Wildcats Travel to Shik
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP — Patience, patience, patience.
Here’s a mid-season reminder: a look at the Central Mountain football starting lineup a year ago and it was virtually all seniors; letter-winning underclassmen were few on a struggling team.
Fast forward to 2014 and this year you’ll see a starting lineup with but a couple seniors on offense and just three or so seniors starting on defense.
As the season progresses the lack of experience in a rebuilding program becomes more evident so fans should exhibit patience and continue to lend support to first-year head coach Mike Nines, his staff and team as they gamely go about the business of resurrecting a program in decline in recent years.
Wildcat growing pains were on full display in their most recent contest, a 50-6 thrashing administered at Malinak Stadium by the Lewisburg Green Dragons last Friday.
In their previous three losses the Wildcats put together some good quarters of football, but not enough to come out a winner.
They attempted to end that 3-game skid against Lewisburg, hoping to sustain something good for four quarters; it didn’t happen. The visiting Green Dragons scored early and often and romped to the 50-6 victory.
The tempo was set early on: The game’s first play from scrimmage, a Central Mountain pass, was intercepted and returned by the Dragons’ Drew Newcomb 28 yards for a touchdown. A moment later Central Mountain’s second play from scrimmage was a lost fumble; Lewisburg settled for a 32-yard field goal from Anthony Passaniti and the rout was on.
By midway into the third quarter the score was 43-0 in favor of the now 3-and-2 visitors. The Wildcats did put together one successful scoring drive, an 84-yard effort capped by Hunter Weaver’s 5-yard touchdown run, making the score 43-6. Lewisburg kept its starters on the field into the final period, scoring the game’s final points on a 12-yard Logan Aikey run to put the final at 50-6.
The Wildcats were pushed around the field for much of the night, outgained by a 385 to 153 margin. All the CM yardage was on the ground, paced by Weaver’s 111 yards on 23 carries. Justin Neff was next with 35 yards on 9 rushes.
Next up is a Friday night trip to Sunbury for a first-ever meeting with the 3-2 Braves.
Shik will be looking for its first home victory in a 3-2 start marked by a 3-0 road record and a 0-2 slate at home. The Braves are coming off two straight road wins, 27-14 over Mifflinburg and most recently 20-18 at Montoursville last Friday.
Memo to coach Nines: The Braves relied on a little trickery and deceit to get two of their scores at Montoursville; twice quarterback Christian Schlegel threw a lateral to wide-out Matt Splitt and twice Splitt found Nick Dunn downfield for long touchdown plays, one of them going 86 yards.
Friday’s foes have one common opponent so far in Lewisburg. Shik opened with a 21-20 road win against the Green Dragons, Lewisburg pelting CM 50-6 last Friday.
The Wildcats will return home next Friday, Oct. 10, to host another new opponent, another Wildcat team, in Mifflinburg (1-4). Those Wildcats lost last Friday by a 41-6 score to 5-0 Jersey Shore last Friday.
