MONTOURSVILLE - Shamokin's recent penchant for come-from-behind victories hit a wall Friday.
The Indians allowed Montoursville to take a 20-0 lead to open the game and then had no answer for the Warriors in a 55-15 loss.
The win certainly aided Montoursville's chances to make the District 4 Class AA playoffs. The Warriors entered the game in the ninth spot - 30 points behind Wyalusing. A win over Shamokin, a larger school with four wins, will certainly help the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Shamokin's playoff ticket was already punched, and according to Indians' head coach Pat DiRienzo, they played like it.
"The difference was they wanted it more than we did," DiRienzo said. "They were fighting for their playoff lives. They took it as one game of their playoffs. We came out because we know we're in the District 4-AAA playoffs and I think our kids took them for granted. The bottom line is they put it to us and there's not a lot I can say. It was just a whooping."
Montoursville opened the game by receiving the opening kick and driving 63 yards for a 27-yard touchdown from Brycen Mussina to Andy Biber. The key play on the drive was a six-yard gain on 4th-and-2 by Nolan Ott.
Following a punt on Shamokin's ensuing drive, the Warriors didn't need any fourth-down heroics to get back to the end zone.
This time with his team backed up to their own 10 yard line, Mussina found Wyatt Entz, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 225-pound all-everything back, in the flat. Entz did the hard work and
outraced the entire Shamokin defense for a 90-yard touchdown.
Then, on Shamokin's very next drive, Tucker Yost threw an interception on a screen pass to lineman Ben Cerney, who took it back 35 yards for the Warriors' third score of the first quarter.
"We didn't tackle well tonight," DiRienzo said. "We didn't block well tonight. And they ran the ball hard."
Shamokin was able to find the end zone twice on offense, both runs by Tucker Yost, who finished with 66 yards on the ground. But the Indians couldn't keep pace with Mussina and Montoursville. The Warriors' sophomore quarterback bounced back from a three-interception game last week to Selinsgrove with a 195-yard, four-touchdown night against the Indians.
Montoursville running back Keith Batkowski also gashed the Indians' defense for 125 yards.
Add in four turnovers for Shamokin, and it was a night to forget at Montoursville's homecoming. The Indians' have a game at Mifflinburg to right the ship before the annual tilt with Mount Carmel for the Coal Bucket on Halloween night.
Game Summary
Shamokin 7 0 0 8 - 15
Montoursville 20 14 14 7 - 55
M - Biber 27 pass from Mussina (Caruso kick)
M - Entz 90 pass from Mussina (Caruso kick)
M - Cerney 35 interception return (pass failed)
S - Yost 41 run (Washuta kick)
M - Entz 2 run (Caruso kick)
M - Entz 6 pass from Mussina (Caruso kick)
M - Batkowski 6 run (Caruso kick)
M - Miller pass from Mussina (Caruso kick)
S - Yost 17 run (Mirolli pass from Yost)
M - Dinges 12 run (Caruso kick)
S M
First downs 10 19
Rushes-Yards 36-112 38-229
Passes 4-14-2 10-17-0
Passing Yards 75 208
Total Yards 187 437
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 0-0
Penalties 2-15 6-55
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Shamokin - Demski 8-14, Burns 6-13, Yost 10-66, Pietkiewicz 4-22, Decample 2-(-1), Shurock 2-23, Campbell 1-6, Snyder 1-(-10), team 2-(-21). Montoursville - Dinges 8-44, Batkowski 17-125, Ott 3-7, Miller 1-12, Mussina 2-8, Entz 5-28, Young 2-5.
PASSING: Shamokin - Yost 4-12-1, 75 yds.; Shurock 0-2-1, 0 yds. Montoursville - Mussina 9-15-0, 195 yds. Ripley 1-2-0, 13 yds.
RECEIVING: Shamokin - Henz 1-(-1), Mirolli 1-20, Campbell 2-56. Montoursville - Biber 3-50, Entz 3-117, Batkowski 1-(-2), Miller 2-30, Lewis 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS: Shamokin - None. Montoursville - Young, Cerney.