Football - MCA Selinsgrove Recap by Aaron McFee

    On Friday September 2nd, the Silver Bowl opened her gates to a large crowd on both sides anticipating the arrival of the 2011 high school football season.  The Mount Carmel Area Red Tornadoes took on the Selinsgrove Seals on a humid night in the historical coal region venue.  The stadium was filled with electricity as the players took the field for the upcoming battle. 
    The first half stayed scoreless as the teams seemed evenly matched defensively and both offenses struggled with execution.  Many penalties and miscues took place making the first half a long one for coaches and fans alike.
     Near the end of the first quarter the Seals started driving downfield through the air with quarterback Justin Keiser rolling out and keeping the Tornadoes off-balance.   Selinsgrove made it down to Mt. Carmel’s 20 yard line until the 'Big Red' defense held them on a fourth down end around attempt. The Red Tornadoes tried getting something started on offense but failed to do so and both teams got into a punting contest.  Thus the first half ended scoreless and the Seals went in at the half feeling confident as they held the favorite Mt. Carmel to a scoreless tie.
    Coming out in the third quarter the Red Tornadoes were hungry.  Mt. Carmel’s Meyrick Lamb and Cody Shustack, behind a well-disciplined offensive line put together an 81 yard drive that ended with an eight yard touchdown run by Meyrick Lamb.  After a missed extra point the score was Mt. Carmel 6 Selinsgrove 0. For the remainder of the third quarter the teams traded possessions that ended in stalled drives, lost fumbles, and turnovers.  The third quarter came to an end with an errant holding call that gave the Seals a first and ten on the Tornado 28.  On the next series, the Red Tornado defense held the Seals to a second and 23 with the help of a holding penalty.  Mt. Carmel’s Eric Joraskie took matters into his own hands by fighting off his blocker and batting passes down on two consecutive plays.
    After a Seals time out, suspense was building in the Silver Bowl as the Red Tornadoes defense lined up to hold Selinsgrove on a fourth and 23 in Red Tornado territory.  Seals QB Tyler Grien dropped back to pass and Mt. Carmel’s Jacob Kleman intercepted on the Tornado eight yard line.
    On Mt. Carmel’s first offensive play of the fourth quarter, halfback Meyrick Lamb took a hand-off from Varano and appeared to be stopped in the back field.  The Selinsgrove defender made an attempt to steal the football, but Lamb somehow kept his feet, bounced outside, and raced 91 yards up the field for another Red Tornado touchdown. Robby Varano then completed a two-point conversion to Kleman and the score became 14-0 Mt. Carmel.
    The Seals were stopped once again by the Tornado’s relentless defense.  Key players included Eric Joraskie, Tommy Hynoski, Cody Shustack, and Vinny Candelora, each making their presence felt in the Seal’s back field.
    After stopping the Seals once more, Mt. Carmel’s Lucas Klingerman came into the game to return a punt.  Klingerman went right and then cut back against the grain to take the punt 51 yards for another Tornado touchdown. Quarter back Robby Varano then completed another two-point conversion to Jacob Kleman making the score Red Tornadoes 22,  Seals 0.
    Late in the fourth quarter, Mt. Carmel’s second team came in.  Selinsgrove forced a fumble on the Red Tornado’s own 3 yard line and took it in for a score.  With the extra point the final score was Mt. Carmel Area Red Tornadoes 22, Selinsgrove Seals 7.  With the victory the Tornadoes made it two in a row against Selinsgrove and will travel to Lewisburg next week to meet the Green Dragons.

Tornadoes Tame the Mustangs by Eric Joraskie

On September 16th the MCA Big Red Tornadoes took a long ride up to West Perry with the intention to tame the mustangs, and tame them they did. The Tornadoes came away from Elliotsburg with a whopping 53-20 victory. They came out early in a wildcat offense, with tailback Meyrick Lamb at quarterback, and marched right down the field for a quick 6-0 lead. After some stifling defense, the Tornadoes failed to score again; turning the ball over deep in the Mustangs end, but that quickly changed as Lamb intercept and returned a West Perry pass for another Big Red touchdown making the score 13-0.  West Perry got the ball back, and after a few big pass plays they scored a touchdown of their own from inside the Tornadoes red zone bringing the game within 7 points after a failed extra point attempt. After some back and forth play and a short touchdown by the tornadoes, the score came to a total of 20-6.  Lamb scored once more on a 17 yard scamper to make it 26-6 and from that point on the game turned into the rout the final score showed. The Tornadoes ended the game with 7 interceptions, three of them landing in the hands of cornerback Mike Gilger, a sophomore from Lourdes Regional. Both interception marks tied school records. The Tornadoes move on to their next game with a 3-0 record to face the Loyalsock Lancers.

