By The Daily Item
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In the week leading up to their rivalry game, Mount Carmel coach Carmen DeFrancesco said he was sure Southern coach Jim Roth would be anxious to see how his many first-year starters would perform when forced to play four quarters, rather than less than half of a game as in the team’s two blowout wins.
Roth found out, and it did not work in Mount Carmel’s favor. The Tigers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a convincing 49-33 win.
Talking specifically about halfback Nate Hunter and quarterback Taylor Young — both of whom overcame fumbles and, in Young’s case, an interception — Roth said, “I was impressed with the way (Hunter) ran the ball. In the series after he had the fumbles, I thought he really showed something. There was no tentativeness, and I think he was even more aggressive. It was nice see him pick it up and put that behind him.
“It was the same with Taylor. Sometimes he just had a little bit of problem with his touch. (On the interception) he had the kid in the flat on that pass open and he did not get enough air under the ball, and it kind of floated. But I can’t say enough about the way he ran the ball and the way he came back and played in the second half after some mistakes early,” Roth said.
He added, “This was a growing experience for these guys as many of them are first-year starters, and, in this environment, it was huge to see them come out in the second half and play so well.”
EASY PICKINGS: Lewisburg junior cornerback Ben Frankel played a huge role in Friday night’s victory over Hughesville with two interceptions and a touchdown catch. His second interception of the game, coming in the third quarter, set up his own score. He was pushed out of bounds after a 45-yard return to the Spartans’ 10 and caught a TD soon after.
Frankel’s inteception in one-on-one coverage was so good, it looked like he was the intended receiver. Hughesville’s Kris Newman ran a fly pattern down the left sideline, but Frankel was step-for-step with him and made a great over-the-shoulder catch for the pick.
“We worked more on technique this week than we have in a long time. (Newman’s) eyes were just set on the deep part of the field, so I thought it was coming,” Frankel said. “I didn’t care about the receiver at that point. I just went for the ball.”
Once he made the interception, he was able to pick up some blockers and almost return it for a touchdown, but he got hemmed in on the sideline and was pushed out of bounds.
“I had flashbacks to Towanda, when I got tackled after I cut back, so I stayed safe,” Frankel said. “I just didn’t have enough to get the score.”
HAIL TO THE VICTORS: Before the start of Friday’s game at Tiger Stadium, the school honored last spring’s Southern Columbia Class A state-runner-up softball team. At halftime, it was the football program’s turn, as members of the 1983 and 1989 Eastern Conference championship squads assembled on the field.
TOUGHER THAN THEY THOUGHT: DeFrancesco said he may have led his players to believe they would be able to handle the Tigers much easier than they did. He said he thought the Red Tornadoes could cause defensive problems by making Southern cover the entire field “but their defense played great.
“This was a very disappointing loss. We were confident we were going to come in here and win. We didn’t only not win, but we got beaten soundly, and we have to go back to the drawing board and right the ship.”
A BAD SIGN? As the Southern Columbia cheerleaders stood off to the side waiting for their turn, their Mount Carmel counterparts held up a “Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes” sign for their players to run through and onto the field.
But the Red Tornado cheerleaders could have been flagged for a delay of game. They dropped the banner and had to hustle to get it back into place in time for the team to break through. Moments later, things went much better for the Tigers, who would go on to win this rivalry game 49-33.
MISTAKES HAPPEN: The Tigers hurt themselves in the second half with a number of false-start and procedural penalties, but Roth attributed it to the atmosphere of the game as much as to the fact that many of his players had not started before this season.
“The rivalry, the amount of people here, and everything that goes into that, with the emotions, that was one of my fears that we could have some issues early in the game and we certainly did,” he said.
“But to overcome them and come back and get a win over a team like this should be great for our confidence the rest of the season.”
NOT SO SPECIAL: DeFrancesco said, “What was really disappointing was the play of our special teams. When you are giving them such great field position on those kickoffs (they also missed an extra point try) ... that’s a real concern for us.”
KEEPING HIM IN CHECK: The Tiger defense constantly flushed Mount Carmel quarterback Zach Wasilewski out of the pocket, but had just one sack. That came in the fourth quarter when linemen Mitch Stanziale and Josh Tripp dumped him for an eight-yard loss.
Luke Rarig and Bryce Parry each had an interception for the Tigers.
ON TOP FOR NOW: Southern’s win in this outstanding series broke a tie, giving the Tigers a 9-8 advantange.
CLAY-MATION: Shamokin linebacker Erik Taylor did his best Clay Mathews impersonation Friday, sacking Danville quarterback Weston Baylor three times in the first half. Taylor’s blitzes were so effective, he nearly caught the ball on a toss play to Ironmen halfback Isaiah Croll which could have prevented Danville’s go-ahead touchdown.
GAME-CHANGER: Preston Burns, a Shamokin freshman, had two electrifying kick returns in the first quarter Friday. He took the opening kick 54 yards and minutes later bolted 37 yards with a punt. A quarterback listed at 5-foot-8, 150 pounds, Burns game in for injured Tucker Yost late in the game and completed his only pass.
LEAD FOOT: Danville senior Bret Berg, whose punting prowess was discovered during summer workouts, averaged 43.3 yards on three boots Friday, including a key 56-yard field-flipper in the fourth quarter.
