Tigers Regain District Title, Look Ahead to States
Written by: Shawn Weller on Saturday, November 15th, 2008. Follow Shawn Weller on Twitter.
CATAWISSA: On their home turf for the last time this season, the Tigers of Southern Columbia(10-2) recaptured the District IV “A” crown they lost last year to Bloomsburg, after owning that crown for 16 straight seasons from 1991 through 2006. The opponent was a familiar one as the Eagles of Line Mountain returned to Tiger Stadium where they defeated Southern last season 22 – 17 in the District semis. They brought their best game and played tough, disciplined ball, but came up on the short end of a 37 – 14 final score.
Coming into the game at 8-3, the Eagles’ record and fourth seeding was a bit deceiving as their losses were all within two scores to quality competition – competition from the Twin Valley Conference that Southern Columbia has not faced, including undefeated Williams Valley who is taking on Schuylkill Haven Saturday night for the District XI title.
Line Mountain received the opening kick-off to start the contest and quickly tested the stout run defense of the Tigers. With an unbalanced option attack, senior quarterback, Ryan Klinger made it difficult for Southern to know who had the ball. He kept it for a gain of 18 on the first drive, but two penalties and an incomplete pass forced a punting situation.
The Tigers faired little better on their first possession despite gains of seven and 20 yards by Steve Roth to get to mid-field. An incomplete pass sandwiched by two false start penalties forced them to punt.
Next Southern came up with a big defensive stand to get the ball back on a three-and-out series. Then, the rushing trio of Roth, Sam Springer and Austin Carpenter began to roll. Carpenter racked up 13 yards, Springer burst for 16 and Roth complied 21 as he took it into the endzone from the seven to start the scoring at 7 – 0.
The Eagles, however, were not impressed as they put together a scoring drive of their own. Bruising junior running back, Chris Moore rumbled for 17 yards to get to mid-field. Then Klinger hit sophomore Jordan Welker for a 51 yard touchdown pass. The score was knotted at seven each.
Southern began to march again when, on a first-down, the ball was fumbled on the exchange of a reverse play. Line Mountain recovered it for excellent field position at the Southern Columbia 37. Running the option to near perfection, Klinger and Moore drove the distance with Moore scoring on a nine yard run. The PAT put the Eagles up 14 – 7 at 4:32 in the second.
With frustration mounting, Southern’s offense took control. Springer exploded for 18 yards, then 27 more for a 1st-and-goal at the five. Roth pounded his way in from there and B.J. Snyder’s kick tied the score again at 14.
A huge return on the ensuing kick-off by Jachin Spotts was making the Southern fans nervous once again as he set Line Mt. up with a 1st & 10 at the Tiger 30. Klinger rushed to the 20 on the next play then threw a strike to a wide-open Aaron Inch who dropped an almost certain touchdown ball. Klinger called his own number again but this time coughed up the ball while running the option inside the red zone. Southern had new life at their own 17 with only 46 seconds remaining in the half…
At this point some coaches would settle for taking a knee and going into the locker room with a tie instead of risking turning the ball back over deep in your own territory. But, this is the playoffs and Jim Roth isn’t just some coach. He called on Steve Roth who found a seam off tackle and rumbled 55 yards before being drug down by his face-mask. The penalty advanced the ball to the 13 of Line Mt. where the Tigers were knocking once again. Two plays later Roth took it in from the three and the Southern was up 21 -14 at the half.
Taking possession to start the second half, Southern drove deep into Eagle territory where a penalty and two missed throws stalled the drive. B.J. Snyder was called on to attempt a 35 yard field-goal which he nailed to increase the lead to 24 – 17.
The defensive adjustments made during half-time paid off as Tiger defenders filled the gaps better an stuffed the running game. A big sack on 3rd-and-long by Tony Drain and company knocked the Eagles backwards and forced another punt.
This time Roth broke loose again for a 60 yard gain to the Line Mt. 12, but that was all the further they would get as they called on Snyder once again for a 29 yard field-goal. The score was 27 – 14.
Another strong defensive stand limited Line Mt. to three plays and -4 yards before punting. The punt was fielded by Joey Admire who got bottled up at mid-field and changed direction while shaking some defenders. He cut hard left across the field, then veered back toward the center and went the distance for a 60-yard return for a touchdown, increasing the lead to 34 – 14.
The Eagles’ hopes were diminishing, but their desire wasn’t. Unable to gain much on the ground, Klinger went airborne and connected on passes of 14 and 11 yards, reaching the Southern 10 yard-line with the help of an interference call. The defense, however stiffened and got the ball back on downs at their own 11. From there the Tigers would grind it out on the ground while the substitutes came on the field. Springer added a 26 yard run and Dan Shankweiler ran for 12 to cross the 50, then senior QB Jeremy Campbell took it around the end for 22 yards to set up the final field-goal attempt of 36 yards by Snyder. He went a perfect 3/3 on PATs and 3/3 field-goals to put this one in the books at 37 – 14.
