Coal Bucket Football Game

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The Coal Bucket. A game played between Shamokin and Mt.Carmel every football season. It is called the Coal Bucket game because of the significant influence coal had on the heritage of these cities. The Coal Bucket is the trophy given to the team that wins the game. Only one team can come away with the bucket which is filled with the winning team's colored flowers. The game used to be played on Thanksgiving Day up until that late 1970s. They moved it up in the season to make it a more suspenseful game. Shamokin and Mt. Carmel are questionably the best rivalry in the United States. Each team driven by such an intense hatred of the each other that one game can make or break a season. Both teams are usually tough, hard nosed, running teams. Mt. Carmel lead the overall series 32-10, and has won the last 12 meetings. Two teams separated by only 10 minutes with excellent football programs can be nothing but rivals. If you were to mention Mt. Carmel to a Shamokin fan their blood would run cold and the hairs on the back of their neck would stand up. That is how you define rivalry. Two small town with a lot of spirit, confidence, and heart.