Southern vs. Shamokin Preview 2013

It's funny how rivalry's develop and change over the years.  Some get white hot due to close games and down to the wire outcomes.  Others due to close proximity to one another. While others will stay the course due to longevity with one another. 

From 1974 through 1985, the eighth week of the season for the Shamokin Area Indians was devoted to their annual backyard brawl with Lourdes Regional High School.  During those years, Lourdes Regional were co-champions of the Eastern Conference in 1974 with a tie against West Scranton while the Indians won the title outright against Dunmore. Lourdes Regional won that first meeting with Shamokin, 24-19 then lost the next 8 in a row.  In 1983, Lourdes Regional won again by a 20-8 to 8 score as the Indian finished 0-11 under first year head coach, Jack Murdock. The Red Raiders won the following season with the famous hitch-and-pitch from Chris Reiprish to Vic Olear back to Joe Witt for immortality.  Shamokin Area won the final contest between the two schools.

What does Lourdes Regional have to do with all of this?

On Friday night, Southern Area will start two running backs who's parents were from the OLOL Class of 1982, A starting linebacker's parent graduated from OLOL in 1983 while a starting offensive lineman's mother graduated from OLOL in 1984. My guess is that there are probably more on the Southern roster along with a mix of Shamokin alumni. 

Shamokin Area will be underdogs to heavy underdogs in their final 3 games of the seasons.  30 years ago was the last time the Indians ended a season winless under new head coach.  Many OLOL alumni were there 30 years ago in the stands in week 8 and that should hold true for this Friday night. It has taken Shamokin 30 years to come full circle. Out of the ashes of 1983 came a state semifinal appearance in 1991.  Is the bottom at hand?

My hope for tomorrow night is not only a competitive game, but to have Journey sing the national anthem followed up with a halftime performance of "Don't Stop Believin!"

Shamokin in for Tough Game at Danville.

The Shamokin Indians find themselves at 2-5 going into week 8 at Danville this Friday.  Although only down 6-0 going into the 4th quarter against Montoursville, the Indians fell short on a 26-7 score.  Shamokin failed to capitalize on 3, 1st quarter Warrior turnovers.

Danville played a good first half on Saturday at Southern, but the offense was shut down in the 2nd half.  What did impress me about Danville was that the defense was able to stop Southern's straight offense rather easily and were a littler undersized.

Interesting stat last weekend for Shamokin was rushing defense.  Take away the 30-yard TD run late by Montoursville and the stat was 32 rushes for only 29 yards.  Could they keep Dressler in check like Southern?  We will find out on Friday night.

Fate Not Kind To Shamokin Indians

Back in August, if you would have told me Shamokin would be playing in Week 11 with a chance for a playoff win I would have done a double take.  Sure, with a four team playoff for 6 "AAA" teams in your district, I would have said yes.  The Indians would limp to 4th place finish and get dusted off early in the first round.  Predictions were that Selinsgrove and Shikellamy would be on the top of the heap, followed by whoever.

Since 2004, the Shamokin Indians had a combination of athletes that never realized their potential in an 11-man team sport.

Last night the seniors and the rest of the Indian football team had to replay a house of horrors that they experienced just two weeks earlier over Halloween weekend.  It was hard to describe to people two weeks ago how a team could lose 44-0 and not be pushed around.  Usually, the two will go hand-in-hand.

Last night, Shamokin Area not only proved that the game two weeks was an aberration, but Shamokin also came to play and came to win.  Shamokin dominated offensively and defensively.  You can certainly talk about the tying Shikellamy touchdown and whether there was possession or not.  The Braves scored on first down, there still would have been 3 downs to defend.

Parents and fans, look at the big picture.  Shamokin put in a new offense.  The new offense produced a legitimate 1000-yard rusher.  Penalties were cut down big time.  The Indians were competitive in the playoffs.   Many freshman seen time on the varsity.  To practice with the varsity will produce dividends.  Trust me on this one.

If the worse thing that happens in life is to lose an overtime football game on the road at a place you were beaten 44-0 just two weeks earlier, the Shamokin Indians are well ahead of the game. Hats off to seniors and the coaches. 

Shamokin at Selinsgrove Preview

After losing the 2003 District IV AAA final to Shamokin 17-3, the Selinsgrove Seals from 2004 to present have been quite impressive going deep into the state playoff and capping it off with the 2009 PIAA AAA championship.  It was also the last time the Indian beat the Seals.

The 2010 version of the Selinsgrove Seal have had to replace 18 starters and for the first 12 quarters of 2010 struggled offensively with the football opening up the season 0-3.  Justin Keiser was 16-20 for a 160 yards engineering two big second half drives to pull the Seals within one of Manheim Central.  The Seals tried to win the game in regulation with under a minute left but a two-point conversion was batted down by the Baron defense.

While this exciting game was going on in Lancaster, the 2010 Shamokin Indian did their best to bring back the 2009 version of the Indians.  The 42-13 loss to Southern was marred by turnovers, sloppy tackling, blown coverages and penalties.   The Indians managed to have Jared Montgomery and Jared Haddock go over 100 yards on the night, but it was the Tiger defense that took center stage from the middle of the first period to the half.

"If there is a better single-A team in PA, I would like to see them," said Shamokin Area head coach Dan Foor.  Last Friday, Southern was better team.

What will give in Week 4 between Selinsgrove and Shamokin?   Here are a couple of key things for one to look   Shamokin's running game has been pretty solid with the exception of the second quarter against Southern.  Will that trend continue?

Selinsgrove went to sprint out action against Manheim Central last week.  The Seals had used sprint out action under head coach Bill Scott.  The Indian defense did not get much pressure on Jake Townsend last week.   Will it be more difficult with the Seal's sprint out?  

Some of the intangibles that are going into this game is first things first.  The Seals are home.  Selinsgrove has only lost twice at home since 2004 and one loss included opening day this season to Mount Carmel.  Like it or not Selinsgrove has games with Berwick and Shikellamy in the next two weeks.  Back in August this was penciled as win.

Shamokin on the other hand will be tested on how it rebounds.  Last season the Seals put a hurting on the Indians scoring 55 points.  The game was shorten due to the lights going out.  Will the 2010 team or the 2009 team make the trip across the Susquehanna River???

Shamokin's 1975 Eastern Conference Champs To Be Honored

The late Philadelphia  Flyers head coach Fred Shero once said, "win today and we walk together forever,"  prior to Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals.

This coming Friday night at the half of the Jersey Shore-Shamokin Area football game, Shamokin's 1975 Eastern Conference championship will be honored.  The Indian went 11-1 in 1975 and capped their season with a 33-20 victory over Dunmore on December 6th, 1975 at Kemp Memorial Stadium under the direction head coach Tim Montgomery. Assistant coached that season were Joe Gubernot, Harry Reed, Dave Kopitsky, and George "Norge" Dorko.

The team was a collection of great talent including the last Indians to make the Big 33, Tim Fanella and Phil Manney.  Other notables included Dave Anderson, Craig Schiccatano, Randy Rumberger, Dave Troxell, John Devereaux, Frank Marcinek, Jim Dressler, Dave Zielinskie, Ed Zack, Dan Klebon and Mike Bonshock.

Here is the season slate:

Shamokin 20 York 8
Shamokin 27 Danville 6 
Shamokin 32 Hazleton 14 
Shamokin 16 Blue Mountain 6
Shamokin 21 Pottsville: 20
Shamokin 28 Shenandoah: 8
Shamokin 26 Lourdes 3
Shamokin 42 West Hazelton 24
Shamokin 26 Shikellamy 16
Shamokin 27 Berwick 7
Shamokin 0  Mount Carmel 34

The only blemish on the season was Mount Carmel.  It would be another 9 seasons until the Indians beat the Red Tornadoes.

I had chance to talk to Mount Carmel head coach "Jazz" Diminick about that 1975 game earlier this week.  "We had an injury to one of linebackers, Greg Sacavage, who had a hard time going lateral on game day.  I had to switch defenses the day of the game.  We got a little lucky with switch, but we were able to totally shut them down."  "There was always great pride in that game like today."  "I remember one of our players, the late Dan Chucoski, keeping the mud on his shoes and the shoes from that game and never cleaning them or getting rid of them."

