ORWIGSBURG — In a game that featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes defeated the Blue Mountain Eagles, as junior Colton Reber scored with eight seconds remaining to emerge with the 34-27 win.

Leading up to that point, though, was a contest both coaches referred to as a slugfest.

Schuylkill Haven (1-0) struck first and went ahead 6-0 on an 11-yard run by Niko Castillo early in the second quarter.

After recovering a fumble deep in Hurricane territory, Blue Mountain (0-1) failed to capitalize as the drive ended with a missed field goal.

The Eagles quickly rebounded, forcing a punt and giving themselves an opportunity to get on the board before halftime.

This time, they did capitalize.

Cohen Kirby hits Chase Guers over the middle for a 56-yard touchdown to tie the score at six with eight seconds left in the first half.

What allowed Guers to break free was a missed tackle by Reber, something uncharacteristic of the junior, according to Schuylkill Haven coach Mike Farr.

“He was upset, Farr said. “He knows he makes that play 99 times out of 100. The one time he decides to go for the kill shot, and he whiffs.”

Reber, of course, went on to redeem himself in the second half.

The Hurricanes chewed up over five minutes of clock to start the third quarter before sending out their field goal unit.

The kick was blocked, and the ball bounced into the arms of a waiting Reese Miller, who returned it 85 yards to give the Eagles their first lead of the night.

The momentum gained from the play was short-lived, as Schuylkill Haven responded and tied the score at 13 with a 58-yard touchdown run by Reber — his first score of the night — under a minute later.

“He’s an elite running back,” Farr said. “He’s a 3,000 yard rusher. He’s a dude.”

Blue Mountain’s Cohen Kirby (10) throws the ball during the game against Schuylkill Haven at the Blue Mountain’s Eagles Nest Friday on Aug. 22, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)

What followed was nothing short of chaotic.

With just over 10 minutes to go in the game, Blue Mountain’s Brody Foose took a handoff at the 4-yard line. He fumbled into the end zone, but teammate Frankie Russo jumped on the ball for the Blue Mountain touchdown, putting the Eagles ahead 20-13.

Schuylkill Haven once again had a quick response, stringing together a scoring drive that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Max Heim to Niko Carestia and tying the score at 20.

Blue Mountain had a quick response of its own, and took the ball all the way down to the Schuylkill Haven 1-yard line. But instead of retaking the lead, the ball was once again fumbled into the end zone. And unfortunately for the Eagles, they did not recover this one, and the score remained tied.

Though it appeared to many that the runner broke the plane of the goal line, the officials determined that was not the case, and the Hurricanes took over at the 20-yard line following the touchback.

“One of our keys to the ball game was turnovers,” Blue Mountain coach Chuck Kutz said. “We turned the ball over.”

With 1:21 to go in the game, Reber broke free for his second rushing touchdown of the game — this one from 39 yards out — to give Schuylkill Haven the lead. After a failed extra point, the score was 26-20.

Reber finished the game with 205 rushing yards on 13 carries to go with the two scores.

“It feels great to come out here and beat Blue Mountain,” Reber said after the game. “It’s a big rivalry game for the school. Just to come out here and win is a great feeling.”

The ensuing kickoff was fielded on a bounce by Guers, who ran it 89 yards for a touchdown with 1:04 left on the clock. The extra point gave Blue Mountain a 27-26 lead.

“I said to our team all week that this was a prize fight and we had to slug it out,” Kutz said. “I thought both teams slugged it out.”

The situation was looking bleak for the Hurricanes. They had 65 yards to the goal line, and 63 seconds to get there.

It looked worse when they faced a fourth and two with less than 30 seconds left, and somehow even worse than that when the Eagle defense wrapped up Heim behind the line of scrimmage.

Heim knew what he had to do.

“Run somebody over, get the first down,” he said. “We can’t lose the game like that. I knew Coach Farr would be pretty mad at me if we lost the game like that, so I knew I had to break free somehow and get the first down.”

He did just that, breaking out of the pocket and scrambling for six yards.

“On that fourth down, they brought pressure,” Farr said. “At 6-5, 240, he just said ‘You know what? I’m getting this first down for my guys.’ What a great player. He really showed up tonight.”

But the Hurricanes still had 27 yards to go, and time was ticking away.

Then Reber stepped up once again, getting behind the defense and hauling in a touchdown pass with eight seconds left on the clock.

“I knew all week that my guy was going to be Colton Reber or Niko Castillo when it comes to a situation like this,” Heim said. “It just happened today to be Reber, next week it might be Castillo. Those are the two guys I love throwing the ball to the most and feel comfortable throwing to them the most.”

Schuylkill Haven’s Niko Castillo (8) takes the ball in for a touchdown during the game against Blue Mountain on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)

A successful 2-point conversion made the score 34-27, and Blue Mountain’s last-second heave fell to the turf, giving the Hurricanes their first win over the Eagles since 2018.

“I’m just happy for everybody,” Farr said. “It’s a good night for Schuylkill Haven.”

Schuylkill Haven 34, Blue Mountain 27

Schuylkill Haven (1-0) 0 | 6 | 7| 21 — 34

Blue Mountain (0-1) 0 | 6 | 7 | 14 — 27Scoring

SH — 10:41 2nd, Castillo 8 run (2-pt. failed)

BM — :08 2nd, Guers 56 pass from Kirby (kick failed)

BM — 6:34 3rd, Miller 86 blocked field goal return (Hoover kick)

SH — 5:34 3rd, Reber 58 run (Fessler kick)

BM — 10:12 4th, Russo fumble recovery in end zone (Hoover kick)

SH — 7:18 4th, Carestia 12 pass from Heim (Fessler kick)

SH — 5:34 4th, Reber 39 run (kick failed)

BM — 1:04 4th, Guers 89 kickoff return (Hoover kick)

SH — :08 4th, Reber 27 pass from Heim (Carestia run)

Schuylkill Haven

508 total yards; 21 first downs; 5 penalties, 35 yards; 2 fumbles, 1 lost

Rushing: 44 attempts, 381 yards, 3 TD — Reber 13-205-2, Carestia 23-145, Castillo 5-24-1, Heim 2-9.

Passing: Heim – 6 attempts, 11 completions, 127 yards, 2 TD

Receiving: Castillo 2-80, Reber 1-27-1, Carestia 3-20-1

Blue Mountain

315 total yards; 17first downs; 2 penalties, 10yards; 2 fumbles, 2 lost

Rushing: 30 attempts, 145 yards — Foose 14-105, Smith 8-31

Passing: Kirby 10 attempts, 17 completions, 170 yards, 1 TD

Receiving: Guers 4-95-1, Hoover 2-36