MOUNT CARMEL-Things continue to trend upward for Mount Carmel. For a fourth consecutive week, the Red Tornadoes rolled to a dominant victory. An ever-evolving offense moved the ball with ease early and often against an overmatched Milton defense that couldn’t find answers. Mount Carmel racked up 393 yards in the first half, as the Red Tornadoes were in control from start to finish in a 48-25 win.

“It was fun to go out and watch these guys make some big plays, very encouraging,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “I thought we had a really, really great start to the game. There was a moment towards the end of the first quarter, we blinked a little bit, gave up a big play, so there are some things we’ve got to tighten up, but I thought we did that. We became a little bit more disciplined, gang tackled a little bit better, so that was good to see as well.”

Mount Carmel (5-4) needed just one play to get on the scoreboard. Cooper Karycki took a handoff off the left side, broke several tackles, navigated his way through some traffic, and was off to the races on a 74-yard touchdown run just 21 seconds into the game. Karycki finished with 105 yards on only five carries, and also made a huge contribution of defense by returning an interception 21 yards for a touchdown which gave Mount Carmel a 27-0 lead with 2:54 left in the first quarter. Karycki did leave with an injury later in the first half.

“I thought Cooper had a phenomenal game,” Darrah said. “A couple of big runs, the pick-six, good defensive game. Hopefully he’s alright, but I thought the way he opened the game was just an electric run.”

Milton (3-6) saw its District 4 playoff hopes take a significant hit with the loss and a Danville win over Shikellamy. The Black Panthers committed five turnovers and had trouble stopping a Mount Carmel offense that looks to be gaining more steam with each passing week. Monte Fisher, who is as valuable to his team as anyone around, did his best to keep Milton in it by breaking loose on a 73-yard run to paydirt late in the first quarter, but ultimately the one-dimensional offense couldn’t keep pace.

“We knew every play that they were going to run on offense, and their guys just wanted it more,” Milton coach Matt Wilson said. “You can’t spot someone 20 or 27 points in the first quarter, and especially when we don’t have a passing game, we’re a run-oriented team. It’s hard to come back when you’re down by two scores. All those things are not a good recipe for winning a game. We shot ourselves in the foot, and a lot of self-reflection will be taken on next week.”

Jaylen Delaney continues to be a threat every time he gets a touch, but like Karycki, he spent some time down on the field late in the first half. Delaney scored on a 4-yard run, and was wide open on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Marshalek that pushed the lead to 41-12 with 4:15 left before halftime. Marshalek completed all five of his passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, while Delaney totaled 138 total yards from scrimmage to go with two scores of his own.

“He’s definitely a big play guy,” Darrah said of Delaney. “The big thing was early in the year was just being able to get these guys more touches. With doing what we’re doing, we’ve been able to do that, and when these guys get the ball in their hands, they’re definitely dangerous.”

Fisher leads all of District 4 in rushing with almost 1,400 yards. He finished the game with 205 yards on 25 carries. The senior had plenty of runs out of the quarterback position and also lined up at running back on occasion. Fisher scored his 17th touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run in the second quarter where he faced some resistance, but did manage to get across the goal line on fourth down.

“He prides himself on his work ethic outside of the season with the lifting and the speed and agility,” Wilson said of Fisher. “You can see that translates to the football field, he’s our bell cow. We had issues at quarterback at the beginning of the season, and so we said, let’s put our best player in a position to have the ball all the time.”

Michael Kimsal was the other Mount Carmel player to find the end zone twice. Kimsal scored on a 16-yard touchdown catch and 3-yard touchdown run, as he tallied 68 yards on nine carries. Darrah made a midseason change from the Wing-T and brought back an offense that generated positive results in the past. That offense will be put to the test next week as the Red Tornadoes will travel to unbeaten Shamokin for the annual Coal Bucket game. Mount Carmel has wrapped up the third seed in the District 4 Class 3A playoffs, and will do its best to keep the good vibes coming.

“I think we’re playing our best football right now,” Darrah said. “I think our guys are very confident, I think they’re hungry. We went through a lot of adversity this year, and these guys are ready to roll.”