Defense Paces Wildcat Win at Shamokin

AdminOctober 8, 2016

2 minutes read

SHAMOKIN — Central Mountain’s defense has displayed continued improvement all season long and put it all together Friday night, spearheading a 15-2 Wildcat win at Shamokin.

The victory was the third in the last four games for Central Mountain, running their season record to 3-4 after starting the year with three straight losses. And the defense was front and center all night long, holding Shamokin (1-5) to 137 yards of offense and actually throwing a shutout at the Indians, the home team’s only points coming on a third quarter safety.

And the Wildcat ground attack again carried the offensive load, putting up 215 yards spread among senior Justin Neff and juniors Cameron Ishler, Tanner Weaver and Mahlik Houtz. Neff had 101 yards and two 7-yard touchdown runs, Ishler next with 67 yards, Weaver with 28 and Houtz with 20.

Central Mountain scored first, just a few minutes into the first period when junior defensive end Chandler Heverly blocked a Shamokin punt, the ball going into and through the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats put up their first touchdown towards the end of the first half, a 35-yard drive capped off by the first of Neff’s two touchdown runs, halftime score 9-0 CM.

The Wildcats took the second half kickoff and moved on an 80-yard drive, Neff with the score to make it 15-0; a rush for two extra points was unsuccessful.

Shamokin got its only two points with its third period safety. Central Mountain had the ball at its own 20 on fourth down. Punter Asher Corl received a low snap and rather than get tackled on his own 1 or 2 yard line, dropped into the end zone to give up just two points.

Shamokin for the rest of the game struggled to move the ball against an aggressive Wildcat defense, stopped on fourth down efforts on all three of their second half possessions.
CM shut down their standout tailback Devin Pietkiewicz, holding him to 49 yards on 20 rushes; he had come into the game averaging better than 100 yards a game.

The Wildcats will play their final road game next Friday night at Selinsgrove, the Seals now 5-2 after a 40-14 win over Mifflinburg tonight. Central Mountain returns home for its final two regular season games, Hollidaysburg Oct. 21 and Jersey Shore Oct. 28.