By Marion Valanoski
For The Daily Item
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COAL TOWNSHIP — It’s been quite some time since Shamokin could come off the field feeling good about itself and not have to offer excuses for a lackluster performance. That was the past and this is a new season with plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
First, the Indians walked off the field Friday at Kemp Memo - rial Stad i u m victori - ous, and secondly, it came a g a i n s t a quality opponent and as a result of a team effort.
Jared Montgomery bulled his way for 147 yards behind a fine offensive line performance and the defense was solid throughout as Shamokin handled Mifflinburg 23-9 in a Heartland Athletic Conference Division I game to start the campaign on a positive note with the new-look offense by second-year coach Dan Foor and his staff.
“We’ve been talking for months about not having the excuse of the schedule to start off on the wrong foot,” Foor said. “It’s only game one, but this was a big win for our football team.”
The Indians marched 69 yards in seven plays to score on the game’s opening series.
Montgomery displayed both a little shake-and-bake and-bake and power football with three carries for 61 yards, capped with a 26-yard scamper around left end for the team’s first score. Jon Vanaskie’s first of three PAT conversions put the Indians up 7-0 as the offensive line opened gaping holes through the middle of the Wildcats’ defense.
It was the defense’s turn to shine as Shamokin defense bottled up Mifflinburg’s attack and did not allow junior quarterback Alex Vidunas to enjoy any type of comfort in the Wildcats’ passhappy attack.
“Our game plan was to put as much pressure as possible on the quarterback and our defensive line did a great job of containing him,” Foor said. “And our defensive secondary really grew up and came up with the big plays and that may have surprised them. They came out in the I but we just stuffed their runners at the line of scrimmage and provided our team with good field position.”
A fumble recovery set up the Indians’ second TD in the first period. Quarterback Leon Supsic raced around left end for a one-yard TD.
Wes Tillett then put a stamp on the team’s dominating defensive exhibition with 31 seconds left in the half when he leveled Matt Brouse in the end zone for a safety as the Indians went into halftime up 16-0.
“We dominated them up front as our front eight did a great job,” Foor said. “The only negative in the second quarter was the fact we did not take advantage of the great field position the defense provided the offense.”
Mifflinburg was unable to generate any offense to start the second half while Shamokin finally cashed in on its excellent field position to tally its third touchdown.
With the ball on the Wildcats’ 30, Montgomery carried four straight times for 17 yards down to the 13. Zack Tillett picked up four to the nine and a fresh set of downs before Supsic notched his second TD on a six-yard scamper for a 23-0 lead.
“It was huge to score twice in the first quarter and this was a big win for us,” Foor said. “Montgomery is sneaky fast at fullback but he can square up and run people over and he had a great game as did the offensive line.”
The Wildcats finally got their passing attack untracked in the second half but it wasn’t enough. Oakley Whitesel prevented the shutout with a 30-yard field goal and backup quarterback Kyle Failor tossed a 16-yard TD pass to Toby Boyer.
