LOYALSOCK — If there’s such a thing as an encouraging loss, Mount Carmel had it Friday.
The Tornadoes lost the season opener to Loyalsock 34-7 but the team with a rookie head coach, a new system and a small and inexperienced roster held its own for most of the night.
“I feel like I’ve been through this before with young teams,” Mount Carmel head coach John Darrah said. “We’ve got a ton of kids who are freshmen and sophomores out there playing.
“They did everything we asked them to — come out and play as hard as they can and with emotion. I think we just need to learn to finish, how to get off the field and how to finish a half and how to capitalize when the other team makes a mistake. That all comes from experience and learning from their mistakes.”
To be fair, Mount Carmel did have its share of mistakes to learn from. With the score tied at 7 and just a minute and change left in the first half, the Tornadoes’ defense allowed a 45-yard run that set up Loyalsock’s go-ahead score.
Then after recovering a fumble on the Lancers’ opening drive of the second half, a pair of opportunities for Mount Carmel to tie the game went through the fingertips of the intended, and wide-open, receivers. From that point, the air seemed to leave the Tornadoes.
“I don’t think one play can lose a game,” Darrah said. “One play can win a game, but not lose it.”
With a limited roster, fatigue and cramps helped to beat Mount Carmel as much as anything Loyalsock did. With Mount Carmel on its heels, the Lancers scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the win.
The Tornadoes started the game as well as they could have planned. They controlled the clock, winning the time of possession 14 minutes to 10 for the first half. Take away the 45-yard run by Marty Clark in the waning seconds of the half and the Tornadoes outgained the Lancers. And Mount Carmel won the turnover battle for the first 24 minutes.
The Tornadoes even scored the first points of the game.
With Loyalsock driving, Cameron Britt intercepted a pass and returned the ball 38 yards. From there, Mount Carmel needed just four plays to cover 42 yards, capped by an eight-yard keeper by Jon Ayres. Ayres, a freshman starting his first game at quarterback, led the Tornadoes with 72 yards rushing, but his intangibles impressed Darrah more.
“Jon did great,” Darrah said. “He doesn’t look like a freshman. I don’t know how many carries he had, but he scored a touchdown for us. Every time I went into the huddle he was trying to fire the guys up and he showed a lot of leadership.”
As for his first game in charge, Darrah barely had time to soak it in.
“I was flipping between offense and defense,” he said. “I thought it went fast. It was exciting. I was waiting to see how our kids would play. We have eight kids on offense and eight on defense who have never started a varsity game before, so I was waiting to see how they’d play under the bright lights.”
Game Summary
MCA (0-1, 0-1) 7 0 0 0 — 7
Loyal. (1-0, 1-0) 0 14 0 20 — 34
Scoring summary not provided
MCA Loyal
First Downs 12 18
Rushes-Yards 47-182 38-185
Passes 1-6-1 8-11-1
Passing Yards (-1) 100
Total Yards 181 285
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties 3-25 2-15
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Mount Carmel — Ayres 18-72, Karycki 17-64, Zarkowski 5-16, Britt 2-15, Yancoskie 1-13, Tanney 3-10, McDonald 1-(-8). Loyalsock — Clark 24-139, Williams 4-23, Rainey 5-21, Cavanaugh 2-5, Watkins 3-(-3).
PASSING: Mount Carmel — Ayres 1-6-1, (-1). Loyalsock — Williams 2-3-1, 32; Watkins 6-8-0, 68.
RECEIVING: Mount Carmel — Duran 1-(-1). Loyalsock — Krizan 3-44, Anderson 3-39, Vanstavoren 2-27.
INTERCEPTIONS: Mount Carmel — Britt. Loyalsock — Wood