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Jersey Shore capped another undefeated season by blanking Central Mountain 24-0

By Chris Masse 8 min read

JERSEY SHORE--As players and coaches posed for postgame pictures they did not avoid the mud which felt more like quicksand. Some kneeled right into it and others laid in it.

This is Jersey Shore and the Bulldogs have never been afraid to get dirty. And they never run from a challenge. So playing a tough opponent in the pouring rain on a field which was a quagmire before kickoff never rattled it Friday night at Thomspon Street Stadium.

It was perfect Jersey Shore weather. And for a second straight year, Jersey Shore closed the regular season perfect.

The defense made a tremendous first-quarter goal-line stand, Haydn Packer ran for 125 yards and Brady Jordan threw two touchdowns as Jersey Shore blanked rival Central Mountain, 24-0 and capped a second straight undefeated regular season. The Bulldogs (10-0, 5-0) also captured their third straight outright HAC-I championship, scored 24 second-half points and have won a district-high 19 straight regular-season games.

How Jersey Shore won last night perfectly captured how it has reached such lofty heights.

"We're out there every day, whatever it is. We work in this weather. It's just what we do," two-way lineman Zach Rooney, covered from head to toe in mud, said after an outstanding performance. "We play together, we play as a team. We just had to play our roles and focus on our jobs and get it done."

Jersey Shore did just that, dominating the second half after Central Mountain (6-4) delivered its best shot throughout the first half. The Bulldogs made a series of timely stops before Cayden Hess's super 36-yard touchdown catch less than two minutes into the second quarter triggered a 17-point flurry. Jordan's 28-yard touchdown pass to Connor Griffin sealed the victory, sending Jersey Shore's into next week's District 4 Class AAAA semifinals on a high.

The three-time defending champions are the top seed and will host either Mifflinburg or Lewisburg next weekend.

"We just went in at halftime and put on the whiteboard, '10-0 or 9-1,' and said, 'I don't think any of us are going to be able to live with this 9-1 stuff, especially playing your rival," Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish said. "We said, 'We have confidence in you, we know what you can do and we have a bunch of senior leaders who have been around this block before and we're going to need a great kickoff second half, great coverage and some really good defense. We got better field position, then we got some scores and started to separate a little bit."

"The halftime speech was, 'One play. One play is going to bust this open,'" Hess said. "We just have to keep pounding the rock and getting at it."

Hess was the one who finally broke that rock.

After Luke Springman recovered a fumble at Central Mountain's 27-yard line, a penalty pushed the ball back to the 42 and Jersey Shore faced a third-and-19 two plays later. Jordan rolled right and was under fire when he shot a pass 20 yards downfield. The ball squirted through the defender's hands, bounced into the air and Hess made the spectacular catch before going untouched and capping the game-changing 36-yard scoring play.

Hess's 28th career touchdown also gave him the area record for touchdown catches to go along with his receptions and yardage records. What a way to do it.

"I just saw the ball in the air and that doesn't happen very often in these conditions so I was like, 'I have to make the best of this.' He made a great play on the ball but in these conditions it went right through his hands and popped right up and it was right in my lap," Hess said. "I think that got the crowd involved. Sitting in the stands in this weather is tough and that got them excited and got our team excited and fired up."

That spark soon became an inferno as Jersey Shore took control on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs scored on all three third-quarter possessions with Breck Miller's 20-yard field goal a series later, making it 10-0. Packer then produced the run of the night, somehow making an excellent cut in the mud and going 28 yards for a touchdown which gave Jersey Shore 17 points in 10 minutes, 10 seconds after being shutout in the first half.

Rooney, Springman, Dierk Stetts, Jared Palski, Donald Steinbacher and tight end Connor Davis took control up front as Packer and Elijah Jordan (84 yards) started ripping off quality chunk plays. And when Central Mountain slowed the run, Jordan went up top for the game-clincher finding Griffin down the left sideline and making it 24-0.

"That no-huddle really digs into them after the second quarter. Once we start playing together and playing our roles good things happen," Rooney said. "It's pretty much playing your role, focusing on your job and everything will work out."

A similar mentality helped the defense surge against a potent offense. The Bulldogs turned away Central Mountain five times after the Wildcats moved inside the 45-yard line, including twice in the red zone and three times in the first half. Rooney was a beast up front and made three tackles for loss while fellow linemen Springman, Stetts, Davis and Tate Sechrist stuffed the run, holding Central Mountain five rushing yards. Packer and fellow linebacker Karter Peacock also had strong games and that strong collective performance came shining through at the most opportune time early in the game.

Following a blocked punt and sensational 28-yard catch by Tyler Weaver, Central Mountain had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. The Wildcats were so close to building an early lead but Jersey Shore never let it happen. Karter Peacock made a big stop for no gain on first down and Jersey Shore held Central Mountain to one yard on the next play. Rooney and Springman stood up quarterback Brett Gerlach for no gain before Kooper Peacock broke into the backfield, tipped Gerlach's fourth-down pass and helped it fall incomplete as Hess stepped in front of the receiver at the goal line.

"It was huge. It definitely set the tone for how we're coming," Hess said. "With these field conditions it's crazy out there, so that was big."

"Coach (defensive coordinator Alex) Jackson and all the coaches always preach that they're not in there yet," Gravish said. "And we're not going to allow them to get in there unless they earn it."

Central Mountain has earned a lot of success the last two years and will play in its second straight District 6 championship next week against Hollidaysburg. The Wildcats have secured their first winning season since 2009 and pushed last year's Eastern Region champions hard. Weaver dazzled in the rain, making a series of big catches while producing a career-high eight catches for 93 yards. Connor Foltz also made some clutch grabs, finishing with four catches and Gerlach handled the ball well, throwing for 129 yards.

Linebacker Micah Walizer was all over the field, helping fuel Central Mountain's defense and linemen Ronnie Ergott and Giovanni Tarantella made some big plays early. Central Mountain forced Jersey Shore to punt five times in the first half and showed no fear against one of the state's premier programs.

"Their quarterback did a great job getting rid of it and having a good grip on the ball and their receivers made nice catches," Gravish said. "Shanon (Central Mountain coach Shanon Manning) is doing a great job and credit to their guys from playing a good game."

Central Mountain went down fighting and three straight Weaver catches followed by a Foltz grab moved the ball to the Jersey Shore 11-yard line early in the third quarter. Again, though, Jersey Shore stiffened and Griffin's interception near the end zone ended the threat.

Nothing came easy against Central Mountain, but Jersey Shore enjoyed the challenge. That is what this program thrives on and that is a large reason it has produced three undefeated regular seasons since 2014. A year after graduating 18 seniors from a state finalist, Jersey Shore heard the doubters saying it might take a step back and has kept the tradition going strong.

Obviously, more work remains but going 10-0 while facing a daunting schedule again is mighty impressive.

"We heard a lot of chatter since the end of last year that we lost 18 seniors and we challenged our guys all offseason that we think you guys can be successful and we have some good newcomers coming in," Gravish said. "Hat's off to the seniors to have a second straight undefeated regular season record. Playing the schedule we play, it's tough to do. To do it against our rival tonight with them all pumped up and being a 5A school, I'm really proud of our guys and assistant coaches and everybody in the whole organization.

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