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MILL HALL -- Shamokin was poised to turn in a more sound post-Jersey Shore performance than it did last year.
It's safe to assume the bus ride home from Clinton County was more pleasant this time, as the Indians moved the ball with ease and didn't let Central Mountain's offense do much of anything en route to a no-doubter, 55-0 victory on Friday.
By halftime, the Indians (5-0) had already scored seven touchdowns and produced 324 yards of total offense, while the starting defense limited the struggling Wildcats (0-5) to net negative-4 yards.
"We really feel like we have the best defense in the state. For as good as our offense can be, we feel like our defense is even better," Shamokin senior two-way lineman Bobby Whitmer said. "A bunch of guys made some really nice plays tonight. It was a great team effort.
"We weren't worried about blowing them out or anything. Our mindset was to go out there and play the best we can ever quarter, no matter what the scoreboard says. Just keeping going and going and going. It doesn't matter what team we're facing or what the score is. We know we just have to go out there and play our hardest and keep on moving, and the results will show."
The flow of the lopsided HAC Division I contest could be summed up by the sequence of Shamokin's first two scores.
On the Indians' first offensive play from scrimmage, Wake Forest commit Logan Steele hit his equally-speedy receiver, Ryan Bickert, in stride over the middle for a 49-yard touchdown.
"It felt great. We have the mindset as a team that we don't come out just to play, we come out to dominate," Bickert said. "We're just a whole new team."
The quick find for six catapulted Steele on what ended up being a perfect 9 for 9 passing performance, as he threw for three touchdowns and 189 yards, his most since amassing 273 in the 2024 District 4 Class AAAA championship game.
"That's what the offense is supposed to look like," said Shamokin head coach Marc Persing, much happier than he was after the Indians went 4-of-19 passing en route to a 35-7 win over the Wildcats last fall. "We ask Logan to do so much with his legs. At times, it's not fair. The stats in the passing game don't really paint the picture because there's times where he's scrambling and he throws it away. If he's 3 for 14, it isn't 11 true incompletions, it's probably four or five throwaways."
"We know he has the ability to do more of what he did tonight. Maybe the key is to not run him as much. But at times, we need him to be the freak athlete that he is and run the ball. He showed tonight that he's able to throw the ball very well, so we have new expectations for him in the passing game now too," the fourth-year skipper quipped.
Immediately after the opening score, on the first play of Central Mountain's ensuing possession, junior linebacker Brayden Cavanaugh perfectly timed a screen pass, jumping in front of it, making the grab and going 41 yards the other way to the house.
Sixteen seconds of game time turned a very early scoreless tie into a 14-0 Shamokin lead, and it was off to the races.
"We think Brayden Cavanaugh is an all-state caliber kid," Persing said. "It's nice to see some of these underclassmen starting to step up and make plays on a week-to-week basis. 'Cav' is going to be a special player."
After only having junior Kyle Everett attempt in the passing game the first four weeks, Central Mountain relied on sophomore Alex Johnson at the position Friday, but the Indians' pass rush refused to let him get comfortable in the pocket, providing nearly-instant pressure on seemingly every play Johnson dropped back to pass.
The Wildcats were unable to pick up a first down until midway through the third quarter, against Shamokin's backups.
On that possession, it looked like they were going to finally break the shutout, but the young Indians stood tall and forced a turnover on downs inside the 5-yard line.
Gavin Heverly accounted for 51 rushing yards for the hosts, who collectively finished with just 43, and 35 more through the air.
"It feels great. I said earlier in the year that we're the most dominant defense this program has ever seen," Bickert said. "It's our expectation."
In their first full game missing leading rusher/tackler Noah Ringes, the Indians turned to Trey Taylor and Bickert out of the backfield. The pair combined for 77 rushing yards on eight carries and each found the end zone once on the ground.
Steele also found paydirt once with his legs, accumulating a team-high 51 yards that way. All but two of his completions were for gains of 10 yards or more, too.
"It's my original position from junior-high, so it's nice going back into the backfield and helping the team any way I can," Bickert said of his new, likely temporary running back role. "It's just unfortunate that it happened by losing our star running back, but we have the guys who will make up for it, and hopefully he'll be back soon."
Shamokin 55,
Central Mountain 0
Shamokin 28 21 0 6 -- 55
Central Mountain 0 0 0 0 -- 0
First quarter
S -- Ryan Bickert 49 pass from Logan Steele (Colin Steinhart kick), 10:16.
S -- Brayden Cavanaugh 41 interception return (Steinhart kick), 10:00.
S -- Steele 2 run (Steinhart kick), 4:54.
S -- Trey Taylor 17 run (Steinhart kick), 1:57.
Second quarter
S -- Cru Schroyer 11 pass from Steele (Kingston Heim kick), 10:54.
S -- Jazon McLean 25 pass from Steele (Heim kick), 6:52.
S -- Bickert 13 run (Heim kick), 1:41.
Fourth quarter
S -- Sheldon Sassani 44 run (no attempt), 3:01.
TEAM STATISTICS
S CM
First downs 19 4
Rushes-yards 28-219 32-43
Passing yards 189 35
C-A-I 9-13-0 3-12-1
Total yards 408 78
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 6-31 6-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Shamokin -- Logan Steele 3-51, TD; Sheldon Sassani 1-44, TD; Trey Taylor 5-42, TD; Ryan Bickert 3-35, TD; Trent Schrader 6-18; Kam Petrovich 4-9; Mason Pursel 1-9; Beckett Chesney 2-5; Cooper Rossnock 1-4; Barrett Walsh 1-3; Team 1-(minus-1). Central Mountain -- Gavin Heverly 10-51; Seth Miller 3-3; Cahle Fredricks 7-2; Royce King 1-0; Kole Coreman 2-(minus-1); Gavin Edmondston 1-(minus-3); Alex Johnson 8-(minus-9).
PASSING: Shamokin -- Steele 9-9-0, 189, 3 TDs; Petrovich 0-3-0; Walsh 0-1-0. Central Mountain -- Johnson 3-9-1, 35; Miller 0-3-0.
RECEIVING: Shamokin -- Cru Schroyer 3-77, TD; Bickert 2-65, TD; Jazon McLean 1-25, TD; Colin Steinhart 2-15; Leland O'Connell 1-7. Central Mountain -- Mason Masorti 2-32; Jacob Rembold 1-3.