UCF Football commit Dante Carr and Williams Valley Brady Shomper, two of the best quarterbacks in Schuylkill County, went up against each other on Friday night in Minersville. In a game that consisted of back and forth scoring, the Vikings won 43-40 over the Battlin’ Miners.
To start the game, Carr threw an interception on the opening drive. Williams Valley had no problem scoring on that possession when Shomper found Blazer Lords in the end zone. Two plays later, Carr found Paiten LaPoint to tie the game up at seven with 5:56 left in the first quarter. Near the end of the quarter, Fletcher Thompson ran his way into the end zone to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead. With 7:26 left in the second quarter, Carr scrambled into the end zone to tie the game at 14. Shomper was pushed into the end zone by his team, along with a converted two-point conversion with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
To start the second half, Shomper got six more points to increase the Williams Valley lead to 29-14. In the final parts of the third quarter, Carr found Matthew Dube wide open in the end zone on a fourth and 11 to lessen the Viking lead to 29-20. Jordan Bowers of Minersville kicked an onside kick right after the touchdown and the Battlin’ Miners took the ball back.
That would get the game into the wildest fourth quarter I have seen in a while. Less than fifteen seconds into the quarter, Carr scrambled for a Battlin’ Miner touchdown to make the score 29-26. Another Williams Valley touchdown by Shomper increased their lead to 36-26. On the following drive for Minersville, Carr fired a long ball to Derek Derenzo to once again lower the Vikings lead to 36-33. Less than a minute after that, Thompson ran his way into the end zone to make the score 43-33 in favor of his Vikings. Carr ran into the end zone once again to score his sixth touchdown of the night to shorten Williams Valley’s lead again, but this time to 43-40. Bowers kicked his second successful onside kick and Minersville took the ball back with 3:25 left in the game. On a fourth and 20, Carr had to sit out due to his helmet coming off, so Derenzo was quarterback for the play. He (Derenzo) evaded a Viking but he is stopped eight yards short where the Vikings kneeled the game out and left Minersville with a 43-40 victory.
Minersville falls to 3-1, and has another big test next week on Thursday night at Schuylkill Haven (4-0) where the Hurricanes are known for their backfield. Williams Valley improves to 4-0 and will travel to Hegins on September 19th to take on the Tri-Valley Bulldogs (3-1).