Defending State Champs Prevail

Written by: Dave Fegley on Saturday, August 27th, 2016. Follow Dave Fegley on Twitter.

Explosive 3^rd quarter propels Southern Columbia

Last season, a lot of the Southern Columbia current football players were cheering on the Tigers either from the sideline or the stands during their state championship season. The gaduation of ten starters of defense and the majority of the offense forced some younger Tigers to mature quickly. SCA went into halftime trailing the Shamokin Area Indians 14-13 in the opener, but Jim Roth’s team came out on fire in the third quarter on the way to a 47-20 victory for the defending PIAA Class AA State Champions on the newly named Jim Roth Field. “I think the first half was a combination of things. We had some execution breakdowns early on. We certainly looked inexperienced and we didn’t handle the adversity very well. Shamokin did a good job of being more composed and they battled. The penalties and miscues are a sign that we are a young team,” said the head coach.

Just because the Tigers are youthful doesn’t mean that they aren’t talented and explosive. The freshman class is as adroit as any that Roth’s staff has ever coached, and they showed glimpses of what the future holds in the victory. Freshman linebacker Cal Haladay gave Southern a 7-0 lift with an interception that he returned 21 yards with 5:23 left in the opening quarter of 2016. “I read where the running back was going and made a play on the ball. Once I caught it I just kept running to the end zone,” said Haladay who also was the team leader in tackles. Mark Wetzel answered on the Indians next drive. The offense drove 88 yards on the series, which was aided by two Tiger personal fouls, and the sophomore scored from four yards out to tie the score at 7-7.

Another Tiger freshman, running back Gaige Garcia, had a nice return on the ensuing kickoff, but the play was negated thanks to another SCA personal foul. The Tigers were able to muster together a 75-yard drive and Garcia scored with an 11-yard trot to put Southern up 13-7 after the PAT was blocked. On the drive, returning all-state running back Hunter Thomas caught a 23-yard pass on a 3^rd and 21 for a first down. That catch gave the senior the most catches ever by a running back in a career for Southern Columbia which is no small feat considering the history of the position. Shamokin answered the bell once again. This time Wetzel scored from a yard out and the Indians went into halftime with a surprising 14-13 lead after Alek Washuta’s successful extra point. “I don’t think we played terrible. I made some mistakes and other guys did as well. The main thing was that we were able to regroup after halftime and take it to them,” Garcia said.

Regroup they did. Southern got the ball to start the third quarter after choosing to kick on the opening coin toss. The Indians tried a squib kick that was picked up after a couple of bounces by Teagan Wilk, another Southern freshman, and the rookie took it to the Indians 38. It took the offense just three plays to put Southern back in front after Thomas scored on a 22-yard jaunt. Nic Fetterman ran in a two-point conversion to put the Tigers up 21-14 less than a minute into the second half. A lead that the home team would not relinquish. “I expected some young guys to step up and they definitely did tonight. Wilk’s kickoff return is another example of what these new guys are capable of doing,” Roth stated.

After forcing a three-and-out, Southern got the ball back and scored with 6:25 left in the third. This time it was freshman Julian Fleming’s turn. He caught a 36-yard score from sophomore Stone Hollenbach to extend the SCA advantage to 27-14. “The more the receivers have been able to spend time working in the passing game, the more we are starting to click. Stone has a really good arm for a sophomore, and I’m excitied to work with him over the next couple of years,” said Fleming. The Tiger lead would be extended to 33-14 after Cam Young returned a punt 58 yards. Young would then catch a 21-yard touchdown pass on the next drive from Hollenbach who just recently moved to the district from Lewisburg. “It’s a lot different here. You can certainly tell it’s a football school. The state championship tradition and just the atmosphere as a whole. I’m happy to have the chance to be a part of it,” Hollenbach said. The Tigers would take the comfortable 40-14 lead into the final quarter.

Wetzel scored his third touchdown of the game with 7:07 left in the fourth. Shamokin put together an impressive 18-play drive which was finished off with the 10-yard trot. The final score came with 4:58 left. Garcia had the highlight play of the drive with a 42-yard rush. Thomas finished off the drive, and the scoring for the game, with a 15-yard run putting the Tigers in front 47-20. Shamokin travels to Loyalsock in week two after the Lancers lost in OT to Mount Carmel Area. Tiger fans won’t have far to travel again as they will host another local rival in Bloomsburg who fell in their opener to Danville.

SCA: 7-6-27-7= 47
SAHS: 7-7-0-6 = 20

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (1-0)

RUSHING:

Hunter Thomas 8-90, 2 TDs; Gaige Garcia 10-89, TD; Nic Fetterman 10-52; Stone Hollenbach 2-8

PASSING:

Stone Hollenbach 5-9-0, 90 yds, 2 TDs

RECEIVING:

Nic Fetterman 2-10; Julian Fleming 1-36, TD; Cam Young 1-21, TD; Hunter Thomas 1-23

1st DOWNS: 17

PENALTIES: 8-58

SHAMOKIN (0-1)

RUSHING: