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DUBOIS -- Following a stretch of three straight defeats and with a difficult schedule to come, it was clear that Jersey Shore's Friday night contest against DuBois would be one of their seasons' defining contests. The result? A hard nosed, versatile performance that turned victorious with a 28-14 final score against the Beavers at EJ Mansell Stadium.
Backed up by an overall team performance, a four rushing touchdown day from Nolan Pauling parlayed with two interceptions from Khani McCray captured the headlines from a feel good road win.
"We knew this would be a hard-fought game," echoed Shore coach Tom Gravish after the win. "This DuBois team is a really good team; (Class) 5A team, 4-2 record, and even the one loss we watched on tape they were in that game... hats off to them and their effort."
The early goings of the contest showed signs of a defensive slugfest, with neither side reaching the endzone in a first quarter that witnessed six total punts and a pair of Jersey Shore turnovers.
Receiving the ball to start the second quarter from DuBois' fourth punt of the game, a pair of double digit yard carries from senior halfback Zeke Sechrist set the Bulldogs at goal to go territory. With first and goal at the 10:31 mark of the second quarter, junior quarterback Nolen Pauling would break the deadlock on a seven yard touchdown run to the outside.
Sticking with the theme, DuBois' next offensive drive would look different then their first four that saw just one first down. Starting their ensuing drive at their own 42, star tailback London Duncan made his imprint on a 37 yard dash that put the Beavers inside the Shore red zone for the first time. Four plays later, and Duncan would touch the painted turf on a nine yard scamper to the endzone that tied the game.
Not to be outdone, Shore's offense proved to be clicking. On the second play from scrimmage, newly healthy Carter Rhinehardt made his mark on the game when he snagged a 42 yard pass from Pauling to switch the field. The Junior quarterback completed the drive later on, prancing again to the outside for a six yard touchdown run for a seven point lead at the half.
With both sides exchanging punts in the third, the Beavers looked poised to tie the game after driving the ball from their own 24 to the Jersey Shore 27 while trimming nearly six minutes off the clock.
But Shore's playmakers on defense would snuff the home sides' flame. Looking for the end zone, DuBois senior quarterback Seth Wilmoth instead found cornerback Khani McCray. McCray, who picked off Wilmoth on the final play of the first half, took the ball out of the endzone to the Shore 21.
With the ensuing drive ending in a Shore punt, DuBois' offense with a chance to tie the game never got out of the first gear with a follow up turnover on downs at midfield.
Given another chance at offense, Pauling would not be denied, bursting forward and shaking tacklers for a 54 yard touchdown run to make it 21-7 Shore.
To put matters to bed on their next offensive drive, Pauling would score an improbable fourth rushing touchdown when he took an option play to the outside for a 23 yard score. The scoring concluded with London Duncan, who turned in his second rushing score of the day in consolation time to complete a 28-14 win for Shore.
"I'm really proud of our kids," echoed Gravish. "We came into this game with a 3-3 record, two out of the three games we thought we had a real shot to win. We suffered some untimely injuries. Throughout that span we are all getting a little more healthy, we are a little more quick of foot, and I like where our team is going."
The victory moves the Bulldogs to 4-3 on the season, with Shore travelling out west next week once again to take on another 5A powerhouse in Hollidaysburg.
Jersey Shore 28, DuBois 14
Jersey Shore 0 14 0 14 -- 28
DuBois 0 7 0 7 -- 14
Second quarter
JS -- Nolen Pauling 7 run (Carter Rhinehart kick), 10:35
D -- London Duncan 9 run (Maddox Barnes kick), 7:28
JS -- Nolen Pauling 7 run (Carter Rhinehart kick), 3:34
Fourth quarter
JS -- Nolen Pauling 55 run (Carter Rhinehart kick), 8:45
JS -- Nolen Pauling 23 run (Carter Rhinehart kick), 4:59
D -- London Duncan 1 run (Maddox Barnes kick), 3:41
TEAM STATISTICS
JS D
First downs 13 11
Rushes-yards 38-263 24-126
Passing yards 197 68
C-A-I 16-28-0 8-20-2
Total yards 460 194
Penalties-yards -- --
Fumbles-lost -- --
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Jersey Shore: Nolen Pauling 20-142-4TDs, Zeke Sechrist 17-114, Connor Winters 1-7. DuBois: London Duncan 6-101-2TDs, Seth Wilmoth 6-28, Dalton Reasinger 4-19, Michael Briggs 2-5, TEAM 6-(minus-27).
PASSING--Jersey Shore: Nolen Pauling 16-28-0 197. DuBois, Seth Wilmoth 8-20-2 68.
RECEIVING--Jersey Shore: Carter Rhinehart 9-125, Conner Yingling 2-35, Khani McCray 2-17, Conner Winters 1-9, Zeke Sechrist 1-6, Aiden Patts 1-5. DuBois: Hayat Muhammad 4-28, Aaron Eberly 2-22, Josiah Brackman 2-18.
INTERCEPTIONS: Jersey Shore 2 (Khani McCray 2)