Game Summary
WR (2-6, 0-3) 0 13 0 8 — 21 MC (5-3, 3-1) 14 13 6 14 — 47
MC —Karycki 59 run (Bielski kick)
MC — Panko 4 run (Bielski kick)
WR —Rohm 6 pass from James (pass failed)
MC —Panko 3 run (kick failed)
MC —Farronato 2 run (Bielski kick)
WR —Rohm 28 pass from James (James kick)
MC — Karycki 4 run (kick blocked)
MC —Panko 8 run (Bielski kick)
MC —Zarkowski 13 run (Bielski kick)
WR —Brown 73 run (Troup pass from Anzulavich)
WR MC
First Downs 16 16
Rushes-Yards 38-117 32-272
Passes 12-17-1 8-18-0
Passing Yards 148 168
Total Yards 265 440
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-0
Penalties 7-63 11-90
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Warrior Run — Brown 4-82, Morehart 12-71, Michael 8-17, Morris 1-4, Derr 1-0, James 12-(-57). Mount Carmel — Panko 13-99, Karycki 6-93, Farronato 7-64, Zarkowski 3-13, Tanney 1-3, White 1-1, McDonald 1-(-1).
PASSING: Warrior Run — James 11-16-1, 130; Michael 1-1-0, 18. Mount Carmel — Farronato 7-16-0, 158; McDonald 1-2-0, 10.
RECEIVING: Warrior Run — Rohm 8-99, Kirkendall 2-25, Michael 2-24. Mount Carmel — Thompson 2-72, Sullins 2-40, Kelley 1-23, Karycki 1-12, White 1-11, Bielski 1-10.
INTERCEPTIONS: Mount Carmel — White.
MOUNT CARMEL — Mount Carmel got back on the winning track Friday with a 47-21 Heartland Conference Division II win over Warrior Run, doing it with a balanced offense, although all seven touchdowns came on the ground.
Blake Panko ran for 99 yards and three touchdowns and Kyle Karycki added 93 yards and a pair of scores.
Quarterback Dominic Farronato also ran for a score and passed for 158 yards.
But for all the offense and a fairly easy win, Mount Carmel almost found itself in a serious dogfight in the third quarter.
Warrior Run took the second-half kickoff trailing 27-13. Starting at its 36, it marched to Mount Carmel’s 21-yard line on a series of sweeps mixed in with one completed pass.
But the Defenders were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after a 1-yard gain on first down, which pushed them back to the 35. The Tornadoes then sacked quarterback Frank James for an 11-yard loss, taking Warrior Run out of a scoring chance that could have knocked the lead down to one possession.
“Thank God that happened,” Mount Carmel coach Carm DeFrancesco said.
The Red Tornadoes (5-3) answered with a nine-play, 73-yard drive, with Karycki scoring on a 4-yard run after Farronato scrambled 27 yards to the 7. That put Mount Carmel back in a comfort zone the rest of the game.
The Tornadoes were in that zone on their first play from scrimmage, when Karycki broke right up the middle for a 59-yard touchdown run, and an interception and 61-yard return by Treyvon White to the 5-yard line set up a 4-yard run by Panko to make it 14-0.
The Red Tornadoes missed a chance to up the lead when a drive stalled and Tom Bielski had a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked.
That set up a 10-play, 55-yard drive by the Defenders (2-6), who got their pass game going. James completed 3-of-4 passes for 37 yards on the drive, including a 6-yard touchdown to Jake Rohm.
James completed 11-of-16 passes for 130 yards and two scores, and Rohm caught eight passes for 99 yards and both touchdowns.
“Warrior Run is a very physical football team,” DeFrancesco said. “Their kids played extremely hard.”
White’s 32-yard kickoff return gave Mount Carmel solid field position at Warrior Run’s 47 and Mount Carmel drove with Panko scoring on a 3-yard run with 6:12 left in the half.
Mount Carmel had a defensive stop, followed by a 30-yard run by Panko to set up a 2-yard touchdown by Farronato with 1:48 left in the half.
Warrior Run’s William Michael followed with a 59-yard kickoff return with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty added, and James and Rohm hooked up for a 28-yard touchdown with 38.9 seconds left.
“Those darn kickoff returns and penalties are still hurting us,” DeFrancesco said. “We played loose tonight, though, which was good. We changed up our defense a little and went a little more basic and I thought that helped.”
Mount Carmel did sack James eight times, and he had minus-57 yards rushing.
Panko added another 8-yard touchdown run in the second half.
“Blake ran real hard again and I think Kyle is starting to come around a little,” DeFrancesco said. “We expected a win tonight and we got one.”