Back in 1975, there was only a Northern and Southern Division.  There was a Class A and Class B.  You had to rely on rating points to win the division.  Often 10-1 season got a team a pat on the back and nothing else.

Some memorable moments of the season include Dan Klebon throwing for a 2-point conversion to beat Pottsville.  What was also memorable about the game against Pottsville at Kemp Memorial was the floor of the men's room caving in at the half at the west of the stadium.  The bathroom "incident" has been part of Woodstock folklore in Pottsville with many claiming to have been in the bathroom.  Actually, the official count was less than 15.

The Indians also clinched the Southern Division in Week 10 with the win at Crispin Field in Berwick.  The victory touched off a victory celebration parade through Independence Street in Shamokin attended by some 4000 fans on that Friday night. George Curry was in his fifth season at the helm in Berwick in 1975. The PA leader in coaching wins with over 400 talks about the '75 team this past week.



This Friday night, the 1975 Indians will once again walk together as champions.

Shamokin Scrimmages in Sauna

With sauna-like conditions on Saturday at Shamokin, the Indians took on the Williamsport Millionaires. After giving up three quick scores in the early going, the Indians got better as the scrimmage wore on.

Round 2 to the Shamokin Indians, 70-40

"It was the best of times, it was the worse of times." In the opening line of a Tale of Two Citites, by Dickens, you are probably not as good on your best day and not as bad on your worst.

Shamokin Area was able to pour it on Shikellamy this afternoon with healthy dose of team offense, relentless boards, and stifling defense.

Brantley Osborne of Shikellamy who was honored for scoring a 1000 points earlier in the week against Shamokin was held to one field goal and three foul shots. Two came when he entered the game to shoot technical fouls. Andrew Mantz, the Shikellamy big man, was held to one field goal and two points.

The photo of the game below is most of the Shamokin nucleus sitting on the bench enjoying the rest of the fourth quarter.

Shamokin Wins Round One Against Shik

Shamokin 63 - Shikellamy 56

Scott Marcinek sinks foul shot late in 4th

Forbes on Forbes in the 1st

Shamokin got the best of Shikellamy in the first of two games to be played within five days. Both teams played well and Saturday afternoon's rematch should be exciting.

From the game within a game, Osborne did a good job guarding Foster Renn of Shamokin. Sean Ciborowski did a great job on Osborne and also provided 11 points in the first half.

The New Shamokin Football Coach is.....

When Shamokin Area hosts Southern Area to open the 2009 season, Daniel Foor will be the Indians head coach.

Foor was not present at the board meeting this evening.

Shamokin to hire new football coach today

Shamokin is scheduled to hire a new football coach when the school board conducts their monthly meeting tonight at the high school.

Sources close to the Coal Region Voice indicate that hire will be from out of the area.

Anyone that applies for any head football coaching job in the high school ranks doesn't doubt their own ability with x's and o's. What seperates the successful from the not successful is the ability to motivate 75 kids (junior high on up), parents, caretakers(we are living in those times) and assistant coaches for the greater good of the program. It sounds simple, but it is not easy.

Whoever is hired tonight, I wish them well. For the seniors, even though this is your third head coach in four seasons, it is time to show the leadership that maybe we lacking by your past school boards.

The Rematch, Shamokin and Danville

Do the Indians want revenge???

Special Comment On Coach Zielinskie

The first talk with Coach Z. at last year preseason picnic.





My last interview with Coach Z.





The more things change the more they stay the same. As autumn give way to winter, once again Shamokin Area is looking for a head football coach. Dave Zielinskie was fired yesterday by a 5-4 vote of the school board. The board voted, 5-4, with directors Charles Carpenter, Ed Griffiths, Todd Hockenbroch, Barry Rebuck and Daniel Venn voting yes, and directors LaRue Beck, Robert Getchey, Tracy Witmer and Mark Anonia voting no. Over 15 years ago, when Zielinskie was let go, too many penalties was the excuse.

This time the firing was a little bit more elaborate. Athletic Director Nick Celinscak gave an "evaluation"of Mr. Zielinskie and a substandard performance only to be rebutted by Zielinskie himself.

Celinscak was only a "patsie" for the board. Someone had to make a motion, second it and vote.

