RICHLAND, TWP — The Seals might be a strange nickname for a team from Central Pennsylvania, but the Seals from Selinsgrove set out to prove there is a reason they were named after an Artic animal.
In a driving wind and blowing snow, Selinsgrove dominated Greater Johnstown up front, allowing the Seals to slow down the speed of the Trojans and control the clock in a 35-3 victory at Hulsinger Field at Richland High School on Friday night.
“Did you ever watch one of those National Geographic specials with the Seals in the Artic, having fun?” Selinsgrove coach Dave Hess asked. “That’s our kids. They love this kind of weather.”
Selinsgrove (13-0) advances to the state quarterfinals for the eighth time in 10 years and will face Allentown Central Catholic (12-1), a 28-14 winner over Abington Heights. The game will be Friday night at 7 p.m. at Kemp Memorial Stadium at Shamokin High School. The Trojans finish the season at 8-4.
The key for the Seals was apparent from the beginning of the game as they won the toss and elected to take the ball. Selinsgrove marched 65 yards in 11 plays, capped by a one-yard TD plunge by fullback Bryant Trautman. The Seals ran the ball nine times on the drive as tailback Kyle Reinard and fullback Matt Wenrich combined for 51 yards, including a 25-yard sprint by Reinard to the Johnstown 7.
“The idea was to run the ball and control the clock,” Hess said.
After forcing the Trojans to punt on their first possession, the Seals looked to take control when Reinard returned the ensuing punt 60 yards for a touchdown, but Selinsgrove was called for a questionable block in the back when Seth Lauver laid out the punt gunner for the Trojans.
The Seals fumbled the ball away on the possession and Johnstown scored for the only time in the game when it got the ball back. Oskar Almgren kicked a 30-yard field goal with 10:52 left in the second quarter to cut the Selinsgrove lead to 7-3. Quarterback John Siciliano hurt the Seals with his legs, rushing for 35 yards on the drive.
But that would be the last time, Siciliano would hurt the Seals. Siciliano accounted for 119 of Johnstown 120 yards of offense, but the Selinsgrove defensive front, led by Spencer Myers and Jon Trego, spent most of the game in the backfield.
“Our down linemen, if they can get penetration, then the linebackers can run free,” Wenrich, a linebacker, said.
“Really, the game plan was for our defensive lineman to get one yard of penetration, break down and really keep that quarterback in front of them,” Hess said. “We didn’t want to over penetrate and let him step up inside. If he got his shoulders squared and started crossing lines, we would be in trouble.”
Selinsgrove answered the field goal with a score of its own. Wenrich got the next drive started with a 33-yard run to the Johnstown 25. Three plays later, Reinard capped the drive with a 10-yard TD run to make the score 14-3 with 8:48 left in the first half.
After another Johnstown punt, the Seals made it 21-3 when quarterback Cory Briggs hit tight end Seth Lauver with a 21-yard scoring pass. Lauver was playing tight end in place of the injured Kyle Schuck. Wenrich had 31 yards on the drive He carried the ball eight times in the first half.
“We haven’t run (fullback off-tackle) that much this year, but it worked well (Friday night),” Wenrich said.
After being stopped on their first possession of the second half due to a missed field goal, Reinard put the game away thanks to a big block from Ryan Keiser. Reinard muffed a punt that he picked up at 50. Keiser hit a big block on the pursuit from behind and Reinard then moved up the left sideline, picked up the last block he needed on his way for 50-yard TD return and a 28-3 lead.
Briggs found Keiser early in the fourth for a 17-yard TD pass to cap the scoring for Selinsgrove.
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Roger Kerekes/For The Daily Item
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Roger Kerekes/For The Daily Item
Discussion
Seals dominate line of scrimmage in rout
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