MILL HALL — Central Mountain struggled against Shamokin, but held the District 4 Class AAAA powerhouse to just 35 points in a tough 35-7 loss at home on Friday night in Week 5.

The loss keeps Central Mountain winless as the Wildcats continue to search for their first win of 2025.

Shamokin scored 21 first-quarter points and put Central Mountain into a huge hole that was tough to claw back from at that point.

Logan Steele had a 66-yard touchdown run just 14 seconds into the game to put the Indians ahead, 7-0, before he then had a 14-yard run with 6:51 to play in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead. Shamokin would then see Zakem Clinton score from seven yards out and increase the lead to 21-0 on the next Shamokin possession.

With 3:45 to play until halftime, Shamokin’s Ryan Bickert punched in a 9-yard touchdown run to make it a 28-0 first-half lead.

Trey Taylor caught a 16-yard touchdown from Barrett Walsh with 9:48 to play in the third quarter to give Shamokin its fifth and final touchdown.

Central Mountain avoided the shutout with 3:12 to play when Ricky Rohrbach caught a 50-yard touchdown from Mario Serafini and put points on the board.

Central Mountain didn’t have a ton of success moving the ball, being limited to just five first downs, 53 rushing yards and only 70 passing yards.

Dalton McDermott led the Wildcats’ ground game with 36 rushing yards on 11 carries while Kyle Everett had 14 rushing yards. In the air, Serafini went 1 for 1 for 50 yards and a touchdown. Everett finished the day 5 for 11 for 20 yards.

Shamokin’s Clinton proved to be hard to contain for Central Mountain’s defense as he carried ti 16 times for 145 yards and scored a touchdown. Logan Steele had 87 rushing yards on just four carries and twice found the endzone. As a team, Shamokin ran the ball for 305 yards on 44 carries and ended the game with 346 yards of total offense compared to Central Mountain’s 123.

Central Mountain’s defense did force two fumbles in the loss, and recovered one. However, the Wildcats coughed the ball up three times as Shamokin recovered two of them.

While the loss stings, the touchdown the Wildcats scored was the first touchdown of the season.

The Wildcats (0-5) have a tough schedule remaining with games at Shikellamy (Week 6), vs. Montoursville (Week 7), vs. Mount Carmel (Week 8), at defending state champion Troy (Week 9) and Class AAAA power Jersey Shore (Week 10).