When it was apparent that Bloomsburg's outstanding senior quarterback, Blake Rankin, was finished in the District 4 Class AA championship game at Mount Carmel, the crowd and the players and coaches at the Silver Bowl seemed stunned.
Mount Carmel coach Carmen DeFrancesco walked over to the injured Panther and said how sorry he was and wished him the best.
"It was eerie. You could feel it in the whole stadium,'' he said. "We were so geared up, we prepared all week, we put a lot of hours in, we watched a lot of film. This kid is the best quarterback we've seen in a long time. When he went out so early, we were like 'this can't be.' We were almost hoping that somehow we could resurrect him and put him back in the game because our kids were looking forward to the challenge.
"It was a shame. I went out there and saw the kid, he was crying, and I said how sorry I was. What else can you say to him," DeFrancesco added.
It certainly was an unexpected circumstance considering that Rankin had played in every game of his four-year high school career.
"In four years, I don't remember him ever coming off the field (for an injury), " said Bloomsburg coach Larry Sones. "It was tough to get him off the field (Friday night). I know (the injury) wasn't good, but he didn't want to leave. He just wanted to be here with the team."
Mount Carmel senior fullback/linebacker Cody Shustack said, "It's very unfortunate to see a starter (go) out like that, nobody wants to see that. It was very unfortunate for him and all our prayers go out to him."
Added Mount Carmel wide receiver/strong safety Jacob Kleman, "We kept up our intensity. We knew we had to win whether they had Blake or not. It's a bad loss for them, he's the main player on their team."
DeFrancesco said the Bloomsburg coaching staff did a great job of keeping the team together after the injury and their kids played inspired.
"When you lose a player of that caliber, that team could have packed it in, and just quit, but they kept playing hard."
YOU TAKE IT. NO, YOU TAKE IT: As the first half was winding down in Mount Carmel, with the Red Tornadoes up 21-0, things got a bit crazy before Bloomsburg quarterback Ricky Klingerman (who replaced the injured Rankin) ended it by taking a knee.
It started with a Mount Carmel shanked punt, covering all of eight yards, giving the Panthers the ball at their own 46. Ricky Klingerman connected with Colby Klingerman on a first-down pass to the Mount Carmel 39. But on the next play, Shustack got the ball back with an interception which he returned 10 yards to the Red Tornadoes' 46.
But, after an 11-yard run by Meyrick Lamb, another Klingerman (there were four on the field) -- John -- picked off a Zach Wasilewski pass and brought it back eight yards to the Bloomsburg 25.
THEY'RE EVERYWHERE: In addition to the aforementioned three Bloomsburg Klingermans in the Silver Bowl on Friday, there was also Mount Camel's Luke Klingerman, a junior running back/defensive back and kick returner. The latter also had an interception against Ricky Klingerman.
ALL FOR NAUGHT: The Panthers had a 14-play drive in the fourth quarter that went from the Panthers' 39 to the Red Tornadoes' 5-yard line. But, on fourth-and-goal, John Lieberman's pass to wide receiver Tanner Thrush was caught beyond the end zone.
