MOUNT CARMEL - A clash of undefeated rivals was what everyone wanted to see.
And the near-capacity crowd at the Silver Bowl got exactly what it paid for when Mount Carmel and North Schuylkill squared off Sunday - and more.
The Spartans, however, had one more big play in them than the Red Tornadoes and overcame the loss of one of their most-recognizable players to defeat Mount Carmel for the third-straight year, 21-13.
It was a statement win for the Spartans, who denied the Red Tornadoes and their home crowd the opportunity to celebrate the 800th victory in school history.
"Our seniors have never lost to them," North Schuylkill head coach Rick Geist said, taking a moment to answer any doubt about the validity of the league the Spartans play in. "The Anthracite League is a tough league, I don't care what you say. We have some quality, tough-nosed players in this Anthracite League."
And North Schuylkill proved it Sunday, although Mount Carmel wasn't without its share of tough kids either.
Mount Carmel's Cody Shustack and Tommy Hynoski combined to make roughly half their team's stops on defense, with 12 and 13 tackles, respectively, but couldn't be everywhere all the time.
Meanwhile, the difference maker for the Spartans was running back and linebacker Matt Gownley. He didn't have the most rushing yards on the team - 82, or the most tackles - five, but was always in the mix and when North Schuylkill needed a big play, the coaches turned to the junior.
With the game tied at 13 in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, Gownley took the ball on a sweep on second-and-8 from the Spartans' 22 and didn't stop until he was caught from behind at the Red Tornadoes' 21.
"The big play was that end sweep and I have to see what happened on the film," Mount Carmel head coach Carmen DeFrancesco said. "We have to get that straightened out."
The run set up North Schuylkill's final score, a 20-yard pitch and catch between quarterback Ryan Henning and Ian Murray.
Murray had his own spectacular showing after filling in at tight end for the injured Tom Gallagher, and at linebacker for Mike Shinkus, who left the game after the opening kickoff with what coaches described as a season-ending knee injury.
"Gownley has been playing like that all year long," Geist said.
"Murray wasn't even a starter, but he came in and did a job for us. The first play of the game, our best linebacker and running back (Shinkus) went out, and we had four kids in all out with injuries and the other kids stepped up.
"This is the way it's got to be. It's why you have a team I guess."
Henning completed 7 of 13 passes for 120 yards, including four tosses for 90 yards to Murray, who also had a 46-yard reception to set up the Spartans' first score.
"Mike is an important part of our team, but guys stepped up, took his place and played a great game," Gownley said.
Mount Carmel opened the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown run by Meyrick Lamb. Lamb with Jacob Kleman, were playing in their first game after a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
Lamb also scored in the third quarter, but was credited with a pair of fumbles.
With the game tied at seven late in the second quarter, Lamb's first mistake, picked up by Tanner Dean, led to a two-yard scoring plunge by North Schuylkill's Jonathan Long, and the Spartans went into the locker room with a 13-7 lead after a botched extra-point attempt.
After the break, the Red Tornadoes were able to move the ball by using a Power-I.
Shustack and Danny Lesko blocked and Lamb ran the ball six straight times over 52 yards to tie the game at 13, after a missed extra point.
Lamb had 95 yards on 22 carries, but Shustack, who had carried the ball 45 times in the previous two games, was limited to 10 yards on six carries.
"Shustack and Lamb are great running backs, but we're a better defense and we showed it tonight," Gownley said. "And we're going to continue this throughout the season."
DeFrancesco made no apologies for his play calling.
"It was the flow of the game and we wanted to get Meyrick back into the swing of things," he said.
Mount Carmel tried to mount a passing attack in the game's final 30 seconds, but could not come up with one final surge.
"We have to regroup," DeFrancesco said. "I told our kids that this is exactly what happened to us last year. We have to accept this defeat.
"I've always said that it's not important what has happened to you, but how you react to what's happened to you. We're going to find out how we react after defeat. We did it last year. We were defeated and came back and had a great game against Shikellamy, and we're going to anticipate that happening again."