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DISTRICT 4 CLASS 2A: Championship Preview

Tagged under: District 4, News, Playoffs

| November 16, 2022

MCA looking to take crown from SCA

In the first go-around, Mount Carmel Area went to Tiger Stadium and defeated Southern Columbia 35-21. That ended a long losing streak for the Red Tornadoes in what has become District 4’s most anticipated rivalry. On Friday night, MCA will look to beat SCA for the first time ever in a District 4 Class 2A Championship battle. The Tigers have won the previous four gold medal matchups, but this time the game will be at the Silver Bowl for the first time in the postseason rivalry.

In the first meeting, Mount Carmel (12-0) overcame a 21-20 deficit with less than a minute left in the third quarter to go on and beat Southern (9-3) for the first time in over a decade after the Tigers won the previous 14 meetings.

The Red Tornadoes have remained undefeated with a strong rushing attack as six different players have rushed for over 250 yards on the year. Junior Xavier Diaz leads the charge with 913 yards and 13 touchdowns while sophomore Luke Blessing has reached the endzone 14 times on the ground while running for 631 yards.

Although they are more run-oriented under the reign of John Darrah, this has been one of the most prolific passing teams that MCA has had in a while. Due to injuries, three different quarterbacks have combined to throw for 2,022 yards. Cole Spears, who missed time with a knee injury earlier in the season, leads the way with 1,055 yards through the air. He has thrown 12 TD passes compared to just three interceptions.

Garrett Varano leads the team donning the red and white uniforms with 31 receptions, and tight end Jacob Shultz has a team-high seven receiving touchdowns.

For Southern, Jim Roth’s form of the Delaware Wing-T offense, which all starts with the run game, has been the key to the turnaround for the five-time defending PIAA champions. Senior Maryland commit Braeden Wisloski and senior Wes Barnes have been the leaders in their final season for a Tiger team that has lost three games for the first time in seemingly forever.

Both players are less than 200 yards from joining 10 other former Southern running backs of reaching 3,000 yards in their career.

Wisloski leads the area with 1,356 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns while Barnes has accounted for 723 yards and 10 scores despite missing six games due to injury. Carter Madden has also scored 10 touchdowns on the ground to help from allowing defenses to put all the attention on the senior duo.

Defensively is where the Red Tornadoes took advantage of the Tigers in the October meeting. Mount Carmel picked off Tiger QB Blake Wise five times in the regular season meeting. In all other games, Wise has thrown seven touchdown passes compared to two interceptions.

In the district quarterfinal and semifinal victories, both defenses have been stout. As the saying goes, ‘defense wins championships’ and both sides have been on a roll in November.

The Tigers are led by returning all-state linebacker Dom Fetterolf. The sophomore has 123 tackles, nearly 50 more than any other player for the black and gold, and Tyler Arnold has a team-high five sacks. Jake Hoy and Jake Toczylousky each have picked off three passes.

For the Big Red’s defense, Maddox Reed leads the team with 107 tackles and Coastal Carolina recruit Matt Scicchitano has 6.5 sacks. Varano has a team-high six interceptions followed by his first cousin Chase Balichik who has registered five.

Speaking of cousins, the signal-callers are related as Spears and Wise’s mothers are sisters. With Spears out during the regular season meeting, this is the first time that they will face off against each other as the starting quarterbacks of their respective teams.

Although the return of Barnes and the extended use of kicker Isaac Carter on the defensive line have provided the Tigers with an added boost, Southern will be without two-way starter Louden Murphy who is third on the team in both tackles and rushing yards.

In last week’s win, Murphy got in a tussle knocking over a Trojan player, both players were ejected from the game.

MOUNT CARMEL AREA RED TORNADOES
STARTING OFFENSE:
#11 QB Cole Spears – 5-10, 160, Jr.
#10 RB Xavier Diaz – 5-9, 160, Jr.
#44 FB Ryan Weidner – 6-2, 205, Jr.
#4  Wing/WR Michael Farranato – 6-0, 175, Sr. OR
#14 Wing/WR Garrett Varano – 5-11, 175, Sr.
#88 TE Matt Scicchitano – 6-4, 275, Sr.
#15 TE Jacob Schultz – 6-2, 185, Jr.
#77 LT Noah Shimko – 6-5, 290, So.
#58 LG Kelin Geary – 6-0, 250, Sr.
#70 C Michael Langton – 6-1, 245, Sr.
#72 RG Maddox LeMas – 6-1, 210, Jr.
#71  RT Nick Nestico – 6-2, 285, Sr.
#6 PK Drew Yagodzinskie – 5-11, 195, So.
STARTING DEFENSE:
#88 DT Matt Scicchitano – 6-4, 275, Sr.
#58 NG Kelin Geary – 6-0, 250, Sr.
#71 DT Nick Nestico – 6-2, 285, Sr.
#28 OLB Al Bailey – 5-11, 205, So.
#6 ILB Drew Yagodzinskie – 5-11, 195, So.
#3 ILB Maddox Reed – 5-10, 180, Jr.
#15 OLB Jacob Schultz – 6-2, 185, Jr.
#10 CB Xavier Diaz – 5-9, 160, Jr.
#4 CB Michael Farranato – 6-0, 175, Sr.
#14 FS Garrett Varano – 5-11, 175, Sr.
#1 SS Chase Balichik – 6-0, 175, So.
#6 P Drew Yagodzinskie – 5-11, 195, So.
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA TIGERS
STARTING OFFENSE:
#10 QB Blake Wise – Jr. 6-2, 155
#24 HB Braeden Wisloski – Sr. 5-11, 185
#23 HB Carter Madden – Jr. 5-8, 165
#3 FB Wes Barnes – Sr. 5-9, 180
#1 WR Kyle Christman – Jr. 6-0, 165
#8 WR Jake Toczylousky – Sr. 6-2, 175
#30 TE Ryan Kerstetter – Sr. 6-1, 185
#74 RT Chris Treshock – Sr. 6-2, 280
#72 RG Brett Horton – Sr. 5-11, 185
#50 C Aidan Barcavage – Sr. 5-9, 200
#54 LG Jude Bremigen – So. 5-9, 200
#64 LT Logan Sharrow – Sr. 6-4, 200
#43 K Isaac Carter – Jr. 5-11, 200
STARTING DEFENSE:
#14 DE Tyler Arnold – Sr. 6-2, 200
#31 DE Colden Bloom – Jr. 6-0, 200
#74 DT Chris Treshock – Sr. 6-2, 280
#76 DT Nevan Diehl – Sr. 6-1, 220
#39 OLB Gavin Krebs – Jr. 5-10, 165
#23 OLB Carter Madden – Jr. 5-8, 165
#32 ILB Dominic Fetterolf – So. 6-1, 205
#3 ILB Wes Barnes – Sr. 5-9, 180
#24 CB Braeden Wisloski – Sr. 5-11, 185
#6 CB Jake Hoy – Jr. 6-2, 170
#8 S Jake Toczylousky – Sr. 6-2, 175
#43 P Isaac Carter – Jr. 5-11, 200

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