MILTON-Southern Columbia made a Saturday night business trip to Milton, and effectively took care of things against a depleted Lewisburg team. The Tigers spread the wealth around both on the ground and in the air, enabling seven different players to find the end zone. Quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch was responsible for three of those scores to three different receivers, as Southern cruised to a very easy 61-8 win.
“The most pleasing thing tonight was the balance,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “Defense looked real strong, but balanced offensively, we were able to throw the ball and get people involved, and all three backs contributed. We’ve just got to continue to try to play at a high level regardless of who the opponent is, and just try to stay healthy through the middle of the season.”
Southern (4-0) literally took control right from the start. A Lewisburg returner assumed Lincoln Billig’s opening kickoff was going to roll into the end zone. The problem was, it didn’t. Kaden Zachman fell on the ball just inches from the goal line, setting up the Tigers with an early gift. Gavin Brown scored on the very first play from scrimmage, giving Southern a 7-0 lead just four seconds into the game.
“Their guy had a little bit of a brain freeze, he treated it like a punt,” Roth said. “They started getting close (to the goal line), and the ball was laying there. He kind of backed up and let (Zachman) cover the kick. Our kicker is a first-year kicker, and he’s really starting to show some improvement with the depth he’s getting on the kickoffs. He put a few in the end zone tonight.”
Later in the opening quarter, Hockenbroch connected with Grady Garcia on a nice throw into the left flat that went for a 14-yard touchdown at the 5:11 mark. Hockenbroch’s first pass of the night was intercepted, but he more than atoned for that early mistake. The senior would finish by hitting on seven of his final eight attempts, which included touchdown passes to Blaise Kissinger and Jace Malakoski on consecutive drives that eventually pushed the lead to 27-0 early in the second quarter. Kissinger had a productive night at wide receiver, as he hauled in four receptions for 70 yards.
“Obviously, we’re a pass-second team,” Hockenbroch said. “So we want to run the ball first. We really didn’t run the ball as effectively as we wanted to. Coach told us about it in the locker room. We made some adjustments. A lot of it was just not coming out with intensity. Like, it’s harder to come out with intensity for one of these games, but I feel like we did a fairly good job.”
As for Southern’s running game, things went smoothly after a few early bumps. Garcia finished with a game-high 98 yards on 14 carries, but it took him a little while to get going. He was held to minus-1 yard on his first six attempts before quickly turning things around. Garcia scored on a 14-yard run in the middle part of the second quarter, and crossed the goal line on a 6-yard scamper on the first drive of the third quarter that ended the night for the first-team offense with a 48-0 cushion. Joey Williams also contributed with 63 yards and a touchdown, while Brown totaled 49 yards on six carries.
“When you look at the score, their defensive front played tough early on and gave us some problems,” Roth said. “Even though we never punted, we were never able to run the ball consistently with big yardage. Of course, everybody’s going to be keying the heck out of him, but that’s where Joey Williams and Ayden in the passing game and that balance has to come into play, when teams are really overplaying him.”
Defensively, the Tigers were outstanding. Lewisburg (1-3) was limited to just six yards of offense and one first down in the opening half. The Green Dragons saw starting quarterback Jett Jamieson get injured in warmups, and he was only able to play one series. With its backup quarterback also hurt, Lewisburg was forced to turn to sophomore Patrick Fleck, who understandably had trouble behind a banged-up offensive line facing an aggressive defense. Kane Cecco and Cael Williams chipped in with interceptions, and Chase Williams recovered a fumble. All three turnovers were converted into points.
“Defense looked really strong,” Roth said. “We had Lewisburg outmanned for a couple of reasons. One of them is they had a lot of injuries. Their starting quarterback got hurt early, so they didn’t have any kind of experience at the quarterback position. But overall, I was pleased with the balance on offense, and then the way the defense played. They really just gave up nothing right from the first snap.”
Southern Columbia 20 21 7 13-61
Lewisburg 0 0 0 8-8
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
SC-Gavin Brown 1 run (Lincoln Billig kick) 11:56
SC-Grady Garcia 14 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Billig kick) 5:11
SC-Jace Malakoski 12 pass from Hockenbroch (kick failed) 1:09
Second Quarter
SC-Blaise Kissinger 14 pass from Hockenbroch (Billig kick) 11:10
SC-Garcia 14 run (Billig kick) 7:41
SC-Joey Williams 1 run (Billig kick) 3:21
Third Quarter
SC-Garcia 6 run (Billig kick) 9:07
Fourth Quarter
SC-Gavin Trometter 1 run (Billig kick) 11:06
SC-Will Wojtowicz 8 run (no attempt) 8:52
L-Tristan Roupp 36 run (Roupp pass from Mitchell McSwenn) 2:34
Team Statistics
…………………….SC…………..L
1st downs…………..19……………3
rush-yds………….43-298…….23-71
comp-att-int……7-9-1…………2-13-2
pass yds……………..97…………16
total yds…………..395………….87
fumb-lost…………1-0………….6-1
pen-yds…………..2-10…………..5-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Southern Columbia: Grady Garcia 14-98, 2 TDs; Joey Williams 9-63, TD; Gavin Brown 6-49, TD; Ryan Davis 3-48; Gavin Trometter 4-17, TD; Kane Cecco 3-10; Will Wojtowicz 1-8, TD; Jacoby Karlovich 1-4; Orion Wojtowicz 1-2; Team 1-(-1). Lewisburg: Tristan Roupp 1-36, TD; Ethan Coleman 4-31; Mitchell McSwenn 4-10; Patrick Fleck 3-2; Drake Osunde 1-1; C.J. Yadran-Manicawa 2-1; Elijah Carter 1-0; Colin Papson 1-0; Owen Fellon 4-(-2); Jaylen Walker 2-(-8).
Passing-Southern Columbia: Ayden Hockenbroch 7-9-1, 97 yds., 3 TDs. Lewisburg: Fleck 2-11-2, 16 yds.; Jett Jamieson 0-2-0.
Receiving-Southern Columbia: Blaise Kissinger 4-70, TD; Garcia 1-14, TD; Jace Malakoski 2-13, TD. Lewisburg: Osunde 2-16.