Shamokin - Montoursville Wrap Up

The above is showing some pregame video of Shamokin's QB/PK Marc Persing warming up before the Montoursville game. Persing his some great punts against Montoursville and one the led to a safety by Tyrick Murphy.

The Indians and Warriors both played great, but Montoursville capitlizing on big plays and making no mistakes won the game 14-9.

AROUNG THE BILL 95 SCHEDULE

Southern Columbia who usually has 150 yards rushing on the ground by halftime, ended up under 60 on Friday against Bloomsburg in a 19-0 loss on the road. For the season, the Tigers are under 150 total on the ground and looking for answers.

- It was Bloom's first win against Southern since 1984.

- First time Southern was shut out since the 2001 final against Rochester.

- First regular season shutout since 1998 against Mount Carmel.

- First regular season shutout to a "A" team since 1987 against Tri-Valley.

NOTE: I stand corrected on a few things from the above post:

1.) It was the first shutout against Southern since 2002 with MCA winning 42-0, making the 1998 reference to the MCA game wrong.

2.) The shutout to Rochester was the last time the Tigers were shut out by an "A" team.

3.) The last regular season loss to an "A" team was 1993 to South Williamsport.

If history is any indication, Bloomsburg could be a really good team. The 2002 MCA team and the 2001 Rochester teams were AA and A state champions. The 1993 South Williamsport squad made it to the state finals, but were able to get around Southern Area and not see a playoff rematch in the format in 1993. In 1987 there were no state playoffs. Southern lost in the EC final to Mahanoy Area. The bottom line is that you have to be good to shut out a team like Southern. Could Bloom be destined for greatness? Only time will tell. Under the current playoff format, look for a rematch in week 11 or 12.

The Coalregionvoice regrets any error and always enjoys the feedback.

The above capsule just shows how dominant the Southern program has been and for how long. There is alot of interesting football to be played in September.

Southern has Mount Carmel next week. Mount Carmel has the toughest stretch with Southern, Shamokin and Bloomsburg. Shamokin will try to get their first win against Mount Carmel since 1995.

There seems to be some big chinks in the armour of area teams:

- Southern is struggling with it's bread and butter running game. Which means the line is struggling.

-Shamokin has a great defense but can't score. One TD in two games.

-Mount Carmel could score may have found a running game, but can't defend the pass.

We will get a good idea where teams are headed going into October.

INTERESTING NOTES

• Late in the Shamokin play again Montoursville, the Indians completed an option pass from Chris Eby to Marc Persing. The play was drawn up in the huddle by Persing. Is this an early audition for an offensive coordinator job? Someone else on the team had their own audition in the third quarter.
• The Indian's are -4 in the turnover ratio department. They have not forced a turnover.
• When was the last time have seen Southern, Shamokin, and Mount Carmel all lose on the same weekend?

LOCAL COLLEGE

Penn State may now be the team to beat in the Big 10. Their schedule is in their favor with Wisconsin and Michigan being at home. Speaking of Michigan will Lloyd Carr finish the season? This is the first time ever Michigan and Notre Dame are 0-2. After their next game someone will be 0-3, they go head to head in the Big House. Jimmy Clausen didn't look bad, but how bad is the supporting cast???

Bucknell had an interesting start time to their home opener. The Bison-Stony Brook game kicked off at 6 pm on Saturday. Were they trying to spare, 110,000 from driving to State College.

Notre Dame's offense has been outscored by it's defense this season 7-6. Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor visited PSU this weekend. The nation hail's him as a Vince Young clone. My advice? Go west young man, where they run spread.