Delaney Accounts for Three Touchdowns as Mount Carmel Rolls Past Montoursville, 41-7

MOUNT CARMEL-A lightning-fast start helped Mount Carmel build a big first-quarter lead and never look back against Montoursville on Friday night. The Red Tornadoes scored twice in a span of 48 seconds early in the game, and also scored twice in the final 15 seconds of the first half. With the 41-7 win in the District 4 Class 3A semifinals, Mount Carmel (12-0) has one of its season-long goals clearly within reach. The Red Tornadoes will host Athens (11-1) next Friday night at the Silver Bowl, and a victory would give Mount Carmel a long-awaited district championship.

“This was one of our goals going into the season,” Mount Carmel coach John Darrah said. “The big one is to win a district championship, and now we’re here. We’re on the doorstep. We’ve got the game at home. Just really proud of our guys, all season. How they handled themselves in the summer, in the weight room, everything about them. They’re at this moment now, so we’re ready to roll next week.”

Mount Carmel took the opening kickoff and quickly put together a nice six-play drive. Jaylen Delaney capped it off with a 4-yard run, which marked his 20th rushing touchdown of the season. Montoursville (7-5) saw Delaney recover a fumble on the Warriors’ second offensive play of the night. It didn’t take long for the Red Tornadoes to convert the turnover into points, as Delaney found Aidan Brokenshire, on a 22-yard touchdown pass, giving Mount Carmel a 14-0 lead with 8:45 left in the opening quarter. There was plenty of motivation for the Red Tornadoes, who were eager to gain revenge for a 43-42, triple-overtime loss to Montoursville last year in the District 4 quarterfinals.

“We came out really hot,” Darrah said. “I thought we did a really good job running the ball. We threw the ball well. We ran a lot of different stuff tonight, which was really good. I thought our defense played great, and we had some great play on special teams as well, good team win.”

Following a quick stop on defense, Mount Carmel put together an impressive downfield march. The Red Tornadoes overcame both 3rd-and-23 and a 3rd-and-8 situations on the drive. Delaney hit Brokenshire for a 30-yard gain, and Delaney had a 10-yard rush to move the chains. Jason Klokis finished it off with a hard 5-yard run to paydirt late in the first quarter. After a couple of drives sputtered in the second quarter, Montoursville helped provide a late first-half spark. The Warriors decided to go for it on 4th-and-8 at their own 37. A reverse came up well-short of the sticks, and Mount Carmel took advantage of the great field position. Once again, Delaney found Brokenshire for a 21-yard gain to put Mount Carmel in the red zone. Two plays later, Delaney called his own number from 2 yards out with 15 seconds left before halftime. Klokis recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Darrah wasted no time calling for kicker Josh Miller, whose line-drive kick was just high enough to clear the crossbar from 35 yards out.

“That was definitely great,” Darrah said. “I was worried we weren’t going to have enough time to get the one with Delaney. I would have never believed we were going to get another score before half. That was definitely great, so it was good going in at halftime up 31-0.”

Cooper Karycki helped lead a balanced rushing attack with 75 yards on 12 carries, and his 33-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter put Mount Carmel up 38-7, and helped atone for an earlier fumble that Montoursville’s Brayden Burkett returned 75 yards for a touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, Darrah would give Miller another shot. Last week, 42-yard field goal attempt against Wellsboro was scrapped because of a bad snap, but this one from 40 yards had both the accuracy and plenty of distance. Miller is now 3-for-3 on attempts this season, and he also had a pair of field goals in a 41-17 win at Montoursville two years ago.

“Special teams were awesome tonight, I thought they all did a good job, especially Josh,” Darrah said. “Not only to make two field goals, but in spite of the conditions. It’s a cold game, it’s a little bit rainy, the field is a little bit slick. So, just a great job by him. Glad he got the opportunity and made the most of it.”

With all the big numbers Mount Carmel has been putting up offensively, it would be easy to overlook what the defense has done. The Red Tornadoes haven’t allowed a point on defense so far in the postseason. In fact, they have only allowed seven points over the last three weeks dating back to Week 10 against Shamokin. Montoursville was held to just 67 yards and two first downs in the first half. If Mount Carmel is going to win its first District 4 championship since 2011 next week, the defense will need to continue its strong complementary football.

“Our defense is really hitting its stride,” Darrah said. “In the beginning of the year, we had a lot of speed on the field. We try to be unpredictable on defense, and right now, I think our guys are just playing without thought. They just kind of know what to do. They’re playing very free, and they’re doing a really nice job.”