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Jersey Shore punishes Selinsgrove and captures fifth straight district championship

By Chris Masse 9 min read

JERSEY SHORE–The gold medals and celebratory photos came after Jersey Shore fought off a determined Selinsgrove team and captured another championship.

But really, the roots for what produced this latest trophy started growing long before. Because without the countless hours spent training when nobody was watching, Jersey Shore would never have enjoyed a large celebration with its loyal fans who packed the Thompson Street Stadium stands well before kickoff Thursday night.

Make no mistake, Jersey Shore paid the price for those medals. And, with the district’s biggest prize at stake Thursday, the Bulldogs sent Selinsgrove the bill.

Brady Jordan ran for 184 yards, Hadyn Packer scored two second-half touchdowns and a dominant defense squeezed the life from a dangerous opponent as Jersey Shore routed Selinsgrove, 35-7 and captured its fifth straight District 4 Class AAAA championship. Tate Sechrist returned a fumble for the game’s opening score, the defensive line swarmed and the Bulldogs became just the second team in District 4 history to win five straight championships.

“It feels amazing. It’s a lot of hard work that we’ve put in and that we continue to put in,” two-way lineman Luke Springman said after playing a fantastic game. “It all comes down to summer workouts and coaches getting us there and everyone working together. It’s lifting all the time, playing hard at practice and staying focused throughout every week.”

Jersey Shore (12-0) has done that over the past five seasons and this relentless work ethic has it state tournament bound for a fifth consecutive year. The Bulldogs will play District 11’s champion, either Bethlehem Catholic or Allentown Central Catholic, next weekend at a District 4 site to be determined. Becahi and Central Catholic play for the District 11 crown Saturday.

Selinsgrove (9-3) made Jersey Shore earn this latest district title the hard way, giving it its toughest game this season. The Bulldogs led 14-0 at halftime but delivered a fabulous third quarter performance to open things up and take a 28-0 lead. Meanwhile, the defense allowed just 122 yards and bottled up an opponent which had produced 88 points in its last two games.

Jersey Shore mercy-ruled 10 of 11 previous opponents, but showed Thursday that it can excel, too, when nothing comes easy.

“We just had to keep pushing ourselves,” Packer said after running for 84 yards and helping fuel the nasty defense with nine tackles. “This group of players has worked so hard for this, so it feels great.”

“It’s crazy to think that we’ve won five straight,” Elijah Jordan said after running for 97 yards, while playing well on defense and special teams. “It’s awesome to win it on the home field in front of all the fans. It means a lot.”

Jersey Shore blanked Selinsgrove, 63-0 in Week 3 but that was a much different Seals team, one missing seven starters, including 1,000-yard quarterback Mark Pastore and 1,000-yard running back Tucker Teats. Selinsgrove had steamrolled its way to six straight wins and its defense contained Jersey Shore throughout the first half, allowing just 117 yards.

Despite that, the Bulldogs still led 14-0. Jordan (258 total yards) ripped off a 44-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, making it a two-score game. The defense helped set the tone on Selinsgrove’s third play when the line forced a fumble which Sechrist scooped and returned 40 yards for the game’s first points. It was the second straight season in which Sechrist returned a playoff fumble for a score and this one helped stall the momentum Selinsgrove produced following a fourth-down stop on Jersey Shore’s initial series.

“Tate Sechrist with that beautiful scoop and score got us off strong to start the game,” Packer said. “Sometimes it’s not working on offense, and you just have to do it defensively.”

Jersey Shore did. Again, and again and…

The Bulldogs forced two turnovers with Dathan Tyson’s interception setting up Jersey Shore at the Selinsgrove 44 and Jordan scoring on the next play. It also produced five sacks, forced eight punts and repeatedly forced Pastore into making hurried throws. And when the offense came alive in the third quarter, Jersey Shore really started punishing the Seals, limiting them to minus-1 yard on three possessions.

Zach Rooney (two sacks, 12 tackles) was a force and Springman (10 tackles), Sechrist (10 tackles, 1 ½ sacks), Dierk Stetts and Max Engle frequently were driving linemen deep into the backfield. Those five combined for five sacks and Engle shined in his first start, filling in for injured Gabe Andrus at defensive end.

“Our defense has always been good, and we always trust each other no matter what. The defense trusts the offense and the offense trusts the defense,” Springman said. “No matter what, we have everyone’s back. The team trusts the team and that’s all that matters.”

That trust was apparent at halftime. Packer delivered a passionate speech, and the coaching staff made some adjustments. Nobody focused on what went wrong, but what could be done better and what could be accomplished with 24 minutes of strong football. When others might break apart, Jersey Shore pulled closer together.

Then Jersey Shore put words into action. Offensive linemen Springman, Rooney, Stetts, Jared Palski, Dyson Delaney and Owen Vandruff started imposing their will and the Bulldogs produced 323 second half yards. The coaches moved those linemen around, switched up the plan of attack and then watched the players bring all those adjustments together.

