Wildcat Injuries Mount; Green Dragons Await
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP — Last week the Central Mountain football was looking for a Mount Carmel ground game and got done in by Red Tornado passing.
This Friday night at Buckell University’s Christy Mathewson Stadium the Wildcats likely are prepping for something different, a quick, pass-oriented Lewisburg team and it won’t be easy.
Lewisburg improved to 3-1 with a 33-0 trouncing over Milton last Friday and afterwards Milton coach George Goodwin said his Panthers had no answer for the Green Dragons’ quickness. “We couldn’t match up with their team speed.”
Milton also had no answer for Lewisburg quarterback Trent Gower who accounted for all five of his team’s touchdowns, four passing and one running. Gower finished the night with a 9-for-13 passing performance, good for 174 yards and scoring strikes of 3, 44, 24 and 5 yards, to go with 7 carries for 19 yards including a 1-yard run. Gower’s passing carried the night as his team rushed 28 times for but 61 yards. For the year the 5-10 160 pound senior has passed for 731 yards, pitching 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions through four games.
Central Mountain had been looking for a ground attack from Mount Carmel last week but the Red Tornadoes inserted sophomore Tommy McDonald at quarterback in the first half and he found wide-open receivers to the tune of a 6-for-6 second quarter, three of them for touchdowns. The end result was a 41-21 Mount Carmel win, stopping Central Mountain’s modest two-game winning streak and putting the Wildcat mark at 2-2.
The loss was potentially a costly one for CM as three starters went down with injuries and are questionable for this Friday. The versatile Justin Neff appeared to suffer a shoulder injury to his throwing arm and did not play in the second half. Fellow junior Bryce Mansfield left with a leg injury and wide-out/punter Tyler Zablocki also went down with an injury.
Central Mountain and Lewisburg have one common opponent: The Green Dragons lost 21-7 to Mount Carmel two weeks ago. Earlier Lewisburg beat Shikellamy 38-14 and Montoursville 31-21.
Friday’s game will be played at Christy Mathewson Stadium on the Bucknell University campus, game time 7 p.m. It will be aired on AM1230-WBPZ and therecord-online. Central Mountain returns home Friday, Oct. 9 to host winless Shikellamy.
