MOUNT CARMEL – North Schuylkill had plenty of talent returning on offense entering the 2025 season, and that spelled trouble for an inexperienced Mount Carmel defense that is trying to break in a new 3-4 system. Right from the first snap of the game, the Spartans’ offensive line was able to totally control the line of scrimmage, and it really never slowed down. Luke Miller ran for 240 yards and three touchdowns, as North Schuylkill used a couple of late first-half scores to quickly break open a competitive game on the way to an impressive 62-20 victory.
“It’s really just up to the line and the coaches, they set me up for greatness,” Miller said. “I just trust them. I trust my teammates, and so I get after it with them. I’m really thankful to have those guys with me.”
Despite allowing North Schuylkill to move the ball pretty much at will, the Red Tornadoes only found themselves down 24-20 with two minutes left in the first half, thanks to some big plays on offense. In fact, if Mount Carmel could have gotten a stop before halftime, the Red Tornadoes would have received the second-half kickoff with a chance to take the lead. However, Miller and his teammates made sure that didn’t happen. Just 12 seconds after Mount Carmel sliced the lead to four on a Jaylen Delaney touchdown catch, Miller took the next play 80 yards to the house. Then, on the final snap of the first half, quarterback Caden Mengel found Landen Smith on a 37-yard touchdown pass that proved to be a major dagger. North Schuylkill took a 40-20 lead into the locker room, along with plenty of momentum.
“We just made some mistakes,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “You know, we’re just kind of coaching guys where one guys makes a mistake, another guy tries to compensate, so we’re trying to fix it up. But yeah, that was crucial point in the game. We were talking as coaches, ‘we’ve got to stop them here,’ then they scored twice. Then we lost a couple more guys to injuries, and it sort of unraveled from there. I think we have potential, and I think experience is what we need. I think these guys are going to get better quickly.”
North Schuylkill (1-0) came out after halftime and put the game away, thanks to a 73-yard drive that was capped off with Miller crossing the goal line from three yards out. After forcing a three-and-out, Miller made yet another impact play, this time on special teams. Miller took a punt back 76 yards his fourth touchdown of the night, pushing the lead to 54-20 with 4:56 left in the third quarter. As if Miller’s contributions didn’t cause enough headaches for Mount Carmel defensively, quarterback Caden Mengel did some damage of his own. Mengel completed 6-of-11 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard pass to Angel Ortiz that opened the scoring, while helping the Spartans overcome a couple of potential drive-killing penalties.
“Mengel’s great, he really is,” Miller said. “Honestlly, he’s the one I’ve played with since third grade. So having him with me all these years has been helpful. We really worked hard this summer.”
Mount Carmel (0-1) did make some big plays to hang around for most of the first half. Quarterback Gavin Marshalek connected with Aidan Brokenshire on a 25-yard scoring strike that briefly pulled the Red Tornadoes to within 8-7, and Delaney showed his potential by breaking loose on a 61-yard to paydirt in the second quarter. In-between the highlights, there were some bumps in the road. Fumbled snaps, along with illegal motion and formation penalties, showed some of the growing pains in the newly installed Wing-T.
“I thought offensively, we did a nice job,” Darrah said. “There were some things we had to iron out there a little bit in the first half, and the first time in the system, but I thought we showed some flashes of being really good, so it’s something to build on. They were tough to prepare for, but I believe in our guys. It’s a long season, I think we’re going to get better quickly, and we’re going to keep battling.”
One game doesn’t make or break a season, but North Schuylkill did make a statement. The Spartans are perennial District 11 Class 3A playoff contenders, and figure to be right in the mix again this season. Putting up 62 points and 490 yards of offense in a rivalry game is certainly a good way to get off on the right foot.
“We always look forward to this game,” Miller said. “We don’t like Mount Carmel, so it was a good tone-setter, but we’ll get after it. We’re not done yet, we’re not done.”
North Schuylkill 8 32 14 8-62
Mount Carmel 7 13 0 0-20
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
NS-Angel Ortiz 3 run (Luke Miller run) 6:40
MC-Aidan Brokenshire 17 pass from Gavin Marshalek (Josh Miller kick) 1:39
Second Quarter
NS-Ortiz 20 pass from Caden Mengel (Landen Smith pass from Mengel) 10:39
MC-Jaylen Delaney 61 run (pass failed) 8:06
NS-Miller 22 run (Miller run) 4:17
MC-Delaney 25 pass from Marshalek (Miller kick) 1:53
NS-Miller 80 run (Ortiz run) 1:41
NS-Smith 37 pass from Mengel (Miller run) :00
Third Quarter
NS-Miller 3 run (run failed) 6:12
NS-Miller 76 punt return (Brady Souchak pass from Mengel) 4:56
Fourth Quarter
NS-Cadyn McGraw 2 run (Xavier McNally pass from Mengel) 10:45
Team Statistics
……………………NS……………….MC
1st downs……..20………………..10
rush-yds……..40-352…………28-176
comp-att-int…6-12-0………..9-15-0
pass yds……….138……………..115
total yds………490………………291
fumb-lost……..2-1……………….4-2
pen-yds……..4-25………………6-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing-North Schuylkill: Luke Miller 21-240, 3 TDs; Angel Ortiz 12-77, TD; Caden Mengel 1-25; Cadyn McGraw 2-7, TD; Cole Meskunas 2-5; Landen Smith 1-0; Otilio Lopez 1-(-2). Mount Carmel: Michael Higgins 8-77; Jaylen Delaney 5-49, TD; Austin Ventilli 5-42; Cooper Karycki 2-5; Michael Kimsal 1-5; Lukas Carpenter 2-3; Logan Shuder 1-2; Preston Pultynovich 1-0; Gavin Marshalek 3-(-7).
Passing-North Schuylkill Mengel 6-11-0, 138 yds., 2 TDs; Meskunas 0-1-0. Mount Carmel: Marshalek 6-11-0, 78 yds., 2 TDs; Alekzandr Luskokie 3-4-0, 37 yds.
Receiving-North Schuylkill: Smith 3-71, TD; Julian Nelson 1-43; Ortiz 1-20, TD; Miller 1-4. Mount Carmel: Delaney 2-33, TD; Karycki 2-16; Shuder 2-19; Aidan Brokenshire 1-25, TD; Lance Glenney 1-18; Zeke Noel 1-4.