By BILL ALBRIGHT
EasternPAFootball.com/WesternPAFootball.net Senior Writer
For The Daily Item
JERSEY SHORE — When Lewisburg invaded Thompson Street Stadium Friday night for its battle with Jersey Shore, both teams entered the contest with identical 2-1 marks.
As the game unfolded, it became apparent that was as close as the two teams would be as the Bulldogs ran and threw their way past the Green Dragons for a 35-6 win.
For the Dragons, the first two possessions dictated the tempo of the game.
On Lewisburg’s first possession, the Dragons put the ball on the ground and Shore recovered at the Dragon 13.
On the fourth play following the turnover, Shore quarterback Elijah Shemory hit wideout Koby Peacock with a 10-yard scoring pass. Cameron Griffin’s first of five PATs made it 7-0 Shore slightly more than two minutes into the game.
“If we execute that second play it is a touchdown, it is six or seven points for us and we have the momentum,” said Lewisburg head coach Marc Persing. “But that is the way football goes and we put the ball on the ground and they capitalized on our mistake.”
Unable to generate much on offense against the swarming Shore defense, the Dragons shot themselves in the foot time after time with dropped balls and mental mistakes.
“That has been the pain in our side for the first four games,” said Persing. “Off the top of my head, maybe 10 or 11 drops this year, not bad balls or good coverage. Those are morale and drive killers, but they are all fixable things. When the line gives us protection and the quarterback throws a good ball, we need to do the thing on our end, catch the ball and make a play.”
While all of that was taking place, the Shemory-to-Peacock combination clicked two more times from nine and 15 yards for touchdowns to send the two teams to their respective dressing rooms with Shore holding a commanding 21-0 lead.
As the game unfolded, it became more and more apparent that the Shore passing attack engineered by quarterback Elijah Shemory and the Bulldog running game featuring junior tailback Kyle Tomb was simply too much for the Dragons to deal with.
For the game, Tomb rushed 35 times for 231 yards and the pair of scores, while Shemory finished 8-for-20 for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Shemory’s primary target was Peacock who finished with seven catches for 129 yards and the three scores.
“Hats off to coach (Tom) Gravish because he has one heckuva football team,” said Persing. “I think they are going to be contending for another district title at the end of the year. That is what we are striving to be. We strive to be the physical, smash mouth team that just runs the ball north and south, right down peoples throats. I think it might have been a little bit of an eye opener between Central (Columbia) and this week. Just because you are big and strong in the weight room doesn’t always translate to success on the football field. We are going to have to re-evaluate things to see if we have the right guys at the right positions on the field to fit our scheme.”
Tomb scored his first of two touchdowns with a 76-yard jaunt to pay dirt and later bulled his way into the end zone for the final two yards to set the final of 35-6 after Lewisburg scored its only touchdown of the night on a catch-and-run from quarterback Nick Shedleski to Brett Newcomb covering 64 yards.
Going into the game, Persing and his staff knew what the Bulldogs were going to throw at them, but they just couldn’t handle it.
“They are very, very basic and good at what they do,” said Persing. “There are no surprises and tricks, they just run the ball right at you, especially that running back (Tomb). He runs real hard.”
Following the game, Shore head coach Tom Gravish paid respects to the Dragons for their efforts.
“We challenged our guys this past week in practice because we knew they had a real good ball club and they are well coached,” said Gravish. “They have talent, size and speed. Their quarterback is a big, strong kid and they have good size on their line. Our defense had been dictating games and tonight was no different. We practice hard, coach (Alex) Jackson and the assistants do great jobs with the kids and our scout team also gives our first guys a good battle. Kevin Titus will be with us real soon and he gave us as good a look as anyone could have preparing for that Farronato boy. That is a talented football team over there and they are going to win more football games down the stretch.”
Lewisburg 0 0 6 0 — 6
Jersey Shore 14 7 7 7 — 35
First Quarter
JS — Koby Peacock 10 pass from Elijah Shemory. (Cameron Griffin kick), 7-0. (9:43
JS — Peacock 9 pass from Shemory. (Griffin kick), 14-0. (2:20)
Second Quarter
JS — Peacock 15 pass from Shemory. (Griffin kick), 21-0. (2:40.
Third Quarter
JS — Kyle Tomb 76 run (Griffin kick), 28-0. (4:12)
LEW — Brett Newcomb 64 pass from Nicholas Shedleski. (conversion failed), 28-6. (2:11
Fourth Quarter
JS — Tomb 2 run (Griffin kick), 35-6. (8:51.
TEAM STATISTICS LEW JS
First Downs 8 19
Rushes-Yards 26-17 52-311
Passing Yards 173 160
Passing (C-A-YDS) 11-21-0 8-22-1
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 1-0
Penalties-Yards 9-90 7-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
L: Dylan Farronato 3-42, Draven Doebler 2-9, Max Moyers (12-minus 4), Nick Shedleski 9-minus 30.
JS: Kyle Tomb 30-231, 2 TDs; Elijah Shemory 5-35, Josh Malicky 4-22, Dawson Sechrist 4-16, Koby Peacock 2-9, Tanner Lorson 1-minus 2.
PASSING
L: Nick Shedleski 11-21, 173 yards, 1 TD
JS: Elijah Shemory 7-20, 129 yards, 3 Tds; Koby Peacock 1-31, Tanner Lorson 0-1.
RECEIVING
L: Brett Newcomb, 1-64, 1 TD;Dylan Farronato 2-59, Andrew Ramirez 6-34, Max Moyers 1-8, Nate Gose 1-8.
JS: Koby Peacock 7-129, 3 Tds; Hunter Frantz 1-31.