Line Mountain(8-4) ended another strong season with the loss, but took most folks by surprise in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season for them. Coach Todd Rothermel has reason to be proud of his team for their accomplishments, but he is always looking for improvement. “You guys need to be looking ahead to week twelve of next season. You need to have a burning desire,” he said while speaking with his team after the game.
Southern Columbia(10-2) celebrated afterwards as they were presented with the District Championship plaque. As Steve Roth put it, “This one definitely feels better than the Bloomsburg win.” Along with the smiles though was a look of determination in the players’ eyes – a knowledge that the competition is only going to get more difficult. They will travel north into District 2 next week to battle the undefeated Vikings of Riverside. The East is incredibly strong in single A ball this year and whichever team makes it to Hershey will have earned it stripes. The Tigers go into the playoffs rounds as underdogs despite their past dominance. “The nice thing is, the pressure is off you guys from here on… There’s no reason for you not to go out there an give it all you’ve got,” was how coach Roth put it to his players. They gave it quite a bit in this one, rushing for 423 yards, but there is definitely room for improvement as the passing game only went 2/6 for 11 yards and there were too many missed tackles. However, the Tigers are in playoff mode and know how to get it done when adversity strikes.
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November 23rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
abington 3-0 come on move further away from the power plant you can not expect to beat a team like riverside with those numbers this isn’t the 90’s anymore your not the power house you used to be BUT berwicks program is on the up & up and i wish you the best of luck in the playoffs and it would be nice to see berwick again become the dynasty they once were. when i was in high school i always wanted to play at crispin field against berwick even though we would have gotten abeating it still would have been fun and memorable. GOOD LUCK DAWGS
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 am
hey josh berwick beat abington 3-0 do you honestly think that is enough proof that you would be able to even compete with the vikings come on use your head berwick is a very good team but this is’t the 90’s anymore your program is on the up and up and i wish berwick the best of luck in the state playoffs also. i played for the vikings in there not so good era and i would have loved to have played berwick at crispin field even though we would have gotten a severe beating. i always enjoyed watching berwick play back in the powlus/curry era
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 am
Hey talent scout do you no what you are talking about im not a mt.carmel fan and i can care less about riverside. all have to say is you are lucky berwick don’t play riverside because you guys would be home all ready. Hey but good luck to riverside i hope they go all the way.
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:11 am
hey brad dunmore will beat mt. carmel and we already smashed dunmore so the proof is in the pudding. and as for the seals they are a really good football team i won’t deny that but in all reality THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SPEED ON DEFENSE TO EVEN MATCH UP WITH RIVERSIDE’S HIGH POWERED OFFENSE. UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL NEVER KNOW BUT IT WOULD BE ONE HELL OF A GAME.
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Hats off to southern columbia they were a GREAT team but i was pretty close on the score i said riverside by 21 it was 18 one thing about the tigers they are a class A team with with the largest sideline i have ever seen in class A they must make every male student in the school play football they looked like a AAA school and played like one to. NOW THE VIKINGS WILL ROLL OVER THE S.H. HURRICANES because they are nearly the team southern is good luck next season tigers you guys have a great program down there. hopefully i will be wearing my RV state championship t- shirt when i’m at knoebles with my kids this summer
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 am
boy you do not no what you are talking about do you the score was not 34 3 boy i can tell you follow football to much do you and boy berwick realy got hammered by wilson to no what you are talking about before you talk smack and yes there will be a rematch GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
HAHA you must be joking how do you let up 34 points and only score 3. But it was coser then the score said though RIGHT!?
November 21st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
brad is not mad at all and for you to say the bulldogs got whipped by the seals you are carzy the game was alot closer then the score was and who do you root for a team that isn’t even playin anymore so hahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 20th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Brad is just a little mad because his bulldogs got whipped by the Seals. Berwick gets hammered this weekend no doubt about it. As for this game Riverside with Joe Klebon who is easily the best back SCA has seen all season will run over under and around them. By no thought of the imagination is SCA a push over just Riverside is that damn good.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I think you forgot Montoursville. In which the Tigers were victorious. Also, from what I heard SCA gave Mt. Carmel their toughest game of the year. Mt. Carmel is no slouch and for you to think Riverside could smash MCA and Selinsgrove is ridiculous. You couldn’t keep up with the Seals!
SCA will do their talking on the field and against Riverside it will be a very big roar!
November 20th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Talent Scout…since the average reading and writing abilities in the U.S. is at the eighth grade level I suppose that is what one might define as regular. Most regular people know that the first word of a sentence and proper nouns have their first letter capitalized. Therefore, Southern Columbia and Riverside should be capitalized as I have done. Second, you used
“but” as a conjunction (remember ABC Rock on Sesame Street…Conjunction Junction, what’s your function…) well you need a comma…since you didn’t use a concomitant.