The Jordan brothers started gashing Selinsgrove and highlighted the first third-quarter scoring drive, Elijah igniting it with a 19-yard run and Brady following with a 14-yarder. Packer capped the march with a three-yard scoring plunge and Jersey Shore went ahead, 21-0. Brady Jordan ran for 136 second-half yards and Elijah made a big difference as well, gashing Selinsgrove for 88 of his 97 yards.

“It was exciting to show what I can do,” Elijah Jordan said. “I just had to play hard, stay focused and show them what I could do.”

He and all his teammates did quite a lot. Jersey Shore started wearing down a strong, physical and stingy defense. The Bulldogs often use the analogy that while times may be challenging, if they keep pounding the rock, they can make it crumble.

When Packer took the handoff on third down late in the third quarter, he shattered that rock into pieces. Going over 1,000 yards for a second straight season, Packer exploded through a hole, ran over some would be tacklers and broke loose. He shook off another tackler near the 20-yard line and Packer’s 58-yard touchdown put Jersey Shore up, 28-0.

“I saw my leader blocker Tate Sechrist do a good job sealing off the linebacker,” Packer said. “The linemen stayed on their blocks just long enough to open up that gap and there it was.”

“Our offensive line really played well that second half,” Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish said. “We had six guys play up there and they made some really good adjustments.”

Selinsgrove put together its lone productive drive of the night in the fourth quarter and Pastore ended it with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Seals recovered the onside kick with 7 minutes, 44 seconds remaining but Jersey Shore quickly snuffed out any comeback hopes it still held. The Bulldogs surrendered just three yards on four plays and Engel and Sechrist forced an errant throw on fourth down.

On the next play, Brady Jordan saw a crease on the left side, worked his way through and made a quick cut. The senior then outran speedy Nick Rice and went 58 yards, sealing Jersey Shore’s seventh district title in 10 years.

“We said going into the game that Selinsgrove is going to make a couple plays in the football game. We don’t know when and where but they’re going to make some kind of play and we just have to shake it and focus on the next play,” Gravish said. “We focus a lot on just going to the next play whatever happens. They did a great job doing that.”

Now, Jersey Shore is going on to the next step again. Before preparing for states, however, Jersey Shore was able to bask in the championship light at Thompson Street Stadium one last time as the final minutes ticked away.

This community embraces the team and vice-versa. Nobody there was in any rush to leave. No matter how many times one wins them, championships are incredibly hard to come by.

Especially for the seniors who never will play on their home field again, this was a moment to savor. One whose seeds were planted nearly as soon as the 2021 season concluded.

“It’s special playing here,” Springman said. “I love the town; I love the program, and this is exactly how I wanted my last home game here to end.”

Jersey Shore 35, Selinsgrove 7

Selinsgrove 0 0 0 7-7

Jersey Shore 7 7 14 7-35

First Quarter

J-Tate Sechrist 40-yard fumble return (Breck Miller kick), 9:05

Second Quarter

J-Brady Jordan 44 run (Miller kick), 10:04

Third Quarter

J-Hadyn Packer 3 run (Miller kick), 3:54

J-Packer 59 run (Miller kick), 1:23

Fourth Quarter

S-Mark Pastore 1 run (Carter Young kick), 7:44

J-Jordan 58 run (Miller kick), 6:54

TEAM STATISTICS    S J

First Downs  6 15

Rushes-yards 28-42 45-366

Passing yards      80 74

Comp-Att-Int 16-31-1 5-16-0

Total yards 122 440

Fumbles-lost       2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards    9-67 9-85

INDIVIDUALS

RUSHING: Selinsgrove, Tucker Teats 18-66; Gavin Bastian 1-0; Ethan Miller 1-(-1); Mark Pastore 8-(-23). Jersey Shore, Brady Jordan 17-172, 2 TDs; Elijah Jordan 15-97; Hadyn Packer 10-84, 2 TDs; Tate Sechrist 3-13.

PASSING: Selinsgrove, Pastore 16-30-1, 80 yards; Teats 0-1-0. Jersey Shore, B. Jordan 5-15-1, 74 yards; E. Jordan 0-1-0.

RECEIVING: Selinsgrove, Nick Rice 9-60; Gavin Bastian 6-22; Teats 2-(-2). Jersey Shore, Connor Griffin 3-52; Kooper Peacock 1-12; Sechrist 1-10.

INTERCEPTIONS: Selinsgrove, Caleb Hicks. Jersey Shore, Dathan Tyson.

SACKS: Jersey Shore, Zach Rooney 2, Sechrist 1 1/2, Max Engel, Luke Springman 1/2.

RECORDS: Jersey Shore 12-0. Selinsgrove 9-3.

Starting at /week.