MOUNT CARMEL – Down its starting offensive backfield on Friday, Mount Carmel didn’t miss a beat, and the Red Tornados continued their torrid offensive stretch that they’ve been on lately as they tuned up for their big rivalry game against Shamokin next week with a 68-9 victory over Warrior Run.
“Our kids have done a great job with preparation and working hard all year,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “I feel good about where we’re at and we want to continue to get better and always address our weak area.”
A week after hanging 60 points on Loyalsock and gashing the Lancers for 539 rushing yards and gaining 36 first downs, the Red Tornados put up 342 more rushing yards and 469 overall to go with 23 more first downs – all despite the starters not playing the second half.
The absence of Julien Stellar and Thomas Davitt in the backfield on Friday might even turn out to be a positive for Mount Carmel. In their absence, the Red Tornados turned to a running back by committee approach, and may have found some new contributors heading into the most important part of the season.
Sophomore Xaviar Diaz ran for 95 yards on just three carries, and for the second straight week, ripped off a long touchdown run, going for a 66-yard score in the second quarter after having a 55-yard touchdown run against Loyalsock last week. Freshman Andrew Lukoskie also had a long touchdown run of 53 yards in the second half and finished with 62 yards on three carries. Mount Carmel had 12 different players receive rushing carries on the night.
“Xaviar has been doing a great job for us all year playing some defense and slowly making his way onto the offensive side,” said Darrah. “He’s a very explosive player.”
Cole Spears received the start in the backfield and finished with 41 yards on four carries, the last of which was a 13-yard touchdown run that put Mount Carmel up 25-0 early in the second quarter. Ryan Weidner also had a rushing touchdown in the first half, as he scored the game’s first touchdown with 5:55 left in the first on an 11-yard run – his only carry of the night.
That score got the Red Tornados on the scoreboard after they turned it over on their first two drives. But Warrior Run was unable to take advantage as they had a field goal blocked and then turned it over themselves. The Defenders, who have struggled with turnovers all year, had five more turnovers on Friday, which led to 34 of Mount Carmel’s points.
In addition to their prowess on the ground once again, the Red Tornados took the opportunity to work on their passing game a bit in the first half. That led to a 127-yard passing performance by Pedro Feliciano, who completed 6-of-8 passes for three touchdowns. He tossed a pair of scores to Matt Scicchitano, who hauled in scoring receptions of 15 and 35 yards – one each in the first and second quarters. Feliciano also tossed a four-yard touchdown to Jacob Schultz near the end of the first quarter.
“We wanted to work on our passing game, so I think we accomplish that and I was happy to see a lot of different guys get involved and we had a couple of guys score their first career touchdowns tonight, so that was nice,” said Darrah.
Playing mostly JV players for the entire second half, Mount Carmel came up with a pair of defensive scores in the second half as well. Maddox Reed scooped up a fumbled snap on an attempted Warrior Run punt late in the third quarter and returned it 14 yards for the score. Then, late in the fourth quarter, Al Bailey picked off Warrior Run second-string quarterback Gavin Getz and returned it 46 yards to cap the scoring.
For Warrior Run, which has 26 freshmen and sophomores on its varsity roster and has been without a home stadium this year due to construction, it has been a challenging year. Yet, despite the lopsided score once again, the Defenders are making strides.
Sophomore quarterback Ryan Newton threw for 208 yards, and freshman running back Samuel Hall finished with 190 all-purpose yards and had a couple of nice-looking receptions that turned into big gains.
The Defenders scored on their first drive in the second half, as Newton found Derek Thomas for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Thomas finished with four catches for 79 yards.
Warrior Run was able to stop Mount Carmel on its next drive and picked up a safety when the snap went into the end zone when Mount Carmel was attempting to punt, making it 39-9.
But Mount Carmel would score 29 unanswered points from that point through the end of the game, and it was once again the turnovers that were the biggest bugaboo for the Defenders.
Meanwhile, while Warrior Run looks to avoid a winless season next week against Loyalsock, the Red Tornados will look to continue their long streak of success against their biggest rival, Shamokin, in next week’s Coal Bucket game. Mount Carmel has won 24 consecutive games in this rivalry, with Shamokin’s last win coming in 1995. But the game wasn’t played last year after Mount Carmel had to shut down their season early.
“It’s the biggest one. Circle it every year. We don’t have to look for it. We know it’s Week 10, and it’s the biggest game in town,” said Darrah. “Last year was something out of the norm but this game is always as significant as it possibly can be.”
Mount Carmel 68, Warrior Run 9
Warrior Run (0-8) 0 0 9 0 – 9
Mount Carmel (7-2) 19 20 7 22 – 68
First-quarter
5:55 – (MC) Ryan Weidner 11-yard run (Stellar kick), 2-27, :29
4:02 – (MC) Matt Scicchitano 15-yard pass from Pedro Feliciano (kick failed), 2-22, :48
1:14 – (MC) Jacob Schultz 4-yard pass from Pedro Feliciano (kick failed), 4-66, 1:10
Second-quarter
8:04 – (MC) Cole Spears 13-yard run (kick blocked), 4-57, 1:03
3:42 – (MC) Xaviar Diaz 66-yard run (Stellar kick), 2-74, :49
1:17 – (MC) Matt Scicchitano 35-yard pass from Pedro Feliciano (Stellar kick), 3-73, 1:14
Third-quarter
8:39 – (WR) Derek Thomas 28-yard pass from Ryan Newton (McCormack kick), 5-73, 3:21
3:14 – (WR) TEAM Safety
:26 – (MC) Maddox Reed 14-yard fumble return (Stellar kick)
Fourth-quarter
8:57 – (MC) Andrew Lukoskie 53-yard run (Stellar kick), 3-65, 1:27
5:54 – (MC) TEAM Safety
3:35 – (MC) Brayden Brinkash 3-yard run (Stellar kick), 4-30, 2:19
2:14 – (MC) Al Bailey 46-yard interception return (run failed)
Statistics
WR MC
First downs 9 23
Rushes-net yards 25-(-24) 27-342
Passing yardage 219 127
Passing 13-30-1-3 6-9-3-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-38 5-58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Warrior Run: Samuel Hall (5-17), Justin Blair (5-5), Eli Butler (5-2), Logan Smedley (4-(-10)), Gavin Getz (2-(-30)), Thomas Royles (2-(-1)), Ryan Newton (1-(-5)), Derek Thomas (1-(-2)); Mount Carmel: Cole Spears (4-41-1), Matt Balichik (4-23), Xaviar Diaz (3-95-1), Garrett Varano (3-64), Andrew Lukoskie (3-62-1), Pedro Feliciano (2-32), Brayden Brinkash (2-10-1), Michael Farronato (1-13), Ryan Weidner (1-11-1), Tait Adams (1-6), Al Bailey (1-4), Maddox Reed (1-0), TEAM (1-(-19))
PASSING — Warrior Run: Ryan Newton (12-28-208-1-2), Gavin Getz (1-2-11-0-1); Mount Carmel: Pedro Feliciano (6-8-127-3-1), Matt Balichik (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING — Warrior Run: Derek Thomas (4-79-1), Carter Marr (4-38), Samuel Hall (2-70), Logan Smedley (2-30), Justin Blair (1-2); Mount Carmel: Matt Scicchitano (2-50-2), Garrett Varano (2-41), Jacob Schultz (2-36-1)
