to go with the two touchdowns.

“Parker is an unbelievable athlete and he’s only a second-year football player and a first-year quarterback. He busts his rear end, and he’s been working hard and if we had him for another year, he’d be so good. I’m so proud of him for all the work he’s put in and he gives us everything he’s got,” said Smith.

Day’s counterpart, James Keifer completed 18-of-28 passes for 234 yards and had a pair of touchdowns while Colby LaBarron went over the century mark on the ground with 114 yards on 21 carries, with 75 of those coming in the second half as the Defenders went to the ground late to run out the clock.

It was a close game in the first half, though, thanks to the two long touchdown passes by Central Columbia. A failed PAT and two-point conversion by the Bluejays were the only things standing between a tied game at the half.

In between Central’s two touchdowns in the first half, Warrior Run got a five-yard touchdown run by Eli Butler on its ensuing drive following Hummer’s touchdown, and Keifer later hit Sam Hall in full stride in the end zone over the middle to make it 14-6 late in the first quarter.

The Defenders nearly extended their lead heading into halftime, but a 35-yard field attempt by Gavin Hunter hit the crossbar and bounced in front of the goal post rather than over it, keeping the score 14-12 at the half.

Warrior Run received the second half kickoff and proceeded to put together a 10-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a successful field goal by Hunter, a 23-yarder to extend the lead to 17-12.

“We’re very fortunate to have Gavin. He’s been doing an excellent job all year. If we get him in range, that gives us an added edge to score points. He almost made that one just off the crossbar, and he’s done a heckuva job all year for us,” said Zechman.

Later in the third quarter, Keifer hit Cohen Zechman in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown reception to extend the lead to 23-12.

LeBarron capped the scoring late in the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown run to finish up an 11-play drive that chewed up 5:45 of clock.

While Central, which will not be going to the playoffs, missed its chance to affect the race for the playoff spots in Class 2A, the Bluejays will have a chance to do so again next week when they square off with rival Bloomsburg, which is also once of the teams battling in a crowded race for one of those playoff spots.

“It’s been a rough year and we’ve played a tough schedule but our kids love football, so they get up for games and they won’t have any problem getting up for next week,” said Central coach E.J. Smith. “It doesn’t matter if one of us is really good and the other one isn’t – it’s going to be a good game, it’s a rivalry and that’s the way it is.”

Warrior Run 30, Central Columbia 12
Warrior Run (6-3) 14 0 9 7 – 30
Central Columbia (2-7) 6 6 0 0 – 12

First quarter
10:26 – (CC) Kole Hummer 36-yard pass from Parker Day (kick failed), 4-39, 1:34
8:24 – (WR) Eli Butler 5-yard run (Hunter kick), 5-55, 2:02
1:28 – (WR) Sam Hall 20-yard pass from James Keifer (Hunter kick), 11-72, 5:13

Second quarter
3:39 – (CC) Dylan Shultz 50-yard pass from Parker Day (pass failed), 5-66, 2:34

Third quarter
8:31 – (WR) Gavin Hunter 23-yard field goal, 10-53, 3:29
:52 – (WR) Cohen Zechman 5-yard pass from James Keifer (pass failed), 7-48, 3:47

Fourth quarter
1:34 – (WR) Colby LeBarron 3-yard run (Hunter kick), 11-45, 5:45

Statistics
WR CC
First downs 22 7
Rushes-net yards 37-132 19-(-11)
Passing yardage 234 155
Passing 18-28-2-0 9-20-2-1
Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 6-60 6-37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Warrior Run: Colby LeBarron (21-114-1), Eli Butler (14-36-1), James Keifer (1-(-17)), Team (1-(-1); Central Columbia: Ty Regan (7-22), Parker Day (4-(-12)), Demir Wood (3-(-4)), Josh Worthington (3-(-1)), Team (2-(-16))
PASSING: Warrior Run: James Keifer (18-28-234-2-0); Central Columbia: Parker Day (9-20-155-2-1)
RECEIVING: Warrior Run: Cohen Zechman (5-69-1), Sam Hall (4-61-1), Eli Butler (3-26), Tyler Ulrich (2-21), Stone Allison (2-12), Colby LeBarron (1-19), Gavin Getz (1-26); Central Columbia: Kole Hummer (5-96-1), Dylan Shultz (2-57-1), Alex Zeisloft (2-2)

ALMEDIA – When you are playing mostly freshmen and sophomores on both sides of the ball, it can take a little while for them to develop and gel together to the point where they can put together a complete performance.

Hanover Area has been struggling with that so far this year. With a 0-7 record heading into Saturday afternoon’s game at Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, the Hawkeyes had scored a total of just 53 points in their first seven games of the season.

But for the first time this season, the Hawkeyes appeared to put everything together on Saturday, or at least enough to gain an edge over their opponent. Hanover more than doubled its previous output of offense for the entire season with a 56-point outburst, including outscoring CMVT 28-6 in the second half, as the Hawkeyes picked up with first win with a 56-44 victory over the Rams.

“We’re starting seven to eight freshmen every game, so we’re starting freshmen and sophomores. We have one senior that plays on both sides of the ball,” said Hanover Area coach Jason Majiros. “I think it took us some growing pains to get there and just knowing how to work during the week and get their bodies right and mature a little bit. They’re good enough to play but that maturity level and their bodies and their mind and work ethic just needs to grow. When we put it all together, we can be dangerous.”

Not only did they put it together, but they did things the hard way, rallying back after trailing by 10 points at halftime with a dominating second half. Trailing 38-28 at the half, Hanover scored four straight touchdowns in the second half after coming up empty on their first second half drive to take a three-score lead midway through the fourth quarter.

After Braxtyn Brown of CMVT ran for 253 yards in the first half alone, his 40-yard touchdown with 2:54 left in the game, his third of the afternoon, gave him exactly 300 rushing yards for the game. But that play was about the extent of CMVT’s offense in the second half. Hanover ran 37 plays in the second half to just 20 for CMVT and had 13 first downs to just four for the Rams. Aside from Brown’s fourth quarter touchdown run, CMVT managed just 27 additional yards in the second half.

“They came out after halftime and were just a bit more aggressive, especially on their defensive line, which got through our gaps and made some tackles in the backfield. They just played better in the second half and outlasted us,” said CMVT coach Mark Varner. “They found some of our weaknesses where we had some new kids playing in certain positions and they overpowered them. Their defensive tackles did a great job slanting and making some tackles in the backfield and you just have to give them credit.”

Overall, Hanover outgained CMVT by just 30 yards, 491-461, while the Rams had more first downs 27-21.

In addition to having its offense bottled up in the second half, Brown’s counterpart on the Hawkeyes did his biggest damage in the second half. Freshman running back Malique Campbell finished with 308 yards on 29 carries and four touchdowns, with 228 of those yards coming in the second half.

