By Todd Hummel
DANVILLE — If the Danville football team had any chance of pulling off their second consecutive home upset of a highly-ranked Selinsgrove squad, the last thing the Ironmen could do was allow the Seals to grab the early momentum.
Kyle Reinard saw to it that the Ironmen didn’t have a chance.
Reinard returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a score to spark a 35-point Selinsgrove first quarter as the Seals rolled to a 62-6 Heartland Athletic Conference Division I victory over Danville on Friday night at Ironmen Stadium.
“They’re a young team and it just kind of snowballed on them,” Selinsgrove coach Dave Hess said.
“It fell apart quick,” Danville coach Jim Keiser said. “The kickoff just took it out of us early and it got away from us.”
Reinard led the way with 96 yards rushing and two scores and another 139 yards in returns for Selinsgrove (4-0, 3-0 HAC-I), who have scored more points in each successive game this year.
After Reinard’s kickoff return made it 7-0 just 12 seconds into the game, the Seals’ defense forced a quick three-and-out. Selinsgrove’s offense took over on its own 46 and quarterback Cory Briggs hit Ryan Keiser on a 12-yard route and Keiser did the rest, racing 54 yards to the end zone for a 14-0 lead 1:30 into the game.
Things went from bad to worse for the Ironmen when senior linebacker Dylan Elliot stepped in front of a Danville receiver at the 32 on a third-down pass and returned the interception for a touchdown and a 21-0 Selinsgrove lead less than two and a half minutes into the game.
“I saw the quarterback drop back and made my drop. I broke to the receiver and hit me in the hand and I ripped it away,” Elliot said. “I dropped one like that against Mifflinburg (with an open field in front of me); I promised the guys I wouldn’t drop it the next time.”
The Seals’ defense forced two more punts in the first quarter, setting up two more touchdowns for the offense. Reinard scored on a 36-yard TD run with 6:51 left in the first to cap a two-play 41-yard drive and Seth Lauver later scored from 12 yards out on a one-play drive set up by Reinard’s 44-yard punt return.
Selinsgrove made it 42-0 early in the second quarter when senior fullback Matt Wenrich, on his only carry of the game, burst through the middle and broke a dive-play for a 65-yard TD run with 11:29 left in the first half.
Cameron Benner added a 15-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, while Reinard and Grant Fleetwood had second-half touchdown runs for Selinsgrove.
Danville’s (2-2, 1-1 HAC-I) lone score came late in the fourth quarter when Andrew Andreychik hit a Joe Eveland with a six-yard TD pass to cap a 35-yard TD drive.
Andreychik was 3-of-3 on the drive for 33 yards.