Covering Shamokin and Dave Zielinskie

When Zielinskie took over for Carmen Defrancesco, I asked to video our pregame interview that would be played back on radio on game night. Coach Zielinskie obliged and it was pretty much a staple. As far as handling players and coaches, I thought he great support.

One thing that is very hard to do in life is notice change while it is occurring. Kemp Memorial is still the same, except for the turf and new booster stand, but many things have changed. Not many kids are motivated to play football anymore. On average Shamokin has dressed the below 40 the last few seasons.

With the schedule and personnel, how much better were Shamokin than 5-15 in two years. Zielinskie lost his number one running back to illness, most of his secondary to injury and insubordination, but he never offered any excuses. With a full squad of players that were with him in the preseason would Shamokin have beaten Southern, Mount Carmel, Selinsgrove, and Montoursville?

Coaching?

If you look back at the Indians over the last 20 years was it the coaching or the players? If you point out to the winning season's Shamokin has had since 1988, their success centered on having a 1000-yard rusher (Tim Krebs, Richie Shick, Jamie Wis., etc) or a strong one-two punch like Kirk Stehman and Gary Anascavage.



One of the by-products of the head coaching merry-go-round is the developing talent. The senior class of 2010 would have played for 3 different head coaches. Most of the success of Mount Carmel and Southern Area is delveloping football players and plugging them in the right holes. The other thing is coaching stability. MCA has had three head men since 1961. The core of Southern's staff have been together for 25 years plus they still have many mile left.

X's and O's

I am firm believer in taking what the Lord has provided. Last season the Indians ran what I would call an offense of the week. There was a different offense for like six straight weeks. This season Shamokin ran a different offense the first two weeks and went smash-mouth the final 8 games. Offense is about consistency and repetition. The points will follow.

What's Next?

It should be an interesting sideshow until Christmas. With a $6000 bill staring the Board in the eyes, will they go cheap? Dave Zielinskie did all that was asked of him by the board and some more. He didn't stand for insubordination and got rid of players that violated team rules. This was done in 2007 and 2008 knowing full well he was short at those positions. As far as ejections this season, I believe there were two. One against Southern and one against Selinsgrove.

Coach Z. still has alot of coaching left in him, sad to say with his second stint over at Shamokin it will not be as a head coach.

Jim Roth inches his way to 300

Jim Roth is closing in on win number 300 in his career with win 297 over Line Mountain on Friday night. The News-Item documents some of the impressive winning streaks Roth has had over his 25 seasons. A trip to the state finals may never be sweeter, but the hardest and toughest football is ahead.

The one thing about Roth is his relative youth when you look at other coaches either approaching 300 or his 25 seasons as a head coach. He still has plenty of coaching of sometime in his gas tank.

The Heartland Conference released a copy of their football all-star teams this past week. Where is Shamokin Area? The Indians (4-5) deserved some consideration for players like Brent Forbes with over 1000 yards and force at defensive end and Tyler Scicchitano who was a tackling machine and later made big contributions at running back and kicker on special teams.

Former Mount Carmel Area and Susquehanna University graduate Ron Miller has guided the West York Bulldogs into the District 3 Semifinals. Check out their performance in the quarters against Conrad Weiser. Good luck to Ron and the rest of West York against Garden Spot.

Regular season comes to a close!!!!

The regular season of high school football come to a close tonight. I will be broadcasting the Southern-Milton game.


Listen Here.


The door opened for some teams in District IV AA with Central's loss to Bloomsburg as time expired last night.

Shamokin to be anywhere near the hunt needs to win against Loyalsock, have Danville lose to Jersey Shore and Troy to lose to Canton. Even with that Danville may outpoint them due to their win over Athens.

Mount Carmel should safely be at home during the Districts with a win against North Schuylkill tonight. Montoursville has a chance to improve their seeding with a win over Selinsgrove.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

In discussing chances of area teams this season back in August. I thought here is where some area teams may end up:

Shamokin - on a high note 6-4 and on a low note 4-6. Central Columbia was their big swing game.

Mount Carmel - 10-0 on the high note and 8-2 on the low note. There is no substitute for senior leadership in high school football.

Southern Area - 9-1 on the high note and 7-3 on the low end. Southern had a very a pretty tough schedule and beat a good Montoursville team in Week 2.