“We were able to shore up some things defensively at halftime. We knew what they were doing, and we knew we needed to stop Brown,” said Majiros. “Our guys just took up the challenge of getting off blocks and running to the football. Once we got that first stop and then we scored and got another stop really quick, I think the mindset changed, they felt the momentum shifting, but schematically we just stuck with the game plan and the kids bought in.”

After receiving the second half kickoff and recovering an onside kick, the Hawkeyes put together a 15-play drive that advanced the ball down to the CMVT 13, but missed a 30-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to the Rams.

After a single first down, the only one of the second half for the Rams until their lone scoring drive later in the fourth quarter, CMVT punted and Hanover Area took over at its own 35. Four plays later, Logan Richardson hit Deacon Eisenbach for a 43-yard touchdown reception, cutting the CMVT lead to 38-35 at the 1:46 mark of the third quarter.

The Rams were forced into a three-and-out on their subsequent drive, and another good punt put the Hawkeyes back at their own 36 to start. But Campbell ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to give the Hawkeyes their first lead since early in the second quarter, 42-38.

The lone turnover of the game for either team was committed by CMVT on its ensuing drive, as Jayden Cruz picked off a Myles Koser pass and returned it 21 yards. The Hawkeyes took over at the CMVT 45 and proceeded to take advantage, going 45 yards in five plays, with Campbell running for a 27-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 49-38 early in the fourth.

CMVT turned it over on downs at their own 35 on its subsequent drive, and Hanover was poised to attempt another field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 9 until the Rams committed an offside penalty, putting the ball at the 4. Majiros sent his offense back out on the field and was rewarded as Richardson found Jonathan Otway-Kellom in the end zone to essentially put the game away with a three-score lead with 5:06 remaining.

“Campbell is a good runner and they were able to exploit some things off tackle and we didn’t play it well at times,” said Varner. “A couple of times, we thought we had Campbell tackled and then he made a cut and he was gone and we couldn’t contain him. Their kids just beat our kids off the ball in the second half and once you get leverage, you’re going to win and that’s what happened.

“This is one of the few games where it seemed like we wore down more than the other team. We just didn’t make the plays in the second half that we were making in the first. Braxtyn couldn’t even get to the line of scrimmage. Our backside blocking was creating some bubbles and failing us so that’s something we’ll work on for next week and we’ll keep moving forward.”

The Rams had looked better earlier in the game. After giving up a 61-yard touchdown pass on Hanover’s first possession, CMVT answered it with a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by Tyson Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run, and Brown also hauled in the pass for a two-point conversion to put the Rams up 8-7 with 3:49 to play in the first.

It was then an action-filled second quarter as both teams combined for 52 points. CMVT scored on four of its five possessions in the quarter, with only the clock running out on the half preventing them from potentially scoring again.

Braxtyn Brown’s 53-yard touchdown run at the 8:09 mark of the second tied the game after Hanover had retaken the lead on a 22-yard run by Campbell.

CMVT then stopped the Hawkeyes on downs at their own 41, then proceeded to take a 22-14 lead as Tyson Brown ripped off a 24-yard touchdown run and the Rams also made the two-point conversion.

Hanover followed that up with a 28-yard run by Campbell after the Hawkeyes recovered CMVT’s attempted onside kick at midfield.

That was answered by CMVT almost immediately, as Brown finished a short, :36 drive with a seven-yard touchdown that followed a 58-yard pickup by Logan Bracey, who hauled in a long pass from Koser on a flea flicker to go up 30-20.

The Hawkeyes answered that with a 72-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Otway-Kellom with 1:01 remaining in the half, only to see the Rams answer right back with a 68-yard drive that took just :44 and was capped by Koser’s 1-yard touchdown run. The Rams then covered an onside kick with :17 left but the clock ran out before they were able to score again.

Hanover Area 56, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 44
Hanover Area (1-7) 7 21 14 14 – 56
CMVT (4-4) 8 30 0 6 – 44

First quarter
7:35 – (H) Jonathan Otway-Kellom 61-yard pass from Logan Richardson (Hall kick), 2-51, 1:17
3:49 – (VT) Tyson Brown 1-yard run (T. Brown pass from M. Koser), 9-67, 3:46

Second quarter
9:59 – (H) Malique Campbell 22-yard run (Hall kick), 8-77, 2:36
8:09 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 53-yard run (pass failed), 5-74, 1:50
2:47 – (VT) Tyson Brown 24-yard run (A. Koser pass from M. Koser), 6-59, 3:10
1:54 – (H) Malique Campbell 28-yard run (kick blocked), 2-50, :53
1:18 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 7-yard run (T. Brown run), 2-65, :36
1:01 – (H) Jonathan Otway-Kellom 72-yard kickoff return (Campbell run)
:17 – (VT) Myles Koser 1-yard run (Bracey pass from M. Koser), 6-68, :44

Third quarter
1:46 – (H) Deacon Eisenbach 43-yard pass from Logan Richardson (Hall kick), 4-65, 1:53
:21 – (H) Malique Campbell 64-yard run (Hall kick), 1-64, :12

Fourth quarter
10:16 – (H) Malique Campbell 27-yard run (Hall kick), 5-45, 1:44
5:06 – (H) Jonathan Otway-Kellom 4-yard pass from Logan Richardson (Hall kick), 8-35, 3:28
2:54 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 40-yard run (pass failed), 6-67, 2:12

Statistics
H VT
First downs 21 27
Rushes-net yards 36-337 45-365
Passing yardage 154 96
Passing 8-18-3-0 5-17-0-1
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 20-162 6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Hanover Area: Malique Campbell (29-308-4), Logan Richardson (3-(-5)), Jonathan Otway-Kellom (2-10), Deacon Eisenbach (1-26), Team (1-(-2)); CMVT: Braxtyn Brown (33-300-3), Tyson Brown (8-60-2), Myles Koser (4-5-1)
PASSING: Hanover Area: Logan Richardson (8-18-154-3-0); CMVT: Myles Koser (5-17-96-0-1)
RECEIVING: Hanover Area: Jonathan Otway-Kellom (4-76-2), Deacon Eisenbach (3-69), Aiden Safriwe (1-9); CMVT: Logan Bracey (2-62), Axton Koser (1-22), Landon Hipps (1-8), Braxtyn Brown (1-4)

WESTFIELD – Having squandered a two-score lead after giving up a pair of second half touchdowns and subsequent two-point conversions to Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, Cowanesque Valley found itself trailing 24-21 with 7:25 left in the game after having led 21-8 in the first half.

The Indians, which entered the game 1-5, proceeded to put together their best drive of the game, if not the season, and Graham Hess’ third rushing touchdown of the game capped the drive and gave Cowanesque Valley the lead with 1:22 to play.

The Indians then stopped CMVT’s final drive as time ran out and Cowanesque Valley held on for a 29-24 win over the Rams on Saturday afternoon.

