Seals Squash Indians

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

Dave Fegley | November 5, 2021

Selinsgrove’s Big Plays Over Shamokin Result In 49-13 Win

When Shamokin Area hosted Selinsgrove earlier this year, on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th Terrorists Attacks, Indians head coach Henry Hynoski had to watch from afar while quarantined against the Seals.

Last night, the former NFL Super Bowl Champion and four-time PIAA champion during his time as a player for Southern Columbia, was on the sidelines for his normal duties. It didn’t go the way that he or the rest of the Indians had hoped.

In the fifth meeting between the teams over the past two seasons, Selinsgrove was able to make the splash plays early on to propel them into next’ week’s district final.

The Indians ran twice as many plays in the first half offensively as the Seals (34-17), but that stat didn’t paint the picture as no Selinsgrove drive lasted more than three plays in the first two quarters. The Seals jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead and went on to win 49-13.

“The big plays hurt us all night, and we just couldn’t get anything going on offense against a very good team. It was always a good feeling coming into this stadium because I wasn’t ever part of a team that lost on this field until tonight,” said Hynoski who as a sophomore fullback at Southern Columbia in 2004 rushed for 419 yards and six touchdowns in a state playoff win against Pius X by a score of 76-47 as the Tigers set a national rushing record at the time of 772 yards inside of Harold L. Bolig Memorial Stadium.

It wasn’t near the performance that the former New York Giants starting fullback had while in uniform, but Selinsgrove’s Brandon Hile had quite the performance last night during his final game on home soil.

The senior running back scored the opening touchdown of the game on a 31-yard pass from sophomore Mark Pastore, and he then added three more scores throughout the course of the game.

“We lost to Shamokin last season in our stadium in this same spot to end our season, so that definitely gave me more motivation heading into this game,” Hile said. “We came in more focused than ever because we didn’t want to experience that same feeling again.”

Hile’s second touchdown came with 3:58 left in the first quarter when he broke a couple of tackle attempts at the line of scrimmage and raced 51 yards into the end zone. The Seals added a third touchdown minutes later when Pastore connected with tight end Steven Miller on a 12-yard crossing pattern to make the score 21-0.

In the second quarter, Pastore found Gavin Bastian behind the Shamokin secondary for a 74-yard touchdown pass. After forcing a three-and-out, Hile blocked a punt, recovered it, and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown to make the score 35-0 at the half.

“The guys came out tonight and did a great job of jumping on Shamokin early. I’ll be honest, I was nervous coming in because in our regular season meeting, it was just a 7-0 lead at halftime. I am proud of how our team came out and took care of business,” Selinsgrove coach Derek Hicks said.

In the third quarter, after Hile scored a final time on a 73-yard dash, Shamokin’s leader got one final drive to cap off his career. Senior running back Max Madden scored on a six-yard run on his final carry in an Indian uniform.

“This senior class is the group that I started with when I took over as the head coach, so this class is special to me. I am proud of the effort that they gave me, and hopefully the younger guys can take it into the future knowing that they need to work hard,” said Hynoski. “Max Madden has been here from day one and has busted his tail for the program. He has been a staple for the past four seasons in our program, so I wanted to give him the opportunity to end his career with a touchdown. He is at the top of our rushing list for the program’s history.”

Selinsgrove advances to the District 4 Class 4A championship next Friday and will hit the road to take on an undefeated Jersey Shore squad that beat them in a defensive battle 9-7 back in week two.

“All three of our losses have been to tough teams. We lost the first two games of our season to Pottsville and Jersey Shore, and then competed well in the first half against Southern until they took it to us in the third quarter,” said Hicks. “We just need to come out and get contributions in all three phases of the game just like we did here against Shamokin. It should be a heck of a final to see who advances to the PIAA playoffs.”

Selinsgrove 49, Shamokin 13

Shamokin (5-6): 0-0-7-6 — 13

Selinsgrove (8-3): 21-14-7-7 — 49

First quarter

SEL — Brandon Hile 31 pass from Mark Pastore (Carter Young kick) – 9:52

SEL — Hile 51 run (Young kick) – 3:58

SEL — Steven Miller 12 pass from Pastore (Young kick) – 1:24

Second quarter

SEL — Gavin Bastian 74 pass from Pastore (Young kick) – 7:06

SEL — Hile 19 blocked punt return (Young kick) – 5:08

Third quarter

SEL — Hile 73 run (Young kick) – 10:40

SHA — Max Madden 6 run (Carson Ososkie kick) – 1:50

Fourth quarter

SHA — Knowledge Artis-Jones 77 run (missed kick) – 10:27

SEL — Austin Fanelli fumble recovery in end zone (Young kick) – 4:33

Shamokin  –  Selinsgrove

First downs: 10  –  12

Rushing-yds: 41-251  –  23-199

Passing: 3-11-0  –  3-7-0

Passing yds: 13  –  117

Total yds: 264  –  316

Fumbles-lost: 1-1  –  2-1

Penalties: 3-30  –  5-38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Shamokin: Max Madden 25-138, TD; Knowledge Artis-Jones 1-77, TD; Ayden Mikulak 4-19; Aaron Frasch 3-12; Brian Jovel-Martinez 1-5; Corey Adams 1-4; Tyler Whary 2-3; Brett Nye 4-(-7). Selinsgrove: Brandon Hile 3-124, 2 TD’s; Cale Bastian 4-36; Derek Holtzapple 5-22; Tucker Teats 6-8; Andrew Sassaman 1-6; Mark Pastore 2-3; Philip Gesumaria 2-0.

PASSING — Shamokin: Brett Nye 3-11-0, 13 yds. Selinsgrove: Mark Pastore 3-6-0, 117 yds, 3 TD’s; Cale Bastian 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — Shamokin: Colin Seedor 1-9; Chase Pensyl 1-3; Tyler Whary 1-1. Selinsgrove: Gavin Bastian 1-74, TD; Brandon Hile 1-31, TD; Steven Miller 1-12, T

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