DANVILLE - For Shamokin to beat anyone, let alone a top-tier team like Danville, the Indians need to stop getting in their own way.
That didn't happen Friday and Danville did what it does best - grind - to beat the Indians 28-7.
The Ironmen ran for a total of 233 yards, 156 on the legs of fullback Sam Dressler, but what did in the Indians early was themselves.
Shamokin's Sean McLaughlin intercepted Danville's Weston Baylor on the third play of the game, but the Indians gained 5 yards and missed a 34-yard field goal attempt.
The Indians punted their next three possessions, had a holding call that brought back a touchdown and effectively killed a drive, and had the ball deep in their own territory to end the half.
All that resulted in just 69 yards offensively, while the Indians penalties at the half were up to 27 yards.
"We started off with the interception with Sean on their first drive, and if we could have had that and something at the end of the second quarter, we could have got that going to start it would have been a different game," Shamokin head coach Yaacov Yisrael said.
Danville, on the other hand, settled down after that opening interception.
The Ironmen overcame their own holding call to start their second drive. After a steady diet of Dressler and Isaiah Crowl, Baylor connected with Evan Tanner, who slipped a tackle, got a great block on the outside and scored a 60-yard touchdown.
Danville (3-0) took over on its own 40 for its next drive following a shanked punt by Shamokin and needed just six plays to score again. This time Tanner caught a one-yard pass from Baylor.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Crowl scored the Ironmen's second 60-plus yard touchdown on a 63-yard scamper.
Shamokin (0-3) tried to mount a drive with a little over half of the second quarter remaining.
After Logan Mirolli recovered a fumble by Baylor, the offense started to move the ball. The Indians converted three first downs, one on a pass to McLaughlin and another on a 3rd-and-11 when Draven Miller hauled in an 11-yard pass.
But four plays later an apparent Tucker Yost to McLaughlin touchdown, in which McLaughlin made Danville's corner bite hard on a double move along the sideline, was called back due to holding and the Indians were stopped cold.
Shamokin did finally get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter after a drive that went 60 yards ate up more than nine minutes of the game clock. On that possession, the Indians weren't flashy, but methodical. The offensive line started to move the pile and when they needed it went to the air and this time a Yost to McLaughlin touchdown stood.
"I think the guys started to see some light offensively at the end of the second quarter and in that second half, and now we have to build on it," Yisrael said. "That one drive where we scored was about nine minutes. The potential is there, it's just a matter of us starting off better.
"Danville is a good team and the guys might have played better against them in the second half than they did against Jersey Shore or Pottsville."
Danville answered immediately with a scoring drive solely on the ground that took another three minutes off the clock to put the game out of reach at 28-7.
"I think defensively, we need to develop more aggression. I think that's going to be a focus this week at practice," Yisrael said. "We have the guys and we have the position, but aggression-wise we're having trouble stopping them."