Wildcats pull-out/hold-off Shamokin for wild 35-34 win
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – You’d be hard pressed to find a more exciting win in Central Mountain’s two decades of play than Friday night’s 35-34 nail-biter over visiting Shamokin.
It was a back-and-forth game between two teams who truly wouldn’t quit, not decided until the final seconds. Central Mountain had the momentum early, jumping out to a 12-0 lead after one, keeping the ball away from the Shamokin offense buoyed by the return of standout quarterback Brett Nye. But the Indians put up 21 second period points to the Wildcats’ 8 to take a 21-20 halftime lead.
The two evenly matched teams traded third period scores to give Shamokin a 28-27 lead going into the final quarter. Then things got even more interesting. Shamokin, which had passed successfully in period two, became more ground-oriented in the second half. Midway through the second half the Indians drove from their own 23 to the Central Mountain 29 when Wildcat defender Ryan Pentz made a clutch knockdown on a Nye pass.
The Wildcats took over on their own 31, could not move the ball and punted it away. But Shamokin had to punt right back and Central Mountain took over on its 21-yard line with 3:18 remaining, 79 yards to go, down by one.
‘Cat quarterback Brett Gerlach then engineered what proved to be the game-winning touchdown drive. The key play was a 76-yard Gerlach burst from the Wildcats’ 23 to the Indians’ 11. Four plays later Gerlach went into the end-zone from a yard out and Central Mountain regained the lead at 33-28; the ‘Cats stretched to 35-28 with a successful two-point conversion, a pass from Gerlach to sophomore Connor Foltz for a 35-28 lead with only 22.3 seconds remaining.
But the game was not over. The Indians’ Chris Seedor took the ensuring kick-off up the home team sideline for an 80-yard touchdown, making the score 35-34 Central Mountain with 10.9 seconds to go. Indian head coach Henry Hynoski called time out and the Indians elected to go for a two-point conversion and the win, instead of kicking the extra point for a 35-35 point tie.
Shamokin sent standout senior running back Max Madden into the center of the Wildcat line for the potential game-winning score. There was a pile-up at the goal-line. Multiple Indian players jumped up and down and signaled a successful conversion. But the officials delayed their call, checked at the line of scrimmage, then indicated the attempt was no good, the scoring staying 35-34 for Central Mountain.
The Indians then tried a couple unsuccessful onside kicks, the Wildcats regaining possession after the second one, and quarterback Gerlach took a knee for the hard-earned win.
Wildcat head coach Shanon Manning, now 2-0 in his time at Central Mountain, said, “It was a genuine team effort.” He noted the adversity his team had to overcome. They went without two-way starter/kicker/punter Tyler Weaver, out over a health matter. As a result, Manning said, the team had to rely on a kicker and a punter who had never done either before. Additional injuries forced Central Mountain to use offensive and defensive replacements who had never taken a snap before, Manning said. He said the situation was such that the coaching staff was drawing up defenses at halftime for the makeshift lineup. He praised his team’s discipline through-out, pointing out it had no “stupid penalties.”
Gerlach was again phenomenal. Manning praised his quarterback for “playing with a lot of resolve; he defines who we are.”
Gerlach and Pentz were solid all night, Gerlach throwing for more than a hundred yards and rushing for 132; Pentz right behind with 109 yards rushing. They also collaborated on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Gerlach also had a 26-yard T-D pass to Foltz, plus a two-point conversion to Foltz. Gerlach scored two touchdowns, passed for two, plus ran in a conversion for two. Pentz pitched in with a 35-yard touchdown run in the third period which had put CM back on top, 27-21 after sophomore Peyton Jones kicked his first extra point.
But then the game went back-and-forth yet again until the Wildcat defense just did snuff Madden at the line to preserve the 35-34 win.
Central Mountain is now 2-0 on the young season, Shamokin at 1-1. The Wildcats are home next Friday, taking on Bloomsburg (0-2). Bloom fell to Southern Columbia, 41-0 Friday night.
CM 12 8 7 8 = 35
S 0 21 7 6 = 34
