MAHANOY CITY — Securing three takeaways complemented Mahanoy Area’s diverse offense as the Golden Bears begin to stack momentum.

Mahanoy Area flourished on offense and won the turnover battle as the Golden Bears defeated Pine Grove 48-22 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Blue Division game Friday at Coach Faz Field at Mahanoy Area’s Alumni Stadium.

Mahanoy Area (2-4, 2-3 Blue) secured its second win in two weeks as Levi Terry rushed for three touchdowns and threw another, Mike Oblas snagged a one-handed interception and accounted for two TDs and Kyler Quick added two more rushing scores for the Golden Bears.

Add in a pair of fumble recoveries and a blocked punt, and you have a recipe for a win.

“Offensively, I thought we looked very sharp,” Mahanoy Area coach Dave Holman said. “I feel good about with where we’re at over the past couple weeks.”

Terry first crossed the goal line for the Bears on an 8-yard scamper followed by an Oblas run for the 2-point conversion, and Mahanoy Area led the Cardinals 8-0 with 10:25 left to play in the first quarter.

A little under six minutes later Pine Grove (1-5, 1-4 Blue) answered back after Robbie Schaeffer caught a tipped pass from Wyatt Dixon for a 27-yard gain. Logan Troup capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, but the Cards’ 2-point conversion attempt fell unsuccessful.

Troup finished with 34 rushes for 123 yards.

Oblas was the next rusher to score for Mahanoy Area with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter to put the Bears ahead 14-6. A few plays later, Oblas made a spectacular one-handed interception to give Mahanoy Area the ball back.

In the second quarter, the Golden Bears offense exploded for 19 points and added their second takeaway as a whole pack of Bears jumped on a Pine Grove fumble. First it was Terry, who added his second score of the game, taking it in from 16 yards out, then it was Quick scoring on a 14-yard run and lastly Oblas snagging a 34-yard TD reception from Terry.

Wyatt Snyder replaced an injured Dixon as the signal-caller on offense for the Cardinals and got Pine Grove back on the board, connecting with Schaeffer just before the half on another batted pass in the secondary. Snyder tucked and ran for the conversion as the Cards trailed the Bears 33-14 at halftime.

The third quarter was an offensive struggle as each team turned the ball over and neither team scored, but each team added a fumble recovery. As the quarter came to a close, Chase Nagle scooped up the turnover for Pine Grove. He recovered a fumbled punt, setting the Cardinals up for Snyder to punch it in from 9 yards away. He also rushed in the conversion.

But it was too little, too late as Mahanoy Area’s offensive barrage still wasn’t through. Quick punched in his second score of the night on a 13-yard rush and Terry added his third rushing TD, this time from 38 yards.

“Our schedule was kind of brutal to start the season,” Holman said. “It is what it is, you have to play with the cards you’re dealt. We were kind of talking like this is a second season for us. We’re 2-0 over these last two weeks, and we’re hopefully going to ride that through the second half of the season.”

Game Summary
Mahanoy Area 48, Pine Grove 22

PG (1-5, 1-4)        6    8    0    8   —   22
Mah (2-4, 1-3)   14   19   0   15   —   44
Mah — Terry 8 run (Oblas run)
PG — Troup 5 run (pass failed)
Mah — Oblas 24 run (pass failed)
Mah — Terry 16 run (run failed)
Mah — Quick 14 run (kick failed)
Mah — Oblas 35 pass from Terry (Terry kick)
PG — Schaeffer 21 pass from Snyder (Snyder run)
PG — Snyder 9 run (Snyder run)
Mah — Quick 13 run (Quick run)
Mah — Terry 38 run (Terry kick)

Team Statistics
PG                 Mah
First Downs        13                    15
Rushes-Yards    44-149           35-328
Passes                   4-9-1             3-7-0
Passing Yards     78                    76
Fumbles/Lost    4-2                  3-1
Penalties             3-25               3-20

Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Pine Grove — Troup 34-123, Snyder 7-22, Dixon 2-3, Ibarra 1-1. Mahanoy Area — Quick 11-170, Terry 13-115, Oblas 1-24, Gallagher 7-20, Bowman 3-(-1)
PASSING: Pine Grove — Snyder 3-7-0, 51; Dixon 1-2-1, 27. Mahanoy Area — Terry 3-7-0, 76
RECEIVING: Pine Grove — Schaeffer 3-65, Ibarra 1-13. Mahanoy Area — Bowman 2-41, Oblas 1-35
INTERCEPTIONS: Mahanoy Area — Oblas