Two dominant signal callers in Logan Steele and Brody Rebuck are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Shamokin Area Indians will host the Shikellamy Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Shamokin Area has ten straight victories, Shikellamy has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Shamokin Area will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Mount Carmel, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Indians snuck past the RED TORNADOES with a 26-21 win on Friday. The 26-point effort marked the Indians' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
It was another big night for Zakem Clinton, who rushed for 80 yards and one score. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up a sack and making one tackle.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Shamokin Area was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 272 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 194 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Shamokin Area didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Steele and Colin Steinhart.
Meanwhile, Shikellamy had to suffer through a 61-28 loss at the hands of Southern Columbia Area. While losing is never fun, the Braves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 304th, while the Tigers are ranked 78th).
Shamokin Area will have to keep a close watch on Kaleb O'Connor and Thomas Pollock, a pair of players who had a big impact on Shikellamy's prior game. O'Connor rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown on only six carries, while Pollock picked up 84 receiving yards.
Shamokin Area's record now sits at 10-0. As for Shikellamy, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-5.
Everything came up roses for Shamokin Area against Shikellamy in their previous matchup back in September, as the squad secured a 52-21 victory. In that contest, the Indians amassed a halftime lead of 34-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