“We played mostly to our potential today,” said Cowanesque Valley coach Jacob Lane. “We still made some mistakes here and there, but it was definitely a team effort and we finished what we started.”

In addition to that final drive, probably the two other biggest keys to the Indians’ second win of the year were limiting CMVT running back Braxtyn Brown to just 111 yards on 28 carries. Brown, who has amassed over 300 rushing yards three times this season, did not break any long runs as he has several times this season. The Rams also committed three turnovers in the second quarter alone.

“We emphasized this week that we needed to play to the ball,” said Lane. “We watched film and we saw that when he gets some space, he’s going to take it. Our big key today was try to stretch those tosses because he gets a lot of yards on tosses and powers so we tried to play 11 hats to the ball.”

“We didn’t play well in the first half. We jumped out to that lead and we came out at halftime and played much better and didn’t give up but unfortunately, they made one more play than we made,” said CMVT coach Mark Varner.

Three turnovers in the second quarter alone doomed the Rams. Even though the Indians only scored off of one of them, the lost opportunity to control the ball and methodically move it down the field as the Rams do when they are at their best, was detrimental to the end result.

The Rams did move the ball down the field methodically on their first drive of the game after receiving the opening kickoff, and that drive ended with a 22-yard touchdown catch by Axton Koser. Brown ran for 20 of his 111 yards on the afternoon on that drive, and also punched in the two-point conversion, one of three on the day for him.

But the Rams’ next five possessions came up empty, not including one possession that didn’t even take place due to a fumble on a kickoff return.

CMVT stopped the Indians on downs at the Ram 4-yard line on their subsequent possession following the Rams’ opening touchdown. But that left the Rams pinned up against their own end zone and they went three-and-out and punted.

Cowanesque Valley took over at the CMVT 46 and proceeded to put together a six-play, 46-yard drive capped by Graham Hess’ one-yard touchdown run that tied the game after a successful two-point conversion on the final play of the first quarter.

The Indians were unable to capitalize after the Rams fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, as they were stopped on downs at the Cowanesque Valley 23. But CMVT turned it over again on their subsequent drive, as Graham Hess picked off Myles Koser and returned it 21 yards down to the Ram 2-yard line. Two plays later, Hess punched it in for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Indians stopped the Rams on downs on CMVT’s next drive and took over at their own 29. They then put together a five-play, 71-yard drive capped by Dave Hess’ 17-yard touchdown run to put the Indians up 21-8 heading into the half. Dave Hess led the way on the ground for the Indians with 109 yards on 19 carries, while Graham Hess had 54 yards on 13 carries to go with his three scores.

“It comes down to execution, it just takes one second here or there. We went down and scored on that first series and then just eased up and didn’t execute as well in the second quarter,” said Varner. “We weren’t getting out on our secondary blocks and we weren’t taking the right side of a man to block and that’s what opens up the big holes.”

Even though the big holes weren’t there in the running game to produce long runs, the Rams’ offense was a different unit in the second half. Thanks to two long, methodical drives by CMVT, each team only had three second-half possessions.

CMVT ended Cowanesque Valley’s first second half possession with a turnover as Logan Bracey picked off Graham Hess at the CMVT 39. Six plays later, Myles Koser punched it in from two yards out, one play after a 48-yard completion to Landon Hipps that flipped field position.

The Indians’ subsequent drive ended with a punt and CMVT took over at its own 20. From there, the Rams put together a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 9:31 and ended with Axton Koser’s second touchdown catch of the game, this one a short four-yarder on fourth-and-goal that put the Rams up 24-21 with 7:25 to play. CMVT converted two fourth downs on that drive, as well as a third-and-14 play in which Myles Koser caught a halfback pass from Brown.

But Cowanesque Valley responded with its best drive of the game when it needed it the most. The Indians put together an 11-play, 55-yard drive in which it successfully converted two fourth downs, one on a CMVT offside penalty and the other a 19-yard run by Dave Hess in which we was almost stopped behind the line of scrimmage but slipped out of a tackle and moved the ball from the CMVT 25 all the way down to the 6. Three plays later, Graham Hess found the end zone for the third time on the afternoon that gave the Indians a 29-24 lead after a successful two-point conversion with 1:22 to play.

“That last drive, they didn’t miss a step, they worked together as a team and it was hard-earned,” said Lane. “It was all heart and I’m proud of them.”

From there, CMVT took over at their own 30 and managed to advance the ball down to the Cowanesque Valley 39 before time ran out on the potential game-winning drive.

Cowanesque Valley 29, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 24
CMVT (4-3) 8 0 8 8 – 24
Cowanesque Valley (2-5) 8 13 0 8 – 29

First quarter
8:35 – (VT) Axton Koser 22-yard pass from Myles Koser (Brown run), 7-47, 3:25
:00 – (CV) Graham Hess 1-yard run (Dave Hess run), 6-46, 3:12

Second quarter
8:48 – (CV) Graham Hess 2-yard run (pass failed), 2-2, :10
2:12 – (CV) Dave Hess 17-yard run (Churchill kick), 5-71, 2:28

Third quarter
7:13 – (VT) Myles Koser 2-yard run (Brown run), 6-61, 2:56

Fourth quarter
7:25 – (VT) Axton Koser 4-yard pass from Myles Koser (Brown run), 17-80, 9:31
1:22 – (CV) Graham Hess 2-yard run (Stahli pass from Graham Hess), 11-55, 6:03

Statistics
VT CV
First downs 15 19
Rushes-net yards 33-109 34-188
Passing yardage 163 93
Passing 10-20-2-2 9-19-0-2
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-yards 5-30 6-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: CMVT: Braxtyn Brown (28-111), Myles Koser (4-2-1), Tyson Brown (1-(-3)); Cowanesque Valley: Dave Hess (19-109-1), Graham Hess (13-54-3), Kegan Lane (1-24), Jeavon Eick (1-1)
PASSING: CMVT: Myles Koser (9-19-148-2-2), Braxtyn Brown (1-1-15-0-0); Cowanesque Valley: Graham Hess (9-19-93-0-2)
RECEIVING: CMVT: Axton Koser (5-67-2), Landon Hipps (2-48), Tyson Brown (1-23), Myles Koser (1-15), Logan Bracey (1-10); Cowanesque Valley: Kegan Lane (4-47), Levi Stahli (2-29), Jeavon Eick (1-17), Dave Hess (1-0), Gavin Churchill (1-0)

BLOOMSBURG – With about six or so teams vying for the last four spots in the District 4 Class 2A playoffs and them all being bunched together in the standings, Friday’s game against Midd West was of particular importance for Bloomsburg.

Off to a 1-4 start to its season after dropping a pair of close games the last two weeks, including by just a touchdown to Loyalsock last week, Bloomsburg was in desperate need of a win to not only keep pace in the standings, but also to gain some confidence and it heads into the second half of the regular season.

