By: Greg Maresca

It was out of the ordinary but certainly not surprising. “I am really looking forward to this season,” stated Corey Houser, my longtime broadcast partner with the Black Diamond Sports Network and Bill 95.3.  Houser was referring to the Shamokin Indians 2025 football campaign that would kickoff later that evening on the road against once longtime Pennsylvania Coal Region rival, the Pottsville Crimson Tide.

How could I not agree.

Last year for Shamokin, it was a season unlike any other in recent memory. Not only did they finish the regular season undefeated, but they finally won back the venerable Coal Bucket ending a 29-year drought with a dominant 21–0 shutout over Mount Carmel in one of Pennsylvania’s most storied high school football rivalries in the final game of the regular season. The Indians didn’t just win; they dominated leaving the Mount Carmel faithful in disbelief.

It was the kind of game that made you question whether the scoreboard operator had taken a few too many hits to the head and if the laws of the football universe had been temporarily suspended.  Shamokin didn’t just win, they hijacked the narrative, changed the locks of the Silver Bowl, and made the Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes hold the piñata while blindfolded at a Shamokin homecoming party.

The win was more than just a headline; it was symbolic of a shift in momentum and culture.  Shamokin’s defense was relentless, and the team played with a level of confidence that had been building throughout the season. Shamokin Head Coach Marc Persing seized the moment saying, “To knock off a program like that and to do it in the fashion that we did… it was about as good of a night as we could have hoped for.”

The disappointing 27-7 loss to Juniata at Kemp-Memorial Stadium in the opening round of the PIAA 4A state tournament was a forgettable end to an otherwise remarkable season for not just the team but the community at large.

Houser and I have both endured broadcasting at least a decade’s worth of mediocre football where a five-win season was considered a rousing success.  In our first season together in 2011, under the auspices of Head Coach Dan Foor, the Indians made an improbable run to the state playoffs with a losing record thanks to the labyrinth of convoluted rules and rankings of the PIAA district playoff format.

With the loss to Clearfield in the first round of the state playoffs, the Indians closed out their football campaign at 5-7. A unique record that shouts, “district champion” in the same way a boiled Penn State football press box hot dog is “fine dining.”

It was the kind of paradox that makes you pause mid-scroll and wonder if the never-ending stream of football statistics, rankings, and records are just another form of elaborate performance art whose purpose is to fill newsprint and sell programs.

The whole season however had a sonder vibe: a reminder that behind every scoreboard is a team full of stories, heartbreaks, and highlights that never make it to YouTube, let alone ESPN.  2011 was the high point during Foor’s four-year tenure that ended with a lackluster record of 16–30.

Last season, however, marked a distinct turning point.

The victories, most notably the two over a formidable Jersey Shore team, the reigning district champions, achieved what no pep talk, practice, or game preparation ever could. They recalibrated expectations and fundamentally reshaped the belief in what the players, coaches, and even the faithful now consider attainable.

Some victories echo beyond the moment and are a universal experience that transcends age, culture, and context that inspires and shapes future goals. And this is exactly what Corey Houser was referring to. While the moment of victory may be fleeting, its impact can last a lifetime reminding everyone that with passion and perseverance, anything is possible.

The home opener at Kemp-Memorial Stadium for the 1-0 Shamokin Indians is Friday night against 0-1 Lake-Lehman with a 7 PM kickoff.

If you can’t make it to the game, tune us in as this season’s journey is just getting underway.