JERSEY SHORE – About midway through the fourth quarter of Friday’s Mount Carmel-Jersey Shore game, fireworks began going off in the distance outside the Bulldogs’ Thompson Street Stadium.
The fireworks were a part of the nearby Antes Fort Fall Heritage Days, but they might as well have been the cap on a night full of offensive fireworks for the Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes. John Ayres ran for 216 yards on just 11 carries and scored three touchdowns, including two on runs of 55 and 61 yards, respectively, and the Red Tornado defense held the Bulldogs to under 100 yards as Mount Carmel easily topped Jersey Shore 47-7 to improve to 3-1. The game sets up a showdown in next week’s border war between the Red Tarnadoes and unbeaten North Schuylkill (4-0).
“I thought we played well offensively and defensively and we got much better field position, which was one of our objectives coming into the game,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “John had a big night and I’m really happy for him. He puts in a lot of hard work and is one of our leaders and it was great to see him bust off some big runs tonight.”
While Ayres was the standout offensively, Mount Carmel’s entire defense held a Jersey Shore team that had scored 30 in a win against Montoursville last week scoreless. The lone points on the scoreboard for the Bulldogs came by their defense on an 83-yard fumble return with under a minute to go in the game as the Red Tornadoes were trying to run out the clock.
“We wanted to be pretty aggressive defensively and our guys did a good job with timing some stuff up and getting to the quarterback and I also thought we did a good job of tackling when he did get the ball out,” said Darrah.
Defensively, the Red Tornadoes had three sacks on the night, but also had several hurries and knockdowns, as Mount Carmel made Bulldogs quarterback Tanner Lorson uncomfortable in the pocket all night and forced him into several rushed throws and a pair of interceptions. Jersey Shore had just 23 yards on the ground and for the game ran only nine of their 45 offensive plays on Mount Carmel’s side the field, and none closer than the Red Tornado 43.
“We knew Mount Carmel has a really good team so that didn’t surprise us,” said Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “They have a host of great running backs, their quarterback plays well, they have good tight ends and defensively, they’ve got great guys up front, so hats off to them. They did a good job of putting pressure on our offense with their guys in the box and their linebackers played very well.”
Ayres’ 55-yard scamper on the Red Tornadoes’ second play from scrimmage gave them an early 7-0 lead less than two minutes in to the game after Jersey Shore had gone three-and-out on its first possession.
On the Bulldogs’ next possession, Lorson was picked off by Avery Demko on the just the second play of the drive, and the pick was returned to the Bulldog 28. Three plays later, Tom Reisinger found Shane Weidner for a 20-yard touchdown reception to give Mount Carmel a 14-0 lead.
“We made some big plays, our skill players did a good job of running and our line got good push up front,” said Darrah.
“That wasn’t our typical style of football that we’re used to playing but part of that is due to how Mount Carmel played,” said Gravish. “They did a good job of putting pressure on our offense with their guys in the box and their linebackers played very well.”
Mount Carmel got two more long plays in the first half that resulted in two more touchdowns for a 34-0 halftime lead. Ayres ended the first quarter with a 65-yard run to set up the Red Tornadoes at the Bulldog 21, and five plays later, he ran it in from one yard for his second score to put Mount Carmel up 20-0. Later in the second, Reisinger beat a Jersey Shore blitz with a well-executed screen pass to Tanner Karycki, who turned it into a 61-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0.
Then, after Mount Carmel received the second half kickoff, on the first play from scrimmage of the half, Ayres burst through a hole for a 61-yard touchdown run to put the Red Tornadoes up 34-0.
Another Red Tornado rushing touchdown, this one a 12-yarder from Noah Berkoski, which followed a 37-yard punt return by Weidner, put the game into the mercy rule midway through the third quarter. Tyler Owens capped the scoring for Mount Carmel with a 38-yard touchdown later in the third quarter.
About the only things that went wrong for Mount Carmel on the night were a pair of missed PATs and a fumbled handoff with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter, which was returned 83 yards for a touchdown by defensive lineman Gaige Wilson.
Mount Carmel 47, Jersey Shore 7
Mount Carmel (3-1) 14 13 20 0 – 47
Jersey Shore (1-3) 0 0 0 7 – 7
First quarter
10:14 – (MC) John Ayres 55-yard run (Julien Stellar kick), 2-61, :52
8:11 – (MC) Shane Weidner 20-yard pass from Tom Reisinger (Stellarkick), 3-28, 1:20
Second quarter
9:43 – (MC) John Ayres 1-yard run (kick failed), 7-92, 3:18
2:44 – (MC) Tanner Karycki 61-yard pass from Tom Reisinger (Stellar kick), 2-62, :59
Third quarter
11:41 – (MC) John Ayres 61-yard run (Stellar kick), 1-61, :12
7:10 – (MC) Noah Berkoski 12-yard run (Stellar kick), 1-12, :07
2:49 – (MC) Tyler Owens 38-yard run (kick failed), 3-63, 2:15
Fourth quarter
:35 – (JS) Gaige Wilson 83-yard fumble return (Cameron Griffin kick)
Statistics
MC JS
First downs 18 6
Rushes-net yards 40-384 23-23
Passing yardage 133 72
Passing 9-14-2-1 8-22-0-2
Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 5-35 2-9
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Mount Carmel: John Ayres (11-216-3), Shane Weidner (5-16), Julien Stellar (5-9), Tanner Karycki (4-26), Michael Reed (4-13), Tom Reisinger (4-2), Dylan Pupo (3-39), Tyler Owens (2-54-1), Noah Berkoski (2-9-1); Jersey Shore: Kyle Tomb (12-33), Tanner Lorson (5-(-18)), Josh Malicky (4-11), Dawson Sechrist (2-3)
PASSING: Mount Carmel: Tom Reisinger (9-13-133-2-1), Julien Stellar (0-1-0-0-0); Jersey Shore: Tanner Lorson (8-21-72-0-2), Koby Peacock (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING: Mount Carmel: Jack Chapman (3-36), Shane Weidner (2-21-1), Damon Dowkus (2-13), Tanner Karycki (1-61-1), Nick Troutman (1-2); Jersey Shore: Koby Peacock (3-34), Stanton Westlin (2-18), Ryan Kershner (1-12), Dawson Sechrist (1-6), Dalton Dugan (1-2)