The Panthers managed to do both as they both got the much-needed win and the added confidence that goes along with it, as freshman back Jharee Moore-Stewart led the way by scoring four touchdowns – all in the first half – on just eight total touches for the game, as Bloomsburg topped Midd West 43-0.

“Jharee is a heck of an athlete and he’s really special,” said Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut. “He can do a lot of different things for us. We challenged our special teams to make something happen and he did that. He works hard and we had good blocking up front for him as well. He had a lot of good years ahead of him as well.”

Moore-Stewart finished with 151 rushing yards on just seven carries, and 229 all-purpose yards. He also added an interception on defense. His exploits largely decided the game early, as he ripped off scoring runs of 74 and 16 yards on Bloomsburg’s first two possessions, and then returned a punt 54 yards for another score all in the first quarter alone.

“Kudos to him, he’s a really good player. I coached junior high here at Midd West last year and we went against him last year, so we knew he’s hard to bring down. He’s got good balance and a lot of speed,” said Midd West coach Jeff Janovich. “But if you take away the big plays, our defense did pretty well tonight. We’re working through the first season here with some new schemes and trying to figure out who we are and who fits where, and I see that as part of the progress.”

Bloomsburg added another score before the end of the first quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Brosious to Dominick Rosini to take a 29-0 lead after the first quarter.

“We asked them to come out and play fundamental football and they did. We did a nice job staying within ourselves and executing the game plan. It feels good after a couple of tough ones,” said Kogut.

Moore-Stewart tacked on a 13-yard touchdown run to cap a short, two-play drive with 7:22 left in the second quarter to extend Bloomsburg’s lead to 36-0. Brosious hit Krue Wheadon for a 9-yard touchdown pass later in the second quarter, giving the Panthers five touchdowns in their first six offensive possessions.

Brosious also had a solid game as he completed 10-of-16 passes for 118 yards to go with the two touchdowns, and he also added 48 rushing yards. His 27-yard pickup on the ground set up Moore-Stewart’s second touchdown in the first quarter.

The Panthers’ defense also had their best game of the year, holding Midd West to just 97 yards of offense as the Panthers pitched the shutout. The Mustangs were forced to punt six times and turned it over on downs once. They only managed to run three plays all night in Bloomsburg territory, which came in the fourth quarter. But that drive ended with an interception in the end zone.

Bloomsburg 43, Midd West 0
Midd West (0-6) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Bloomsburg (2-4) 29 14 0 0 – 43

First quarter
11:36 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 74-yard run (Pegg kick), 3-80, :24
8:06 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 16-yard run (Pegg kick), 4-56, 1:50
4:22 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 54-yard punt return (Katulis run)
1:34 – (B) Dominick Rosini 20-yard pass from Wyatt Brosious (Pegg kick), 3-44, 1:12

Second quarter
7:22 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 13-yard run (Pegg kick), 2-55, :52
4:12 – (B) Krue Wheadon 9-yard pass from Wyatt Brosious (Pegg kick), 7-44, 2:02

Statistics
MW B
First downs 6 20
Rushes-net yards 21-59 28-272
Passing yardage 38 162
Passing 5-20-0-2 12-20-2-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 0-0 7-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Midd West: Landon Hartman (13-30), Mason Fultz (4-42), Noah Kratzer (2-(-4)), Brady Janovich (1-0), Team (1-(-9)); Bloomsburg: Jharee Moore-Stewart (7-151-3), Wyatt Schrader (7-79), Wyatt Brosious (4-48), Zane Thomas (3-0), Bilal Washington (2-2), Jack Katulis (1-11), Hines Dietz (1-2), Brady Hendricks (1-1), Bentley Patterson (1-(-5)), Team (1-(-17))
PASSING: Midd West: Mason Fultz (4-15-18-0-2); Bloomsburg: Wyatt Brosious (10-16-118-2-0), Zane Thomas (2-4-44-0-0)
RECEIVING: Midd West: Konnor Kullman (2-8), James Devine (1-20), Keaton Kreider (1-8), Noah Kratzer (1-2); Bloomsburg: Jack Katulis (4-71), Krue Wheadon (4-23-1), Brady Hendricks (2-44), Dominick Rosini (2-24-1)

To run in the 9/26 Bucks County Herald

You will watch a lot of football games before seeing one as good as the CB South-CB West tilt in Warrington Friday night.

Trailing by one at the Buck 39 with no time left, South quarterback Owen Pinkerton rolled left and launched a pass into the corner of the end zone. Teammate Danny Gies emerged from the scrum with the football.

It gave South (5-0, 2-0 National) the 22-17 win, left 2/3rds of the capacity crowd jubilant and 1/3 of the crowd stunned.

“It was a designed play right there on the spot,” Pinkerton shared. “Both Dannys- McCusker and Gies-
were going to be in the back left corner of the end zone so I knew I was throwing the ball there. We had a chance to catch the ball because they are both big receivers.

“They got a pretty good pass rush but I was able to step up in the pocket,” Pinkerton continued. “I threw the ball as hard as I could in the back left corner and I saw Gies fall to the ground. I didn’t even know he had it but I heard everyone cheering. Then the field was flooded. I still can’t believe what happened.”

West (3-2, 1-1 National), who averaged over five yards per carry, executed an impressive opening drive. Noah Miller hit Allen Gerace on a 48-yard touchdown to give the Bucks a 7-0 early lead. West’s Louie Cipollo recovered a fumble late in the first quarter, giving the Bucks the ball at the South 32.

West moved to the 15, but Jack Bartolillo tackled Ryan Clement for a one-yard loss on third down. A Clement field goal put West up 10-0 early in the second.

Gies started to signal future heroics on the next drive, connecting with Pinkerton on a 37 yard catch and ending the march with a 9 yard touchdown.

“Last year, we didn’t get to throw the ball much so we almost didn’t know Danny and I had special chemistry,” Pinkerton admitted. “In every single practice, he is the guy I look for and when I throw it to his side, it just works.”

South went to the air again, quickly moving 73 yards in the final two minutes of the half and closing the quarter with a 22-yard field goal to knot the game at 10.

Gies made a diving, horizontal 29-yard grab on fourth down in the second half’s opening drive to give South the ball at the West-2. Pinkerton punched it in two plays later and South led 16-10. West retorted with a 13 play- all runs- 88 yard drive of their own, which ended when Ed Bowen and Elliott Francesco wrapped up Clement on fourth down at the South half-yard line.

“I think that stop changed the whole momentum,” Francesco said. “It gave us momentum to make big plays. That set the tone.”

The Bucks had two 11 or 12 play long drives yet only got three points of them. “Everyone is just doing their 1/11th,” Francesco added. “Making plays is what it is all about. We weren’t perfect. We have to get better and better.”

Clement did get his six, scoring out of the Wildcat on a 9-yard run with 48 seconds left. The Titans were able to move to the West-39 to set up Pinkerton’s and Gies’ heroics.

