By Todd Hummel
MONTOURSVILLE -- All season after Selinsgrove coach Dave Hess has left the post-game huddle, the Seals have gathered around and said "Leave no doubt," before breaking up.
Friday night against Montoursville, in a battle for the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I title, Selinsgrove did exactly that, leaving no doubt on who is the best team in the HAC-I.
Cory Briggs threw three touchdowns passes and ran for another, all in the first quarter, as the Seals rolled to a 42-0 victory to complete the school's third undefeated regular season and claim their seventh consecutive league title, including the last two HAC-I crowns.
"We had a great week of practice and we knew we were playing a good team," Briggs said. "We came out firing on all cylinders."
Selinsgrove (10-0 overall, 6-0 HAC-I) is the top-seed in the District 4 Class AAA playoffs and will host either East Juniata or Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech on Friday night. Montoursville (7-3, 4-2 HAC-I) will go on the road in the first-round of the District 4 Class AA playoffs.
The Seals are inching closer to the season-record for points in a season. Their 478 points in the regular season is a school-record and with their first touchdown next week they will pass the 2000 team for most points total in season. The 2000 team scored 485.
A Selinsgrove team that has been hindered at times by slow starts had no such problems against an undermanned Montoursville team, which was playing without standout tailback Cody Haupt. The Seals scored on their first five possessions of the game, opening up a 35-0 lead.
"We're playing with a lot of confidence right now," Briggs said. "We starting to have a swagger. We're going to have to play with a swagger if we want to be as good as we think we can."
Selinsgrove's defense was also outstanding. The Seals first-team defense didn't allow any positive yards against the Montoursville offense. The Warriors had 36 yards on a drive late in the second quarter against the Selinsgrove second-team defense, otherwise Selinsgrove held Montoursville to negative 17 yards in the first half.
The Warriors tried an onside kick on the opening kickoff but Selinsgrove's Dan Ryan recovered it on the Seals' 46. Eight plays later, on a third-and-10, Briggs hit tailback Kyle Reinard with a swing pass. Reinard turned the corner and picked up a big block from tight end Kyle Schuck on the last Montoursville player with a chance, for a 24-yard score with 10:11 left in the first quarter.
After a Montoursville punt again set up the Seals at the own 46, Selinsgrove put together a five-play drive capped by a 27-yard TD pass from Briggs to Ryan Keiser for a 14-0 advantage with 6:38 left in the first half.
Selinsgrove's third TD came on a one-play drive after another short Montoursville punt. Briggs faked an end-around to Reinard, took a false step like he was running the option, then found Keiser streaking down the field for a 25-yard scoring strike with 4:13 left in the first quarter.
"We have so many athletes and weapons, that when we go to plays like the spread, it's hard to pick somebody to stop," Briggs said. "(Offensive coordinator Mike) Bowman does such a great job of getting the right personnel in the game and making the right play calls."
The Seals added a fourth first-quarter touchdown when offense took over on the Montoursville 31. Briggs scored from seven yards out on a keeper for a 28-0 lead.
Matt Wenrich added a three-yard TD run in the second quarter to make it 35-0. Eric Eaton ran 23 yards in the fourth quarter for the final Selinsgrove touchdown.
