MINERSVILLE – Dante Carr ran for 3,000 yards in his career tonight and Paiten LaPoint now has the single season receiving touchdowns record at Minersville with 11. Even with the Tri-Valley Bulldogs holding Carr to 34 rushing yards all game, that wasn’t enough to win as the Battlin’ Miners were victorious Friday night 34-17 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in the heart of Minersville.
On the first play of the game, there was a bad snap by Minersville, but the crisis was averted as they recovered the ball and scored later that drive. Carr found a wide open Ty Atkinson for a 41-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
On the opening drive for the Bulldogs early in the second quarter, Parker Hatter ran five yards for a touchdown to tie the game up. He (Hatter) made another play as he intercepted Derek Derenzo’s pass. Nate Hilliard made a 37-yard field goal to end the drive and put Tri-Valley on top 10-7.
On the next drive for Minersville, Carr evaded several Bulldog defenders behind the line of scrimmage and made an impressive play, finding Atkinson for a first down. LaPoint got his record breaking touchdown later that drive as Carr found him (LaPoint) for a 37-yard touchdown to take back the lead 14-10.
Minersville freshman John Lutsky pulled down his first varsity pick-six to make the score 21-10 in favor of the Battlin’ Miners. A bad snap by the Bulldogs was recovered by Derenzo. However, the play after that, Ben Klinger intercepted Carr’s deflected pass. Tri-Valley eventually scored as Trey Porter connected with Cooper Carl for a 21-yard touchdown to shrink their deficit to 21-17 going into halftime.
On what may have been the most impressive play I have seen this season, Lucas Schwartz of the Bulldogs caught a pass that was deflected four times and picked up a first down.
For the first play of the fourth quarter, Derenzo ran five yards for a Miners touchdown to increase their lead to 28-17.
Both teams exchanged turnovers as Atkinson recovered Porter’s fumble behind the line of scrimmage with ten minutes left in the game. Almost three minutes later, Porter intercepted Carr’s pass in the end zone.
On that Bulldog drive, Minersville made a key fourth down stop on their (Tri-Valley) side of the field. Another five-yard touchdown by Derenzo increased the Miners lead to 34-17. Jordan Bowers missed the PAT on that score. A fourth down stop in the red zone for the Minersville defense secured their victory on Friday.
Next up for Minersville (7-2), they host Panther Valley (4-5) for Senior Night. The Bulldogs (6-3) travel to Schuylkill Haven (9-0) for week 10. Both games will be on Friday, October 24th.
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Tri-Valley (6-3) | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Minersville (7-2) | 7 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 34 |