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JERSEY SHORE – With everything 2020 has thrown at the world, just being out on the football field and playing an actual game had to feel like a relief for most teams making their 2020 season debut on Friday.
That was certainly the case for both Shamokin and Jersey Shore for their opener, and though both were ecstatic and relieved to just be playing, the Bulldogs appeared to enjoy it a bit more. Jersey Shore, which is coming off its best season in school history and a Class 4A state semifinal appearance last year, thoroughly overmatched Shamokin on both sides of the ball as the Bulldogs picked up right where they left off in 2019 and showed they will once again be one of the favorites in District 4 Class 4A with a convincing 41-7 win over the Indians.
“We were just so excited to get out here, we’ve been having Zoom meetings once or twice a week since March and it looked like we might not get to this day,” said Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “We had a great summer since we were allowed to come back and work out so we’re proud of our kids but it’s only one game so we need to work hard this week to get ready for next week.”
Shamokin struggled to put anything together on offense, as the Indians were held to just 117 yards of offense by the veteran Bulldogs as Shamokin’s young offensive line that returns just one starter from last year struggled to open up any holes for the Indians’ running backs and the team managed just 26 yards on the ground. Of their 117 total yards, 66 came on two plays alone. Jersey Shore recorded eight sacks and three additional tackles for loss.
We’re just glad to be back playing football – the guys needed it,” said Shamokin coach Henry Hynoski. “We certainly have the ability but we need to fine tune some things. We’ve got some young guys and some new guys that have a lot of ability but it all starts with running the ball and we really struggled up front moving the ball offensively so that’s where it all starts. It’s a work in progress but they have the ability.”
Jersey Shore’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense had little problem with Shamokin’s defense early on as the Bulldogs scored on four of their first five possessions. Cameron Allison outscored the Indians by himself in the first quarter alone, as he kicked a 29-yard field goal on the Bulldogs’ first drive, then later went in for a 12-yard run on a sweep play and then made a nice cut back to a wide open hole for a 35-yard touchdown run, making for a 16-0 Shore lead after the first quarter. Allison ran for 128 yards on 20 carries to go with his two touchdowns. One positive for Shamokin on the night is that the Indians were able to block four of Allison’s six PAT attempts.
But those were of little consequence to the final outcome. When Allison wasn’t finding holes in the running game, first-year starter Brandon Wheary was finding them through the air at quarterback. In his first career start, Wheary completed 16-of-25 passes for 172 and four touchdowns without an interception.
“We feel confident in him and Owen Anderson if we need to play him at quarterback and we have some good younger kids too,” said Gravish.
Wheary’s favorite target was Cayden Hess, who hauled in eight passes for 85 yards, including on a slant route for a 14-yard touchdown early in the second quarter that made it 22-0.
“To come out and start the season against that (the no huddle), we knew that they do it but you can never simulate it perfectly in practice so I’m glad we got experience against it in our first game but it is tough to simulate exactly what they do in practice, but we did our best with it,” said Hynoski.
Owen Anderson did a little bit of everything on the night for the Bulldogs as he had five rushes for 66 yards, including a nice 22-yard gain on a fake punt on the first play of the second quarter, and also caught six passes for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His first touchdown catch came with 3:11 remaining in the first half as he ended up with a pass that was tipped a few times near the end zone before settling in his hands on the goal line.
A nice over-the-shoulder catch by Dalton Dugan for an 11-yard touchdown reception put the Bulldogs up 35-0 early in the third quarter and put the game into the mercy rule. Anderson hauled in his second touchdown of the night later in the third quarter before the starters were pulled.
Shamokin got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when the Indians capped a 67-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown pass from Brett Nye to Michah Miller.
Jersey Shore 41, Shamokin 7
Shamokin (0-1) 0 0 0 7 – 7
Jersey Shore (1-0) 16 12 13 0 – 41
First quarter
7:25 – (JS) Cameron Allison 29-yard field goal, 13-44, 3:31
3:16 – (JS) Cameron Allison 12-yard run (kick blocked), 5-36, :55
2:08 – (JS) Cameron Allison 35-yard run (Allison kick), 2-45, :14
Second quarter
10:31 – (JS) Cayden Hess 14-yard pass from Branden Wheary (kick blocked), 11-54, 3:24
3:11 – (JS) Owen Anderson 12-yard pass from Branden Wheary (kick blocked), 6-51, 1:59
Third quarter
10:06 – (JS) Dalton Dugan 11-yard pass from Brandon Wheary (Allison kick), 7-78, 1:54
6:04 – (JS) Owen Anderson 16-yard pass from Brandon Wheary (kick blocked), 4-44, 1:26
Fourth quarter
11:56 – (S) Michah Miller 1-yard pass from Brett Nye (Ososkie kick), 11-67, 6:08
Statistics
S JS
First downs 6 26
Rushes-net yards 33-26 41-237
Passing yardage 91 195
Passing 7-17-1-2 18-28-4-0
Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-55 3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Shamokin: Ian Paul (8-38), Brett Nye (6-(-35)), Maximus Madden (5-3), Aaron Frasch (4-10), Karmyne Cole (3-10), Tyler Whary (2-10), Corey Adams (2-6), Collin Bozza (2-(-10)), TEAM (1-0); Jersey Shore: Cameron Allison (20-128-2), Hayden Packer (6-22), Owen Anderson (5-66), Brady Jordan (4-12), Nicholas Williams (2-3), Kooper Peacock (1-8), Cayden Hess (1-0), TEAM (1-0), Stone Sechrist (1-(-2))
PASSING: Shamokin: Brett Nye (6-15-66-1-2), Collin Bozza (1-2-25-0-0); Jersey Shore: Branden Wheary (16-25-172-4-0), Nicholas Williams (1-2-17-0-0), Owen Anderson (1-1-6-0-0)
RECEIVING: Shamokin: Aaron Frasch (2-18), Ryder Zulkowski (1-41), William Delbaugh (1-25), Ian Paul (1-4), Tyler Whary (1-2), Michah Miller (1-1-1); Jersey Shore: Cayden Hess (8-85-1), Owen Anderson (6-82-2), Dalton Dugan (3-11-1), Brady Jordan (1-17)
