The season-opening football contest for the North Schuylkill Spartans proved to be an eventful night. The Spartans would trail by as much as 14 points before storming back to defeat the Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes.
After receiving the opening kick, the Spartans drove down the field. At the one-yard line, the Red Tornadoes stood tall and held the line. They then scored on an 87-yard pass from Cole Spears to Xavier Diaz to put them up 6-0. The Spartans completed a drive later in the first, ending in a touchdown rush for Joey Flail, which tied the score up at 6-6.
The score remained deadlocked until about three minutes left in the second when Xavier Diaz scored his second touchdown of the night, putting the Tornadoes up 13-6. The Spartans led a quick drive down the field and topped it off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Minalda to Joey Flail. The Tornadoes took what little time remained and turned it into a big run. Luke Blessing put points on the board before the half to go up 20-13.
The Tornadoes stormed out of the half and scored on a Spears Balichik 33-yard connection to put them up 27-13. That would be the Tornadoes’ last score of the game.
After some offensive miscues and facing a third and twenty, Trevor Minalda found Collin McGee for a 45-yard score. In the fourth, the Spartans drove down the field again. Facing a fourth and goal, Minalda found Flail again for his third touchdown of the night.
The Spartan defense held firm but a fumble nearly cost the Spartans six points. The Spartan defense forced a fourth and eight stop leading to an offensive ground attack from the Spartans. The drive was capped off by a 30-yard beastquake-esque run from Ricky Halford.
Spears attempt to find Diaz deep would be picked off to end the ballgame with the final score of 34-27.
The Spartans will head back home to face the Blue Mountain Eagles on Friday. The Red Tornadoes will head to Dunmore.
