Schuylkill Haven rips Panthers
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — So what does Scott Price say after his Panthers took a 76-0 drubbing from the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes?
“We got smacked in the mouth tonight and we didn’t respond,” he said. “We’ll see what kind of team we are at practice this week as we prepare for Mahanoy.”
As Price looks past this debacle, he is keeping his eye upon the prize. “We still have a good shot to make the playoffs and that’s always been our most important goal.”
The game started off on a bad note for Panther Valley (3-5) and it only got worse. They fumbled the opening kick off and three plays later, Haven running back, Kobe Brish, who rushed for 256 yards and six touchdowns on the night, broke through the right side for a nine-yard score.
After PV gained a first down on a Hurricane penalty, they were forced to punt from their own 27. On first down from his own 47, Brish sliced through the left side of the Panther defense and bolted for a 53 yard score. Following an interception by Brish and a return to the PV five, Haven’s Jake Luckenbill punched it in from the one and the route was on.
The Hurricanes would score six of its 11 touchdowns in a 42 point second quarter, highlighted by two more TD runs by Brish and two long pass and run plays from quarterback, Josh Kalyan to Brandon Koch. Then with just 15 seconds to go before the intermission, Kalyan intercepted a Panther pass and raced 40 yards down the left sideline to lift the score to 63-0 at the half.
“We played with a lot of energy tonight,” said Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr. “It was our homecoming and that first turnover set the tone. We controlled the box and we just took what they gave us.”
On its opening series of the second half, Haven drove five plays and 55 yards as Brish raced 24 yards to keep the mercy clock running.
In the fourth quarter, Panther Valley was able to move the line of scrimmage from its own 20 to the Haven 45, where the Panthers turned the ball over on downs.
After Schuylkill Haven’s substitutes failed to get a first down, the starters returned and on a fourth and short, Brish took the hand off and ran 35 yards down the right sideline for the final score of the game.
The farthest PV could get to in the game was to the Haven 31 late in the fourth quarter. Other than a few good kick returns that gave the Panthers decent field position, they never mounted a serious scoring threat.
THE DEVIL MADE THEM DO IT ... It was enough for the Panthers to deal with Haven’s high-powered offense, but there might have been some bad spirits as well that led to the rout. The winning 50-50 ticket’s last three numbers announced at half time were 666.
FLAGS FLYING EVERYWHERE ... About the only criticism one might give to a team that wins by such a lopsided score was the lack of the Hurricane’s discipline at the line of scrimmage. They were flagged for 11 penalties that totaled 75 yards.
