Schuylkill Haven's Niko Castillo carries the ball during the Hurricanes' 48-38 win Thursday over Minersville (Photo by Kelly Wiley).

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — When Schuylkill Haven fielded its championship football teams of the 1980s and ‘90s, a common refrain from the Hurricanes’ faithful was “UFO, UFO, UFO.”

UFO as in Unstoppable Football Offense.

The UFO returned to Rotary Field in Thursday night’s Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division showdown with Minersville.

Colton Reber rushed 31 times for 353 yards and four touchdowns and Niko Castillo added three more scores as the Hurricanes ran over Minersville 48-38 to improve to 5-0.

The top-ranked Class AA team in the state, Schuylkill Haven racked up 494 yards rushing and 520 yards of total offense, scoring on its first seven possessions of the game.

“Our line up front blocked, gave us holes to run through,” Reber said after the game. “We just did what we had to do.”

Added Castillo: “Honestly, it was just the fundamentals. The linemen up front blocking, the two of us blocking for each other. We all get each other holes and that’s what gets us touchdowns.”

The Hurricanes were able to compile all of that yardage despite missing senior fullback Niko Carestia, who suffered a broken leg in last week’s win over Mahanoy Area.

Carestia watched the game from a cart in the end zone.

His teammates visited him often.

Reber scored on runs of 66, 4, 27 and 29 yards, while Castillo had touchdown runs of 20 and 35 yards and hauled in a 7-yard TD catch right before halftime.

Schuylkill Haven’s offensive line combination of Chase Williams, Wyatt Keefer, Ethan Kline, Triston Davis, Brody Brand and Bryce Reber dominated the Minersville defense from start to finish. The Hurricanes had 17 plays of 10 yards or more and only one rush for negative yards.

The only time Schuylkill Haven didn’t score came with 2 minutes left in the game after a bad pitch resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Minersville.

“Those guys, they just kept coming over and saying, ‘Keep running behind us. Keep running behind us,’” Schuylkill Haven coach Mike Farr said of his offensive line. “It’s very impressive for me to watch those guys every week, with how disciplined they are up front. They don’t get rattled.

“We just continued to execute. We go as far as they take us. They know that, I know that. Tonight I just stayed old school.”

Minersville (3-2, 2-2 Blue) hung with the Hurricanes for one quarter as the teams traded scores over the first four possessions.

Jordan Bowers’ 24-yard field goal capped a 13-play, game-opening drive to put the Miners up 3-0. Haven answered four plays later on Reber’s first touchdown, but Paiten LaPoint returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a score on a scintillating run during which he broke 5-6 tackles. Reber’s second touchdown four plays later put Haven ahead to stay 14-10 with 1:06 left in the first.

Haven’s defense then delivered the big play as Carr fumbled the ball near the goal line after a 16-yard run and the Hurricanes’ Adam Balulis recovered at the 1-yard line.

Schuylkill Haven then drove 99 yards in nine plays, with Castillo’s 20-yard run making it 21-10. The teams continued to trade scores the remainder of the first half, with Carr throwing a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ty Atkinson and then scoring on a 45-yard run.

Castillo’s 35-yard touchdown run and his 7-yard TD reception with 15.5 seconds left in the first half put Haven up 34-24 at intermission. Castillo finished with 13 carries for 132 yards rushing.

The Hurricanes rushed for 310 yards in the first half, with Reber gaining 221 yards on 18 carries.

“Both were impressive,” Farr said of his two running backs. “We know what Colton is capable of … he’s one of the best backs in the area, bar none. But Castillo tonight, taking on that fullback spot, with how he accelerated … it’s just impressive the way those guys went at it today.”

Reber added TD runs of 27 and 29 in the second half as Haven extended its lead to 48-31 after three frames.

Minersville scored on an 8-yard run by Carr and a 32-yard TD pass from Carr to Matt Dube.

Carr finished 16-of-23 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 143 yards and two scores, but the Haven defense made his life difficult. The Hurricanes often forced him to scramble, with Davis sacking him twice. In addition to the fumble, Haven got an interception by Aaron Gilbert to close the first half.

LaPoint finished with five catches for 32 yards, breaking the Minersville all-time receiving yards record with 1,620, besting the previous mark of 1,613 set by Gabe Davis from 2017-20.

“They had a great game plan. They came out and dominated right from the start,” Carr said. “Give a lot of credit to Coach Farr and Coach Gaffney. They came out and they came out firing. Their front is unmatched, they’re so huge.

“I’m proud of my team … stepped up and fought to the very end. That’s all you can ask for.”

The victory capped an emotional week for the Hurricanes, who had to overcome the loss of their senior leader Carestia heading into their two biggest games of the regular season.

Schuylkill Haven travels to Williams Valley, which is 4-0 heading into Friday’s game at Tri-Valley, next Friday in a matchup of teams ranked among the top three in the state in Class AA.

“It’s a big loss but all we can do is keep pushing forward for him and just do it for him,” Castillo said of Carestia’s injury

Added Reber: “We went out there and played for him, got this W for him. We’re going to keep striving forward and keep getting better.”

Game Summary

Schuylkill Haven 48, Minersville 38

Miners (3-2, 2-2)       10        14        7          7  —    38

Haven (5-0, 4-0)         14        20        14        0  —    48

Min — FG Bowers 24

SH — C. Reber 66 run (Fessler kick)

Min — LaPoint 81 kickoff return (Bowers kick)

SH — C. Reber 4 run (Fessler kick)

SH — Castillo 20 run (Fessler kick)

Min — Atkinson 27 pass from Carr (Bowers kick)

SH — Castillo 35 run (kick failed)

Min — Carr 45 run (Bowers kick)

SH — Castillo 7 pass from Heim (Fessler kick)

SH — C. Reber 27 run (Fessler kick)

Min — Carr 8 run (Bowers kick)

SH — C. Reber 29 run (Fessler kick)

Min — Dube 32 pass from Carr (Bowers kick)

Team Statistics

                                    Min              SH

First Downs                18                 26

Rushes-Yards              24-193          48-494

Passes                          16-24-1        2-6-0

Passing Yards             215               26

Total Yards                 408               520

Fumbles/Lost              3-1                3-1

Penalties                      5-34              2-13

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Minersville — Carr 18-143, Derenzo 5-56, Team 1-(-6). Schuylkill Haven — C. Reber 31-353, Castillo 13-132, Goad 1-16, Yoder 1-4, Heim 1-3, Team 1-(-14).

PASSING: Minersville —- Carr 16-23-1, 215; Team 0-1-0, 0. Schuylkill Haven —- Heim 2-5-0, 26; Team 0-1-0, 0.

RECEIVING: Minersville — Atkinson 4-89, Dube 4-73, LaPoint 5-32, Cutler 3-21. Schuylkill Haven — Castillo 2-26.

INTERCEPTIONS: Schuylkill Haven — Gilbert.