As for playoffs, Southern if they win the District will have Riverside, Schuylkill Haven and Steel-High as possibly match ups before they even get to Chocolatetown.

Games of WEEK #10

Checkout

Selinsgrove vs. Montoursville

and

Dunmore vs. Riverside.

History made at the Shamokin-Mifflinburg game.

Broadcasting high school football and basketball for 12 years, I finally made some history. I may have been the first broadcaster ejected from the event before it started. For some reason, the athletic department could not handle placing four electronic media outlets. For whatever reason, I was still not able to stay in the press box after another media outlet made room. What was the problem? Beats me. We did broadcast from the same place last season with as many electronic media outlets in the box.

What got me ejected?

After being told I couldn't remain in the press box, I was on my way to the visiting sideline when I told someone I will never come (insert expletive) here again. Seeing that I was such a threat, I was removed from the stadium. So much for freedom of speech. Is it ok for a Mifflinburg fan to say, "lock up the farm animals, here come the Shamokin fans?"

How did we make history? We became the first to broadcast a game from a vehicle. We did it in style from a 1983 Mercedes 300SD powered by grease.

To the good taxpayers of Mifflinburg:

If your athletic department cannot plan and make accommodations for four media outlets, could they be shortchanging your students. They seemed challenged in answering basic questions. If this is difficult in the future, please contact Mount Carmel, Shamokin, Southern, Selinsgrove, or the Montoursville school districts. They have plenty of experience handling multiple media.

Apologies? I have one and not to the Mifflinburg High School athletic department. Shamokin senior Dan Ruskuskie scored his first varsity touchdown and from our vantage point we got the player incorrect on the air.

Mount Carmel at Southern

They went at it hard for four quarters and the Red Tornadoes won in a close one. I still like both school prospects for the post season.

PHILLIES

Are the stars finally in alignment for a Philadelphia sports team? I was 14 when the Phillies were world champs in 1980. With the Eagles in the Super Bowl a few months later and the Sixers and Flyers always a power, I thought championships would come easy.

If it happens tonight, savor it!!!!!

Shamokin with faint playoff hopes against Mifflinburg

Montgomery returns tonight


At 3-5, this fan is still smiling!

Only the faithful remain at practice

Shamokin travels to Mifflinburg tonight to try to go 4-5 on the year and keep faint playoff hopes alive. Right now Shamokin's chances in Districts are better than Eastern Conference. North Schuylkill, who still hasn't qualified for District XI is ahead of the Indians in the EC with a game in Week 10 against Mount Carmel.

The online poll says Mount Carmel will beat Southern by a 75% to 25% of the responders. This is a good game for both squads with bigger fish to fry in the postseason.

If Lewisburg could score two touchdown, I believe Southern can. In 2008, MCA has a little too much on both side of sides of the ball.

MCA 27 - SCA 14

Shamokin Interview for Selinsgrove

There is no interview for this week with Selinsgrove. Coach Zielinskie politely declined to be recorded. Here is Coach Z.'s address at last year pre-camp cook out.

"We are getting better," said Coach Zielinskie off camera.





Half of the season is in the books for area teams and there are a few surprises. I will run them down here and let me know what you think.


Mount Carmel had many seniors but there defense halfway through has surpassed expectations.

Southern Area got through a rough early stretch and look to week#9 showdown with Mount Carmel for the Heartland Division II Championship. Many expected Southern to be aroun 7-3. Barring major injuries they could find themselves in Hershey. Like Tigers teams past, you look up at the scoreboard in the 4th quarter and find yourself losing 35-0 and Southern just put up 400 rushing yards and their defense doesn't yield too many points.

Shamokin Area has won back-to-back games for the first time in close to four seasons. The Indians were probably hit most by injuries on and off the field and lost player games in between. Even with all their players there and healthy like projected in mid-summer, the Indians are still no better than 3-2 at this point. Shamokin looks like a favorite against Warrior Run, Loyalsock and Mifflinburg in the second half of the season and underdogs against Selinsgrove and Montoursville. 5-5 would put the Indians in the hunt for the playoffs. Could it be the second meeting with Mount Carmel in the same season? Look for the Indians to play Montoursville tough, they always do and should have won last year's game.

