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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A year ago, Hollidaysburg traveled to Jersey Shore, and lit up the scoreboard for 52 points. On Friday night, the Golden Tigers tallied 14 points in five minutes and had a 26-point lead midway through the second quarter of a 50-18 rout of the Bulldogs inside Tigers Stadium.
Late in the second quarter, Jersey Shore forced Hollidaysburg to punt for the first time. The Bulldogs Connor Winters took the punt and returned it for a touchdown. However, Jersey Shore committed a holding penalty, which kept the team down 20 points.
Golden Tigers quarterback Justin Albarano did a masterful job leading his team's offense. He finished the game with over 300 yards of total offense. Through the air, the junior went 17 of 23 for 273 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, he carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards and two more scores. Hollidaysburg wide receiver JJ Stultz had a total of six receptions in the game for 102 yards, but three of those were for touchdowns. He did lead the team in receptions, but not receiving yards.
Golden Tigers wide receiver Ethan Coke was one of three players to record multiple receptions on the night for his team. He ended the night as the team leader with 120 yards on five receptions, but time and again he made big plays to keep drives alive for Hollidaysburg. One of those plays came early in the second quarter.
After a snap over Albarano's head put the Golden Tigers at 3rd and 26 at their own 36, Coke collected a nice grab for 27 yards while tapping one foot down for the reception.
Most vital statistic: The Bulldogs committed 12 penalties for 90 yards. Five of these 12 penalties were offsides calls with two of them coming back-to-back to give Hollidaysburg a third-and-one at the Jersey Shore two-yard line.
"I think we played really well in all phases. Our special teams setup long fields for their offense. Our defense played extremely well, there was a number of three and outs. They don't go three and out very often with that high pace offense," Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "They did make some plays, which we expected them to make, but we settled in, had some stops and had a lot of short fields. Offensively, (we were) able to capitalize on (those short fields) as we (were) able to mix the run and the pass well.''
Jersey Shore quarterback Nolen Pauling came into the game with over 2,400 yards of total offense with 1,755 through the air, which was second in the state over all the classifications, and another 706 on the ground. On Friday night, he was limited to just 24 yards rushing and 164 yards in the passing game.
"We didn't play very well, that's not Jersey Shore total grit. We're capable of a lot better. We're dinged up with a lot of injuries. I think Hollidaysburg probably has about 20 seniors," Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish said. "I think we have like maybe 26 or 27 kids in uniform tonight. They're a better football team than we are offensively, defensively and special teams-wise. The better team won, and it showed. We made one too many mistakes.''
Hollidaysburg out-gained Jersey Shore in total yards, 273-164. The Golden Tigers ran the ball 47 times for 197 yards.
"Coming off a bye week, we were kind of sad we didn't get a game, but we knew coming out here we had to come out firing," Albarano said. "All credit to the offensive line for giving me all the time in the world to throw a ball to the great receivers I have.''
"We're going into a couple hard weeks here, so it's a good start. We got to keep it rolling," Hollidaysburg wide receiver JJ Stultz said. "It definitely gives us the confidence that we need. We knew that this was a hard opponent and we did what we needed to do.''