MCA Harriers dash the Bloomsburg Invitational by Brooklyn Brzostowski

Even though the weather was cold and wet, it did not dampen the talent of the girls and boys varsity cross country team when they competed at the Bloomsburg University Invitational Saturday Oct 1. Over 30 schools from across Pennsylvania were featured with over 400 runners. The boys team was led by Mikael Hause who took 3rd, making his personal best of 16.54, with Justin Skavery not far behind also breaking a new personal best of 17.10 giving him 11th place overall.
Leading the girls team with a time of 22.16 and taking 45th place was Cathy Fletcher.  Lauren Hause and Madison Watkins also had a great day; Watkins took 75th, with 23.21 breaking her personal best and Lauren Hause took 74th with a time of 23.20.
Mount Carmel did not let the horrible weather rain on their parade, the boys finished 8th and the girls team 17th. Other runners were Ashley Taggart, Taylor Conches, Johnny Mazurkevich, Grier Maleck, Nate Bartos, Cory Hoffman, and Michael Saukitis. The cross country team competes tonight so come out and support the runners while they race against Bloomsburg and Sullivan County at Lewisburg. Good luck runners!

Tornadoes Rain Down on Lancers by Danny Lesko

    The Red Tornadoes continued to roll as they picked up their fourth victory on a, rainy, muddy, Friday night at the Silver Bowl. The Lancers of Loyalsock Township were in trouble early as the Red Tornadoes jumped on them, posting 28 points in the first quarter, 9 in the second and 6 in the fourth as they got their first shut out of the year, 43-zip. The two leading rushers for the Tornadoes were Meyrick Lamb and Cody Shustack with 8 carries for 78 yards, and 4 carries for 55 yards, respectively. They were also the bulk of the scoring as Lamb had 2 rushing touchdowns, one of 35 yards and one of 3 yards, and Shustack had 3 touchdowns, the first being a 31-yard run, the second a fumble recovery in the end zone, and the last on a 12-yard reception from Zack Wasilewski. The other 2 scores for the Tornadoes came on a 41-yard scamper by Luke Klingerman, and a sack of the Lancer's quarterback by Tommy Hynoski in the endzone for a safety. The Red Tornadoes look ahead to their Heartland Conference Division II match up this Friday on Homecoming Night at the Silver Bowl against Mountoursville.

Tornado celebration postponed by Danny Lesko

The Red Tornadoes had to wait a little longer than usual after school Friday for their game against the North Schuylkill Spartans. Due to rainy conditions, the Red Tornadoes game was played Sunday Night at the Silver Bowl. The Tornadoes, who were 6-0, went into the game knowing that this was going to be very competitive because North Schuylkill was also an undefeated team. Both defenses came out strong holding each other to zero points, so at the end of the first quarter, the game was scoreless.  In the second quarter, Meyrick Lamb broke off a 25-yard run to give the Tornadoes a 7-0 lead. But North Schuylkill struck back, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass by Henning and a 2-yard run by Jonathon Long. The Tornadoes went in at the half trailing 13-7. In the third quarter, the Tornadoes answered back by using the Power-I. Lamb scored on a 5-yard rush which capped off a 6 play, 52 yard drive to make the score 13-13. The last score, an 18-yard touchdown reception thrown from Henning to Murray, came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter by the Spartans, which ended Mount Carmel’s perfect season. Meyrick Lamb provided almost all of Mount Carmel’s offense, scoring twice and rushing for 100 yards on 21 carries. Mount Carmel’s defense was led by Cody Shustack, who had 13 tackles and a fumble recovery, and Tommy Hynoski who had 10 tackles, including a sack, and an interception. The Red Tornadoes look to bounce back this Friday night, as they travel to Shikellamy to take on the Braves and look to get the schools 800th victory.

MCA Smashes Shik by Danny Lesko

The Big Red travelled to Shikellamy Friday night to take on the Braves. Coming off a heart-breaking loss last week to North Schuylkill, the Tornadoes came back strong getting a 35-14 victory despite having 5 turnovers and committing a slew of penalties. This particular victory was twice as sweet as the Red Tornadoes not only improved to 7-1 on the season, but also picked up the school’s 800th victory. The school is now the only team in the state of Pennsylvania with 800 wins and they are the fifth winningest team in the nation. The ground game provided most of the Red Tornadoes offense, led by Meyrick Lamb who had 23 carries for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lamb’s first touchdown came in the middle of the first quarter on a 4-yard run to give the Tornadoes a 7-0 lead. His second touchdown, also a 4-yard run, was set up by a crucial 4th down conversion where Zack Wasilewski hit fullback Danny Lesko, who was replacing an injured Cody Shustack, for 21-yards to take the ball down to the 4 yard line. Lucas Klingerman was the second leading rusher with 5 carries for 91 yards. Wasilewski had a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Kleman. Tyler Hodge had the last touchdown early in the 4th quarter for the Tornadoes on a 1-yard plunge. Defensive leaders for the Tornadoes were Tommy Hynoski, with 13 tackles and Eric Joraskie and Ed Smerlick with 9. Smerlick and Joraskie each recorded half a sack and all 3 recovered a fumble. The 7-1 Red Tornadoes look ahead to their annual rivalry game with an undefeated Southern Columbia Friday night at the Silver Bowl. Be sure to come out and support the Big Red on Friday night and don’t forget to wear pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

