SHAMOKIN – Jersey Shore was facing the possibility of two miserably long bus rides if they didn’t take care of business at Shamokin on Friday. In addition to the hour-plus ride back to Jersey Shore after the game, the Bulldogs are planning to take the three-hour ride to Philadelphia on Saturday to watch Temple take on Georgia Tech for their annual team field trip.
Luckily for the Bulldogs, although both bus rides will still be long, they will be much more pleasant, as Jersey Shore held Shamokin to just eight yards rushing and 101 yards overall and five different players scored touchdowns as they topped the Indians 35-14.
“We were sloppy in some areas but when we had to make some plays, we made them,” said Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “We really had it going on there in the first half defensively.”
The Bulldogs had it going on defense for most of the night, as they also forced three Shamokin turnovers and overcame their own slow start to the game by ensuring that the Indians also started slow in both halves and weren’t able to do much more in the rest of the game either.
“It was sloppy play all around – pass protection, which was the number one issue, penalties, which was number two, and a lack of tackling,” said Shamokin coach Henry Hynoski. “Collectively, I thought the defense played pretty well except for a few big plays, especially in the first half, but we need to be sharper mentally and physically. We made a lot of mistakes that we shouldn’t make.”
The Indians were tackled for a loss on 12 plays, including four sacks, and Shamokin also committed three turnovers, although Shore only got points off one of them. Only three offensive plays all night went for more than 10 yards. Shamokin’s two longest plays of the night were both interception returns by Joe Masser, who returned a pair of picks 48 and 90 yards, respectively, the second of which went for a touchdown.
Shore quarterback Tanner Lorson threw for 130 yards and ran for 102, as his ability to make plays both on the ground and through the air while rolling out of the pocket proved to be a key to the game, along with Shore’s stout defense.
“We were going to lean a little bit more on him tonight and he came through,” said Gravish. “We did some of that stuff in our first two games but not enough against Mount Carmel. We’ve got a lot of plays where if something isn’t there, he can take off and run and get the first down. He did a good job on our first possession of the second half taking the short throws.”
“He’s a great athlete and we worked on that stuff all week but it was a matter of guys being out of position and not being where they were supposed to be,” said Hynoski. “We took some bad angles and missed some tackles and that stuff can’t happen.”
Despite having to punt on their first two possessions, Shore dominated field position in the first quarter, as 30 of the 33 plays combined for both teams were run on Shamokin’s side of the 50. That field position finally paid off when a 15-yard punt return by Dalton Dugan set up the Bulldogs at the Shamokin 23 with 3:54 to play in the quarter. On the first play of the drive, Josh Malicky burst loose around the left side of the line for a 23-yard touchdown run to put Shore on the scoreboard.
Masser’s 48-yard interception return on Shore’s next drive gave the Indians the ball at the Bulldogs’ 20. Shamokin took eight plays and two successful fourth-down conversions, but did finally find the end zone on a one-yard run by Nate Grimes on a fourth-and-goal to tie it 7-7 with 9:23 left in the second.
It appeared things might stay tied at the half after Owen Anderson picked off Grimes to set up Shore at their own 26 with just 1:23 left in the half. But Lorson, who had been held in check to that point by Shamokin, was unable to find an open receiver on a designed passing play, so he instead rolled out the left, tucked the ball and burst loose down the left sideline for a 71-yard touchdown to give Shore the 14-7 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs kept the momentum as they received the second half kickoff and put together an eight-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Lorson to Stanton Westlin to go up 21-7. Just over a minute later, after a three-and-out by Shamokin, Anderson fielded the Shamokin punt and took it 42 yards for a touchdown to give Shore the 28-7 lead.
“We’ve been working real hard on our punt returns and I think that’s the first punt we returned for a touchdown since I’ve been here in eight years and we’re getting better at it,” said Gravish. “Dalton Dugan is also getting better. We’ve got to find more ways to get him the ball on offense but he caught the ball well on punts as well and advanced it for 8-10 yards and that’s all we can ask, especially on a turf field.”
In addition to Anderson’s return for touchdown, Dugan also returned five punts for a combined 43 yards.
With Shore potentially driving for another touchdown late in the third and into the fourth quarter, Masser made another outstanding play as he picked off Lorson and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead back to two possessions early in the fourth. The Indians made some outstanding blocks during the return to allow Masser to take it all the way back.
“Joe Masser is a phenomenal football player that really has a passion for the game and offensively and defensively he just gets it done each and every week,” said Hynoski. “I’m proud of him and the way he played and have nothing but praises for him.”
But the Bulldogs answered right back on their ensuing possession, going 54 yards in 11 plays for another touchdown when Lorson found Cayden Hess in the end zone from eight yards out to cap the scoring.
Jersey Shore 35, Shamokin 14
Jersey Shore (4-2) 7 7 14 7 – 35
Shamokin (2-4) 0 7 0 7 – 14
First quarter
3:54 – (JS) Josh Malicky 23-yard run (Cameron Allison kick), 1-23, :09
Second quarter
9:23 – (S) Nate Grimes 1-yard run (Carson Ososkie kick), 8-20, 3:32
:38 – (JS) Tanner Lorson 71-yard run (Allison kick), 3-74, :45
Third quarter
9:24 – (JS) Stanton Westlin 26-yard pass from Tanner Lorson (Allison kick), 8-65, 2:36
8:21 – (JS) Owen Anderson 42-yard punt return (Allison kick)
Fourth quarter
11:13- (S) Joe Masser 90-yard interception return (Ososkie kick)
5:55 – (JS) Cayden Hess 8-yard pass from Tanner Lorson (Allison kick), 11-54, 5:18
Statistics
JS S
First downs 15 7
Rushes-net yards 34-144 32-8
Passing yardage 130 93
Passing 10-24-2-2 8-19-0-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties-yards 6-47 8-73
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Jersey Shore: Josh Malicky (18-47-1), Tanner Lorson (11-102-1), Dawson Sechrist (3-3), Dalton Dugan (1-2), Owen Anderson (1-(-10)); Shamokin: Max Madden (18-16), Wolfgang Pearson (6-12), Nate Grimes (5-(-11)-1), Brett Nye (1-(-3)), TEAM (2-(-4))
PASSING: Jersey Shore: Tanner Lorson (10-24-130-2-2); Shamokin: Nate Grimes (7-18-88-0-1), Brett Nye (1-1-5-0-0)
RECEIVING: Jersey Shore: Owen Anderson (4-41), Cayden Hess (3-31-1), Stanton Westlin (2-45-1), Josh Malicky (1-13); Shamokin: Matt Schiccatano (3-59), Blake Kane (2-11), Joe Masser (1-12), Max Madden (1-6), Wolfgang Pearson (1-5)
