H.S. FOOTBALL: Steele, Shamokin run by Pottsville in season opener, 41-7

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POTTSVILLE — It was a season debut to forget for the Pottsville Crimson Tide.

Looking to build upon a 2025 season marred by injuries and saw the Crimson Tide go 3-8, Pottsville began their 2026 season with a stiff test on Friday night, the Shamokin Area Indians.

One of the top Class 4A programs in the state, over the past two seasons, the Indians collected a 25-2 record. Their offense led by star quarterback Logan Steele, a Wake Forest commit, averaged over 40-points per game a year ago.

If Friday night was any indication, Shamokin will again be a state title contender in 2026 and their offense will be among the state’s best.

The Indians’ offense made its presence known early and often in Friday night’s game.

While they may have only totaled 301 yards, a lower number that some may expect in a 41-7 blowout, they averaged over six yards per play when their starters were on the field including 234 rushing yards.

Shamokin’s offense just isn’t filled with talent, size, and speed. But it’s also an offense that is extremely versatile in how they can play.

The Indians are more than willing to play a slow-and-methodical game, draining the clock but also can be quick-and-explosive. While they can pick-and-choose their style throughout a game, they also can do it within a single drive itself, creating headaches for defensive coordinators while keeping defenders on their toes at all times.

After forcing a punt on Pottsville’s opening drive, the Indians went with the methodical approach, using 13 plays to go 92 yards, erasing nearly six minutes off the clock to open the scoring, quarterback Logan Steele looking every bit of a future Power Four football player.

While he won’t play quarterback at the next level, Steele was 4-for-4 on the opening drive for 51 yards. Using his legs, Steele was able to extend multiple plays on the drive, connecting with fellow senior Colin Steinhart on the receiving end of all four passing attempts including a 32-yard reception that set up the Indians in the red zone.

Two plays later, Steele scored on a quarterback keeper to put the Indians ahead 7-0.

It marked the first of three touchdowns on the night for Steele, who threw for 77 yards while also rushing for 99 yards in the win for Shamokin.

While Shamokin’s offense cruised all night, the defense made it a miserable day for the Pottsville offense. In the first half alone, the Indians outgained Pottsville 196 to 33 which included 133 rushing yards. The Indians’ front seven smothering quarterback Andrew Allen and running back Max Clews most of the night.

While Pottsville nearly gained 100 yards on the ground in the loss, 40 came on a single run by Andrew Allen in the third quarter. The Crimson Tide otherwise averaged under 2.5 yards per carry for the game.

The Shamokin defense also made it nearly impossible for Allen to have time to throw the ball in the game. Most passing plays quickly resulted in multiple Indians defenders quickly getting into the backfield, leaving Allen having to tuck, scramble, and hit after hit.

Following a Pottsville three-and-out following Steele’s opening touchdown, Shamokin looked poised to take an early two-score lead, working their way into Pottsville territory on just six plays.

But in a rare miscue on the night for the Indians halted the drive as a fumble on a handoff exchange. Crimson Tide sophomore linebacker Corbin Evans jumped on the loose ball to recover it for Pottsville.

The Crimson Tide, however, failed to take advantage of the extra possession before disaster struck. With 4th and 7 from their own 44, the Tide choosing to punt saw the snap sail over the head of quarterback and punter Andrew Allen. Allen ultimately fell on the ball at Pottsville’s own 18-yard line.

It took just two plays for Shamokin to extend their lead to 14-0 as Logan Steele scored his second touchdown of the night, cutting right through the interior of the Crimson Tide defense for a nine-yard rushing touchdown.

The Crimson Tide’s self-inflicted mistakes continued on their next possession as on their second play from scrimmage, Andrew Allen took a big hit following evading pressure in the backfield and fumbled the ball, with the Indians recovering the ball at Pottsville’s 36-yard line.

After going high-tempo over their previous two drives, Shamokin slowed it down following the fumble recovery, taking 10 plays and three minutes to go 36 yards.

The Indians once again leaned heavily on their ground game with seven runs on the drive including a powerful 16-yard run by senior Noah Ringes who broke several tackles, turning a third-and-long for the Indians into first and goal at the eight yard line.

Ringes finished off the drive two plays later, with another tough hard-nosed four yard run, barreling through several Crimson Tide defenders, increasing the Indians lead to 21-0 just before the half.

Often the first pair of drives of a second half can set the tone. For teams winning, it can be an opportunity to deliver an early knockout punch. For teams losing, it can often act as a spark for a comeback.

If Pottsville had any hopes of a comeback, Shamokin wasted no time putting them to bed.

On the opening kickoff of the half, senior running back and defensive back Ryan Bickert got in on the fireworks with a 94-yard touchdown return. The Indians blocked the kickoff perfectly down the right sideline before Bickert turned on the jets as he hit the open field, going untouched for the score.

Pottsville’s offense on their first drive of the second half, delivered fireworks of its own as facing 4th-and-3 from Shamokin’s 40-yard line, Andrew Allen got the Crimson Tide on the board with a 40-yard touchdown run down the near sideline.

Any momentum gained by Pottsville with the touchdown quickly evaporated. Shamokin needed just three plays to find paydirt again as Logan Steele on a designed quarterback run took off for a 60-yard run, pulling away from Pottsville defenders with ease, extending Shamokin’s lead to 35-7.

The Indians’ starters one drive later put a bow on their season opening win as Logan Steele connected with Xavier Paul for a four-yard touchdown, providing the game with its final score of 41-7 after a missed extra point.

Despite the result and the Crimson Tide’s struggles in the loss, Pottsville coach Mike Brennan remained positive and forward looking.

“I don’t think many people thought we would be anything other than 0-1 after tonight,” Brennan said after the loss. “It certainly wasn’t as competitive or as clean as we would have liked it to have been. But the bottom line is there’s tomorrow, and we’ve got to get back to work. We’ve got to figure out maybe what changes have to be made. Maybe we’ve been overlooking something we have to take a better look at.”

The loss showed that while the Crimson Tide once the dust settles may be improved from last year’s 3-8 record, there is still plenty of work to be done.

“They out-physical’d us in the box, which is certainly a concern we thought could have happened,” Brennan explained. “We don’t have many starters returning on either side of the ball, offensive or defensive, and it showed. We hung in there and battled, then we started to drop a little bit with some injuries and cramping. We don’t have depth yet. When we have one situation, it turns into two, three, or four situations. That sort of happened tonight.”

As the Crimson Tide look to regroup, they’ll lean on their senior core to lead the process.

“We have a great bunch of seniors,” he said. “When you have the group of seniors we have, that have put the time in, they’re not going to quit. They’re going to come back next week.”

Next week’s challenge for the Crimson Tide won’t be any easier as they’ll host the Mount Carmel Tornadoes. It will be the second straight week the Tornadoes take on a Schuylkill League opponent after defeating the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes on Friday evening 48-41.

“I think our kids will come back to work,” Brennan said. “We’re here again next Friday night, and we’ll come back, give a much better effort, and be a much better football team next week.”

SCORING

FIRST QUARTER

SH – Steele 1-yard run (PAT good) 7-0

SECOND QUARTER

SH – Steele 9-yard run (PAT good) 14-0

SH – Ringes 4-yard run (PAT good) 21-0

THIRD QUARTER

SH – Bickert 94-yard return (PAT good) 28-0

POT – Allen 40-yard run (PAT good) 28-7

SH – Steele 40-yard run (PAT good) 35-7

SH – Paul 4-yard receiving touchdown from Steele (PAT no-good) 41-7

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