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Mount Carmel Takes Back the Coal Bucket, Downing Shorthanded Shamokin 23-7

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

| October 31, 2026

SHAMOKIN – The annual Coal Bucket game, one of the most highly anticipated rivalry games in all of Pennsylvania, has historically been dominated in its 75 year history. While the Red Tornadoes hadn’t won it since 2023, they came into this year’s game with a mission to take it back, and they succeeded. Mount Carmel was able to bring the Coal Bucket to the big red with a 23-7 road win over Shamokin.

Mount Carmel entered this year’s edition of the Coal Bucket owning a 55-17-2 record since the rivalry was recognized back in 1951, however despite controlling the series for so long, they had lost it two years in a row in 2024 and 2025. Shamokin, prior to last week, was in the midst of a 28 game regular season winning streak, largely thanks to star quarterback Logan Steele who is currently in his senior season. Unfortunately for the Indians, that streak came to an end last week, along with an injury that sidelined Steele for the foreseeable future.

Along with the injury to Steele, Shamokin was also working without running back Noah Ringes who had been out since week 4. Things didn’t get much better for the Indians as the game went along, Colin Steinhart also fell victim to an injury on the first series of the game, a high ankle sprain which kept him out of the rest of the game. All of these left Shamokin extremely shorthanded against their biggest rival.

“Planning really wasn’t any different, I think we had enough tape on all of their guys so we knew who their other guys could possibly be,” Mount Carmel head coach John Darrah said about game planning for Shamokin without knowing who was going to fill in the key positions. “We just planned the way we normally would, we moved forward, and we tried to put our best effort out there.”

The Red Tornadoes’ calling card all season long had been their ground game, powered by Jaylen Delaney and Cooper Karycki, and early on in the game Mount Carmel showed why they had been so dominant all year. After forcing a quick three and out to Shamokin’s offense, Mount Carmel made quick work of their first offensive possession of the night, driving 56 yards in just 3 plays, highlighted by a 51 yard touchdown run that gave the Red Tornadoes a 7-0 advantage just three minutes into the game.

Another three and out from the Indians’ offense gave the ball right back to Mount Carmel, and similarly to their first drive of the game, their second drive was another quick one. The possession spanned 48 yards in just 4 plays, capped off by a 5 yard touchdown run from Cooper Karycki, extending the Red Tornadoes’ lead up to 14-0 with a little over five minutes left in the opening quarter.

Shamokin began the game with junior quarterback Barrett Walsh leading the charge, however their first two possessions of the game resulted in a grand total of -5 yards and no first downs. So, on their third possession of the night, the Indians sent freshman quarterback Evan Pancher onto the field in Walsh’s place. This change provided Shamokin’s offense a little more production, however through the first half of the game, the Indians did not cross midfield once.

Down 14-0 after a quarter of play, Shamokin’s defense really stepped up in the second quarter, almost completely shutting down Mount Carmel’s offense and keeping their team within striking distance. The Indians also came away with a big time takeaway late in the quarter, after Trey Taylor had the ball knocked out in their own territory giving the Red Tornadoes possession at the 30 yard line, Shamokin answered right back with a fumble recovery of their own, denying Mount Carmel’s chance of adding a third score before halftime.

Mount Carmel’s offensive struggles from the second quarter continued early in the third quarter, and this time Shamokin’s defense was able to provide some much needed momentum to the Indians’ offense, forcing a fumble from Michael Higgins that was recovered at the Mount Carmel 34 yard line. 8 plays later, and Shamokin found the end zone for the first time on a 2 yard run from Pancher that brought the home side of the stadium back to life, cutting the lead in half with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Following the touchdown run from Pancher, Mount Carmel’s offense took the field once again, and it seemed like the struggles were going to continue. On the first play of the possession, Delaney rolled to his right and had to run about 15 yards backwards to avoid a sack before throwing the ball away, bringing even more energy to the Shamokin crowd. Then on the very next play, Delaney once again rolled to the right side, but this time he found an opening and sprinted down the sideline for a 38 yard gain, silencing the home crowd.

That big run from Delaney ended up allowing Mount Carmel to continue driving all the way to Shamokin’s 5 yard line before stalling and settling for a 22 yard field goal from Joshua Miller, extending the Red Tornadoes’ lead back up to 17-7 early in the fourth quarter, and shifting momentum back in their favor.

Ultimately, the touchdown run from Pancher on Shamokin’s previous possession ended up being the only time the Indians were able to put points on the board, and it was the only time in the second half that Shamokin truly seemed like they had an opportunity to climb back into the game. For the rest of the night, Shamokin couldn’t find a rhythm offensively, allowing Mount Carmel to remain in the drivers seat.

“Our defense played great tonight, we gave up a play here or there, but we seemed to continue to fight,” coach Darrah said about the team’s defensive performance. “We kept them at bay for the most part, so definitely hats off to our defense for playing a full 48 minutes there.”

Mount Carmel delivered the knock out blow just before the five minute mark of the fourth quarter, on a handoff right up the middle to Cooper Karycki who was able to cut to the right side and sprint down the sideline for a 45 yard touchdown, his second of the night. The extra point was blocked by Shamokin, but ultimately that didn’t matter, as that score drained the life out of Shamokin’s sideline and officially put an end to the Indians’ two year stretch of owning the Coal Bucket.

“This was big for our program, I think our kids fought hard and we learned a lot about ourselves last year,” coach Darrah said about what the win meant to the team. “They had to face a lot of adversity, and it just feels great to see how hard they worked, and to see all that hard work come into fruition.”

Mount Carmel finishes the 2026 regular season with a perfect 10-0 record for the first time since 2022, they have officially secured the number one seed in the District 4 3A playoff bracket, and likely will take on Wellsboro at home in the first round. Shamokin has now lost two straight games, finishing the regular season 8-2, they will enter the District 4 4A playoff bracket as the number two seed and will face Jersey Shore at home in the first round, with the date and time yet to be announced.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

Mount Carmel – 7-0 (9:00) – Jaylen Delaney 51 yard run (Joshua Miller kick)
Mount Carmel – 14-0 (5:14) – Cooper Karycki 5 yard run (Joshua Miller kick)

2nd Quarter

None

3rd Quarter

Shamokin – 14-7 (2:05) – Evan Pancher 2 yard run (Kingston Heim kick)

4th Quarter

Mount Carmel – 17-7 (9:41) – Joshua Miller 22 yard field goal
Mount Carmel – 23-7 (5:17) – Cooper Karycki 45 yard run (Joshua Miller kick blocked)

PLAYER STATS

MOUNT CARMEL

Jaylen Delaney – 3/6, 5 YDS

Jaylen Delaney – 12 CAR, 117 YDS, 1 TD
Cooper Karycki – 9 CAR, 87 YDS, 2 TD
Michael Higgins – 9 CAR, 59 YDS
Max Karycki – 3 CAR, 34 YDS
Jason Klokis – 6 CAR, 29 YDS

Max Karycki – 1 REC, 5 YDS
Cooper Karycki – 1 REC, 0 YDS
Michael Higgins – 1 REC, 0 YDS

SHAMOKIN

Evan Pancher – 5/9, 42 YDS
Barrett Walsh – 0/1, 0 YDS

Trey Taylor – 12 CAR, 49 YDS
Evan Pancher – 9 CAR, 32 YDS, 1 TD
Ryan Bickert – 4 CAR, 0 YDS

Sheldon Sassani – 3 REC, 27 YDS
Ryan Bickert – 2 REC, 15 YDS

 
 
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