South completes the CB sweep in seven days, having topped CB East last Friday. “It was definitely tough going with both CB schools,” Pinkerton admitted. “Coach (Tom) Hetrick always preaches that the next game is the most important one so when we’re playing East, all we cared about was East. Once we beat East, the most important game was the next one.”

Pinkerton’s 238 yards passing are a season high; Gies accounted for 168 of the yards on seven grabs. The senior signal caller completed 13 of 20 throws while adding 85 yards on the ground. He is on pace to rush for and pass for 1,000 yards each.

Clement’s 94 yards on 21 carries led all runners. Miller added 75 yards on 10 rushes while Buck Vance Morelli added 48 yards on 12 lugs.

“We knew what it was going to be,” said West coach Rob Rowan. “They’re a really good team. We believe we are a really good team. I’m really proud of our guys’ effort from start to finish. We didn’t end up on the right side of the scoreboard. They made a tremendous play at the end. But we found out about who are guys are. It’s what we knew but that was the validation on the field.

“I thought, on both sides of the ball, we controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the game,” he continued. “I was proud of how we were able to move the ball for most of the game and defensively, we were able to give them some issues. One (Geis) is really good, obviously.”

CB West next hosts Neshaminy on Friday. CB South goes to Pennsbury on Saturday.

North Penn senior Aidan Eves makes a catch Friday against Neshaminy. (Owen McCue/For Eastern PA Football)

LANSDALE — North Penn senior Aidan Eves got a taste of the North Penn football pedigree as a freshman backup three years ago on a Knights team that rattled off 11 straight wins to start its season.

Eves and the Knights haven’t reached those lofty standards in the two years since — winning six games in each of the last two seasons.

The goal this offseason was to get back.

North Penn continued on that trajectory Friday night with a 37-7 victory over Neshaminy. The win helped the Knights open up Suburban One National Division play with a W and improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2021.

“The past two years were a little disappointing, especially with the amount of talent we had,” Eves said. “This year, we knew we had that talent, it was about the players. The coaches are phenomenal every year, especially Coach Beck. We really just capitalize on the leadership in the room.”

North Penn (4-0) and Neshaminy (3-1) both entered Friday night unblemished with the Redskins eyeing their best start since 2016-17. It didn’t take long to figure out which side would keep its perfect record intact.

Neshaminy’s opening drive stalled after five plays. Though the Redskins pinned the Knights deep, North Penn drove 90 yards in 11 plays on its first drive, which was capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Christian Johns-Wallace.

The North Penn ground game churned out 288 yards in the contest, including 18 attempts for 173 yards in the first half. Eves shouted out sophomore right tackle Charles Ashley with seniors Dylan Webb-Dennis and Vinnie Montmore and juniors Dominic Tranzilli and Mason Charles drawing additional praise from junior quarterback Matt Bucksar.

“It starts with the O-Line every game,” Eves said. “Our O-Line’s phenomenal. We keep pushing them every week and we still haven’t peaked yet.”

Knights senior defensive lineman Cole D’Ambrosio recovered a fumble two plays into Neshaminy’s ensuing drive. After taking over at the Redskins 31, North Penn quickly made jt a 14-0 game with a 21-yard touchdown run by junior Matt Bownall almost exactly two minutes after the first Knights’ score.

Neshaminy went for it on 4th-and-3 at the Redskins own 27 on their next possession. Aidan Eves stuffed the attempt to give the Knights another short field. They capitalized again as Eves finished off the drive with a one-yard score to make it 21-0 with eight minutes left in the half.

“That play was awesome,” Eves said of the fourth-down stop. “ I was pretty hyped up after that. Stopping them on 4th down on like their 30-yard line. We just kept the momentum rolling.”

“The only team that’s gonna beat us when we got momentum is ourselves,” he added.

Senior running back Josiah Coleman (13 rushes for 137 yards) went 89 yards for a touchdown with five minutes left in the second quarter to keep the Knights rolling. When Neshaminy finally halted a North Penn drive late in the first half, senior Ryan Bocklet booted a 49-yard field goal to add onto the lead.

Meanwhile the Knights’ defense held Neshaminy to under 100 total yards and just five first downs in the first half.

“The defense has been showing out great,” Bucksar said. “They’ve been playing great the entire season. For them to do this it’s awesome. It just set the tone for the rest of the season.

A fumble spoiled another strong North Penn drive to start the second half. Neshaminy junior quarterback Michale Eckart broke the shutout with 6:02 left in the third, but North Penn answered right back with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bucksar to Pownall. Both teams started subbing in their reserves soon after.

Bucksar completed 9-of-13 passes for 147 yards and a score.

“It feels great,” Bucksar said. “We came into the season with a different mindset knowing this is what we can do if we just push ourselves, grind in the offseason. The feeling of being 4-0, winning our first league game, it’s great.”

Neshaminy hosts Abington (1-3) next week looking to refind itself in what’s been an upstart year for the Redskins, who are already one win away from matching their win total in each of the previous two campaigns.

North Penn stays at home next Friday to put its undefeated mark on the line against Pennridge (3-1).

“We have a great group of seniors, especially our captains who help us lead everyday,” Eves said. “Me, Christian Johns-Wallace, Vinnie Montmore, Bubba (Dylan Webb-Dennis) and Ryan Bocklet, we’ve been here for a while and we really want to set that culture this year.”

Neshaminy 0 0 7 0-7
North Penn 14 17 6 0-37
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
NP: Christian Johns-Wallace 1 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 3:27
NP: Matt Pownall 21 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 1:24
Second Quarter
NP: Aidan Eves 1 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 8:02
NP: Josiah Coleman 89 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 5:01
NP: Ryan Bocklet 49 yard field goal 1:04
Third Quarter
NE: Michael Eckart 76 run (Kaden Nicastro kick) 6:02
NP: Matt Pownall 13 pass from Matt Bucksar (try fail) 3:56
Fourth Quarter
None.
Team Statistics
………………………..NE………………NP
1st downs………..13…………………19
rush-yds……….30-202……….38-288
comp-att-int….10-14-1…………..9-14-0
pass yds……….78………………147
total yds…………280……………….435
fumb-lost……..1-1………………3-2
pen-yds…………4-30…………..1-15

Individual Statistics
Rushing
Neshaminy: Michael Eckart 1-76, TD; Cayden Weaver 8-42; Nahsir Moore 9-38; Jason Wilmot 6-21; Amir Gray 3-19; Brock WIlliams 3-6.
North Penn: Josiah Coleman 13-137, TD; Matt Pownall 8-63, TD; Brayden Cassel 5-63; Cameron Mainor 3-13; Aidan Eves 3-3, TD; Christian Johns-Wallace 3-3, TD; Mason Franek 2-3.
Passing:
Neshaminy: Michael Eckart 10-14-1, 78 yards.
North Penn: Matt Bucksar 9-13-0, 147 yards, TD; London Evans 0-1-0.
Receiving:
Neshaminy: Lucas Stewart 3-36; Connor Frederick 4-27; Michael Sassano 1-11; Jason Gilardi 1-4.
North Penn: Aidan Eves 3-81; Matt Pownall 2-25, TD; Mason Franek 2-22; Cameron Mainor 1-10; Jackson Schurmann 1-9.
Interceptions: North Penn: Mason Franek.
Sacks: None.

