Wildcats take home opener, end 13-game skid
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Central Mountain’s home opener Friday night turned out to be a memorable one. First and foremost, it was the first Wildcat win since the 2021 season as the home team downed Bloomsburg by a 48-13 score, ending a 13-game losing streak.
It proved to be the first career win for first-year head coach Travis Thompson and senior Connor Foltz set a new Wildcat all-time reception record, hauling in five on Friday for a four-year total of 94 receptions, breaking the old mark of 90 set by Tyler Pavalko. Additionally senior running back Rocco Serafini set a personal best in rushing 23 times for 235 yards and three touchdowns and senior Thomas Sprague put up 189 yards passing, including touchdown strikes of 59 and 24 yards to senior Dominic Longworth.
Coach Thompson was more than pleased with the win. He talked to the press after emerging from a fired-up Wildcat locker room. While there, he instituted a new CM football tradition with the presentation of the game ball; this night it went to Serafini who also was a force at linebacker for the Wildcat defense. “This feels great – for the kids for working hard all summer, a long time coming,” said the coach.
Thompson said the team did well “on both sides of the ball.” As for ending the losing streak, he noted the need for a win, saying “one way to learn how to win, and that’s do it.”
The game was close for a while, the Wildcats scoring first on a 12-yard Foltz run. Bloomsburg came back with a 58-yard drive, tying things up midway through period one. But the 7-7 score didn’t last long as Wildcat sophomore Carnell Noone took the Panther kickoff and zoomed 70 yards for the go-ahead score and the Wildcats then took charge of the game.
It was 14-7 after one and Central Mountain put up two more scores in the second period, a Serafini 36-yard run and the Sprague-Longworth 59-yard strike; the score 28-7 at the half.
The Wildcats added 20 points in the third, a Sprague-Longworth 24-yard pass, a Serafini 1-yard-run and a Serafini 40-yard burst. Bloom scored on a 40-yard pass in the final period to put the final at 48-13.
The game was Central Mountain’s annual Military Appreciation Night and the team and cheerleaders wore special military camouflage garb to honor the military. A number of veterans, fathers of Wildcat football players, were honorary captains before the game.
Central Mountain is 1-1 on the young season and next up is an away game against Shikellamy, the game to be played next Friday at Shamokin’s home field as the Braves’ new artificial surface field is not completed. Shik dropped to 1-1 on Friday, losing to Mifflin County by a 23-6 score. The Huskies had defeated Central Mountain 41-6 in week one.
B 7 0 0 6 = 13
CM 14 14 20 0 = 48
