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MOUNT CARMEL – A short week can be detrimental in football at any level, but particularly in high school where the learning process is perhaps more critical than at higher levels of football.
For Mount Carmel, playing two games in five days, along with a dominant performance by Bloomsburg’s defense, was one of the reasons for its upset loss to the Panthers last Saturday night. Mount Carmel’s usual strong running game was stifled to the tune of just 40 yards last week.
But with nearly a full week to prepare, practice, recover and learn from mistakes made last week, the results were much better for the Red Tornados on Friday. Mount Carmel ran for 337 yards and scored on all eight of their possessions as the Red Tornados topped Hughesville 54-7.
“We had an opportunity to practice this week. We went back into the shotgun which is familiar to our kids and I think it was a little easier to get some guys some touches,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “From the first game to the second game, we saw some things on film but we really didn’t have the time to fix them rather than just talking about them.”
Although they were victorious, the win came at a bit of a cost, as Mount Carmel lost another starting lineman in Jack Robert, who sustained a leg injury while making a tackle in the second quarter. Robert joined fellow starting linemen Matt Kelley and Nick Nestico as being injured, and Mount Carmel’s depth up front is a big concern with Southern Columbia looming in another weeknight game next Tuesday.
“It’s more than a concern. I think we’re in red alert mode there (on the lines) and this was a deep line coming into this year but we just have several guys out right now, so things happen fast but I thought our guys stepped up well and our line blocked well tonight with some different guys in there in different spots,” said Darrah.
Despite dressing 22 players to start the game on Friday, Mount Carmel still managed nearly 10 yards per carry in the first half as they ran all over the Spartans. Damon Dowkus set the tone on Mount Carmel’s first play from scrimmage after receiving the opening kickoff, as he took a handoff and picked up 33 yards. Julien Stellar finished that drive with a three-yard touchdown run, and then Stellar scored his second touchdown of the night on Mount Carmel’s next possession after a Hughesville punt, this one from 29-yard out to give the Red Tornados a 14-0 lead just over four minutes into the game.
“We told our kids all week if they didn’t match Mount Carmel’s physicality, it was going to be a long night and unfortunately we didn’t do that and the scoreboard reflected it,” said Hughesville coach Adam Gehr. “Our kids did fight hard, they didn’t quit and kept battling the best they could but they were just bigger, faster and stronger than we were tonight.”
Tyler Owens finished Mount Carmel’s next drive, with a three-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, and then second-string quarterback Pedro Feliciano and given a series, and he capitalized by capping the drive with a 24-yard touchdown to Michael Balichick, who used his height to take the ball away from the defensive back who had the pass well-defended.
Hughesville then fumbled the ball away at the Mount Carmel 3 on the first play of its next drive, and freshman Ryan Weidner took it in on the next play for his first career touchdown to give the Red Tornados a 35-0 lead.
“We went back into the shotgun which is more familiar to our kids and I think it was a little easier to get some guys some touches,” said Darrah. “I thought our guys stepped up well and our line blocked well tonight with some different guys in there in different spots.”
The Spartans again fumbled on their next drive, this time on the drive’s second play, and Mount Carmel once again capitalized, with Owens capping a seven-play drive with his second touchdown.
“I was actually ok with our offense. We moved the ball a little early but the first series, we had two penalties, and not a lot of teams can recover from 2nd-and-20. We just shot ourselves in the foot. I told kids you weren’t as bad as you thought offensively but we were our own worst enemy on offense,” said Gehr.
A 38-yard field goal attempt by Hughesville on the final play of the first half fell just shy of the goalpost and the Red Tornados took a 42-0 lead into the locker room.
With a running clock in the second half, Hughesville put together a nice drive to start the second half after receiving the second half kickoff, going 73 yards in seven plays, capped by Aiden Barlett’s 17-yard touchdown to avoid the shutout. Barlett ended up leading the Spartans with 49 rushing yards on just three carries, all in the second half.
Mount Carmel answered with a 19-play, 63-yard drive that took over 12 minutes and was capped by a six-yard touchdown pass from Cole Spears to Austin Garancosky. Michael Reed added a two-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Defensively, Mount Carmel’s first team offense allowed just 51 yards to the Spartans in the first half, including just 27 rushing yards.
“We had some different guys in there defensively, too, and I thought they did well and we played pretty well defensively,” said Darrah.
Mount Carmel 54, Hughesville 7
Hughesville (1-3) 0 0 7 0 – 7
Mount Carmel (2-1) 21 21 0 12 – 54
First quarter
10:15 – (MC) Julien Stellar 3-yard run (Stellar kick), 5-62, 1:45
7:52 – (MC) Julien Stellar 29-yard run (Stellar kick), 3-57, 1:15
3:20 – (MC) Tyler Owens 3-yard run (Stellar kick), 8-54, 2:08
Second quarter
9:11 – (MC) Michael Balichick 24-yard pass from Pedro Feliciano (Stellar kick), 7-65, 2:05
8:50 – (MC) Ryan Weidner 3-yard run (Stellar kick), 1-3, :04
4:47 – (MC) Tyler Owens 12-yard run (Stellar kick), 7-62, 3:16
Third quarter
7:56 – (H) Aiden Barlett 17-yard run (Heiney kick), 7-73, 4:04
Fourth quarter
7:45 – (MC) Austin Garancosky 6-yard pass from Cole Spears (kick failed), 19-63, 12:11
1:47 – (MC) Michael Reed 2-yard run (kick blocked), 6-30, 3:36
Statistics
H MC
First downs 10 24
Rushes-net yards 34-115 49-337
Passing yardage 46 50
Passing 2-7-0-0 4-7-2-0
Fumbles-lost 5-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-30 6-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Hughesville: Colton Yocum (10-26), Joey Swink (6-(-23)), Brenden Knight (5-23), Devin Swank (4-17), Mikey Dylina (4-13), Aiden Barlett (3-49-1), Jonny Harding (1-10), Chaz Neidig (1-0); Mount Carmel: Michael Reed (10-33-1), Damon Dowkus (7-72), Jacob Zarski (7-44), Cole Spears (7-20), Tyler Owens (6-71-2), Julien Stellar (5-48-2), Reed Witkoski (3-23), Ryan Weidner (3-21-1), Pedro Feliciano (1-5)
PASSING: Hughesville: Joey Swink (1-4-24-0-0), Luke Kaiser (1-2-22-0-0), Devin Swank (0-1-0-0-0); Mount Carmel: Julien Stellar (2-4-20-0-0), Pedro Feliciano (1-2-24-1-0), Cole Spears (1-1-6-1-0)
RECEIVING: Hughesville: Mikey Dylina (1-24), Levi Bitler (1-22); Mount Carmel: Michael Balichick (2-35-1), Garrett Timko (1-9), Austin Garancosky (1-6-1)