MIFFLINBURG – What a difference a week makes.

Just one week after losing by 46 points on the same field to a Danville team that is largely thought of as the top Class 3A team in District 4, having won the last four straight district titles, Mifflinburg went head-to-head with Pennsylvania’s all-time winningest program, and a contender itself in 3A this year after moving up from 2A in Mount Carmel.

The Wildcats certainly had their chances to pull off the gargantuan upset, but in the end, Mount Carmel made every play it had to in the fourth quarter. Robert Schoppy’s 20-yard field goal with 5:39 to play in the game ended up being the difference and Mount Carmel came up with a huge defensive stop after that before running out the final four minutes of the clock, and the Red Tornados managed to escape Mifflinburg with a 35-34 win – the 901st in program history after they became the first in the state to notch 900 last week.

“It was an effort problem all the way around (last week), so we just challenged them all week, every position group, we had some intense practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, really focused yesterday, and they really answered the call,” said Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts.

“We’re thrilled with their effort tonight and with things that we saw. There’s always things to clean up but perspective is a heck of a thing and if you look back, we’re two points from being 2-1. That’s tough, but we have to come back together Monday as a team and continue to build. We fought really hard and they came together as a team when we got down early, fought back, kept the pressure on. These close losses stink, but I’m very proud of our guys.”

The legs of Cooper Karycki, who ran for 230 yards and pair of touchdowns on 26 carries, and the Red Tornados making a key defensive stop after Schoppy’s field goal, then managing to run the last 3:58 off the clock were largely the difference. Gavin Marshalek also threw for 170 yards on 16-of-24 passing with a pair of touchdowns.

“We didn’t want to be in a tight game, but what we did at the end is difficult to do and we had a lot of pressure on us,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “We had a nice drive to make the field goal and then to run out the clock. It’s not often that we’ve been in a situation like that, so I’m happy we were able to capitalize and get the win.”

The Red Tornados looked like they might make it another lopsided game early on, as Mount Carmel took a 20-7 lead after the first quarter. Karycki found the end zone from 10 yards out on Mount Carmel’s opening drive, which went 73 yards in seven plays, and then Marshalek hit Jaylen Delaney for a short four-yard touchdown on a receiver screen to make it 13-0 with :50 left in the first quarter.

The teams then exchanged long kickoff returns for touchdowns. Mifflinburg’s Landen Murray went 91 yards to get the Wildcats on the board, who hadn’t yet recorded a first down at that point. Then, the Red Tornados’ Michael Kimsal burst loose for an 88-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff, making it 20-7 at the end of the quarter. Kimsal finished with 225 all-purpose yards on the night.

From there, Mifflinburg crept back into the game before eventually taking the lead on the final play of the half. The Wildcats were stopped on downs at the Mount Carmel 13 on their drive following Kimsal’s touchdown, but then stopped the Red Tornados three-and-out to pick up outstanding field position at the Mount Carmel 37.

Radwil Susan capped a short, four-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run, with Chad Martin connecting with Jackson Griffith for a 17-yard reception to move the chains earlier in the possession.

Mount Carmel answered right back as Karycki burst through a hole up the middle and all the way to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown to put the Red Tornados back up 26-13.

But Mifflinburg countered with a 55-yard connection from Martin to Murray to flip the field, and two plays later, Susan had his second touchdown of the night, a five-yarder.

The Wildcats then came up with a big defensive stop of their own, stalling Mount Carmel at about midfield with :38 left in the half. From there, Martin picked up 23 yards on a keeper, Mifflinburg benefitted from a personal foul penalty, and Martin connected with John Parker Marr as time expired for a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 27-26 lead at the half.

“We started off the game in a fashion that I thought we’d be able to keep that going all night but obviously we weren’t able to,” said Darrah. “It was a culmination of things. I thought we got sloppy, gave up that kickoff return, missed some tackles and had some mental busts in some different areas. But it is difficult with a lot of pressure on you like that to go down and win a game, so we’re excited about that.

The teams traded scores in the third quarter. Mount Carmel halted the Wildcats after a single first down following the Wildcats receiving the second half kickoff with the benefit of a 15-yard penalty due to roughing the kicker on the final PAT of the first half.

From there, the Red Tornados capped a seven-play, 74-yard drive when Marshalek hit Kimsal on another receiver screen near the line of scrimmage, and Kimsal turned it into a 51-yard touchdown.

But Mifflinburg again had an answer, as it again benefitted from a pair of Mount Carmel penalties and Susan capped the five-play drive with his third touchdown of the night, this one from three yards to put the Wildcats back on top 34-32.

Mount Carmel came up with another big stop on the Wildcats, as they halted Mifflinburg on downs at the Red Tornado 17 on the second play of the fourth quarter.

The Red Tornados took over at their own 18 at the 11:11 mark and proceeded to go 78 yards in 15 plays and all the down to the Mifflinburg 4, bringing up a fourth-and-goal, setting up Schoppy for his kick, which had plenty of distance and straightness to get through the uprights without any problem.

The drive chewed up 5:32 of clock, but still left the Wildcats with a chance to go back on top. The Wildcats went four-and-out, however, only managing five yards after starting their drive at their own 37. The Red Tornados then took over with still 3:58 remaining, but picked up three first downs and then had Marshalek run backyards for a loss on the final fourth down play with just :04 left to run out the clock and seal the win.

