MOUNT CARMEL — It’s never a good plan to fumble the ball six times against any team. It’s especially not a thing to do against Southern Columbia.
That’s exactly what Mount Carmel did Friday against the Tigers, and the Red Tornadoes paid dearly for it. Southern recovered five of them, and all five led to touchdowns as Southern built a huge lead on the way to a 55-13, Heartland Athletic Conference Division II win at the Silver Bowl.
But even without all the turnovers, Mount Carmel coach Carm DeFrancesco said the same final result may have happened.
“It didn’t matter,” DeFrancesco said. “We could have not fumbled all game and it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. I’m disappointed. I’m responsible for this football team and for us to play poorly like that, I take the blame. We talked this week how it was imperative that we get off to a fast start. Then we go out and do the same thing we did last year. We botched our first two offensive plays with guys out of position. I said right then that wasn’t a good sign.”
His counterpart, Southern coach Jim Roth, felt just the opposite. He was elated at the play of his defense.
“Last week at Central Columbia I thought our defense stepped it up against a team that had been running the ball well and I kind of think we took it up another notch tonight,” Roth said. “We were really strong up front on defense tonight. We knew coming into the season that was going to be our big question, losing six of the eight starters up front, and the new guys in there are really starting to play well.”
So is another new guy, sophomore Hunter Thomas, a transfer from Bloomsburg. He ran 55 yards for a touchdown on Southern’s second offensive play.
Mount Carmel (4-2, 2-1 D-II) had a brief moment of hope when Blake Panko broke loose for a 30-yard run but quarterback Dominic Farronato, hit hard going back to pass on third-and-15,
fumbled and Southern recovered the ball on Mount Carmel’s 43.
Southern (6-0, 3-0) drove that distance in eight plays, with Blake Marks picking up a key first down on a 15-yard run and Matt Jeremiah bulling over from the 1 on fourth down.
Southern forced a three-and-out on the next series and after taking the punt, quarterback Nick Becker checked off and found a wide-open Mike Klebon down the middle for a 65-yard touchdown with 2:30 still remaining in the first quarter.
Josh Yoder recovered a fumble for Southern on the next series, this time at Mount Carmel’s 40, and Becker ran five yards for a touchdown. The extra point made it 28-0 with 10 minutes left in the half.
Klebon recovered another fumble, this one near midfield, and a 27-yard pass from Becker to Thomas set up Marks’ 2-yard run with 7:50 remaining.
Mount Carmel picked up a first down on its next series but then gave up the ball on downs, but Treyvon White intercepted a pass. The Tornadoes drove to Southern’s 35 but Gabe Delbo recovered another fumble after the front line put tremendous pressure on Farronato. Becker scored on a 6-yard run with 19.9 seconds to go, making it 42-0 at halftime.
Mount Carmel started the second half the same way, losing a fumble at its own 27 after being pinned back at the 4 by a penalty. Jeremiah ran 27 yards for the score.
Panko scored on a 13-yard run and Farronato on a 64-yard run later in the half, sandwiched around a 32-yard touchdown run by Southern’s Billy Marzeski.
Southern stays in the division to play at Warrior Run next week. Mount Carmel has another tough battle, out of the division, traveling to unbeaten North Schuylkill (6-0).
Game Summary
So. Col. (6-0, 3-0) 21 21 13 0 — 55 MCA (4-2, 2-1) 0 0 13 0 — 13
SC — Thomas 55 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Jeremiah 1 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Klebon 65 pass from Becker (Keiser kick)
SC — Becker 5 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Marks 2 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Becker 6 run (Keiser kick)
MC — Panko 13 run (Bielski kick)
SC — Marzeski 32 run (kick blocked)
MC — Farronato 64 run (kick failed)
SC MCA
First Downs 16 12
Rushes-Yards 43-327 37-179
Passes 4-7-1 6-12-0
Passing Yards 108 72
Total Yards 435 251
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 6-5
Penalties 7-53 3-24
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Southern Columbia — Thomas 5-82, Jeremiah 11-66, Marzeski 6-58, Marks 7-40, Torres 3-39, Becker 6-24, Potter 2-12, Kranzel 1-3, Abdul 1-3, Derk 1-(-2), Fetterman 1-2. Mount Carmel — Panko 15-96, Farronato 9-59, Zarkowski 3-19, Karycki 2-4, White 1-2, Kelley 1-12, Tanney 2-1, McDonald 1-(-6), Yancoskie 2-(-2), Team 1-(-6).
PASSING: Southern Columbia — Becker 4-7-1, 108. Mount Carmel — Farronato 5-10-0, 67; McDonald 1-2-0, 5.
RECEIVING: Southern Columbia — Klebon 1-65, Thomas 1-27, Jeremiah 1-13, Marks 1-3. Mount Carmel — White 3-44, Sullins 1-20, Tanney 1-5, Kelley 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS: Mount Carmel — White.