Mussina took the ensuing snap and quickly looked Reeder’s way, finding the receiver on a post route with a step on his defender just past the marker. Reeder and his acceleration did the rest, as he quickly turned that step into a mile on a 60-yard touchdown.

“It’s not how we wanted to start off. In the beginning, Central Mountain had all the momentum,” said Reeder. “When he called that play, I was like, ‘We’re going for a deep shot. We’ve got to get something going here.’ We really needed it, and I feel like that really helped boost our momentum into how the outcome of the game went.”

Indeed, it did.

The Warriors went on to score touchdowns on six of final eight drives, with the only two exceptions being when the first half ended and the team lined up in victory formation. In front of their home crowd, they outgained the Wildcats 369-138, a 90-yard touchdown run from Hayden Harvey kicked off the running clock and their defense shut them out until the last minute of the game, concluding their night with a 44-7, mercy-rule victory.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Central Mountain quarterback Isaiah Maldonado (4) is sacked by Montoursville's Owen Kleinman (2) and Hayden Harvey (22) before fumbling the ball and a safety in the second quarter.

With the win, Montoursville won its second straight, made it three wins in its last four outings and improved to 5-2 on the season. Although much of the second half fell under a running clock, head coach Joe Hanna gave Central Mountain a lot of credit for hanging firm initially.

“They’re a physical football team. They defend the run well,” said Hanna on the Wildcats. “Obviously, the passing game opens some things up for us and we made some adjustments. We just have to clean up some of the mental things.”

After getting stifled on three straight runs and losing six yards in the process, standout running back Christian Banks quickly put those shortcomings past him, rattling off runs of 26 and 28 yards to set up backup quarterback Elijah Eck for a 21-yard touchdown pass to James Williams.

He did the dirty work on that three-play, 77-yard touchdown drive but found paydirt on the next. Behind strong blocks, Banks (11 touches, 122 yards) quickly found a seam on a stretch to the left, shedding multiple blockers on his way to a 39-yard score.

“We were struggling in the first half but then we finally snapped back into it, started playing football. So that’s what helped me as well, just my team,” said Banks when asked about his resurgence on the ground. “I got in my head and felt like I underperformed but to everyone else, I honestly did very well to them. Everyone’s made me feel better and I’m actually happy with myself now.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Todd Crawford (17) makes a pass reception over Central Mountain's Gavin Edmondston for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Between that touchdown and the end of the half, the Warriors kept their foot on the gas.

The defensive line made play after play. Ethan Bloom intercepted a shovel pass at the line of scrimmage to set Montoursville up for a quick touchdown and multiple guys logged sacks. And thirty seconds after the Warriors made it 28-0, they forced a fumble in the endzone, which resulted in a safety.

Mussina (6-10-0, 124 yards) and Elijah Eck combined for three passing touchdowns in the first half, each going to three separate guys. On top of Mussina’s 60-yard bomb to Reeder and Eck’s touchdown pass to Williams, Mussina connected with Todd Crawford on a wheel route to the left corner of the end zone, putting the ball right on the money.

“What I really like is how we can all spread the ball around,” said Mussina. “Other teams, they kind of force feed the one guy. We have all these different weapons that we can get the ball to so we can really spread teams out and pick whatever matchup we like.”

“Almost every ball that (Mussina) threw to me was perfect, and I like that because everyone’s getting better at the moment,” said Reeder. “I love how our quarterback is really getting his spiral down and getting us great throws.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Jimmy Mussina (10) and Christian Banks (0) celebrate after a touchdown in the second quarter.

Between the 8:34 mark of the second quarter and the 11:37 mark of the third, the Warriors scored 30 points, capped off by sophomore running back Hayden Harvey taking his lone carry on the night 90 yards for a touchdown to make it 37-0.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, with the team racking up 90 yards in penalties, one which negated a touchdown at the end of the first half. But they put forth an excellent response considering how the game started.