Mount Carmel 35, Mifflinburg 34
Mount Carmel (2-1) 20 6 6 3 – 35
Mifflinburg (0-3) 7 20 7 0 – 34

First quarter
9:49 – (MC) Cooper Karycki 10-yard run (Schoppy kick), 8-73, 2:11
:50 – (MC) Jaylen Delaney 4-yard pass from Gavin Marshalek (kick failed), 14-80, 3:53
:34 – (M) Landen Murray 91-yard kickoff return (Herrera kick)
:22 – (MC) Michael Kimsal 88-yard kickoff return (Schoppy kick)

Second quarter
5:41 – (M) Radwil Susan 4-yard run (kick blocked), 4-37, 1:15
4:16 – (MC) Cooper Karycki 75-yard run (kick failed), 3-82, 1:25
3:06 – (M) Radwil Susan 5-yard run (Herrera kick), 3-66, 1:10
:00 – (M) John Parker Marr 4-yard pass from Chad Martin (Herrera kick), 5-48, :38

Third quarter
8:39 – (MC) Michael Kimsal 51-yard pass from Gavin Marshalek (pass failed), 7-74, 1:46
6:32 – (M) Radwil Susan 3-yard run (Herrera kick), 5-65, 2:07

Fourth quarter
5:39 – (MC) Robert Schoppy 20-yard field goal, 15-78, 5:32

Statistics
MC M
First downs 27 18
Rushes-net yards 53-311 32-125
Passing yardage 170 179
Passing 16-24-2-0 10-18-1-0
Fumbles-lost 4-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 10-100 5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Mount Carmel: Copper Karycki (26-230-2), Michael Kimsal (17-71), Al Bailey (6-22), Gavin Marshalek (4-(-12)); Mifflinburg: Radwil Susan (18-66-3), Chad Martin (12-48), Landen Murray (2-11)
PASSING: Mount Carmel: Gavin Marshalek (16–24-170-2-0); Mifflinburg: Chad Martin (10-17-179-1-0), TEAM (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING: Mount Carmel: Jaylen Delaney (9-57-1), Chase Balichik (3-32), Michael Kimsal (2-55-1), Al Bailey (1-17), Cooper Karycki (1-9); Mifflinburg: Jackson Griffith (5-102), Landen Murray (3-69), John Parker Marr (1-4-1), James Donlin (1-4)

ROYERSFORD – Pope John Paul knew what it was getting itself into when they made their non-conference schedule for the 2024 season. After earning a 34-27 win over a strong Springfield Township team a week ago, the Golden Panthers moved onto the next step of its early season gauntlet against state-ranked Neumann-Goretti. 

Behind an overwhelming defensive performance, the Golden Panthers shut out the Saints 18-0 on Saturday afternoon at Pope John Paul II High School. 

“I knew today was going to be a big test and Neumann-Goretti is a powerhouse in this state,” Pope John Paul head coach Scott Reed said. “You schedule these kinds of games to see where your team is. Our defense led the whole way today and our offense took advantage of some opportunities they gave us.”

The Golden Panthers wanted the ball to start and made a statement on the opening drive of the game when quarterback Luke Terlesky found Jacob Lucci for a 14-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal that made it 7-0. Following that series, the Pope John Paul offense struggled to finish drives as they had two of its next three drives ending with a turnover on downs. 

However, the frustrations on offense were negated by a ferocious pass rush that made life miserable for Saints quarterback Deante Ruffin all afternoon. 

“There was a lot of times where we were going back and forth with sending pressure and not sending pressure,” Scott Reed said. “That is a credit to our defensive coordinator, Coach Dallas, on working really hard to scheme up formations and to our kids for being in the right gaps and doing what they are supposed to do. We would see one of our kids get a sack because another one took out a blocker.”

All in total, the Golden Panthers racked up seven sacks and limited the Saints to an astonishing -57 rushing yards. That total was also compounded by two high snaps over Ruffin’s head in the second quarter which led to a 12-yard safety to extend the Pope John Paul lead to 9-0. 

After turning the Golden Panthers away on downs in the red zone, Ruffin hit on a 39-yard pass to Wydeek Collier that set the Saints up at the Golden Panthers 41-yard line late in the second quarter. The drive, however, was swamped thanks to back-to-back sacks which preserved the 9-0 advantage for Pope John Paul. 

The mistakes from the Saints carried into the second half as they were called for having 12 men in the huddle on the opening play of the third quarter before a sack fumble forced a punt. The Golden Panthers pinned the Saints at their own one yard line on a punt and Anthony Borzillo wrapped up Nahjee Williams in the end zone for the second safety of the game to make it 11-0. 

Neumann-Goretti seemingly connected on a long pass by Ruffin that would have set them up at the Golden Panthers 30 yard line, but Collier let the ball slip out of his hands as he hit the ground. One play later, Ruffin was sacked again to force another punt. 

The Saints still found themselves only down 11 with 8:59 in the fourth quarter but saw any final chance of rallying crash after having another long completion to Collier wiped out due to a holding penalty and sack on 4th and 14. Pope John Paul delivered the final blow when do-it-all back Braden Reed found a wide open Brandon DeAngelo for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 18-0 with three minutes left in regulation. 

“Braden is a guy that has been starting for all four years and he helps us in so many ways,” Scott Reed said. “He was a big part of our success these last two seasons and now it is his turn to be a senior and we are trying to be creative with how we get the ball in his hands because good things happen when we do.”

Braden Reed caught a game-high seven passes for 41 yards, rushed for 36 yards on eight carries, and completed both pass attempts for 55 yards along with his touchdown. He completed a 35-yard pass to DeAngelo on the first play of the game that initially set up the Golden Panthers for their first score of the game. 

“That first play was just a big momentum play to set a tone,” Braden Reed said. “Most teams will play it safe on the first play but getting a big gain on our first play gave our sideline a lot of energy.”

Pope John Paul, now 2-0, completes its opening-season gauntlet next Saturday afternoon at home against West Chester Rustin. Rustin also sits with the same record and was ranked fifth in the latest 5A Pennsylvania State Rankings. 

“This is definitely a grind for us,” Reed said. “Rustin is extremely good, and they have been very impressive in its first two games. We are going to have to play our best brand of football to knock them off.” 

As for Neumann-Goretti, 0-2 against teams state ranked, they will seek its first win of the 2024 season next week against an out-of-state opponent in Tottenville (N.Y.). 

SCORE BY QUARTERS	1	2	3	4	Final
Neumann-Goretti	0	0	0	0	0
Pope John Paul	7	2	2	7	18

Scoring summary

1	PJP	Lucci, 14 pass from Terlesky (Simonic kick)	7:30
2	PJP	12 yard safety	5:50
3	PJP	1 yard safety	7:24
4	PJP	DeAngelo, 20 pass from Reed (Simonic kick)	3:00

Team statistics

	Neumann-Goretti	Pope John Paul
First downs	7	13
Rushes-yards	24-(-57)	29-110
Passing yards	122	140
Total yards	65	250
Passes COMP-ATT-INT	7-21-0	15-29-0
Fumbles-lost	1-0	0-0
Punts-average	4-32.5	4-24.0
Penalties-yards	14-95	12-80

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Neumann-Goretti: Mitchell 5-42, Williams 3-3, Bradley 1-0, TEAM 2-(-29), Ruffin 13-(-73)

Pope John Paul: Scruggs 12-58, Reed 8-36, Lucci 3-12, Terlesky 4-4, TEAM 2-0 

PASSING

Neumann-Goretti: Ruffin 7-21-0–122

Pope John Paul: Terlesky 13-27-0—85, Reed 2-2-0–55

RECEIVING

Neumann-Goretti: Collier 3-99, Williams 2-15, Bashir 2-8, 

Pope John Paul: Reed 7-41, DeAngelo 3-75, Lucci 3-13, Scruggs 1-7, Bass 1-4

MIFFLINBURG – Danville has very high expectations for this season, both in District 4 and beyond. The four-time defending District 4 Class 3A champions are not only looking for their fifth straight district title, but also hoping to take that next step in the postseason.

