WILLIAMSTOWN-Whether is was an emotional hangover from last week’s huge win over Wyomissing, a rare Saturday afternoon game, or a combination of both, it took some time for Southern Columbia to kick things into high gear against a Williams Valley team that came ready to play. The Tigers faced a worthy opponent who kept them mostly contained for the better part of three quarters. But if the cream rises to the top, the Tigers did just that in the last 14 minutes of play. Grady Garcia rushed for a game-high 175 yards and three total touchdowns and Southern’s defense established control in the second half, as the Tigers were able to pull away for a 30-12 victory.
“We didn’t seem like ourselves in terms of just our intensity and overall effort,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “When that happens in a game like this, you kind of look back and think, was it the week before? And I think that probably had something to do with it. I think we need to take a lesson from that. You can say, well, odd game time, afternoon, warm, but they’re dealing with the same issues. It just seemed like we just didn’t have the right frame of mind to start with. Maybe we were taking them a little bit lightly, and that’s what can happen against a good team. You can tell by the way they were playing, they were very inspired, especially in the first half. With the guys up front on defense, it was evident.”
Williams Valley (1-1) won in overtime against Upper Dauphin last Friday night, and the Vikings started strong against the defending Class 2A state champions. Junior running back Fletcher Thompson broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, and was gone on a 62-yard touchdown run that gave his team a 6-0 lead at the 2:55 mark of the opening quarter. Southern (2-0) needed a spark, and the Tigers got one thanks to the combination of Ayden Hockenbroch and Jace Malakoski. Facing 4th-and-goal at the 8, the duo connected against good coverage on a really nice throw by Hockenbroch, who put it where only Malakoski could get it in the back-right corner of the end zone. Hockenbroch ran in the two-point conversion, giving the Tigers an 8-6 lead which they carried into halftime.
“They had some coverage there, and that was a huge play in the game,” Roth said. “Those guys have gotten to point where they’re in a pretty good position. They had two touchdown passes last week and they have good rapport with one another as far as running routes and throwing the ball. The thing that’s nice is, Ayden knows in most cases that even if there’s pretty good coverage, if you put it in the right spot, Jace can outreach people and take the ball away. So that makes it nice when you have a bigger guy like that who is athletic.”
Early in the second half, Williams Valley was able to move the ball into Southern territory, but a holding penalty helped put an end to the drive. From that point on, it was all Tigers. Things started to open up, with Garcia being one of the main beneficiaries. Garcia made a house call from 60 yards out with 2:15 left in the third quarter that helped grow the lead to two possessions following another Hockenbroch run on a two-point conversion. Garcia only had 42 rushing yards at halftime, but that number would rapidly increase.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a great feeling,” Garcia said. “I can’t take any credit for it. It was the line. They gave me the hole I needed to run down the sideline. It was great. The line was blocking all day long. All of the other backs, making them stay honest. We can throw the ball now, it’s just not the run. It’s everything together that’s making the run happen.”
When Southern got the ball back after a quick defensive stop aided by a couple of Williams Valley penalties, it didn’t take long for Garcia to strike again. He helped set up excellent field position after a 29-yard punt return and two plays later, he would find the end zone again. Hockenbroch delivered a perfect pass down the middle into waiting arms of Garcia who was behind the secondary. The 33-yard touchdown pass pushed the lead to 22-6 early in the fourth quarter, as the defense started to show signs of fatigue. Hockenbroch does enough to keep opponents honest with his arm. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 70 yards and a pair of scores.
“Coach was saying all week that we are almost all one-way players,” Garcia said. “They’re team is almost all two-way players. So yeah, they’re going to wear down. When we’re only going one way, we can go out and give it our all. Them, they’re going the whole game giving their all every play. You can’t keep that up for four quarters, it’s tough.”
Fletcher made one more big play to bring Williams Valley within 10 points on the scoreboard, but once again Garcia would answer. This time, he sprinted 46 yards to paydirt and put the game away with 7:50 left. In the span of eight days, Southern has defeated a Wyomissing team who will certainly be a factor in the District 3 Class 3A playoffs and a Williams Valley team who will be a tough out at the Class A level.
“Both games, even with so much hype, we came out a little flat,” Garcia said. “In the locker room before the game, it just didn’t seem like everybody was ready to go. But I think this week was kind of a wake-up call. We’ve seen how we can’t just walk out on the field and win. We’ve got to come out and just play our best, and we can’t take any team for granted. We’ve just got to play whistle to whistle and go. If we have to go four quarters, then we have to go four quarters.”
Southern Columbia 0 8 8 14-30
Williams Valley 6 0 0 6-12
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
WV-Fletcher Thompson 62 run (pass failed) 2:55
Second Quarter
SC-Jace Malakoski 8 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Hockenbroch run) 8:17
Third Quarter
SC-Grady Garcia 60 run (Hockenbroch run) 2:15
Fourth Quarter
SC-Garcia 33 pass from Hockenbroch (run failed) 11:17
WV-Thompson 21 run (pass failed) 8:59
SC-Garcia 46 run (Joey Williams run) 7:50
Team Statistics
………………………SC…………….WV
1st downs…………….15……………….11
rush-yds…………..36-264…………..26-130
comp-att-int…….4-7-0……………..8-17-1
pass yds………………70……………….74
total yds………………334……………..204
fumb-lost…………..2-1………………..0-0
pen-yds…………….4-55……………….5-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Southern Columbia: Grady Garcia 14-175, 2 TDs; Joey Williams 10-33; Ayden Hockenbroch 6-29; Gavin Brown 6-11; Gavin Trometter 2-8; Kane Cecco 3-5; Cael Williams 1-4; Ryan Davis 1-(-1). Williams Valley: Fletcher Thompson 17-117, 2 TDs; Trevon Bair 2-21; Cole Hubler 3-5; Cayden Witmer 4-(-13).
Passing-Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 4-7-0, 70 yds., 2 TDs. Williams Valley: Witmer 8-17-1, 74 yds.
Receiving-Southern Columbia: Jace Malakoski 3-37, TD; Garcia 1-33, TD. Williams Valley: Hubler 2-32; Mason Bowser 3-29; Thompson 3-13.