MOUNT CARMEL -- When Justin Pellowski turned the corner and sailed down the sideline, the Mount Carmel fans braving freezing temperatures whipped themselves into a frenzy.
They should have known better.
Less than a minute into the second half Friday, Pellowski's 50-yard bolt was the fifth Mount Carmel play of 20 yards or more -- and not one of them led to points.
The Red Tornadoes stalled on two of three drives to the red zone in the first half, and then fumbled away the ball three times in the second half of a 27-7 loss to North Schuylkill at the Silver Bowl.
"We get a couple stakes to put in the heart and we just can't find the mallet to do it," said first-year Mount Carmel coach Bob Chesney, whose team lost its third in a row. "When you have an opportunity you've got to be able to strike and ... we just didn't do it."
Scott Houser ran for three second-half touchdowns in front of a large crowd, and the Spartans completed the first undefeated regular season in their program's history.
North Schuylkill, which hadn't beaten Mount Carmel since 1999, locked up the top seed in the District 11 Class AA tournament. The Red Tornadoes (5-5) qualified for the Eastern Conference Class AA playoffs.
"Our kids played well; you've got to give them credit," said Rick Geist, who is in his second stint at North Schuylkill. "You've got to give it to Houser -- he ran well. (And) the defense picked it up in the second half."
The Spartans couldn't get out of their own way early, committing costly penalties on their first two possessions and dropping a probable touchdown pass on the third. In the meantime, Mount Carmel threatened to score on each of its first three series.
Justin Pellowski tore off a 20-yard gain and Eddy Stewart hit Mark Minnig with a 21-yard pass on consecutive plays early in Mount Carmel's first drive. A double pass that criss-crossed the field, Stewart to Jacob Kleman and Kleman to Meyrick Lamb, was slightly underthrown or it might have gone to end zone instead of 26 yards to the Spartans 7.
A big second-down loss doomed the Mount Carmel drive and it ended on downs. However, the Red Tornadoes forced a poor punt and took over at the North Schuylkill 35. They scored seven plays later, with Stewart hitting Cody Shustack for 14 yards early in the second quarter.
Mount Carmel's third drive, which included a 42-yard catch by tight end Michael Stutzcavage and a 17-yard gain by Pellowski, ended on downs at the 13.
The Spartans put together a 12-play, 87-yard scoring drive, converting a third-and-long with a 38-yard pass across midfield. They needed four cracks from the Mount Carmel 2 to tie the score at 7 with 31 seconds left in the half.
"That first half, I feel we could have had possibly two, if not three, scores, and we ended up with one. Against a team like that, with all their fire and potential, we let them slip by," said Chesney. "Then in the third quarter, we started putting the ball on the ground. We can't do that."
Pellowski, who finished with 107 rushing yards, fumbled two plays after his 50-yard gainer opened the second half.
The Red Tornadoes fumbled again on their second drive of the third quarter and Houser made them pay with the first of his three TD runs. Every play on the nine-rush drive went over the right side of the Spartans' formation as they pounded the ball there throughout the second half.
Houser finished with 125 yards on 17 carries. The Spartans totaled 288 yards on the ground, 34 more than Mount Carmel's total offense.
"We know we're not a 5-5 team," said Chesney, "because we've played with everybody that has much better records than we do and we've been with them the whole time."
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