Teams that have such aspirations generally don’t want to let other teams, particularly ones that they clearly outmatch on paper, hang around, whether early or late in games. And in its first game last week, the Ironmen got off to a bit of a slow start and let Bloomsburg hang around early before pulling away late.

So, Danville coach Carl Majer emphasized a better start for his team’s game in Week 2 against Mifflinburg. The Ironmen answered the bell and then some.

Danville scored on its first two possessions, then poured in 33 points in the second quarter to race out to a 47-0 halftime lead, and ultimately drove home with a convincing 54-8 win over Mifflinburg, in which the outcome was never in doubt.

“We started off slow last week so they really busted their butts over the last week. I challenged them and they responded very well and they came out and showed everyone what Danville football is all about,” said Majer. “Our goal is to improve each game, so we’re going to be better than we were today next week.”

A trio of Ironmen put up big numbers on the night. Cole Duffy caught five passes for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Ironmen and had 216 all-purpose yards. His interception early on Mifflinburg’s first pass of the game set up Danville in Mifflinburg territory with a short field for their first touchdown and largely set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Quarterback Madden Patrick threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-19 passing, while Bo Sheptock had 207 yards on the ground on 14 carries and found the end zone three times.

Duffy picked off Chad Martin’s first pass of the game on Mifflinburg’s second play from scrimmage after the Wildcats had received the opening kickoff, giving Danville the ball at the Mifflinburg 36. Six plays later, Patrick found Carter Raup up the seam for a 23-yard touchdown pass.

Mifflinburg went three-and-out on its next drive, and Duffy returned the punt 19 yards to the Mifflinburg 34. Danville then needed just three plays to find the end zone again, this time on a four-yard run by Sheptock.

The Ironmen would start six more of their drives the rest of the game in Mifflinburg territory, with three of them ending with scores. One of those came early in the second quarter and ended with a 42-yard touchdown by Sheptock to make it 21-0.

“Offensively, we missed stuff early, had guys beat down the field and couldn’t get the ball there, didn’t stay on blocks well or at all to make it matter,” said Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts. “It was a disappointing effort. We didn’t bring it in any phase. We had some guys in the backfield defensively and couldn’t tackle and let them scramble and get away. You can’t do those things and get down early, especially to a team like them.”

Even when the Wildcats were able to gain some field position, such as later in the second quarter when a 41-yard punt put Danville back at its own 14 to start its next drive, it still led to Ironmen points. On that ensuing drive for the Ironmen, Patrick escaped a sack with some fancy footwork in the backfield, then found Duffy for a completed pass, who turned it into an 86-yard touchdown.

Patrick added a six-yard touchdown run of his own and later found Duffy from 18 yards out for his second score of the game later in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Mifflinburg found it difficult to gain yards, as they were held to just 33 yards on the ground on 27 carries, and Mifflinburg quarterbacks managed just seven completions on 23 attempts for 103 yards. The first half was even more dismal, with the Wildcats having -3 yards on the ground.

“We worked all week on working with our hands, getting through the line, containing the ends and most importantly, playing our positions on defense. We stressed that very hard this week, and playing your spots, and if the guy to the left, right and in front of you did that, this was what was going to happen,” said Majer.

A big reason for the negative rushing yards in the first half was a fumbled snap on an attempted punt late in the second quarter that resulted in a safety, and then Garrett Hoffman kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cap the ensuing drive following the safety and give Danville a 47-0 lead at halftime.

“They brought an extra guy probably every play, but we need to understand that and have a better football IQ and get the ball out faster. We’re running short stuff, seeing the blitz coming, but not getting the ball out or leaving the pocket instead of stepping up when the pressure is coming from the outside,” said Botts. “We need to establish something, whether it’s the pass or the run, just find something to dig into and have confidence to execute it.”

The Ironmen left their first team offense on the field for the first drive of the second half before pulling the starters, but the starters made it count as Sheptock put the finishing touches on the win with his third touchdown run, a 68-yarder that put him over the 200 yards mark on the night.

Mifflinburg, which lost by just a single point in Week 1 to Loyalsock managed a touchdown to end the shutout late in the fourth quarter as Jackson Marr ran it in from six yards out with 3:05 remaining.

Danville 54, Mifflinburg 8
Danville (2-0) 14 33 7 0 – 54
Mifflinburg (0-2) 0 0 0 8 – 8

First quarter
8:32 – (D) Carter Raup 23-yard pass from Madden Patrick (kick failed), 6-36, 2:39
6:01 – (D) Bo Sheptock 4-yard run (Kiersch pass from Patrick)

Second quarter
11:47 – (D) Bo Sheptock 42-yard run (Hoffman kick), 2-45, :23
10:22 – (D) Cole Duffy 86-yard pass from Madden Patrick (Hoffman kick), 1-86, :21
4:17 – (D) Madden Patrick 6-yard run (Hoffman kick), 6-20, 1:19
1:54 – (D) Cole Duffy 18-yard pass from Madden Patrick (Hoffman kick), 5-82, 1:29
:49 – (D) Safety
:00 – (D) Garrett Hoffman 34-yard field goal, 6-39, :49

Third quarter
9:51 – (D) Bo Sheptock 68-yard run (Hoffman kick), 3-81, 2:09

Fourth quarter
3:05 – (M) Jackson Marr 6-yard run (Hartman pass from Marr), 8-56, 6:57

Statistics
D M
First downs 20 7
Rushes-net yards 26-218 27-33
Passing yardage 256 103
Passing 12-22-3-0 7-23-0-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-55 6-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Danville: Bo Sheptock (14-207-3), Madden Patrick (6-5-1), Kole Harvey (2-3), Jake Cool (2-2), Jack Rarig (1-8), TEAM (1-(-7)); Mifflinburg: Rahmi Stahl (6-12), Chad Martin (5-16), Jackson Marr (4-17-1), Radwil Susan (3-10), Seth Hartman (3-6), Landen Murray (2-(-4)), Dylan Parrish (1-4), TEAM (1-(-16)), John Parker Marr (1-(-7)), Cole Reibsome (1-(-5))
PASSING: Danville: Madden Patrick (12-19-256-3-0), Jake Cool (0-2-0-0-0), TEAM (0-1-0-0-0); Mifflinburg: Chad Martin (4-17-50-0-1), Cole Reibsome (2-3-25-0-0), Jackson Marr (1-3-28-0-0)
RECEIVING: Danville: Carter Raup (6-88-1), Cole Duffy (5-165-2), Kole Harvey (1-3); Mifflinburg: Landen Murray (4-34), Isaiah Kurtz (1-28), Noah Munson (1-24), Jackson Griffith (1-17)