PFN’s Road Trippin’ With Davin: Week 10

Tagged under: District 12, District 4, News, pfn

Davin Ridall | October 30, 2026

One more road trip for the 2026 regular season, man I cannot believe that week 10 is already here, but Happy Halloween everyone it’s that time of year once again. Surprisingly the super cold weather has yet to kick in, it will likely do so in the coming weeks for the playoffs, but we’re not there yet. This week we’ve got two of the biggest matchups in the entire state on tap, one of the most legendary rivalry games in all of northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday, then on Saturday a battle between the Philadelphia Catholic Red Division’s top two contenders, so for the last time this regular season, let’s have a look at what’s to come.

Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes (9-0) vs Shamokin Indians (8-1)
Friday 10/30, 7:00 PM, Kemp Memorial Stadium

Ah the annual Coal Bucket game, one of the longest tenured and one of the most historic rivalry games in the entire state, these two towns are separated by just about eight miles, Shamokin and Mount Carmel. These two sides met for the first time all the way back in 1908, however it wasn’t officially recognized as the “Coal Bucket” game until 1951, that’s when it became officially a rivalry and the trophy was created. Mount Carmel historically has dominated this rivalry all time, currently holding an 80-25-10 record all time against the Indians, since the trophy was created back in 1951, Mount Carmel holds a 55-15-2 advantage. It was very well known how dominant the Red Tornadoes had been in this series, coming into 2024 they had won 29 consecutive games against Shamokin, which is still the longest streak in this series’ history, that was until Shamokin began their three year run that they are currently in the midst of. In 2024 the Indians took down Mount Carmel in their own stadium 21-0, breaking a nearly three decade long curse and bringing the Coal Bucket back to Shamokin, which is where it has stayed for the past two years. Now the Indians will look to defend it once again, however there are quite a few challenges that will be working against Shamokin in this game, for starters, it is still uncertain whether quarterback Logan Steele will play in this game or not. If you aren’t aware, Shamokin last week suffered their first regular season loss since 2023, as Blue Mountain snapped that 28 game streak with a 34-14 victory, but the more important part in that game was Logan Steele’s injury. After throwing an interception that ultimately led to a pick six, Steele went to go for the tackle but missed, and landed awkwardly on his left arm, breaking his hand in the process. That leaves his status for this game up in the air, and he’s arguably the biggest part of Shamokin’s success over the past three years, so that will be the biggest question mark to look for leading up to the game. Mount Carmel will be chasing both the Coal Bucket trophy for the first time since 2023, but they will also be chasing their first undefeated regular season since 2022. An interesting fact that could’ve made this game even more intriguing than it already is, had Shamokin won their game last week against Blue Mountain, both teams would have entered this game with a 9-0 record for the first time in this matchup’s 118 year history. The Red Tornadoes, similarly to Shamokin, have had an incredible season, powered by their dynamic backfield duo of Jaylen Delaney and Cooper Karycki, the two of which have combined for nearly 2,100 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns. Mount Carmel is currently ranked #8 in the 3A state rankings, as of now they have scored 414 total points, which is ninth in the entire state, so their offense has been performing on an unbelievably high level this season. Shamokin had been sitting at #1 in the 4A state rankings since week 2, but their loss to Blue Mountain dropped them down to #8. This game is always one of the most highly anticipated games in northeastern Pennsylvania, and this year it should once again live up to the hype.

Roman Catholic Cahillites (6-2) vs St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks (6-1)
Saturday 10/31, 1:00 PM, Franklin Field

What a heavyweight battle this game will be, making the trip down to historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia for the matchup between the Roman Catholic Cahillites and the St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks. The Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division has been a lot more interesting than it has in years past, as we know last season La Salle College ran the table for the most part en route to winning the 6A state title. La Salle College finished the season 13-1 in 2025, who was their one loss to? Not St. Joseph’s Prep like you might think and usually what it was in previous years, instead it was Roman Catholic, who went on to win the 5A state title over Bishop McDevitt. Last season Roman Catholic was able to beat La Salle College but they could not beat St. Joseph’s Prep, both of which were a class ahead of them in 6A. Now, here in 2026, that all changed, all of those powers are now in the same classification, in 6A, Roman Catholic, St. Joseph’s Prep, and La Salle College, all battling it out for the championship, but this year it’s really been a two horse race. La Salle College has not been the same team that they were a season ago, currently sitting at 4-5 and likely out of the Red Division championship race. That leaves us with two teams, and what do you know it happens to be Roman Catholic and St. Joseph’s Prep. The Cahillites are currently in the midst of a six game win streak since starting the season off with losses to California’s St. John Bosco and New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep. St. Joseph’s Prep on the other hand is in the midst of a five game win streak, after losing to New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic, they racked up wins against Malvern Prep and the rest of the Red Division. Looking at the Hawks schedule, they haven’t seemed as strong as they have in past years, but that was due to a plethora of injuries that was severely hindering the team, notably starting quarterback Maxwell Rogers who was sidelined up until last week. Still, the Hawks won all of those games even with the injuries, they currently sit at #3 in the 6A state rankings, while Roman Catholic sits at #6. This was been another game that has been highly anticipated leading up to it, and just like our Friday matchup, this one should certainly live up to the hype, and could have some major implications on the playoffs that begin next week.

You can follow all of these games by following my twitter account @dridallmedia and for coverage of everything Pennsylvania high school football related, follow @PaFootballNews on twitter.