SELINSGROVE – The Selinsgrove Seals football team bounced back from last week’s road loss against Mifflinburg by routing visiting Central Mountain in their return to Harold L. Bolig Memorial Stadium on homecoming night.
Selinsgrove jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they picked up a 42-6 victory over the Wildcats in the Selinsgrove football program’s 1,000th game.
Tucker Teats led the way for the home Seals offensively, scoring the game’s first three touchdowns in the opening half.
“We shifted some guys around offensively to have a lot more one-way guys tonight. I thought it brought the intensity up. Our guys looked fresh and the o-line did a great job opening some holes for Tucker (Teats).” said Selinsgrove coach Derek Hicks on his junior running back’s a strong performance.
Teats scored twice in the first quarter and again in the second quarter on runs of two, 25, and 50 yards to put Selinsgrove up 21-0 early in the game’s second quarter.
“We put a new tight end in (Andrew Sassaman) and he was setting the edge really good on outside runs.” said Teats, crediting his performance to his teammates. “We switched our lineup to get a few more one-way players on offense. They got a great push all night. Credit to the line. I love ‘em”
Teat’s second rushing score came as a result of some strong play on special teams by Selinsgrove. On Central Mountain’s third punt of the night, senior defensive lineman Spencer George burst through the line and blocked the kick, resulting in a Selinsgrove recovery at the Central Mountain 11-yard line, setting up a short field.
“We’ve stressed special teams from day one,” said Hicks of his team’s ability to excel in all facets of the game. “That was Spencer George’s second block of the year. Those guys are doing a great job on execution. I’m very happy with the performance all around.”
Quarterback Gavin Bastian added a rushing score of his own late in the opening half. With just 52 seconds remaining in the half Bastian kept the ball on a QB sneak at the goal line to score on a one-yard run. Bastian produced a stellar performance passing the ball as well, going on a streak in the opening half where he completed six straight passes, finishing 7-for-10 for 72 yards in the opening half of football.
With a 28-0 lead following halftime, Selinsgrove received the second-half kickoff and didn’t take long to score again. Just two plays into the second half, senior halfback Garrett Paradis scored on a 58-yard jaunt to put the game into the mercy rule early. The score gave Selinsgrove a comfortable 35-0 cushion.
The Seals tacked on one more score in the game, as yet another senior running back found the endzone when Philip Gesumaria ripped off a 71-yard rushing score. In all, eight different ball carriers ran the ball for the Seals, who scored six rushing touchdowns in the game.
Central Mountain was able to avoid the shutout late, scoring a rushing touchdown of its own. Late in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats put together their best drive of the night, going 49 yards on 12 plays on a drive that culminated in a rushing score by backup quarterback Thomas Sprague.
Sophomore running back Jake Weaver led the Wildcats in rushing, carrying the ball just four times for a whopping 47 yards – all in the second half. Freshman back Carnell Noone didn’t trail Weaver by much, toting the ball eight times for 42 yards.
Central Mountain starting quarterback Brady Myers posted solid passing numbers in the opening half before being removed from the game with an injury just before halftime. Myers completed his first four passing attempts and finished the night 4-for-5 for 19 passing yards.
Central Mountain dropped to 0-7 on the season with the loss and looks to bounce back on the road this coming Friday against Garden Spot (5-2).
Selinsgrove looks to use this victory as momentum following a 19-0 road loss last week against Mifflinburg.
“Mifflinburg played us really well last week, but I’m happy with the way our o-line was clicking,” said Coach Hicks. “Tucker (Teats) ran well, Mark (Pastore) looked comfortable, even some of his incompletions were good balls that were just off our guys’ fingertips. I think this was the most comfortable he’s looked all year.”
Selinsgrove (5-2) heads all the way to Hollidaysburg (1-6) this Friday night to take on the Golden Tigers.
Selinsgrove 42, Central Mountain 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Mountain 0 0 0 6 – 6
Selinsgrove 14 14 14 0 – 42
First Quarter
S—Tucker Teats 25-yard run (Carter Young PAT Good), 4:33
S—Teats 2-yard run (Young PAT Good), 0:46
Second Quarter
S—Teats 50-yard run (Young PAT Good), 6:47
S—Mark Pastore 1-yard run (Young PAT Good), 0:52
Third Quarter
S—Garrett Paradis 58-yard run (Young PAT Good), 11:07
S—Philip Gesumaria 71-yard run (Young PAT Good), 6:13
Fourth Quarter
CM—Thomas Sprague 3-yard run (2pt conversion No Good), 1:36.
TEAM STATISTICS CM S
First downs 5 5
Total yards 164 318
Rushes-yards 33-131 23-246
Yards passing 33 72
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-14-1 7-10-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-16 6-44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Central Mountain: Jake Weaver 4-47, Carnell Noone 8-42, Brady Myers 4-18, Rocco Serafini 7-13, Garrison Lucas 1-9, Sprague 6-2 TD, Connor Foltz 3-0. Selinsgrove: Teats 8-84 3TD, Gesumaria 2-75 TD, Paradis 2-67 TD, Ethan Miller 2-12, Brett Rice 1-6, Jarrod Bullington 2-4, Pastore 1-1 TD, TEAM 4-(-1), Jacob Beddall 1-(-2).
PASSING—Central Mountain: Myers 4-5 19 yards, Sprague 4-9 14 yards, INT. Selinsgrove: Pastore 7-10 72 yards.
RECEIVING—Central Mountain: Kevin Grenninger 1-10, Foltz 3-9, Cru Stover 1-9, Noone 1-5, Xavier Persun 1-2, Serafini 1-(-2). Selinsgrove: Gavin Bastian 4-49, Nick Rice 3-23.