Now, the word “to” is normally used as a preposition or an adverb and usually means a direction towards something or approximate to something. (E.g. they went to town to get two-dozen eggs, which they discovered was too much.) But, you used “to” three times as an adjective. Specifically meaning excessive or to a great degree. Thus, “to” fast, “to” strong, and way “to” talented should actually be too fast, too strong, and way too talented.
Abbreviations, such as pts. need a period after.
Now, let’s discuss your run-on sentence, which is probably indicative of, and similar too, your verbal run-ons…
The first sentence should have finished after Vikings. You do that with a period. However, given some literary license you might have used a semi-colon. I will not bother to explain the difference and how it affects the style and meaning of the sentence.
As for the Tiger Seniors, is how that phrase should be written. Tiger is a proper noun; proper grammar demands it be capitalized. With Seniors, there is some leeway. Tiger Seniors as opposed to tigers seniors, well suffice it to say that when speaking of the team one might call them the Tigers. However, when referring to them collectively as seniors, then Tiger becomes a modifier and as such is not plural. Let me explain using your handle…Talent Scout. Let us suppose you have a family, with a Mrs. Talent Scout (I am being presumptuous, I suppose as there could be another Mr. Talent Scout…but I won’t go there.) and little Talent Scouts scurrying all about. Someone sees your family and remarks, “Oh, there are the Talent Scouts!” But, if that person were to speak specifically of one segment of the family, say your children, then the remark would be as follows: “Oh, there are the Talent Scout children.” Unless, of course the person was referring to the children of the Talent Scout parents, then the phrase would be as follows: “Oh, there are the Talent Scout’s children.” The apostrophe s indicates possession. So, if it was your intent to refer to the Tiger’s Seniors (not tigers seniors) then your sentence needs to be changed from, “play this game like it is your last…, to, “they need to play this game like it is their last…”
Finally, with regards to the first run-on sentence, which should be the second sentence, there is a very distinct break between the first phrase…as for the tigers seniors…and play this game…which requires a comma to designate a slight change in flow of speech. More important, to inform the reader that what is to follow is more of a dramatic effect.
And I am not an English teacher, never was, and never was known for my literary accomplishments,
And this was just one (one run-on) sentence!
I also realize that “text” messaging has created its own set of rules, primarily to reduce cost and secondarily to speed up the exchange. However, we are not text messaging on this site.
All in good fun, but with a purpose…most arguments, fights, disagreements have as their origins simple misunderstanding of how one says something or how one understands what was said…I am sure you have heard the following…
“You may think you know what I said, but I am not sure that what you heard is not what I meant.”
To this can be added: “I am not sure that what I said is not what I meant.”
Communication is at the crux of all relationships. How do you expect someone to know what you are saying, if you yourself do not know how to say it?
By, the way, I used a dictionary just once…I couldn’t think of what “that” is when used with but. It is a concomitant.
🙂
November 19th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Boy are you carzy that riverside would beat mt carmel and selingsgrove would kill riverside and mt carmel would to
November 19th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Boy are you carzy that riverside would beat mt carmel and selingsgrove would kill riverside and mt carmel
November 19th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
and as for you AJUNKY PUT THE DICTIONARY DOWN and use some words that us regular people understand this is a football fan website where we can voice are opinions and get underneath each others skin ALL IN GOOD FUN so you need to go to http://www.iamanerdwhousesbigwordsthatnobodyelseunderstands.com lol lol lol
November 19th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
like i said so.co. is a very good team they run the wing-t to perfection. but it is not enough to even compete with the vikings the only teams they played this year that were good was mt carmel & selingsgrove AND THEY LOST. the vikings would smash both those teams if they played them in back to back weeks w/out joe klebon this game will end with the mercy rule in effect !!!!
November 19th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Keep talking Riverside. Keep talking. SCA is not a push over. Oh and by the way, they’ve played bigger teams then you and held their own. SCA 28-Riverside 21
November 19th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Riverside wont just run all over SCA. Riverside is one of the most balanced teams in single A. They can beat you with the run or the pass.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Riverside does not have the opportunity to recruit players like Southern Columbia does and like Berwick has in the past.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hey to the riverside fans if you think that you guys are going to run all over southern you guys are carzy and no i’m not a southern fan but i no they have a good team as dose riverside and yes i’m a bulldog fan as in berwick good luck to both teams
November 19th, 2008 at 8:55 am
42-39 southern wins this barn burner!
November 18th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Riverside will win 33-20.
November 16th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
The English teachers from both schools would cringe to read the less than stellar syntax and lexicographical ineptitudes of the two previous posts.
November 16th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I guess you are a Riverside fan. Dont count your coal nuggets before you burn them.
November 15th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
southern columbia is a very talented well coached team BUT riverside is to fast to strong and way to talented for the tigers to come within 21 pts of beating the VIKINGS as for the tigers seniors play this game like it is your last because chances are IT IS.