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Montoursville loses to Selinsgrove in regular-season finale

By EVAN WHEATON 5 min read
EVAN WHEATON/Sun-Gazette Nick Reeder practices for Montoursville prior to Friday's game at home against Selinsgrove.

With a chance at earning the No. 1 seed and a first round bye for the District 4 Class AAA high school football playoffs, Montoursville needed to come out with a win over Selinsgrove.

The Seals -- who've shut out four opponents and have only let up 110 this season -- came to Memorial Stadium on Friday hoping to assume the No. 2 seed in Class AAAA.

After a late insurance touchdown via a 4-yard run from Brandon Hile (16 carries, 109 yards), Selinsgrove kneeled out a 21-10 win over Montoursville.

The Seals (7-3) are the No. 2 seed in Class AAAA and will host Shamokin in the semifinals. With the loss, the Warriors (5-5) will host an opponent to be determined.

All offense was washed away during the second quarter. Montoursville and Selinsgrove went three-and-out for five straight series, the rain picking up as much as the punts in the monsoon.

The Warriors finally broke the cycle with four straight first downs on four consecutive plays, aided by two 15-yard penalties on the Seals.

For all of its efforts, Montoursville settled for a 30-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Wyatt Fry to cut the Warriors deficit to 7-3 with 19 seconds left before halftime.

"That's a big kick by a kid who hasn't kicked for us much. We have a bunch of soccer players on our team kicking, and Wyatt Fry comes in tonight, doesn't even know he's kicking," Montoursville coach Mike Boughton said. "Mason Winslow has been kicking for us, broke his ankle at a soccer game. So, Wyatt came in and stepped up huge, big field goal there to give us momentum going into the half. That's what we need out of those types of kids."

Hile put Selinsgrove on the board with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter with a 26-yard sweep to the right after a penalty pushed the Seals back to a 3rd and long situation.

Most of the offense across both teams was kept on the ground. Throughout the first half, the Seals had just one pass attempt from sophomore quarterback Mark Pastore. After the break, both squads aired it out more.

"Yesterday our coaches brought out a water bucket. We knew this rain was going to be here," Montoursville quarterback Maddix Dalena said. "I was prepared, we were prepared to throw the ball. We knew it was going to be like this and we came out trying to keep it an even balance running and passing."

The Warriors found that balance during their final drive of the second quarter, but it was the Seals who struck first through the air. Pastore dropped back and aired out a 48-yard walk-in touchdown pass to senior Nate Aument on the first snap of a drive.

Montoursville clapped back with a one-play scoring drive of its own immediately after. Dalena floated the ball to senior Isaiah Fenner for their own walk-in score of 38 yards 16 seconds later.

"There wasn't a big crowd like there usually is, but our sideline, the underclassmen kind of took the role of the stadium and the spectators," Dalena said. "Just hearing them scream, it gave us momentum to score that touchdown."

Dalena completed six of his 11 passes for 83 yards. With just three receptions for Selinsgrove on the night, the Warriors looked to get more production in the passing game.

"We saw that we'd have to throw the ball to open it up," Boughton said. "If it was going to be a grind-it-out-and-punt all day long, we'd have to take our shots."

With senior running back Rocco Pulizzi out with an injury, Montoursville's backfield was commanded by Dylan Blackwell. Blackwell rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries and added an 11-yard reception.

A two-way player with linebacker duties, Blackwell filled the void of Pulizzi, a workhorse running back who has 1,141 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year.

"He's definitely stepped it up a lot. This is pretty much his first year playing both sides of the ball and I think he's doing an amazing job as the backup for Rocco," Dalena said on Blackwell. "He's good at cutting (and) finding the holes he needs to get extra yards in for us."

Boughton added, "Dylan stepped up all year and is a really great running back, plays a lot of defense. Unlike Rocco where Rocco goes one way, Dylan Blackwell's on both sides of the ball all the time and ran his but off tonight. (He) ran really hard and always gives his best effort when he has that opportunity to run the ball."

Late in the third quarter, the Warriors blocked a field goal attempt to keep the Seals within range. In the end, both teams had less than 10 first downs apiece and struggled to keep momentum. Nine sacks between both teams also kept each offense at bay.

"Number one, you're playing in a monsoon, then you have two really good defensive teams," Boughton said. "Our defense really stepped up tonight, we got some kids healthy on the defensive side of the ball and are playing lights out defensively."

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