Worthy of the Coal Bucket

The annual game for the Coal Bucket had become a "ceremonial" event for Mount Carmel to retain the bucket the last 5 times with an average score of 33 to 7.  This past Friday's game with an 8-1 Mount Carmel game and 3-6 Shamokin team seemed like another ho-hum event at Kemp Memorial Stadium. 

The Indians gave Mount Carmel all they could handle for a 20-7 win for the 16th straight time for the Red Tornadoes.  It also gave Mount Carmel the number one seed in the district tournament.

With no score at the half, Mount Carmel scored 3 times to Shamokin's one.  In the end, it was the seniors and the leader who rose to the top.  Myerick Lamb had 32 carries and earned everyone of his 170+ yards.  But the MVP for the Red Tornadoes had to be Eric Joraskie.  The Indians were held to 7 yards rushing and only 5 first downs.  The big part of it was Joraskie no one wearing purple could block or run away from him.

Shamokin entering district play has to be please with the defensive performance.  Players that stood out on Friday once again were Mike Yucha (how many tackles did he have), Andrew Hasuga and Jarrod Shurock on both side of the ball.

The stat of the weekend was by Dan Burda of the News-Item. The last time Shamokin won the Coal Bucket in 1995.  There were only 1 million users of the Internet in 1995.

Photos above were provided to me courtesy JJN Productions.