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MILL HALL-- A key decider in Central Mountain's games this season has been its efforts on the defensive end and its ability (or inability) to tackle. The Wildcats (2-5) hosted a red hot Selinsgrove Seals (6-0-1) squad and needed a lot of defense to stop the Seals' rushing attack. It didn't get near the effectiveness required as the Seals won its sixth game in seven weeks, 49-14, dominating Central Mountain in the first half at Malinak Stadium on Friday night.
Central Mountain made the score closer than it appeared by scoring a touchdown right before the conclusion of the first half and punched in a mid-third quarter as wide receiver Connor Foltz scored after Tom Sprague found him on a nice 41-yard connection to close the first half. And in the third Rocco Serafini scored on a 31-yard run but in reality, Selinsgrove was always in the driver's seat.
The Seals put together a dominant first half led by senior running back Tucker Teats who exploded with 82 yards on four carries that resulted in three first-half touchdowns. Ethan Miller added two touchdowns and QB Mark Pastore added a TD throw to Teats that concluded a remarkable 24 minutes for the visitors.
"They're explosive. They came out, made some nice blocks, they found some holes and we weren't able to tackle," Central Mountain coach Travis Thompson said after the loss. "Teats is the real deal, he deserves to be respected; he made us miss and when he didn't make us miss he pushed us out of the way, so hats off to him he was a strong runner."
Coach Thompson was spot on. Teats is not only the real deal, but he runs like a collegiate running back. The senior back came into the contest averaging 147 yards per game, so it wasn't like the Wildcats were unaware of his ability to make cuts in the backfield and turn on the jets to give Selinsgrove momentum.
Teats is an engine for the Seals. The strength he provided, trucking over Central Mountain's front seven and stiff-arming defenders in the secondary, gives the Seals all the more a boost it needs.
The elite back scored his first touchdown one minute, 50 seconds into the game and was back into the endzone again following a Central Mountain 3-and-out. Teats scored his second TD on a 14-yard pass from Pastore that had the Seals ahead two touchdowns on eight plays, four-and-a-half minutes into the game.
His spark then gave his running back partner Ethan Miller, who rushed for two TDs in the first half, a boost. Miller scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and Teats closed the quarter getting into the endzone, but the two worked together in the backfield to help the Seals bolster a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter that put the game out of reach by mid-second quarter.
Central Mountain had four first downs in the first half but many of those came after Selinsgrove already took a 49-point lead and began to relax a bit.
"Unfortunately this week we were suffering from some injuries as well. We suffered injuries and had some limitations, especially in our defensive line so gameplan wise we knew we were at a deficit, so to speak, but we did our best with it all week," coach Thompson said. "We prepped for it and at the end we just didn't execute."
While the first half solely belonged to Selinsgrove, Central Mountain had some positives in the second half. Selinsgrove had already put in its second unit but the Wildcats' defense adjusted well by not giving up any points. And offensively it was able to put up points on the board.
Serafini rushed for 63 second-half yards and added a touchdown in the third to make the score more respectable.
Foltz was denied all night, coming away with just two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown and Serafini totaled just 95 yards on 27 carries. Sprague finished 5 of 9 for 90 yards and a TD to Foltz and had a couple nice throws to Dom Longworth, who made two catches for 41 yards, along with Mack Saar. But those came in the first half when the Wildcats were chipping away at its typical chunk yards.
"Offensively our game plan coming in this week was to get 3-4 yards per carry, move the ball for short gains (because) they have a great defense and they fly to the ball," coach Thompson said. "So, we looked at taking chunks of yards at a time. We were able to do that at certain points and we missed some opportunities with the pass. In the second half I was happy with how we came out and executed so that's definitely a plus for us."
Central Mountain began the peak of its schedule Friday against Selinsgrove. The Wildcats will now prepare for District 3 5A Garden Spot who is coming off a one-point loss to conference-leading powerhouse Twin Valley.
The goal for the Wildcats is to regroup and refocus for another tough opponent comes in less than one week.
"That's a great question, we'll find that out tomorrow (Saturday)," coach Thompson chuckled about how he plans to prepare for Garden Spot.