FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — When preparing for Friday night’s Anthracite Football League contest at North Schuylkill, Mahanoy Area head coach Dave Holman had a feeling.
The feeling was that because of fullback Lenny Dulsky’s big week last week, the North Schuylkill defense would key on him, and that would open the gates for quarterback Mason Ryan.
Holman was right and the gates weren’t only open, Ryan knocked them down. The senior carried the ball 35 times for 296 yards and two touchdowns in Mahanoy Area’s 17-0 victory over North Schuylkill at Spartan Stadium.
“Mason orchestrated this offense beautiful tonight,” Holman said. “He was an elite option quarterback, and his effort tonight was phenomenal. I am speechless right now.”
The game didn’t start out great for the Bears as the defense had to come up with two big stops to keep the Spartans scoreless.
The Spartans received the opening kickoff and drove to the Bears’ 13-yard line. On fourth down, quarterback Bobby Grigas’ pass fell incomplete as he tried to hit Bobby Wagner in the corner of the end zone.
After Mahanoy Area lost a fumble, the Spartans were back in business. This time they drove to the Golden Bears’ 17-yard line and faced a fourth-and-1. Running back Richie Zahodnick was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
That play whipped the Mahanoy Area sideline into a frenzy, and they capitalized on the momentum.
The Bears drove 80 yards on seven plays and took the lead when Ryan sneaked in from 1 yard out.
The big play of the drive was when Ryan broke a 53-yard run. Grigas made a touchdown-saving tackle, but in the process injured his shoulder. He left the field under his own power but went to the locker room wearing a sling.
Later in the second quarter, Mahanoy Area added three more points on a Joseph Bradley 33-yard field goal. That drive was helped when on third-and-6 from the Bears’ own 49-yard line, Ryan was hit in the head while attempting a pass. The penalty gave the Bears 15 yards and kept the drive alive.
In the first half, Mahanoy Area outgained the Spartans 196-75. The Bears racked up nine first downs to the Spartans’ four.
“We had a great week of practice,” Holman said. “The kids were fired up and could not wait to play this game. They came out and executed our scheme to a ‘T’ and I cannot say enough about this group of kids right now.”
While it took the Golden Bears a little while to get going in the first half, they didn’t waste any time in the second.
On the opening drive of the half, the Golden Bears went 78 yards on 11 plays and hit paydirt when Ryan scored his second touchdown on the night. This one was from 3 yards out and capped the scoring on the evening.
While the Golden Bears offense was cruising, the Spartans had a rough night. The unit managed 160 yards and only seven first downs for the game.
“It’s easy to say, get back to work but we have a lot of emotions going on,” North Schuylkill head coach Wally Hall said. “Unfortunately we have a lot of kids banged up, but that’s part of the game. Film goes out tonight and we start getting ready on Monday.”
The win puts the Golden Bears at 4-1 in the Anthracite Football League and sets them up with a home showdown next week against Blue Mountain.
“This was absolutely huge tonight,” Holman said. “We are in the gauntlet of our schedule as we call it. The sky is the limit for these kids if they buy into what we are doing here.”
Game Summary
Mah (4-1, 4-1) 0 10 7 0 — 17
NS (2-3, 2-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0
MA — Ryan 1 run (Bradley kick)
MA — FG Bradley 33
MA — Ryan 3 run (Bradley kick)
Mah NS
First Downs 18 7
Rushes-Yards 53-341 28-84
Passes 1-2-0 4-15-1
Passing Yards 13 76
Total Yards 354 160
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties 5-35 4-30
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Mahanoy Area — Ryan 35-296, Dulsky 15-49, Wronski 3-(-4). North Schuylkill — Zahodnick 22-61, Jordan 2-13, B. Grigas 1-8, Weist 2-2, B. Wagner 1-0.
PASSING: Mahanoy Area — Ryan 1-2-0, 13. North Schuylkill — Weist 3-10-1, 41; B. Grigas 1-5-0, 35.
RECEIVING: Mahanoy Area — Yedsena 1-13. North Schuylkill — Zahodnick 2-20, Murray 1-35, Smith 1-21.
INTERCEPTIONS: Mahanoy Area — Yedsena.