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Bulldogs endure another heartbreaking loss in D4-AAAA final, as turnovers plague them at Shikellamy

By HENRY HUBER 6 min read

SUNBURY – Over the past three years, the District 4 Class AAAA football championship has felt like a cursed game for Jersey Shore. In 2024, it was a chaotic finish and controversial no-call against Shamokin that upped its title drought to two years, and injuries blew up its chances of avenging that loss in the second quarter of 2025's rematch.

Though they got the monkey off their backs last Friday, ending a five-game losing streak against Shamokin to clinch their ninth straight final appearance, that trend of heartbreak continued the following week. Four turnovers and red zone struggles depleted an offensive outing that saw the team rack up 24 first downs and surpass the opposing 21-yard line seven times, as Jersey Shore fell at Shikellamy, 28-27, to drop their fourth straight final.

It was a performance highlighted by stellar individual performances and costly mistakes.

Junior Carter Rhinehart logged career highs in receptions (15) and receiving yards (220), and Zeke Sechrist bruised his way to 121 yards on the ground, with both finding the end zone. But two fumbles and turnovers on downs in the red zone knocked too many points off the board, and Shikellamy took advantage.

"Taking out Shamokin gave us some momentum heading into this game. It just didn't go our way at the end of the day," said Rhinehart. "We should've been more careful with the ball, shouldn't have had that many fumbles in the game."

"We were just a play or two away. They made a couple than we did," said Shore head coach Tom Gravish on the loss. "We're proud of our players, especially persevering through all the injuries that we had to get to this spot. We had our chances. Congrats to Coach Hoover."

The kicker came in a four-drive sequence down the stretch. After taking back the lead at 27-21 and seeing its win probability climb through the early goings of the fourth, Jersey Shore's title prospects steadily dropped back down one dent at a time.

With the chance to go up by two scores coming off a Shikellamy turnover on downs, the Bulldogs drove 60 yards down the field to get into a goal-to-go scenario. Nolen Pauling connected with Rhinehart for 24 yards and Connor Yingling for 15, the latter coming on third and long, and a 15-yard rush from Sechrist helped matters.

However, fans that attended Friday's contest had witnessed that dance before. A fumble ended Shore's second drive at the Shikellamy 15. Its fourth that got five yards away from paydirt before a missed field goal held it scoreless. And a second fumble prevented the Bulldogs from taking the lead six minutes early, occurring at the Shikellamy 10.

The Braves always seemed to have an answer, and that remained the case as Jersey Shore pursued its potential dagger. Though the Bulldogs reached the three-yard line, back-to-back passes fell incomplete, and Shikellamy took over at its own three-yard line. Eight plays later, the lead was no longer theirs.

"They just blitzed. Once we got our running game down, they stuffed the box, and their corners just played really tight with the guy over top," said Rhinehart on Shikellamy's success defending in the red zone. "We couldn't really do much."

"They brought some pressure," emphasized Gravish. "They played a little tighter, did some things differently in the box where you don't have to defend further down the field. It is what it is. We'll learn from it."

With Sechrist leaving the game due to injury in the fourth, Shore's linebackers struggled to stop the run, and the Braves made the most of it. They shifted from their pass-heavy approach, an approach that scored them 21 points in the second, and carved their way from their own goal line to the outskirts of Jersey Shore's red zone.

From there, Shikellamy quarterback Bobby Felmy and star receiver Thomas Pollock finished the job, as Felmy found Pollock open on a slant, and Pollock did the rest on his way to a 21-yard, go-ahead score.

That put the Braves up 28-27 with just over four minutes to go, and that lead would hold till the final buzzer. The Bulldogs saw their final offensive drive of the season end abruptly, as Pauling threw his only interception of the game as they neared midfield before Shamokin ran out the final three minutes and change.

While Jersey Shore forced 19 incompletions and two fumbles, including a strip-and-score from Dalton Rehrig on the second half's opening kick, the Braves found ways to torch it when it counted.

Felmy finished with 243 yards and four TDs through the air, adding 99 rushing yards behind numerous long runs, and Pollock surpassed 100 receiving yards with that touchdown. All four of Felmy's TDs were to different receivers. And Tristan Smith rushed for over 100 yards in the second half alone while adding a 25-yard receiving touchdown in the third.

It's a tough end to an otherwise momentous postseason for the Bulldogs, one that saw them enter it with five losses and go toe-to-toe with opponents that outclassed them in win percentage.

Nonetheless, there was plenty of pride to go around when it was all said and done. Tough departures do await the program, with key contributors in Zeke Sechrist, Khani McCray and Jace Feltzer all set to graduate, but that number is lighter than in recent years. And with much of this year's team back in 2027, that pride came with a bit of optimism.

"We wish Shik nothing but the best. They were real good sports here at the end," said Gravish. "We'll get back to the drawing board as a program. We have three seniors that we're awfully proud of; we're proud of everybody. And we think the future's bright for Jersey Shore football."

Shikellamy 28, Jersey Shore 27

Jersey Shore 7 6 14 0 – 27

Shikellamy 0 21 0 7 – 28

1st Quarter

JS – Nolen Pauling to Khani McCray 24 pass (Carter Rhinehart kick), 8:03.

2nd Quarter

S – Bobby Felmy to Maddox Hoover 35 pass (Ryan Dephillips kick), 6:34.

S – Felmy to Tristan Smith 25 pass (Dephillips kick), 4:43.

JS – Zeke Sechrist 2 run (PAT missed), 2:13.

S – Felmy to Brady Kurtz 14 pass (Dephillips kick), :13.

3rd Quarter

JS – Dalton Rehrig 20 fumble return (2-pt conversion missed), 11:49.

JS – Pauling to Carter Rhinehart 20 pass (Pauling to Rhinehart pass), 2:49.

4th Quarter

S – Felmy to Thomas Pollock 21 pass (Dephillips kick), 4:22.

TEAM STATISTICS JS S

First Downs 24 21

Rushes-yards 32-137 34-235

Passing yards 285 242

Comp-Att-Int 20-33-1 18-37-0

Total yards 422 477

Fumbles-lost 3-3 3-2

Penalties-yards 6-55 6-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING: Jersey Shore, Zeke Sechrist 19-121, TD; Nolen Pauling 13-16. Shikellamy, Tristan Smith 13-114; Bobby Felmy 14-99; Kyler Campbell 5-12; Thomas Pollock 2-10.

PASSING: Jersey Shore, Nolen Pauling 20-33-1 285 yards, 2 TDs. Shikellamy, Bobby Felmy 18-37-0 242 yards, 4 TDs.

RECEIVING: Jersey Shore, Carter Rhinehart 15-220, TD; Khani McCray 2-36, TD; Connor Yingling 3-29. Shikellamy, Thomas Pollock 9-111, TD; Tristan Smith 3-42, TD; Maddox Hoover 1-35, TD; Kyler Campbell 3-28; Brady Kurtz 3-27, TD.

INTERCEPTIONS: Shikellamy, Bobby Felmy 1.

RECORDS: Jersey Shore 6-6. Shikellamy, 11-1.

Starting at /week.