By Todd Hummel
SELINSGROVE — To pull off the upset in Friday night’s District 4 Class AAA championship game with Selinsgrove, Shikellamy needed to control the ball and hit some big plays.
That’s exactly how the early part of the game went as the Braves held the ball for more than five minutes to start the game on their first possession and then hit a big play to take an early lead on the undefeated Seals.
But mistakes and the Selinsgrove defense took care of the Braves’ offense after that and the Seals’ offense rolled up 502 total yards, scoring 44 unanswered points in a 44-7 win over Shikellamy at Harold L. Bolig Memorial Field Friday night.
“They drove the ball on us on the first two series,” defensive lineman Spencer Myers said. “By the third series, we knew as D-linemen that our job was blowing up the gap. If we blew up the gap, we knew that we could get in there and disrupt everything.”
Shikellamy had 129 yards of total offense on its first two series of the game, but the Selinsgrove defense allowed just 52 yards the rest of the game.
“After the first couple of series we knew what we had to do,” Myers said. “We started staying in our positions and breaking down. We finally got the gist of what they were doing. We just had to apply what we knew.”
Selinsgrove claims its six consecutive District 4 title and 11th overall. The Seals (12-0) advance to face District 6 champion Johnstown (8-3), a 21-14 winner over Hollidaysburg, in the first-round of the PIAA playoffs next weekend at a District 6 site. Selinsgrove and Johnstown have played once before in the state playoffs, a 20-7 Seals victory in 2004.
Shikellamy finishes the season at 7-5.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids, we have bright future ahead of us. This group of seniors is a great group of kids. They did a lot of really good things. As long we keep moving this program in the right direction and keep building from here, these seniors, they will be remembered as the group that got it started for us,” Shikellamy coach Sam Stroh said. “I can’t be prouder of the seniors, I love each and every one of them.”
The Braves took the opening kickoff and marched 77 yards to the Selinsgrove 5, where Shikellamy had a first-and-goal. An illegal substitution penalty, a procedure penalty and a sack of quarterback Garrett Pope pushed the ball back to the 20. Ryan Keiser picked off Pope in the end zone on a second-and-goal play, but the Braves’ defense forced a three-and-out.
Two plays later, Pope hit Tyler Pratt with a 65-yard catch-and-run. Matt Neff’s extra point kick gave the Braves a 7-0 lead with 4:08 left in the first quarter. Pratt faked leaving the game as the Braves broke the huddle, but he was the 11th player on the field. He stopped at the sideline, uncovered. When the ball was snapped, Pope hit him with a short pass and Pratt did the rest.
Shikellamy kept the momentum going when Josh Brosious sacked quarterback Cory Briggs for an 11-yard loss on Selinsgrove’s first play of its next possession. But junior tailback Kyle Reinard took an option pitch down the right sideline for a 62-yard TD run to tie the game with 2:58 left in the first quarter.
The Braves went three-and-out on their next possession and Reinard broke off a 32-yard run into Shikellamy territory on the first play, followed by a 19-yard run by Cameron Benner as the Seals had 113 yards rushing on three consecutive carries. The drive was capped by a Matt Wenrich one-yard plunge to give Selinsgrove the lead.
“The line blocked great. The best though was the wide receivers blocking down field, that shows the hustle on this team,” Reinard, who had 215 yards on 15 carries, said.
Shikellamy drove into Selinsgrove territory on its next possession, converting a fourth-and-one in the process, but a delay of game and procedure penalty put the Braves into a 1st-and-20, ending their scoring chance.
“We just made more mistakes than we could afford to make,” Stroh said. “No excuses, though, they wore us down. We lost to a better team. They have more athletes than we have and I have no problem with that. We’ll get year older and year better, just to get to this point is something special for us.”
After the Shikellamy punt, on a second-down play, Briggs made a play-action fake to Reinard and found senior wide receiver Matt Ruby along behind the Shikellamy defense. Ruby caught a perfect strike from Briggs for an 77-yard TD play and 21-7 lead late in the first half.
Selinsgrove had a chance for another score before the half, but had two touchdowns called back on its final drive, before the Braves quelled it on Brosious’ second sack of the half.
The Seals went right to work on the opening possession of the second half. Selinsgrove went 63 yards on eight plays, all on the ground. Briggs scored on a sneak with 8:46 left in the third quarter to give Selinsgrove a 28-7 lead.
“We planned on taking it and running it down their throats,” Myers, who doubles as an offensive tackle, said. “The whole offensive line started driving kids off the ball. Once that happened, it opened up holes for our running backs.”
Selinsgrove’s next possession ended on an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-goal from the 2, but with the Braves pinned deep in their own territory, Myers, Matt Wenrich and K.C. Kantz all got to Pope in the end zone for a safety and a 30-7 lead.
Briggs hit Keiser from 13 yards out with 1:49 left in the third quarter and Reinard capped the scoring with a 37-yard TD run with 8:27 left in the game.
