Wildcats pitch shutout in winning opener, 12-0, over Shikellamy

AdminAugust 28, 2021Last Updated: August 28, 2021

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SUNBURY, PA – Central Mountain went into its season-opening football game without benefit of a pre-season scrimmage, with a new coaching staff, an inexperienced line and more questions than answers when the Wildcats took the field at Shikellamy High School Friday night.

And the game itself was held up for some 40 minutes for some lightning and a howling rainstorm. Despite all the obstacles, the Wildcats were solid on defense and did enough on offense to come home with a 12-0 win, getting new head coach Shanon Manning and his staff off to a 1-0 start.

As Manning noted afterwards, he had “no measuring stick” as to where the team might be, given a health issue in the previous week which had put 27 players in dry-dock for a bit and forced cancellation of an Aug. 21 scrimmage with Bald Eagle Area.

So given all that, coach Manning was pleased with what he saw. This included a balanced offense behind senior quarterback Brett Gerlach, an all-around solid game from Wildcat receiver/punter/defender Tyler Weaver and a promising start on both sides of the ball from a rebuilt line.

Central Mountain took the opening kick-off and marched 68 yards for a score, a drive that took 6:08 off the clock. It featured a 17-yard sweep from sophomore Connor Foltz, a 17-yard run from Ryan Pentz and the score on a 12-yard pass from Gerlach to Weaver. That made the score 6-0 and then lightning was spotted, to go with a torrential downpour that began before the kickoff. Play was stopped and did not resume until 40 minutes later and playing conditions only worsened for both teams on a natural grass field that was soft and pock-marked by game’s end. (Coach Manning noted the field conditions were not conducive to the kind of offense his team runs, but remarkably the team committed no turnovers).

Central Mountain’s extra point after the delay was no good and the score stayed 6-0 well into the final period. The Wildcats did have one deep drive into Shik territory but turned the ball over on downs at the Braves’ 5-yard line. They would not score again until Gerlach ran in from 8 yards out with 2:12 remaining to set the score at 12-0; that would turn out to be the final; that last score came after the Wildcats recovered a Shik fumble, one of five Brave turnovers on the night, at the home team’s 14-yardline.

The Wildcat defense was solid all night, keeping the Shik offense under control other than a 53-yard dash by the Braves’ Isaac Schaffer-Neitz. That play, the first of the final quarter, brought the Braves to CM’s 38-yardline but Shikellamy turned the ball over on downs on an incompletion at Central Mountain’s 35-yardline.

Weaver, in addition to catching three passes for 49 yards, had three pressure-packed punts to help hold Shik at bay. He had a 44-yarder from his own one yardline in the second quarter, a 51-yarder to Shik’s 9-yardline in the third quarter and a 35-yarder to Shik’s 14-yardline in the fourth quarter, which helped set-up the Wildcats’ final score later in the game. Gerlach led the Wildcat ground game with 44 yards on 16 carries and added another 113 yards passing, in addition to a fumble recovery, an interception and a sack on defense.

The Wildcats (1-0) return home next Friday to host Shamokin. The Indians were to open Friday night hosting Lewisburg but that game was postponed until3 p.m. Saturday, due to a problem with the lights at Kemp Stadium in Shamokin.