Tornadoes Win Defensive Battle

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

Dave Fegley | September 14, 2024

MCA beats rival SCA 7-6

For any fan that likes to see high scoring affairs, the Silver Bowl wasn’t the place to be on Friday night. For a true football fan, which wants a game to come down to the wire, it was exactly the venue to be at.

In the annual showdown, Mount Carmel Area beat Southern Columbia, in a baseball type score, 7-6.

Red Tornado sophomore Jaylen Delaney caught a 68-yard touchdown pass behind the Tigers secondary from Gavin Marshalek to start the low-scoring affair with 9:03 left in the first half which ultimately held up for the host school due to the try after result.

“You would think it would be a high scoring game, but it came down to defense. I have to give the props to my quarterback for getting me the ball,” said Delaney who caught six of the seven Red Tornado passes in the win for 151 yards.

When it came time to scoring from that point, Southern was the only team to reach the red zone. However, in all three of those possessions, the Tigers failed to put points on the board.

“The problem is you can’t stop yourself. When you have a first and goal inside the five, you have to get those points. When we had opportunities, we either had penalties or fumbled the snap. In a game where you are only picking up a few yards per play, you have to stay on schedule to score. We didn’t do that though, and they won in the end,” Southern coach Jim Roth said.

With Mount Carmel leading 7-0 at the half, Southern’s Joey Williams ran up the gut for a 67-yard TD with 9:59 remaining in the third quarter.

That seemed to be when Friday the 13th really set in against Southern’s special teams.

“In a tight battle, sometimes it comes down to one swing here or there. I honestly don’t remember much of the game after the fact because as the coach you are dialed in each play. It was a great win, and I am proud of my guys,” said Mount Carmel coach John Darrah.

Southern’s extra point attempt was blocked and neither team put up any more points after that.

MCA Special Teams

No singular play decides the outcome in a game. The bottom line was Mount Carmel did what it needed to in order to hold on and beat their rival. However, two plays in particular stood out after halftime.

In Southern’s first loss since the 1995 PIAA Championship (6-0 to Farrell) in which it held the opponent to single-digit points, the Red Tornadoes blocked an extra point which ultimately was the game-winning play after Williams scored the second and final TD of the game.

Red Tornado senior linebacker Ben Miller blocked the PAT from the left edge to keep Mount Carmel in front.

“I slanted hard. My coach told me to be tight to the edge, and I got a good jump on the snap to block it,” said Miller. “Nobody really pays attention to special teams, but it means a lot in a tight game. Southern blocked a punt and that could have also been the difference if they scored. This was a big win for us.”

With still nearly a full half to play, that single point ultimately held up for Mount Carmel to come out victorious.

“At the time, you don’t think much of it. We were obviously happy to still have the lead, but you’re not thinking with that much game left that it could be the deciding factor. Obviously, there were a lot of other things that came later on, but it was a huge play in the end,” Darrah said.

Early in the fourth quarter, Southern mounted a drive to set up a 24-yard field goal attempt to take the lead. That’s when things got weird on the date that superstitious folks connect to ill-fate.

Junior kicker Preston Shadle, who joined the team this season to continue the soccer kicking tradition at Southern, was lined up to attempt the go-ahead field goal. The side judge blew his whistle right before the snap and called Shadle off the field for not having his mouthpiece in his mouth.

That resulted in Southern starting quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch having to try the field goal, which he had no thought in his mind that it would come to that point, and it was wide of the mark.

With less than five minutes to play, Southern had another chance to go in front. On a fourth down attempt, Mount Carmel’s Max Karycki sacked Hockenbroch to give the Tornadoes the football.

“That was my first sack of the year actually. Everything just happened so fast, and when I brought him down to the ground I kind of just blacked out actually. I don’t remember the play so much, but I ran over to the sidelines and started going crazy,” Karycki said. “I think everyone trusted each other on our defense. It was a straight brotherhood out there. We were just playing the game.”

From that point, Mount Carmel was able to pick up a couple of first downs to secure the victory.

Fetterolf Sets Southern Record

In a game that was highlighted by the defensive side of the football, Southern Columbia’s Dominic Fetterolf hit a major milestone in the Tigers loss at the Silver Bowl. On the first play of the second series, Fetterolf made a tackle at the line of scrimmage to become Southern’s all-time leading tackler.

The senior middle linebacker registered his 475th tackle to move ahead of 2020 SCA alum Cal Haladay. Haladay was a four-time all-state selection for the Tigers and now is the leader of Michigan State’s defense.

Fetterolf, who could also become a four-time all-stater by season’s end, is happy to hit the mark but wished for a better outcome against Mount Carmel Area.

“Breaking the record definitely wasn’t my first want in this game, but the outcome is the outcome, and tomorrow’s a new day. I’m very thankful to be the leading tackler of Southern Columbia though. I wouldn’t have been able to reach this feat without my teammates throughout the years and the best coaching staff in the state,” said Fetterolf.

Next Up

In a season that has provided uncertainty, Mount Carmel (3-1) will have another tough test next week when they travel to Montoursville.

“This is a big win for us. I didn’t think we have been clicking the past couple of weeks,” Darrah said. “We just needed something to go right here and have some good fortune. This win is a big springboard against a rival.”

The Tigers (2-2) will be home next week against Central Columbia. With much to improve on before hitting the road against Danville the following week, Roth wants to see more production in the run game.

“We have to get much better in our running game. After four weeks, this is the worst running offense that we have had in forever it seems. It’s a combination of things. On the line we aren’t executing, our backs are inexperienced, mental errors, and all of the above. We have to figure it out soon though because we are almost halfway through the regular season,” said Roth.

Mount Carmel 7, Southern Columbia 6

Southern Columbia: 0-0-6-0 — 6

Mount Carmel: 0-7-0-0 — 7

Scoring:

Second quarter

MC — Jaylen Delaney 68 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Bobby Schoppy kick), 9:03.

Third quarter

SC — Joey Williams 67 run (kick blocked), 9:59.

Team statistics

SC – MC

First downs: 17-12

Rushes-yds: 48-209 – 28-54

Passing (C-A-I): 9-17-1 – 7-18-0

Passing yds: 83 – 158

Total yds: 292 – 212

Fumbles-lost: 2-0 – 1-0

Penalties-yds: 6-65 – 3-21

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Southern Columbia: Brayden Andrews 23-89; Joey Williams 9-80, TD; Grady Garcia 6-27; Ayden Hockenbroch 6-12; Talon Piatt 1-3; Nathan Gallagher 3-(-2). Mount Carmel: Cooper Karycki 15-55; Michael Kimsal 7-27; Gavin Marshalek 2-(-7); Team 4-(-21).

PASSING — Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 9-17-1, 83 yds. Mount Carmel: Marshalek 7-18-0, 158 yds., TD.

RECEIVING — Southern Columbia: Jace Malakoski 4-36; Blaise Kissinger 3-30; Andrews 1-9; Gallagher 1-8. Mount Carmel: Delaney 6-151, TD; Tait Adams 1-7.

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