Red Tornadoes roll past Panthers
BLOOMSBURG — Mount Carmel had to answer to adversity early when it lost starting two-way player Cole Spears in the first quarter.
Spears, the Red Tornadoes' starting quarterback on offense and starting corner on defense, suffered a potential season-ending leg injury. He required assistance getting off the field.
Mount Carmel, though, showed it can still play well-rounded football in a 41-7 beating of Bloomsburg Friday night.
"Really, really unfortunate with Cole and I hope he's OK -- I hope we get good news on him," Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. "Matthew Balichik really stepped up in the moment and made some huge plays for us. It was definitely encouraging to see him step up and embrace the moment. He had a great game."
Balichik, with time winding down in the first half, uncorked a nice over-the-shoulder pass to tight end Jacob Schultz for a 60-yard touchdown.
That was just the beginning. On the first offensive snap of the second half, Balichik then found receiver Garrett Varano for a 51-yard strike to put the game in mercy rule, 35-0.
For the game, Balichik finished 6 of 8 for 153 yards.
Even the third-stringer, Gavin Marshalek got in on the fun, finding Chase Balichik for the game's last touchdown.
Showing a balanced offensive attack, the Red Tornadoes also struck for three rushing touchdowns. Xavier Diaz had the most explosive play on the ground, picking up 55 of his game-high 78 yards on a first-quarter touchdown scamper.
Garrett Varano (6 yards) and Luke Blessing (13) also had rushing scores.
"I was really happy with the way we played. I think we played really good on offense, defense and special teams," Darrah said. "... We did have a couple of turnovers that we have to fix that up, but we didn't give up a point defensively — just points on that fumble late in the game. I thought we played our best all-around game."
The Red Tornadoes fumbled the ball four times, with the Panthers coming away with it three times. Bloomsburg, though, couldn't get much going offensively, coming away with six points when Madden Locke had a 98-yard scoop and score in the third quarter.
"I thought we played very, very hard. We asked our kids to capitalize on those turnovers, but their defense responded and we didn't execute," Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut said. "That's obviously a really good football team and obviously hurt us in both facets — I knew they would. Even with Spears going out, Balichik did a really nice job.
"We'll go look at the film, regroup and get ready for Warrior Run."
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