SHICKSHINNY-The steady rain that fell from start to finish may have simplified things for Muncy, but it certainly didn’t slow the Indians down. Led by a two-headed attack at running back, there was no shortage of big plays in the ground game. Austin Johnson and Jacob Fowler each rushed for over 100 yards, while combining for five touchdowns, as Muncy continued its upward trend towards the end of the regular season with an easy 40-8 win over Northwest.

“It’s one of those things, we talked to the kids all week, we’ve got to come out ready to play,” Muncy coach Sean Tetreault said. “We knew it was going to be wet and rainy here tonight. Thank God it’s turf and not a mud field, but we knew what we had to do, and our kids came out and executed the game plan.”

Muncy (8-1), won for the seventh consecutive week and is currently locked in a battle with Canton for the top seed in the District 4 Class A field. Long drives were a recurring theme in a dominant first-half performance. The Indians took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards in 13 plays. Fowler capped off the initial drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Following a Northwest fumble, Johnson quickly cashed in the turnover for points by rumbling 20 yards for his first of three touchdowns just 64 seconds after Fowler scored. Injuries may have made the Muncy offensive line a little short-handed, but it didn’t stop them from opening consistent holes for a pair of talented running backs.

“Our line, they’re really stepping up,” Johnson said. “We just lost some more guys on our line. It’s nice that, even after all the injuries, they just keep playing hard and getting physical.”

Leading 14-0, the Indians put together their most impressive possession of the night by assembling a 12-play, 97-yard drive with relative ease. Johnson broke off an awesome 48-yard run in which he found success off the left side, but then cut back across the field and almost outran the defense to the end zone. Five plays later, Johnson, who went over 1,000 yards for the third consecutive season, crossed the goal line from four yards out midway through the second quarter. Fowler also contributed with runs of 15 and 9, on his way to a 115-yard night.

“Those running backs are great,” Tetreault said. “Even Landyn Wommer, we’ve got to find a way to get him in the backfield a little bit more. Those running backs hit the hole hard, and it was great to see them making some big plays. We’ve got to do a better job up front with our blocking, making sure we stay connected, but it was great to see those guys starting to gel more and more.”

It looked like Muncy would be content with running the clock out in the final minute of the half, but Johnson and Fowler had other ideas. Fowler ripped off yet another chunk play by scampering 31 yards into Northwest territory. With six seconds left, Johnson took a handoff to his right, sprinted past everyone, and took it to the house on a 43-yard run as time expired. Johnson finished with 163 yards on 15 carries.

“I didn’t want to get tackled by just one guy,” Johnson said. “I would have been really upset about that, so I just had to run as hard as I could on that play. I was really gassed, but I had to keep going.”

Northwest (2-7) had a couple of opportunities to try and keep the game competitive, but mistakes took away any hope of that happening. An offsides penalty on 4th-and-5, when Muncy lined up to punt, resulted in a first down, and a fumble that halted a promising drive was returned 68 yards by Stiles Eyer for a touchdown in the second quarter. Quarterback Jace McCoy completed 11-of-22 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown.

“We did a lot of good things, I thought tonight,” Northwest coach Leigh Bonzcewski said. “Penalties at the wrong time. Turnovers hurt us again, and the inability to tackle Austin Johnson, that was really the big thing tonight.”