Garden Spot downs Central Mountain, 45-6
NEW HOLLAND, PA – The Central Mountain football team knew there would be a good football team waiting for them when the Wildcats completed their long Friday trip into Lancaster County to take on a new foe. And the Garden Spot Spartans lived up to their billing, their record 6-2 after a convincing 45-6 win over their visitors from central Pennsylvania.
The Wildcats, now 0-8, stayed with the Spartans through the first period. The only score came when Garden Spot do-everything quarterback Kyle Harting went into the endzone from four yards out, his team leading 7-0 with just under two minutes remaining in quarter number one.
The home team broke things open in period two with 17 points. Harting passed to Gabe Smeltz for a 2-yard touchdown at the 9:31 mark of the quarter. After the Wildcats botched a punt, on the next play the Spartans’ Blake Weaver rumbled in from 34 yards out. The extra point made it 21-0 with 7:42 to go in the period. Nick Gleason made it 24-0 with a 40-yard field goal at the 2:27 mark; 24-0 the score at the half.
Central Mountain received the second half kickoff, but a couple quick sacks from the Spartan defense set the tempo for period three. GS’s Weaver had a 45-yard touchdown run at the 4:54 mark. Harting followed with a 55-yard scoring strike to Zac Nagle with 3:04 to go in the third, pushing the score to 38-0 and the game into the mercy rule.
Garden Spot made it 45-0 early in the final period on a 12-yard run from Jadon Burkholder. The Wildcats got on the board with 3:54 to go in the contest, junior Rocco Serafini going in from seven yards out; the extra point try no good.
Serafini led the ‘Cat ground game with 62 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Brady Myers rushed 13 times for 24 yards and Jake Weaver picked up 24 yards on five carries. Connor Foltz had his best receiving night of the season, seven catches for 57 yards. Myers finished 10-of-18 passing for 80 yards. The Wildcats finished with 138 yards of offense, Garden Spot with 395, including 271 yards on the ground, led by Harting with 85 yards.
The road won’t get any easier for the Wildcats next Friday, traveling to Clearfield. The Bison moved to 6-2 on the year with a 55-18 win over Bellefonte on Friday.
CM 0 0 0 6 = 6
GS 7 17 14 7 = 45
