Week 9 Wrap

Some hard decisions were made this past weekend weather to play on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The result is four days of high school football. There will still be a few games contested tonight.

BLUE MOUNTAIN AT SHAMOKIN

The Indians came out and had everyone shaking their heads why this team was 0-8? Shamokin went right down the field on their first possession and put up 8. Just as quickly the Indians reminded their fans why they are 0-8 giving up two touchdown in a little over a minute. Shamokin fell behind and the Eagles played a "38" defense with 8 backs in the secondary. Give the Eagles credit, they did a better job than Selinsgrove and Pottsville in the two weeks previous.

POTTSVILLE AT MCA

This game had playoff implications and Mount Carmel secured a spot in the 8-team AA District 4 field. In the end, Mount Carmel's weakness (defense) held up to Pottsville's strength (rushing attack).

FAREWELLS CONTINUE

With the Heartland Conference coming in 2008, several rivalries were ended in the last few weeks. Shamokin with Pottsville and Blue Mountain and Mount Carmel with Pottsville. This week brings the end of the Danville-Southern rivalry. Hopefully the division difference won't be enough to keep these schools apart for too long.

CANCEL OR NOT

When you play outside, the elements can come into play. Shamokin chose to play on Friday. It was an interesting call. It was senior night. The band wasn't there and neither was the crowd. The band and football boosters rely on revenue from only 5 home games to support their operations. Also, Shamokin had over 450 passing the last two weeks. In the end, the Indians were left without a passing attack, no revenue for their band or football boosters and no one played and no one sang the national anthem. Thanks for the help.

MERCY RULE

As Shamokin enters the final week of the season winless, a meaningless stat may come into play. Since the advent of the "Mercy Rule", has there been a winless team make it through the season without having the "Mercy Rule" applied? I don't believe Shamokin will get beat by Shikellamy, let alone by the "Mercy Rule". I did run across this on the Southern Columbia website. In 1979, Southern went 0-11. They however would not have been "mercy ruled". The Tiger's defense only gave 18 points a game and no one scored over 30. Five games were decided by a touchdown or less.