Mt. Carmel rolls to win
MOUNT CARMEL — Mount Carmel got stopped on fourth down in the first drive of its game against Bloomsburg Friday. That didn’t slow the Red Tornadoes any, as they struck for touchdowns on their next eight possessions to trounce the Panthers, 55-13.
It didn’t matter the circumstances, the Red Tornadoes seemed to have the right play call ready.
It was never more evident than when they got the ball back with fewer than 30 seconds remaining in the first half.
Quarterback Tom Reisinger connected with Michael Balichick on a 43-yard pass. Balichick had gotten great separation in man coverage and went up for the ball like a big man in basketball.
He and his Mount Carmel teammates caught a big break, as the Panthers shoved him out of bounds. That gave Mount Carmel time to set up one last play.
Reisinger delivered, escaping trouble in the pocket by rolling to his right, throwing across his body and finding Logan Wills in the right side of the end zone. That score gave Mount Carmel a four-touchdown lead heading into halftime.
“Michael Balichick made a huge play on that drive, and that touchdown was definitely not supposed to be like that,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah. “That’s not how we drew it up, but they ad-libbed and both guys made a very athletic play there. I’m glad it ended up that way.”
Though the pass was the most exciting play of the first half, it was the Red Tornadoes’ run game that made all the difference.
With the Panthers rushing a ton of players all night long, the Red Tornadoes were able to find lanes, keep the chains moving and finish drives with six points.
Four different running backs — Shane Weidner, Noah Berkoski, Julien Stellar and Dylan Pupo —rushed for touchdowns with Stellar and Weidner each punching it in twice.
Stellar was, well, stellar as the finishing touch on Mount Carmel’s two-longest drives, punching it in from one yard out both times.
Weidner, meanwhile, got a red-zone score from 4 yards out and then saved his best run for the second half when he read his blocks perfectly. He scored from 52 yards out and had no Panthers near him to make a tackle.
If that wasn’t enough, Weidner put his name atop Mount Carmel’s all-time kick return yards list when he brought back a kickoff 76 yards for the game’s final score.
“It’s something we kind of expected him to get. He was close,” Darrah said. “He just hadn’t gotten a ton of opportunities this year to get the ball, but it was great to see him. He’s a great kid and definitely deserves it, but I think it was icing on the cake that when he was able to do it, he took it to the house.”
Berkoski (48 yards) and Pupo (32 yards) also had touchdown runs of 30 or more yards.
As for Bloomsburg, it had trouble sustaining anything offensively. The Panthers struggled mightily on both third down (2-for-11) and fourth down (0-for-5). The only turnover of the contest came when backup quarterback Liam Zentner threw a pick to Garrett Varano on a fourth down play in the fourth quarter.
Gage Klinger, however, proved he was going to be a tough back to bring down. The junior rushed for a game-high 134 yards on five carries. The bulk of that came via an 84-yard touchdown burst that was part of a 40-second stretch that saw three touchdowns in the contest.
The only other score for the Panthers came earlier in the third when Brody Hock reeled in a 26-yard pass from Jack Howell for the team’s first points.
The battle in the trenches was the game’s turning point.
“They’re really physical up front on both sides of the ball,” said Bloomsburg interim coach Stacy Frye. “It felt like early on that we had some good opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize on them.... We just weren’t able to finish. That’s what they do — they finish rather well. That’s something we have to do and learn from it.
“I’m just really proud of the kids’ effort. There was no quit in them. Even when things weren’t going their way, they didn’t hang their heads, and just kept fighting.”
That pressure led to a long night for Howell, who completed six of 17 passes for 58 yards. And when he couldn’t get the ball out in time, he was hit hard for minus-19 yards.
Bloomsburg 0 0 13 0 — 13
Mount Carmel 0 28 27 0 — 55
Second quarter
MC — Julien Stellar 1 run (Stellar kick), 11:56
MC — Shane Weidner 4 run (Stellar kick), 7:30
MC — Stellar 1 run (Stellar kick), 1:27
MC — Logan Wills 9 pass from Tom Reisinger (Stellar kick), 0:00
Third quarter
MC — Weidner 52 run (kick missed), 11:36
B — Brody Hock 26 pass from Jack Howell (Torsten Hartmann kick), 10:36
MC — Noah Berkoski 48 run (Stellar kick), 9:02
MC — Dylan Pupo 32 run (Stellar kick), 3:04
B — Gage Klinger 84 run (kick missed), 2:40
MC — Weidner 76 kick return (Stellar kick), 2:25
B MC
First downs 12 19
Rushing-yds. 20-212 46-380
Passing 6-19-1 7-10-0
Passing yds. 58 106
Total yds. 270 486
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-yds. 6-51 6-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bloomsburg: Gage Klinger, 5-134, TD; Cade Klinger, 10-56; Xzayivher Russell-King 4-39; Nasir Kelly, 1-6; Nasir Heard 3-2; Liam Zentner 2-0; Toby Zajac 3-(-6); Jack Howell, 3-(-19). Mount Carmel: Shane Weidner 14-133, 2 TDs; Tom Reisinger, 7-100; Noah Berkoski, 7-69, TD; Dylan Pupo, 1-32, TD; Cameron Mannion, 2-17; Pedro Feliciano, 3-12; Joey Bendas, 3-7; Damon Dowkus, 1-5; Julien Stellar, 2-2, 2 TDs; Jacob Zarski, 2-2; Garrett Varano, 1-1; Damon Backes, 2-1; Liam Bradley, 1-(-1).
PASSING — Bloomsburg: 6-17-0, 58 yds., TD; G. Klinger, 0-1-0; Zentner, 1-0-1, 0 yds. Mount Carmel: Reisinger, 7-10-0, 106 yds., TD.
RECEIVING — Bloomsburg: C. Klinger, 2-4; Brody Hock, 1-26, TD; Russell-King, 1-14; Devon Yocum, 1-14; G. Klinger, 1-0. Mount Carmel: Logan Wills, 2-18, TD; Dowkus, 2-5; Michael Balichick, 1-43; Jack Chapman, 1-25; Berkoski, 1-15.
Link to story: https://www.pressenterpriseonline.com/daily/101919/page/13/story/mt-carmel-rolls-to-win
