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2026 Schuylkill League Football

Mount Carmel Outlasts Schuylkill Haven in Silver Bowl Shootout

More than 1,000 yards of offense, two 300-yard rushers

Eighty-nine points. More than a thousand yards of offense. A pair of 300-yard rushers. It was an instant classic at Mount Carmel’s famed Silver Bowl stadium.

In the end, the host Red Tornadoes outlasted Schuylkill Haven, 48-41, in a shootout on the opening night of the 2026 high school football season in the coal region.

The visiting Hurricanes got unreal performances from running back Colton Reber, who racked up 349 yards (311 on the ground) and 3 touchdowns, and quarterback Bradyn Diehl, who threw for 3 touchdowns and 172 yards.

Colton Reber (26) celebrates one of his three touchdowns with Chase Yoder (11) on opening night at the Silver Bowl in Mount Carmel. Reber had 349 yards of offense in the Hurricanes 48-41 loss. (Coal Region Canary photo)

But that wasn’t enough to outgun the Red Tornadoes, who got an equally surreal game out of running back Jaylen Delaney, who ran the ball 22 times for 309 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in the win.

Cooper Karycki added 136 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Mount Carmel.

As teams, Schuylkill Haven amassed 544 yards of offense while Mount Carmel gained 535 yards. All of the Red Tornadoes offense came on the ground and they only attempted 3 passes on the night.

Jaylen Delaney (6) carried 22 times for 309 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in the Red Tornadoes victory Friday night. (Coal Region Canary photo)

Reber had 2 touchdown runs of 80 yards and another for 39 yards on the night. His 80-yard run late in the first quarter pulled the Hurricanes to within 2 points, 14-12. But for much of the night, Schuylkill Haven was chasing the Red Tornadoes.

After Reber took his second score in from 39 yards out halfway through the third quarter, Diehl found Noah Runkle in the back corner of the end zone on a beautifully floated pass to convert for 2 points. Runkle tapped both feet in bounds and that conversion drew the Hurricanes level at 27 apiece. The Diehl-to-Runkle connection got the Hurricanes on the board first in the contest thanks to a 52-yard strike and then again on a 10-yard pass midway through the second quarter.

Noah Runkle leaps into the air after hauling in a Bradyn Diehl floated pass in the back of the end zone to convert for 2 points and tie the game at 27-27 midway through the 3rd quarter. (Coal Region Canary photo)

However, Karycki answered that third-quarter conversion 90 seconds later on a 60-yard run and Delaney took one to the house from 45 yards away to start the fourth quarter to give the Red Tornadoes a double-digit lead that Schuylkill Haven just couldn’t match.

Reber took his second 80-yard touchdown in on the very next play from scrimmate but a few minutes later, it was Delaney taking in his fourth score of the night to put Mount Carmel back up by two touchdowns.

Diehl was 11-for-15 with 172 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air for Schuylkill Haven on Friday. (Coal Region Canary photo)

Diehl found Chase Yoder falling down in the end zone late for Haven’s 40th and 41st points of the night but a lack of timeouts and Mount Carmel’s relentless ground attack couldn’t get the Hurricanes the ball back to find an equalizing score.

Week 1 · Final · Fri, Aug 28
Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes · 0-1 41
Mount Carmel Area 1-0 48
1234F
SH 12 7 8 14 41
MCA 14 7 13 14 48
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
N. Runkle 52 yd pass from B. Diehl (kick failed) 3:59 · Schuylkill Haven 6–0
J. Delaney 60 yd run (J. Miller kick) 4:29 · Mount Carmel Area 6–7
M. Higgins 12 yd run (J. Miller kick) 7:20 · Mount Carmel Area 6–14
C. Reber 80 yd run (run failed) 7:33 · Schuylkill Haven 12–14
2nd Quarter
J. Delaney 3 yd run (J. Miller kick) 3:12 · Mount Carmel Area 12–21
N. Runkle 10 yard pass from B. Diehl (G. Fessler kick) 5:25 · Schuylkill Haven 19–21
3rd Quarter
J. Klokis 41 yd run (kick blocked) 5:00 · Mount Carmel Area 19–27
C. Reber 39 yd run (N. Runkle pass from B. Diehl) 6:22 · Schuylkill Haven 27–27
C. Karycki 60 yd run (J. Miller kick) 7:48 · Mount Carmel Area 27–34
4th Quarter
J. Delaney 45 yd run (kick failed) 0:53 · Mount Carmel Area 27–40
C. Reber 80 yd run (G. Fessler kick) 1:04 · Schuylkill Haven 34–40
J. Delaney 36 yd run (J. Delaney run) 5:21 · Mount Carmel Area 34–48
C. Yoder 20 yd pass from B. Diehl (G. Fessler kick) 10:30 · Schuylkill Haven 41–48
Team stats
18 First downs 21
37-372 Rushing 46-535
11-15-0 Passing (Comp-Att-INT) 0-3-0
172 Passing yards 0
3 Passing TDs 0
Individual stats
Rushing
PlayerCarYdsTD
C. Reber 21 311 3
C. Yoder 4 12
L. Goad 3 22
B. Diehl 8 35
Passing
PlayerC-A-IYdsTD
B. Diehl 11-15 172 3
Receiving
PlayerRecYdsTD
C. Reber 3 38
C. Yoder 3 37 1
N. Runkle 3 76 2
L. Goad 2 21
Kicking
PlayerXP
G. Fessler 2-3
Rushing
PlayerCarYdsTD
J. Delaney 22 309 4
C. Karycki 13 136 1
J. Klokis 5 55 1
M. Higgins 6 35 1
Passing
PlayerC-A-IYds
J. Delaney 0-2 0
J. Spears 0-1 0
Kicking
PlayerXP
J. Miller 4-6
Box score Coal Region Canary

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