Seals stay unbeaten with road win

Written by: Cody Smith on Friday, September 15th, 2023. Follow Cody Smith on Twitter.

SHAMOKIN – The Selinsgrove Seals certainly had a tough task in front of them Friday night when the team traveled to Shamokin for a road game just one week after a medical emergency caused their home game against Jersey Shore to end abruptly in a tie.

Coach Derek Hicks’ team never waivered, however, putting together a great all-around victory against the Shamokin Indians.

“It was definitely concerning after last Friday exactly where the kids would be mentally,” said Coach Hicks. “We’re certainly happy with the performance and the execution tonight.”

Selinsgrove dominated all facets of the game en route to a 42-7 road victory over the Indians.

The Seals forced four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble recovery) on defense and scored on six of seven first-half possessions.

Perhaps Shamokin’s best chance came early in the game. After winning the coin toss, the Indians deferred to the second half and chose to kick off to start the game.

Perhaps taking notes from the Denver Broncos and Sean Payton this past Sunday, Shamokin coach Marc Persing called for the onside kick to begin the game, and it was executed to perfection.

Kicker Chase Pensyl squibbed the kick and recovered the ball himself to earn the Indians the first offensive possession of the game. Unfortunately for the home team, the momentum wouldn’t last, as Selinsgrove’s junior defensive back Gavin Bastian picked off a pass by Freshman quarterback Logan Steele on the opening offensive play of the game.

The interception gave the Seals good field position – an early omen for things to come for the night – and set them up for a quick score. It took Selinsgrove just three plays of its own to find pay dirt.

Fullback Ethan Miller rumbled in from seven yards away for the opening score, putting the visiting Seals up 7-0 just a minute into the contest.

From there on out it was the Tucker Teats show for the Seals offense. Teats managed to accumulate 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just nine rushing attempts. He also added two receptions for 35 yards in the opening half.

“Our offense wants to establish the pass and spread each other out,” said Teats. “It gave Ethan (Miller) a couple of reps there at running back and spread me out wide. We’ve got the athletes to play.”

Teats’ effort was aided by his defense as well. In the opening half, four consecutive Shamokin possessions ended in a turnover of some sort. On their last possession of the first quarter, Shamokin drove the ball deep into Selinsgrove territory, but the drive ended on a turnover-on-downs rather than Shamokin attempting to put a field goal on the board to make it a 14-3 game.

On the next three Shamokin drives, Caleb Hicks earned an interception, Bastian hauled in his second pick of the night, and a gang of Seals’ tacklers forced a fumble that was also recovered by the visiting team.

“We wanted to get the offense going. Driving the field is tough and our defense was able to set the table,” said Coach Hicks regarding his team’s defensive effort. “Tucker (Teats) had a big game again and we were able to get Mark (Pastore) going. It was a good night.”

“Turnovers helped us out a lot,” added Teats. “It helped set us up great for our high-powered offense. It set us up great in the field position battle too.”

Shamokin scored its lone touchdown of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter when Steele plunged into the endzone from two yards away to cap off an 11-play, 78-yard touchdown drive.

Steele rushed for 84 yards in the game, second-best on the team behind senior running back Bridgeton Delvalle who toted the ball eight times for 92 yards.

Teats’ 160 rushing yards were the most of anyone in the game, while Bastian led all pass-catchers in the game to go along with his two picks. Bastian hauled in three receptions in the game for a total of 43 yards and a touchdown.

“Tucker has been a workhorse through the first four games,” said Coach Hicks. “He’s gone over 100 yards in three of the four weeks. Credit to our O-line for moving guys. It makes his job a little bit easier when you’ve got the big boys up front working.”

Selinsgrove finds themselves with a record of 3-0-1 as the team heads across the Susquehanna to face Shikellamy (1-2) this coming Friday night.

Shamokin slides to 1-3 overall this season. The Indians remain at home to take on Central Mountain (2-2) this coming Friday night.

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