HS Football: Quick, Bears hold off Devils to retain Damato-Szematowicz Trophy
Mahanoy Area's players poses with the Damato-Szematowicz Trophy after beating Shenandoah Valley 44-43 on Friday night (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
SHENANDOAH — Kyler Quick and his Mahanoy Area senior teammates didn’t want to be the class that surrendered the Damato-Szematowicz Trophy to Shenandoah Valley.
It took a defensive stand in the final seconds for the Bears to take the prized trophy back to Mahanoy City for the 13th straight season.
Quick rushed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, Quintin Rucker scored three times and the Mahanoy Area defense held off a final Shenandoah Valley drive to pull out a thrilling, 44-43 victory Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
In the 117th meeting between the two northern Schuylkill County rivals, the Bears and Devils combined for 1,030 total yards in a back-and-forth Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division affair that had an enthusiastic crowd hanging on the edge of its seats until the final seconds.
“It’s huge. It’s 13 years now,” Quick said. “The last two years we won and we beat them by a good bit. We knew tonight was going to be tough.”
Added Mahanoy Area coach Mick Connolly: “It was a great effort. We didn’t quit. Good way to send the seniors off and to build for next year. Important win for us.”
The game took the shape of a shootout early on as the teams traded scores nearly from the outset.
Mahanoy Area (2-8, 2-7 Blue) did its damage on the ground, finishing the game with 482 yards rushing and scoring all six of its touchdowns on running plays.
Quick scored on runs of 13, 54 and 7 yards, gaining 230 of his yards in the first half as the Bears took a 30-23 lead into intermission.
Rucker, a speedy freshman, scored on runs of 6, 19 and 64, the latter coming on the second play of the second half to give Mahanoy Area a 38-23 lead.
“The offensive line did great tonight,” Quick said. “They opened up the holes. It was all them … all the yards came from them. They opened up the holes and I had wide-open gaps. I do what I’m supposed to do.”
Shenandoah Valley (0-10, 0-9), meanwhile, went to the air to do its damage offensively.
Exploiting an inexperienced secondary, Blue Devils’ quarterback Ethan Bench completed 15-of-25 passes for 400 yards and five touchdowns, three of them going to junior wideout Todd Seiger.
Seiger scored on pass plays of 32, 72 and 61 yards, the latter two on the first two Shenandoah Valley plays of the second half. He finished with five catches for 216 yards.
Joel Nunez had a 32-yard TD catch, Gene Sinkus raced to the end zone on a 75-yard pitch-and-catch and Mike Elchisak galloped for an 83-yard touchdown run as the Blue Devils amassed 527 total yards.
“Ethan can throw the ball good. He’s seeing the field well,” Shenandoah Valley coach Dave Bench said. “Our receivers caught and made some moves to help them out and we had some big scores there.”
Quick’s final touchdown gave Mahanoy Area a 44-37 lead with 2:37 left in the third quarter. Shenandoah Valley answered two possessions later with the 75-yard TD pass to Sinkus where he outmaneuvered a Mahanoy defender for the ball, came down, spun left and sprinted the final 30-35 yards into the end zone.
The Blue Devils’ potential game-tying conversion kick sailed wide right, however, and Mahanoy Area still led 44-43 with 9:54 remaining.
“Our kids were fired up. We were pumped,” Bench said. “We scored points and held them a couple of times. We had a couple of missed opportunities that bit us in the butt … a couple of missed extra points, some holds and bad snaps.
“I’m disappointed about tonight, but 99 percent of my team comes back next year. That’s promising.”
Mahanoy Area then put together a 15-play drive that took 7:18 off the clock. The Bears reached the Devils’ 16 before a pair of penalties moved them back, and the drive stalled at the 27-yard line with 2:31 remaining.
Ethan Bench and the Blue Devils went right to work. Passes of 11 and 10 yards to Nunez moved Shenandoah Valley to midfield and a 13-yard run by Elchisak had the Devils at the Bears’ 40 with 1:32 left.
That’s when the Mahanoy Area defense stood tall.
Playing a deep zone that had Quick sitting in the middle of the field, the Bears didn’t allow Bench to throw the ball deep. At the same, Mahanoy Area got pressure on the sophomore gunslinger for the first time all game.
John Redgate threw Elchisak for no gain on first down before Braylon Komosinsky’s pressure up the middle forced an incompletion on second down. After an incomplete pass on third down, Stanley Boris and Ben Lagaza put heavy pressure on Bench on fourth down, forcing an illegal forward pass penalty that ended the drive with 44 seconds left.
For the 13th straight year, the Bears celebrated with the Damato-Szematowicz Trophy.
Quick and Seiger were named the James J. Rhoades Most Valuable Players of the Game, presented in honor of the late senator by his son Jim and grandson Jack.
“He’s a beast,” Connolly said of Quick. “He’s just a hell of an athlete. The guy never quits. He fights and fights and fights. It was just an awesome effort by him. We would not be here without him. He’s just a team player, all-around great team player.”