MCA Stuns the Tigers by Danny Lesko

    Friday night’s matchup for the Heartland Athletic Conference Division II championship between The Red Tornadoes and the Tigers of Southern Columbia ended up being one of the most exciting games of the year. Mount Carmel took a 22-21 lead with 36 seconds left and was able to hold off the Tigers to improve their record to 8-1 and win the Heartland Conference championship. Lucas Klingerman started the game off with a bang as he took the opening kickoff 85 yards to the house and after the extra point by Corey Langton, the Tornadoes were leading 7-0. Southern answered right back with an 11-yard touchdown run by Tyler Levan then scored one more time in the first half on a 4-yard run by Casey Savitski. The Tigers looked very in control going into the second half with the lead and then struck again early in the 4th quarter on a pass from quarterback Brad Fegley to receiver Keith Day to make the score 21-7. But Mount Carmel regrouped and staged an electrifying comeback. With 8 minutes and 31 seconds to go Zack Wasilewski, who was 8 of 16 for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, found Bryan McFadden down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. Although Southern Columbia put together a 6 minute drive, the Red Tornadoes defense got the ball back to their offense with just over 2 minutes left, which turned out to be just enough time for the Tornadoes to go on their game-winning drive. The Tornadoes were able to drive the ball deep into Tiger’s territory, helped by a 33-yard scamper by Meyrick Lamb. After a pass interference penalty against Southern, the Red Tornadoes had the ball at the 13 yard line with 44 seconds left. After a 6 yard reception by Jacob Kleman, Wasilewski went right back to him for a 7-yard touchdown. Now there was a decision to be made; go for the tie and go into overtime, or go for the win and risk everything. Coach Carm showed how much confidence he had in his team as he gave Zack Wasilewski a play to go for the win. Wasilewski rolled out and found Lamb in the corner of the end zone to take the lead and ultimately win the game, 22-21. The defense of the Red Tornadoes was stout as usual as they got to Southern Columbia quarterback Brad Fegley for 6 sacks. 2 were recorded by Eric Joraskie, 1 and a half by Brett Przekop, one each by Ed Smerlick and Danny Lesko and a half by Vinny Candelora. Mount Carmel looks ahead to the annual Coal Bucket game this Friday at Kemp Memorial Stadium against the Shamokin Indians. Good luck Red!

Girls Soccer advances by Brianna Lutz
10-31-11
     Last night in girls’ soccer action, the lady tornadoes took on the East Juniata Tigers in game two of the district playoffs. The Tornadoes were the underdogs and not expected to win, due to the fact that East Juniata was seeded number one in the overall tournament. MCA girls didn’t let any talk get in their way. Both teams came out strong, keeping the game tied at 0-0 for most of the first half until MCA forward, Ali Varano stepped up and put one in the back of the net for the lady Tornadoes.  That shot gave the Red a  first half 1-0 lead.  The second half started off less bright for the Tornadoes when the lady Tigers sent a shot in the back of the Tornadoes net making the score 1-1. MCA didn’t give up, in fact, they actually scored not too long after the Tigers’ goal.   But due to an injury to East Juniata’s goalie during the shot, the goal was nullified, and regulation ended with a 1-1 score. Since a playoff game cannot end in a tie, the teams went into sudden death overtime giving the first team to score a victory .  No one for MCA was ready to hand in their jerseys quite yet.  It was a hard fought battle, but the underdog Tornadoes came out on top when Jen Bolick connected with a cross from Ali Varano to end the game with a 2-1 victory. The girls are now guaranteed two more games in the district playoffs, with a dates, locations, and times to be determined. Good luck girls!

Football Freshman are 7-0 by Zack Wasilewski

Last Thursday the boy’s freshman football team took on Marion Catholic at the Silverbowl. The young Tornadoes seemed to go through the game with ease winning by a final score of 37 to 14.  The offensive side was dominant the entire game with quarterback Dominic Farronato throwing for 76 yards including 2 TD passes.  Farronato was also effective on the other side of the ball having an interception returned for a touchdown.  Adding to MCA’s side of the scoreboard were both Kyle Karyicki, and Blake Panko.  Kayricki had one rushing touchdown while Panko had two touchdowns, one being a punt return and the other a receiving touchdown.
      Under the coaching staff of head coach Kurt Evert, and assistant John Karycki the team is currently undefeated having a record of 7 and 0 and looks to stay unbeaten as they take on the seals Thursday October 27th at Selinsgrove.