Central Mountain Loses 35-28 Shoot-Out to Mifflinburg

MIFFLINBURG — Central Mountain did some good things in a back-and-forth game at Mifflinburg Friday night, but four first half turnovers and a couple defensive breakdowns proved too much to overcome as the home-standing Wildcats edged the visiting Wildcats by a 35-28 score.

Central Mountain put 28 points on the board and outgained Mifflinburg in total yards by a 368 to 321 clip. CM also showed some mettle in coming back from a 28-14 deficit to tie the contest at 28-28 with less than five minutes remaining. But Mifflinburg bounced back, using a couple long passes, including a Gary DeGroat to Rylee Stahl 44-yard screen pass for what proved to be the winning score with 3:27 remaining. Central Mountain would get the ball back and move to midfield but turn the ball over on downs a yard short of a first down.

The defeat ruined a career night for Wildcat quarterback Austyn Carson. He finished with 143 yards rushing on 15 carries, good for two touchdowns; and he passed 17-of-37 for another 124 yards. The ‘Cats also got 91 yards rushing from Tanner Weaver, including a 37 yard score. Izzy McCann led the receivers with seven catches for 41 yards. Sophomore Rocco Stark for the second week in a row had a big-strike t-d, an 85-yard kickoff return to give Central Mountain a 14-13 halftime lead. But DeGroat, likewise a sophomore, passed for two scores and ran for another to pull the win for Mifflinburg, now 2-4.

Central Mountain, now 0-6, will look for a bounce-back next Friday, Oct. 6, a home game with Shamokin (1-5). The Indians lost Friday night to Shikellamy (4-2) by a 28-7 score.

Other scores included: North Penn-Mansfield 48, Bucktail 14; Selinsgrove 25, Jersey Shore 6; Bellefonte 55, Clearfield 28; Tyrone 27, Bald Eagle Area 19.