Loyalsock Survives Early Scare, Crushes Central Columbia 47-14

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Davin Ridall | August 29, 2026

SOUTH CENTRE TOWNSHIP – For about a quarter and a half of this game, Central Columbia seemed to be sticking with Loyalsock. Late in the second quarter though, the Lancers found their stride and ran away with the game. Loyalsock crushed Central Columbia 47-14 in the opening game of the season.

One of the biggest question for Loyalsock heading into this game was how the Lancers would replace Danny Dowell at quarterback. It ended up being freshman quarterback Dyson Dupont taking the reins of the offense, and he had a pretty big night for himself, racking up three total touchdowns, two on the ground and one through the air.

“We had six freshman playing a heck of a lot in a varsity game, and not in the positions which you could hide them. The quarterback playing there, he’s a 14 year old kid, but he was ripping the ball around the offense,” Loyalsock Head Coach Justin Van Fleet said after the game.

The Lancers found the end zone on their first two drives of the game, their first touchdown coming on a one yard carry from Ivan Baker, and their second touchdown coming on a quarterback sneak from Dyson Dupont. Loyalsock’s lead remained at 13-0 due to a missed extra point.

Central Columbia found their first touchdown of the evening on the next drive, thanks to a 16 yard carry from sophomore running back Dominic Keller. Not long after that, Loyalsock scored once again, this one coming on a 71 yard carry from Ivan Baker, his second of the evening. A blocked extra point by the Blue Jays kept the game at 19-7.

The real turning point of the game came on the first play of the Blue Jays next drive. On the first play, quarterback RJ Kressler hit Owen Zanoline over the middle for a 72 yard catch and run all the way to the endzone. This touchdown would’ve made the score 19-13 with PAT pending, however holding penalty negated the score which led to a Blue Jays fumble on the very next play.

Loyalsock took full advantage of the penalty, scoring their fourth touchdown of the game not too long after with an 18 yard scramble from Dyson Dupont, making the score 26-7 in favor of the Lancers.

The Lancers added one more touchdown to their total before the end of the first half, with Dupont connecting with sophomore wide receiver Carter Brown from 28 yards out, making the score 33-7 heading into halftime.

“We needed to adjust our defense to more of a power defense for a power offense,” Coach Van Fleet said when asked about their halftime adjustments. “I really didn’t want to do too much different than our base defense, so we adjusted to that and stopped it.”

Running backs Cayden Sones and Niyaud Loyd both found the end zone in the second half for the Lancers, while Dominic Keller added a second score to his night for the Blue Jays, making the final score 47-14.

“I’m really proud of these guys for their efforts, a lot of young kids out there that were playing middle school football last year and they were able to go out and get the job done,” Coach Van Fleet said after the game.

Loyalsock with the victory moves to 1-0 on the season, and will take on Bloomsburg at home next week. Central Columbia with the loss falls to 0-1 on the season, and will take on Northwest Area on the road next week.