AROUND THE AREA

North Schuylkill - came out of the gate 3-0 after a bad four year run.

Central Columbia - possible playoffs after 3 wins in the past three seasons.

Lewisburg - Long time since the Green Dragon's started 5-0. They won the West Branch with 11-0 in 1981.

Danville - The surprise is only two wins and not improving.

Good luck to all teams in the second half of the season.

Shamokin Area beats someone not named Shikellamy

For the first time since week #3 of the 2006 season, Shamokin Area defeated a football team not named Shikellamy. In the first half, Shamokin was almost flawless. The Indians went out to a 21-0 lead and the defense held All-State quarterback Andrew Shoop to one completion for four yard and two first downs.


The first half half ended when Shamokin was stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the three or the damage could have been worse. Give the Ironmen credit, they regrouped at the half. The defense who gave nearly 180 yards on the ground only gave up a net 9 yards in the second half on the ground.


Danville pounced on a blocked punt in the endzone to start their scoring and 61-yard pass put the Ironmen on the three with 9 minutes left in the fourth. On the next play, Michael Owen-Wright punched it in from three yards out.

Ghosts of losses past exercised

The Indians who have found more ways to loose in these situations suddenly came up with two defensive stands to preserve the victory.

Patrick Shinskie fell on a fumble at the Indian 18 with under three minutes to play. After three straight runs, Danville forced a Shamokin punt and a good return put them in business at the Indian 40. A first down by the Ironmen had the ball at the Shamokin 30, but four straight incompletions ended the threat.

Key Moments

Shamokin coach Dave Zielinskie burning two timeouts on defense early in the game set the tone for the defense in the first half. After an early lead, he could see the Central Blue Jays dancing in his head.

With over 5 minutes left in the third Danville's Andrew Schoop scrambled for a 10-yard gain and first down near the Danville bench. There were some extracariculars and the Ironmen were whistled for two deadball personal fouls going back to the 18 and making it a second and 30 situation. What happened? We don't know. 9.9 times out of 10 over the years the yellow laundry has gone against Shamokin.

Shamokin's secondary held Danville to six completions for the game. Not bad when you consider Mike Zielinskie a starter last year hasn't played all season. Jared Montgomery was not dressed. Nick Domanskie played but was nursing an injury from Shik. A senior starter was dismissed in the preseason. Tyler Dirienzo has not suited up all season. With the injuries and if he was healthy, he may have seen some time on defense.

Give the game ball to the offensive and defense lines who set the tone in the first half and never quit in the second half.

Did you notice?

After heavy showers in the pregame, it didn't rain for four quarters.

I don't know if this change was made against Shik, but coach Todd Nye was down on the field and coach Ed Zack was in the box.

The longest pass completion for Shamokin was 53 yards on a half back option.

Going foward although the Indian's played great in the first half, they have Selinsgrove coming to town who were 28-3 winners over Berwick. Shamokin's offense didn't have an answer for the defensive adjustments made by the Ironmen at the half.

The last win over a team not named Shikellamy was Jersey Shore in 2006.

Dave Zielinskie declines coaches interview

"Nothing to Say"

Normally at this time every week, I post the interview with the home coach of the game BILL95 will be broadcasting. This week's game is between the Danville Ironmen and Shamokin Area Indians. Dave Zielinskie declined to comment about this week's game so we will repect his wishes.

UPDATE: Coach Z. simply turned down the interview at practice. It wasn't a matter of not showing or not calling. I check out practice regardless. He didn't have a comment for week 5 and that was it.

Dave Zielinskie interview for game with Central Columbia

I had the opportunity to talk to Shamokin head coach Dave Zielinskie about this week's game Central Columbia. We both agreed that this was make or break game of the season for the Indians. Coming out of the gate at 0-2 with losses to Southern and Mount Carmel, this game will tell if Shamokin has a shot at .500 or better or will end up like the two previous seasons.

We were surprised last week when Central was leading Danville 35-15 about the time the Coal Bucket game was over. One paper had picked Danville to win 35-13. Central has had it's share of hard times recently.

With a win over Central, Shamokin will be favored against Shikellamy in Week 4. The Indians would be 2-2 after four weeks with some renewed hope and possibly some confidence. We will know a little more after Friday night.