“Some of it was mental stuff. Some of it is just going to happen during the course of the game,” said Hanna on the penalties. “I thought our kids did a decent job of playing through it but there’s little mental things that can’t happen during the game.”

Alongside its defensive success to start the game, there were other bright spots for Central Mountain.

Jake Weaver (22 rushes, 82 yards) broke off a nine-yard touchdown score to prevent the team’s third straight shutout. And Jase Seltzer (4 receptions, 52 yards) helped the team pick up three first downs, most notably making a 29-yard reception on a trick-play pass from Khye Kissell. They’ll look to build on those positives in another tough road test against Mount Carmel next Friday.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Ethan Bloom (71) celebrates after recovering a Central Mountain fumble in the second quater.

For Montoursville, it hopes its last two blowout wins can help propel it to a big win over defending AA state champion Southern Columbia. Though the Tigers are coming off back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since 2009, the Warriors recognize the challenge that awaits them.

“They’re going to be a tough team. If we play like this (against them), it’s not going to be fun,” said Banks on Southern Columbia. “We just need to do better, follow our keys, dial in the whole game and give 100-percent no matter what.”

“We like the challenge,” said Mussina. “We had two weeks here where we kind of knew what the outcome would be. We’re going into a matchup with a very sound, very strong team. They like to run the ball a lot. We have a good front seven. It’s gonna be a fun matchup.”

Montoursville 44,

Central Mountain 7

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Central Mountain's Jake Weaver (3) stiff arm's Montoursville's Michael Reeder (25) for a few more yards in the second quarter.

Central Mountain 0 0 0 7 — 7

Montoursville 7 23 7 7 — 44

First quarter

M–Jimmy Mussina 60 pass to Michael Reeder 60 (Hawley kick), 1:45.

Second quarter

M–Elijah Eck 21 pass to James Williams (Hawley kick), 8:34.

M–Christian Banks 39 run (Hawley kick), 3:09.

M–Mussina 19 pass to Todd Crawford (Hawley kick), 2:12.

M–Safety, 1:52.

Third quarter

M–Hayden Harvey 90 run (Hawley kick), 11:37.

Fourth quarter

M–Alex Felver 5 run (Hawley kick), 7:31.

CM–Jake Weaver 9 run (Hawley kick), :52.

TEAM STATISTICS

CM M

First downs 12 12

Rushes-yds. 38-92 18-222

Passing yards 46 145

Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-10-1 7-12-0

Total yards 138 369

Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 7-75 9-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Central Mountain, Jake Weaver 22-82, TD; Isaiah Maldonado 11-4; Kole Corman 1-4; Mason Masorti 1-2; Gavin Heverly 2-1; Dalton McDermott 1-(-1). Montoursville, Christian Banks 10-108, TD; Hayden Harvey 1-90, TD; Alex Felver 5-13, TD; Elijah Eck 1-9; Cooper Jarrett 1-(-2).

PASSING: Central Mountain, Khye Kissell 1-1-0 29; Isaiah Maldonado 5-9-1 17. Montoursville, Jimmy Mussina 6-10-0 124, 2 TDs; Elijah Eck 1-2-0 21, TD.

RECEIVING: Central Mountain, Jase Seltzer 4-52; Kole Corman 1-1; Gavin Heverly 2-(-7). Montoursville, Michael Reeder 2-74, TD; Todd Crawford 3-28, TD; James Williams 1-21, TD; Christian Banks 1-14.

INTERCEPTIONS: Central Mountain, none. Montoursville, Ethan Bloom 1.

SACKS: Montoursville, Landon Morehart 1, Gabe Vanderwall 1, TEAM 1.

RECORDS: Central Mountain (0-7), Montoursville (5-2).

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's James Williams (1) celebrates after scoring a touchown in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's James Williams (1) scores with Central Mountain's Gavin Edmondston (11) in tow in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Christian Banks runs the ball behind the block of Noah Rakestraw in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Centeral Mountain's Jake Weaver (3) runs the ball against Montoursville Friday night.