MAHANOY CITY — Friday night’s game between two of the Anthracite Football League’s best teams began as expected.
Though Blue Mountain and Mahanoy Area were scoreless after one quarter, both teams’ defenses lived up to their one-loss records.
But that all changed once the Eagles went to the air.
Blue Mountain quarterback Mason Freed completed 7-of-11 passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles pulled away for a 35-3 rout of the Golden Bears at Alumni Field.
“They came out with a lot of emotion,” Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry said of Mahanoy. “We had a couple things not go our way in the first quarter. Our backs couldn’t keep their feet under them a little bit. Once we got our feet underneath us and settled into our game plan, we were executing pretty well.”
Mahanoy got on the board first with Joseph Bradley’s 24-yard field goal less than a minute into the second quarter. The Bears got the only
three first downs of the first quarter, during which both teams punted twice.
Blue Mountain (5-1, 4-1 AFL) didn’t get a first down until the 11-minute mark of the second quarter — and the Eagles didn’t score on the drive.
It would take Lucas Forbes’ 34-yard run down the right sideline to the Mahanoy Area 3 to finally set Blue Mountain up in scoring position. Matt Kalyan scored on the next play to put the Eagles ahead 7-3 with 4:12 to play in the frame.
From there, Freed took over. The sophomore quarterback started the game 0-for-3 before the final drive of the first half, but he was nearly perfect the rest of the way.
He hit Forbes for an 11-yard pass on third-and-4 at the Mahanoy 30 with less than a minute to play in the second quarter, then finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Welsh with 36 seconds left for a 14-3 halftime lead.
“We came in a little bit flat in the beginning,” Freed said. “We came out in the second half and wanted to start moving the ball a little bit more, be more aggressive.”
Mahanoy (4-2, 4-2) played the second half without quarterback Mason Ryan, who was injured midway through the second quarter by making a crunching hit on Freed on defense to force a fumble.
Bears coach Dave Holman was unsure of Ryan’s status following the game. The senior remained in full pads on the sideline all night.
Mahanoy was held without a first down in the second half until Lenny Dulsky scampered for an 8-yard gain against Blue Mountain’s backups with 4:50 left in the game.
Dulsky led Mahanoy with 65 yards on 20 carries. Ryan had 38 yards on eight rushes before exiting the game. The Golden Bears were also 0-for-3 through the air, had six fumbles — two lost — and finished with only 117 yards off offense.
“I felt pretty good in the first quarter,” Holman said. “It just felt like we had a pretty drastic decline in the second quarter. Not sure if we got worn down or what the case was. I was happy with our start, obviously unhappy with our finish.”
With Ryan out, Freed dominated the Mahanoy secondary. He connected with Welsh on a third-and-3 to keep the Eagles’ first drive of the second half alive. On the next play, he found Welsh again down the left sideline for a 32-yard touchdown to give Blue Mountain a 21-3 lead.
Freed then connected with Danny Greenawalt for a 26-yard touchdown pass on the next drive, giving the Eagles a 28-3 lead with 4:54 left in the third quarter. Known more for his arm than his feet, the 5-foot-10 Freed bought himself more time on the play by stepping up out of the broken pocket and delivered a perfect strike to Greenawalt wide open at the goal line.
“We’ve been working on that a lot because we’ve been getting a lot of pressure off that outside edge,” Freed said. “Me being short, I can’t see too well. So I’m just trying to step up clear of the pressure and throw the ball.”
Freed scored himself on the next drive, lunging over the line from 2 yards out with 3:16 left in the quarter to create the final 35-3 margin.
Forbes led the Eagles’ ground game with 76 yards on nine carries. Mark Chelius (10-68) and Mike Kalyan (8-67) were close behind. Welsh was Freed’s main target all night, pulling down three catches for 50 yards.
“(Mahanoy) is a good team, it’s a great win,” Freed said. “It’s a great motivator to keep rolling. Now we’ve got to finish up our season and try to win the rest of our games.”
Game Summary
BM (5-1, 4-1) 0 14 21 0 — 35
MA (4-2, 4-2) 0 3 0 0 — 3
MA — FG Bradley 24
BM — Ma. Kalyan 3 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Welsh 8 pass from Freed (Puzzi kick)
BM — Welsh 32 pass from Freed (Puzzi kick)
BM — Greenawalt 26 pass from Freed (Puzzi kick)
BM — Freed 2 run (Puzzi kick)
BM MA
First Downs 14 7
Rushes-Yards 40-253 41-117
Passes 7-11-0 0-3-0
Passing Yards 95 0
Total Yards 348 117
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 6-2
Penalties 8-70 1-5
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Blue Mountain — Forbes 9-76, Chelius 10-68, Mi. Kalyan 8-67, Freed 3-21, Dallatore 1-11, Ma. Kalyaln 4-7, McKivigan 1-3, Sincavage 1-2, Krewson 1-0, Team 2-(-2). Mahanoy Area — Dulsky 20-65, Ryan 8-38, Wronski 2-11, Lewandowski 4-6, Clewell 2-2, Yedsena 2-(-1), Team 3-(-4).
PASSING: Blue Mountain — Freed 7-11-0, 95. Mahanoy Area — Ryan 0-3-0, 0.
RECEIVING: Blue Mountain — Welsh 3-50, Greenawalt 2-35, Forbes 1-11, Rhody 1-(-1). Mahanoy Area — None.
INTERCEPTIONS: None
