MOUNT CARMEL-There were plenty of touchdowns to go around for Mount Carmel in a 49-20 win over Central Mountain on Senior Night. Seven different Red Tornadoes crossed the goal line, including two on punt returns, as Mount Carmel quickly and efficiently spread the wealth throughout the early part of the game. Central Mountain did score three times in the second half against reserves, but 301 yards of offense in a dominant first-half performance provided more than enough cushion for the Red Tornadoes to rest their starters.
“I thought we did a good job,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “It was a good Senior Night. We had all those different guys score touchdowns, so I was really happy with those guys, and all the work they put in during their career. Obviously, we wanted to play a little bit better in the second half with our young guys, but they definitely got some valuable experience against their older guys.”
Mount Carmel (6-2) struck on the opening play from scrimmage after Cooper Karycki had a touchdown nullfied by a penalty flag on the opening kickoff. Gavin Marshalek found Al Bailey wide open, and the senior fullback did the rest by outrunning the secondary for an 87-yard touchdown reception just 25 seconds into the game. Luke Blessing, another of the six seniors who found the end zone, scored on a 1-yard run to cap off the second possession. After suffering a knee injury in the opener against North Schuylkill, Blessing made the most of his five carries that included three runs of 12 yards or longer.
“We pretty much accomplished our goal,” Darrah said. “We wanted to get Luke a couple touches, get him out of here healthy, and we did that. I thought he looked good. He looked like himself running around, so I’m definitely excited and happy for him on Senior Night to get a touchdown.”
Morgante picked up a rolling punt on the far sideline, then worked his way back across the field, got a great block, and had an escort to the end zone on a 64-yard punt return with 3:25 left in the opening quarter. Midway through the second quarter, Jaylen Delaney, the only underclassman to score, contributed the second big play in the return game when he made a house call from 61 yards out that expanded the lead to 42-0.
“Special teams was definitely electric,” Darrah said. “We had the one called back as well on the opening kickoff, so we’ve definitely got a lot of athletes, it was all different guys making plays. That is definitely a weapon for us.”
The ground game was relied upon heavily last week in a near-miss at Danville, and Friday night it was the air attack that was let loose a little bit. Marshalek completed 5-of-9 passes for 180 yards, and found Chase Balichik for a 26-yard touchdown pass on a play that saw Balichik win a one-on-one battle in the end zone. Delaney also chipped in with 58 yards on two catches.
“All our guys are playmakers,” Marshalek said. “We could really just do anything we want with the ball, and passing the ball, we were picking up huge yards every time. We just kept using it, and it worked out for us in the first half.”
Central Mountain (0-8) offered little resistance defensively. Matthew Balichik closed out the first-half onslaught by scoring on a 15-yard run shortly after he took over for Marshalek at quarterback. The victory currently keeps Mount Carmel as the No. 3 seed in what will very likely be a six-team District 4 Class 3A playoff field. A winnable road trip to Milton is what lies ahead next week, before one of the most anticipated Coal Bucket games in at least a decade is on the horizon Week 10 against Shamokin.
“Yeah, I’m definitely happy with how we’ve been playing,” Marshalek said. “We’re picking it up every single week. We’re getting better and better every week as a team, and it has definitely shown since Week 1 for sure.”
Central Mountain 0 0 13 7-20
Mount Carmel 28 21 0 0-49
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
MC-Al Bailey 87 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Robert Schoppy kick) 11:35
MC-Luke Blessing 1 run (Schoppy kick) 5:42
MC-Jon Morgante 64 punt return (Schoppy kick) 3:25
MC-Chase Balichik 26 pass from Marshalek (Schoppy kick) 1:12
Second Quarter
MC-Andrew Lukoskie 18 run (Schoppy kick) 9:27
MC-Jaylen Delaney 61 punt return (Schoppy kick) 6:52
MC-Matthew Balichik 15 run (Schoppy kick) 3:02
Third Quarter
CM-Gavin Heverly 43 pass from Isaiah Maldonado (Mycah Carson kick) 8:42
CM-Jake Weaver 11 run (kick failed) 4:41
Fourth Quarter
CM-Kai Fravel 7 run (Carson kick) 8:20
Team Statistics
………………………..CM……………….MC
1st downs………….7……………………..15
rush-yds………….32-87………………31-179
comp-att-int……6-12-0………………5-14-3
pass yds…………..79…………………..180
total yds……………166………………..359
fumb-lost…………..3-0…………………1-0
pen-yds……………4-35…………………2-18
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Central Mountain: Jake Weaver 12-31, TD; Kole Corman 4-30; Kai Fravel 1-7, TD; Gavin Edmonston 3-6; Mason Masorti 1-6; Isaiah Maldonado 8-3; Cooper Bottorf 2-3; Dalton McDermott 1-1. Mount Carmel: Luke Blessing 5-44, TD; Aiden Deitz 8-30; Logan Shuder 7-30; Andrew Lukoskie 2-20, TD; Aidan Brokenshire 2-18; Matthew Balichik 1-15, TD; Cooper Karycki 4-12; Michael Kimsal 2-10.
Passing-Central Mountain: Maldonado 6-12-0, 79 yds., TD. Mount Carmel: Gavin Marshalek 5-9-0, 180 yds., 3 TDs; Brokenshire 0-4-2; Robert Schoppy 0-1-1.
Receiving-Central Mountain: Gavin Heverly 4-60, TD; Jase Seltzer 1-16; Fravel 1-3. Mount Carmel: Jayden Delaney 2-58; Chase Balichik 2-35, TD; Al Bailey 1-87, TD.
