MILTON - Eighty-four yards separated Shamokin from its first district title since 2003.
Led by freshman quarterback Tucker Yost, the Indians earned every inch of those 84 yards and Josh Dunn scored the game-winning touchdown as Shamokin beat Milton 21-20 to become the District 4 Class AAA champs.
The Indians will play the winner of the Johnstown (9-1) and Clearfield (10-1), being played today at Mansion Park in Altoona, in the first round of the PIAA state playoffs.
"At this point we're 2-0," Foor said. "We're still disappointed we let some games slip away this season, but right now we're 2-0 in our season and that's all that counts."
An Andrew Hasuga sack of Milton quarterback Brady Chappell set off an on-field celebration the likes of which Shamokin hasn't seen since these players were in elementary school. The Indians' players, some of whom sat on the field and cried, were swarmed by students and fans.
It's a dramatic shift from the last time Shamokin visited Milton in the regular season, a 26-21 loss that had the Indians reeling.
"Last time we were here (Milton) we had some adversity both on and off the field," Shamokin head coach Dan Foor said. "These kids stuck together. They hung together as a team and truly had each other's back and the coaches' backs. They're rewarded with a district championship."
On the game-winning drive, Yost completed four passes, three of which gave the Indians a new set of downs. Bobby Bainbridge caught two of his three passes on the night during that drive, and Draven Miller had four carries for 19 yards.
"We took care of business," Yost said. "My teammates helped me out with great blocking, great catches and great runs."
Yost completed 10 of 18 passes on the night for 137 yards. He spread the ball around to four different receivers, and kept his composure on that last drive.
"Nothing fancy and our kids didn't panic," Foor said of the playcalling. "Our coaches calling the plays didn't panic. Our freshman quarterback didn't panic.
"We had a couple key completions out of some play-action passes and Bobby Bainbridge made some nice catches."
Most importantly the Indians ate up more than five minutes of the game clock, leaving the Panthers with just 36 seconds and only one timeout.
Shamokin didn't do anything fancy from the onset, running sweeps with the halfbacks, straight ahead with the fullbacks and putting Yost in a good position on each pass play.
Miller led the Indians with 59 yards on 14 carries, although the Indians weren't as flashy as they were consistent with 45 carries for 163 yards. They were just good enough to keep the sticks moving.
"Yep, that's us," Foor said. "We don't have that breakaway kid, but we have kids who put their head down and they did some good things."
Shamokin scored the first touchdown of the game, when the Indians recovered a Domair Anderson fumble on the Panthers' second play from scrimmage.
A pair of sweeps using Ryan Burns and Zach Tillett and a pass from Yost to Devin Madara covered 41 yards on three straight plays before Dunn plunged in from one yard out for his first score.
Milton took a 12-7 lead after a pair of long runs, the first by Anderson (43 yards) and the second by Don English (33 yards).
The Panther had an opportunity to go up by two scores midway through the second quarter after a 53-yard run by English, but the Indians stopped Milton on fourth-and-goal from the one.
"After that goal-line stand we kept it at 12-7," Foor said. "That was huge. (Milton) scored in the fourth quarter, but Coach (Mike) Gurski made some minor adjustments. Our kids really rose to the occasion in the second half on defense."
Hasuga and Tillett led the team with nine tackles apiece, while Mike Yucha and Dunn added seven each.