Fight to the finish: Bloom tips Central

SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut said to throw everything one knows out before Friday’s game against Central Columbia. Nothing — records, stats, achievements — matters when the arch-rivals, separated by six miles, meet up.

Short of fists, everything was thrown between the hashes. Players were tossed from the game as several scuffles broke out, both during and after the game, and more importantly for the Panthers, Shane Frey threw the ball for 327 yards and four touchdowns as part of an 11 of 20 performance.

It all accumulated to Bloomsburg players posing with the “Battle of the Burg” trophy for the fourth consecutive year after a 48-9 victory over Central.

Frey and the Panthers noticed an advantage with the speed and playmakers they have, particularly with Jharee Moore-Stewart and Julius Serrano.

“They like to play a lot of man and pack the box, and we’re not a team that you can run man against,” Frey said. “We like to beat that a lot, and my guys run the right routes as our coaches put them in the right routes. Our line also held up all night. Everything just came together.”

It sure did. No matter whether Central got a small defeat at the line of scrimmage or Bloomsburg was backed up via one of their nine flags, the Panthers had the right play call on hand.

Moore-Stewart was on the receiving end of three receiving touchdowns, none shorter than 46 yards. He scored the first on a 63-yard post route, going untouched down the right sideline. He then got the second quarter started by flashing that same speed and running away from a pair of Blue Jay defenders for a 66-yard score.

His last went for 46 yards and he had to work for every bit of them, breaking three tackles with some fancy footwork. He started his route on the right side of the field and ended up in the left side of the end zone. It was so astounding to Frey, who was heard yelling, “How did he do that? He’s crazy.”

The junior finished with 175 yards on four receptions and three touchdowns.

Moore-Stewart was also involved in a play that led to a pair of ejections — Blue Jays’ RJ Kressler and Panthers’ Braxton Martinez — as tempers flared following a tackle of the back at the line of scrimmage.

Both Kogut and Central coach Ky Seesholtz said it’s not how they want the night to be remembered, and it’s not a reflection on the team or the players, as they both took responsibility.

“We’re still learning the mental toughness piece, and in my opinion, that starts with me and the staff,” Seesholtz said. “We don’t want that resembling the program because that’s not good for us; it’s not good for the youth programs. We’re trying to establish a first-class program and we failed to do that in the first half.”

Things remained chippy, with coaches having to pull players off the field numerous times. Bloomsburg also yelled for players to remain on the sideline and stay calm a few times before half. Both teams were called for offsetting personal fouls multiple times in the first half while Central was called for another one in the second half.

There was also a postgame altercation after each team took opposing sidelines for their respective fight songs.

“I have to correct that. I think we did a much better job in the second half of controlling our emotions and they did what we asked of them, which is go out and play hard,” Kogut said.

It showed, especially defensively, for the Panthers, as they held the Blue Jays to 1 yard or less on seven consecutive plays in the third quarter.

That helped Serrano ice the game in the fourth quarter with a 6-yard sweep run to the left. It came on the heels of a 35-yard reception, his fourth of the game.

He, too, finished with over 100 yards thanks-in-large to an 88-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The senior somehow juked out of a sure tackle and outraced Central across the field.

“You know, they’re crazy,” said Frey, who added a team-high 71 yards rushing and a 4-yard scoring scamper. “They’re the best receiving duo in the district, no doubt, one of the best in the state. Teams can have one good corner, but it’s hard to find two good defensive backs that can guard both of them.”

It’s never good when one of those defenders is Kressler, who also happens to be the starting QB for the Blue Jays.

They made do with what they had, though, doing keepers with Blake Edgar, who capped the team’s scoring with a 9-yard rush in the fourth. The Blue Jays, who had a pair of rushers — Owen Zanoline and Logan Robbins — rush for over 50 yards, posted all 206 yards on the ground as they finished 0-for-5 throwing.

If there was one promising takeaway from the blowout for Central, it was its special teams. Dominic Keller returned a kickoff 63 yards, but the Blue Jays’ offense — which collected as many first downs (two) on its first possession of the second half as it did the entire first half — sputtered out and settled for a 26-yard field goal by Gus Bauman.

The Blue Jays also thought they had recovered a fumbled punt by Serrano when Mateo Jimenez jumped on it, only to have to redo the play because of an inadvertent whistle. Seesholtz has an outlook on that much similar to the season.

“We can’t control that situation. No matter how much it sucks in that moment, we have to go with what they call,” Seesholtz said. “We just have to go make the next play and that’s all that matters. We can’t control anything else.”

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