Big Plays Carried Tigers to Victory

Written by: Dave Fegley on Friday, October 2nd, 2015. Follow Dave Fegley on Twitter.

Southern Columbia shuts out Central Columbia

By: Dave Fegley (Twitter: @DFegs9)

On a night that started off with Southern Columbia senior Blair Johnston being crowned the 2015 Homecoming Queen, it was the junior halfback Hunter Thomas leaving the field as the king on the gridiron. For the night, he only needed three carriers to rack up 125 yards and two scores. Add in two catches for 69 yards, and Thomas averaged over 38 yards per touch. “The offensive line has been getting it done up front. I have a lot of faith in those guys each game,” Thomas said after his team overpowered Central Columbia in a 40-0 win.

The game conditions were far from perfect with rain falling from beginning to end and a slight wind blowing throughout the night. “It rained a lot earlier in the week and you would certainly rather play in better conditions. Thankfully nobody suffered any injuries, and I thought our guys came out and took care of business,” said Tiger head coach Jim Roth. The defense was able to keep the Blue Jays off of the scoreboard leading to the first shutout victory of the season for the Tigers. “The defense wasn’t playing the best that we could earlier, but the last two games we have picked it up. I think we can keep it rolling as we move on with our schedule,” said Ross Crowl who had two key third down tackles in the first quarter. The Blue Jays were held to just 48 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Blake Marks scored the first touchdown of the game on a five yard carry, and the Tigers defense forced a 3-and-out on Central Columbia’s first possession. On the next drive, the Blue Jays lone bright spot on the night came when Eli Petersheim picked off Southern quarterback Nick Becker giving his team the ball in Tiger territory. Southern Columbia’s defense prevailed forcing the Jays to turn it over on downs. It took SCA just two plays to score on the ensuing drive thanks to Thomas’ 70 yard run that was setup by the blocking of the offensive line after Thomas cut from the left side all the way across field down the right sideline. After Tyler Keiser’s PAT the Tigers were up 14-0. The last score of the opening quarter came when Becker, who last week broke the school’s career touchdown pass mark, found his tight end Garrett Henry from five yards out.

SoCo would score three more times in the second quarter on a six yard scamper from Nic Fetterman, a 35 yard dash by Thomas, and a 43 yard run by fullback Jared Torres making it 40-0. “A lot of guys had good blocks, especially Garrett Henry’s one late that allowed me to get into the end zone right before halftime. The line did a good job all night against their front,” said Torres who had 91 yards on five carries. The score at the half would be the same at the end of the game with neither team finding the end zone during the Mercy Rule second half, that lasted only a total of 28 minutes in real time, with the Tigers moving to 5-0 on the year and the Blue Jays still without a win. “They’re just bigger and faster, and obviously it’s one of the best-coached teams in Pennsylvania,” Central Columbia coach Jason Hippenstiel said. “When you put that combination together, they’re dangerous at every level.” The Blue Jays haven’t beaten the Tigers since the 1996 season, which was before any current player on either side was born.

Next week will be the Tigers biggest challenge yet as they will host the red hot Red Tornadoes of Mount Carmel Area. “We need to come out with a lot of intensity against them next week. Our defense wants to try and shut them down from the start,” said SCA linebacker Jake Potter. Next week will be Red Tornado first-year head coach John Darrah’s first time facing off against Jim Roth. The Tigers have had the upper-hand as of late winning the last three in the series. “I know this is a historic rivalry and it should be a good game. They have been having a surprisingly good season,” said Thomas about Mount Carmel Area (3-2) who will come to Tiger Stadium riding a three game winning streak.

SCA: 21-19-0-0 = 40
CC: 0-0-0-0 = 0

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (5-0)

RUSHING:

Hunter Thomas 3-125, 2 TDs; Jared Torres 5-91, TD; Blake Marks 7-76, TD; Nic Fetterman 3-16, TD; Thomas Manley 2-14; Jake Potter 1-0; Dylan Kranzel 3-18; AJ Goodlunas 3-16; Cole Potter 2-13; Nick Becker 1-0; Drew Michaels 1-(-4)

PASSING:

Nick Becker 6-10-1, 123 yds, TD; Drew Michaels 1-1-0, 3 yds

RECEIVING:

Hunter Thomas 2-69; Garrett Henry 1-5, TD; Steve Toczylousky 2-45; Cam Young 1-4; Tom Ivey 1-3

1st DOWNS: 19

PENALTIES: 1-5

CENTRAL COLUMBIA (0-5)

RUSHING: Isaac Gensemer 5-21; Ky Seesholtz 4-15; Evan Campbell 6-7; Owen Gensemer 4-4; Aaron Farver 1-1

PASSING: Aaron Farver 7-23-0, 68 yds; Ky Seesholtz 4-7-0, 43 yds

RECEIVING: Brady Crawfod 4-47; Eli Petersheim 3-21; Isaac Gensemer 2-29; Trae Devlin 1-10; Jensen Thivierge 1-4

1st DOWNS: 8

PENALTIES: 4-31