Montoursville stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, trailing by 35 at halftime en route to losing 35-7 to Mifflinburg in a battle of state-ranked teams at home Friday night.

“You can’t turn the ball over. We turned the ball over with some miscommunications on defense and missed tackles. There’s no secret, it’s just not good football. It was obviously a really bad first half,” Montoursville coach Joe Hanna said. “Credit to them, they have a really good team, and they took advantage of our miscues, and that’s what good teams do. It’s like I told the team, ‘you have to be fundamentally sound, and you can’t turn the ball over.”

Montoursville opened the game with an interception by Kane Moore of Mifflinburg star quarterback Chad Martin on the game’s first play from scrimmage. But they almost immediately gave it right back to Mifflinburg when Elijah Eck was intercepted by Jackson Griffith. A few plays later, Martin found Seth Hartman behind the Warrior defense for a 20-yard touchdown at the midway point of the first quarter.

After Eck was intercepted once again on his next passing attempt by Landon Moser, Moser capped off the ensuing drive with the first of his four 1st-half touchdowns to put the Wildcats up 14-0.

Elijah Eck of Montoursville drops back to pass the ball against Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montoursville had their best drive of the first half when Hayden Harvey broke off two big runs to get them into the red zone with a chance to get back into the game. But the drive stalled, and Adam Shearer’s field goal attempt drifted wide left. Mifflinburg quickly capitalized with a great drive, scoring on a three-yard run Moser to go up 21-0, and the rout was on.

When Montoursville turned the ball over again, this time on a fumble, Moser once again made them play. He took a swing pass 30 yards for another score.

Moser wasn’t done terrorizing the Warrior defense. He capped off the scoring with a sensational 53-yard touchdown run with 2:32 left left in the first half to make it 35-0 against a shellshocked Montoursville team in a game most expected to be close.

With the score spiraling out of control in the first half, Montoursville was taken completely out of what they wanted to do on offense, which was to run the ball with Harvey and Christian Banks and run play-action off of a successful run game.

“We were going to run the ball and also take our shots and use some play action. Once you get down early, though, it’s tougher to run the football,” Hanna said. “When your offense is putting your defense in holes and the other team is scoring, it just makes it harder on both sides of the ball.”

Landon Moser of Mifflinburg scores a touchdown in the final minutes of the first half against Montoursville at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montoursville played much better in a running-clock second-half, holding the Wildcats scoreless on multiple drives with both team’s starters still in. And they got a score of their own when Hayden Harvey scored from five yards out midway through the 4th quarter. That’s a pretty small consolation prize for a team that started out 3-0 and played in front of a huge crowd on Friday.

But Hanna knows the goals this team has set are still in front of them.

“Win or lose it’s a Week 4 game. You can’t peak in Week 4,” Hanna said. “The kids know that it’s a long season. We’ve got to focus on next week and try to get better.

Christian Banks of Montoursville fumbles the ball and Kaiden Kmett of Mifflinburg recovers it at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montoursville students cheer for their team against Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Christian Banks (0) of Montoursville tries to stop the run by Chad Martin of Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hayden Harvey of Montoursville is taken down by Jackson Griffith of Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Kingston Fisher of Montoursville tries to tackle Landen Murray of Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montoursville run onto the field before the start of their game against Mifflinburg at Montoursville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette