2015 EasternPAFootball.com Class 2A Coach of the Year: Jim Roth, Southern Columbia

Written by: Dave Fegley on Tuesday, January 5th, 2016. Follow Dave Fegley on Twitter.

Jim Roth would be a first-ballot hall-of-fame coach whether he would have gone 0-10 this season or 16-0 like his state champion Southern Columbia Tigers did. “I’m proud of these guys because they didn’t ever win a state playoff game before this season. In saying that they also never experienced a loss in the regular season,” Roth said. Over the past four regular seasons, the Tigers have gone a remarkable 40-0 in the regular season. This season, the Tigers were determined to take the regular season success and turn it into playoff magic.

This season the Tiger coach, who has coached the program for over three decades, made it back to the state final for the first time since 2011. Southern Columbia went on to defeat Aliquippa 49-14 to claim their first state championship victory since 2006 and the first ever at the AA level. “Looking back, I think all of the coaches that have been with the program for so long all appreciate the hard work and effort of the players that have come through the program. Some people got to the point where they expected us to make the state final every year, but the bottom line is it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort from everyone throughout the program,” said Roth who is the first head coach in Pennsylvania history to win seven state championships.

During the 2015 season, the Tigers rushed for nearly 320 yards per game and held the opponent to under 110 yards rushing per game. The defense allowed 279 points this season over the course of 16 weeks. If you took SCA’s offensive production in the second quarter of games alone, the Tigers scored exactly 279 points. That’s correct, what the defense gave up in total this season was the exact same amount as what the offense scored in total for only one quarter. Throw in the other three quarters and Roth’s offense scored a state best 736 points which comes to exactly 46 points per game. In the 16 game run, the Tigers were also able to put 11 of the opponents in the Mercy Rule including their state championship opponent. “We are fortunate to have the assistant coaches that we do. Most of them have been here for the majority of the success that the program has had,” Roth said.

Photo credit: DailyItem.com

 

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