TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain quarterback Kyle Everett hands the ball off to Dalton McDermott (24) during a home football game against Bloomsburg on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025.

MILL HALL – At the tail end of Friday’s second quarter, hope at Dan Malinak Stadium seemed to be at its highest point in years. Central Mountain (0-4) was gaining momentum, forcing a three-and-out fresh off its first score of 2025. And in response, the fans were the loudest they’d been all season.

But as steadily as that buzz had grown, as the Wildcats cut the deficit to 7-3 and kept up the defensive intensity, it’d dissipate in a flash. Ricky Rohrbach muffed the ensuing punt, and Selinsgrove took over near midfield, getting to work charging downfield and making Central Mountain regret the costly mistake.

One penalty and three plays later, Selinsgrove (1-3) widened the gap, scoring seven of what would end up being 20 unanswered points. Though the Wildcats outgained their Heartland-I foe, penalties and continued mistakes cost them in the long run, as they fell to the Seals, 27-3, to drop to 0-4 on the season.

“The penalties we committed all game, we pretty much handed them the game,” said Central Mountain head coach Travis Thompson following the team’s 16th straight loss. “We had some good things going at times, instance where we broke off some runs, had good ball movement and some passes we weren’t able to capitalize on early.”

“The pieces were there. We just shot ourselves in the foot.”

By the end of the first half, Central Mountain had racked up 80 penalty yards. It was a trend that didn’t ruin their chances initially, as two pass-interference calls were rendered mute by a Selinsgrove fumble, but would eventually place them a step behind.

On Selinsgrove’s third offensive drive, with the score still knotted at 0-0 heading into the second, shotty defense on third-and-long and a personal foul allowed it to effectively flip the field, going from one 30 to the other.

Another penalty helped them to pick up an easy first down two plays later. And from there, it wasn’t long before Brett Rice (24 rushes, 128 yards) was punching in his first of two touchdowns to put the Seals on the board.

Later on, Central Mountain’s fourth 15-yard penalty would turn a bad situation following its muffed punt into a dire one, immediately advancing the Seals into its territory with just over a minute to go in the half. In terms of momentum. Coupled with the fumble, it was enough to zap the life out of the Wildcats’ defense, which gave up a 24-yard passing touchdown just four plays later.

“There’s an opportunity to go back, put some points on the board before halftime, get us in a good position to come out and drive down the field, and we just didn’t capitalize,” said Thompson on the sequence.

“It’s tough. These kids are high school kids, and they put a lot of pressure on themselves. They want to win. You can coach them up, but they get out here on Friday and they’re still kids. Kids make those mistakes.”

With the team facing a 14-3 deficit after halftime, its offense was never able to replicate the opportunity that presented itself late in the second, putting together promising drives but only getting back to Selinsgrove’s redzone after it was far too late.

A turnover on downs ended its opening, second-half drive, which got past Selinsgrove’s 40 thanks to a long kick return from Gavin Heverly. Two drives later, it made it to the edge of the red zone, but the Seals held firm again, this time blocking Mycah Carson’s 41-yard field goal attempt.

“We can’t have the negative plays,” said Thompson on the offense. “It was the gameplan going in, cut out the negative plays, cut out the penalties, cut out the tackles for losses.”

While the defense held the Seals scoreless through the third, Selinsgrove narrowed Central Mountain’s chances with a four-minute touchdown drive, then dropped the hammer with a 60-yard pick six, cementing another tough loss for this Wildcat squad. From there, two last-ditch efforts to score their first touchdown of the season fell short.

The overall loss overshadowed Central Mountain’s most positive performance of the season so far. Its defense held Selinsgrove’s run game largely in check until late, forced and recovered two fumbles, forced three three-and-outs and ultimately, allowed just 20 points and 205 yards.

And offensively, the team put together its best drive of the season, driving 67 yards down the field in 15 plays before finally cracking the scoreboard. Though it didn’t result in a touchdown, Mycah Carson’s 27-yard field goal was more than enough to ignite the crowd, an exciting moment for the developing program.

Dalton McDermott (23 rushes, 93 yards) surpassed 90 rushing yards for the second straight game. Ricky Rohrbach and Mason Masorti had a 47-yard run and 26-yard reception respectively, with Rohrbach accumulating 77 yards on five touches. And the offense traversed past midfield five times.

Though the road gets tougher in the coming weeks, with Shamokin (4-0) next on its radar, Thompson remains optimism that this team can right its wrongs, build on its positives and see some success. Whether or not it can pull off a win remains to be seen, but it flashed more positives on Friday, positives it’ll look to carry forward.

“We’ve shown that we can play with anybody. It’s just the missteps that we have to correct,” said Thompson. “I believe in the guys, and they believe in each other. And as they come back to work, we’re going to keep working and keep grinding.”