Gavin Garcia leads Southern Columbia

Written by: Matt Beltz on Saturday, October 16th, 2021. Follow Matt Beltz on Twitter.

CATAWISSA – Hughesville’s schedule certainly hasn’t done it any favors this year.

So far this year, the Spartans have had to take on the state’s all-time winningest program and perennial district title contender Mount Carmel, defending district class 3A champion Danville – in a game that wasn’t on its original schedule – and on Friday night, probably their toughest game of the year against four-time defending state champion Southern Columbia.

The Tigers have been battling the injury bug this year, but in spite of that, when Gavin Garcia resides in your offensive backfield and your defense is dominant, that can overcome any temporary depth issues caused by injuries.

Garcia and a dominant defense were responsible for continuing Hughesville’s frustrating season as Garcia amassed 272 all-purpose yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, and Southern’s defense held Hughesville to negative yardage and without a first down in the first half, as Southern topped the Spartans 41-7.

The Spartans were held to -28 yards in the first half, including -39 on the ground, all while Southern scored all of its points in the first half.

“Defensively, we played very well in all areas, and didn’t have any issues,” said Southern coach Jim Roth. “We’re dealing with injuries, more than what we’ve had in years, but that’s part of the game. Things pick up with Selinsgrove and Danville the next two weeks. We’re going to get their best shots. We just need to keep improving every week and by the end of the season, be playing our best football. That’s our goal right now, and to get home-field advantage (for the playoffs).”

“We’re just killing ourselves. The kids just need to get that winning going and once they get that started, I think they’re going to love it and not want to give it up,” said Hughesville coach Howard Rainey. “Right now, they’re OK with a close game in a loss. We just need to get them in the mindset that winning is what it’s all about.”

Hughesville did force Southern to punt on its second possession of the game after forcing a three-and-out, a rare occurrence for the Tigers in the first half of games. But Southern still scored on six of its first seven drives, three of which were single-play drives.

Garcia finished with 179 rushing yards on nine carries and caught a 54-yard touchdown pass. He may have finished with even more all-purpose yards – which also included a 39-yard punt return – but he had two long runs, including one for a touchdown, called back, and greatly reduced in length due to penalties.

A 46-yard pickup following one of those long runs being called backflipped the field on Southern’s first drive of the game, and the Tigers capped their longest drive of the game in terms of plays with Blake Wise’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Jake Rose to take a 7-0 lead just 3:30 into the game.

After punting on their next drive, Southern put together two straight one-play drives. First, Trevor Yorks burst up the middle for a 71-yard touchdown run.

Then, after Hughesville pinned the Tigers back at their own 6-yard line on a 57-yard punt by Tyler Fowler, Garcia erased that field position deficit in one play as he went 94 yards for a touchdown to put Southern up 21-0.

“Once Garcia got the ball and out in the open, we just couldn’t stop him,” said Rainey. “If we had him in the backfield before he got momentum, we were ok, but as soon as he gets momentum, he’s gone.”

Wise then threw back-to-back touchdown passes on Southern’s next two drives, connecting with Matt Masala for an 18-yard reception and then tossing a screen pass to Garcia, who turned it into a 54-yard touchdown.

Yorks would cap Southern’s scoring on the Tigers’ next drive with a 49-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. Yorks provided a nice compliment to Garcia in the backfield for the Tigers as he finished with 126 yards on seven carries. Southern played without its other two top backs in addition to Garcia as both Braeden Wisloski and Wes Barnes sat out with injuries, but both are hoping to be back before the end of the season.

“Offensively, it took us a little longer to get on track and some of that had to do with them changing things up on us,” said Roth. “They ran a totally different front and came out with a 5-3 defense in a way that wasn’t normal. But our kids have to respond to that because we get that on a pretty regular basis. We get something different or some looks with people tweaking their defense different from what we see on film.”

The Spartans held the ball for a majority of the second half with the running clock. They ran 29 plays to just eight for Southern. A long 16-play drive ended with a missed 33-yard field goal by Josh Heiney, but the Spartans did manage a late touchdown with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout as Kelby Gordner capped an 84-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run.

Hughesville’s gauntlet of a schedule continues as they wrap up the season against Loyalsock, a contender in Class 3A, next week, followed by a rivalry game against Muncy, a three-time defending district champion in class A and once again a contender this year.

Southern Columbia, meanwhile, needs to keep winning to ensure home-field advantage throughout the district playoffs, and the Tigers will face two tough opponents to wrap up the season in Selinsgrove next week and Danville in Week 10. Both are solid contenders for district titles in their respective classes.

Southern Columbia 41, Hughesville 7
Hughesville (1-7) 0 0 0 7 – 7
Southern Columbia (7-1) 21 20 0 0 – 41

First-quarter
8:30 – (SC) Jake Rose 25-yard pass from Blake Wise (Carter kick), 8-65, 3:30
3:45 – (SC) Trevor Yorks 71-yard run (Carter kick), 1-71, :13
2:18 – (SC) Gavin Garcia 94-yard run (Carter kick), 1-94, :15

Second-quarter
10:17 – (SC) Matt Masala 18-yard pass from Blake Wise (Carter kick), 6-43, 1:43
6:12 – (SC) Gavin Garcia 54-yard pass from Blake Wise (Carter kick), 3-51, 1:45
3:35 – (SC) Trevor Yorks 49-yard run (kick failed), 1-49, :14

Fourth-quarter
1:38 – (H) Kelby Gordner 5-yard run (Heiney kick), 8-84, 4:52

Statistics
H SC

First downs 8 8

Rushes-net yards 27-46 27-342

Passing yardage 70 97

Passing 8-20-0-0 3-6-3-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 2-10 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Hughesville: Brenden Knight (7-0), Aiden Barlett (5-41), Gabriel Wagner (5-(-1)), Luke Kaiser (5-(-20)), Kelby Gordner (2-37-1), Mason Hoppes (1-3), Joey Swink (1-2), TEAM (1-(-16)); Southern Columbia: Gavin Garcia (9-179-1), Trevor Yorks (7-126-2), Matt Masala (4-19), Carter Madden (3-10), Gavin Krebs (2-7), Michael Zsido (1-5), Louden Murphy (1-(-4))

PASSING — Hughesville: Luke Kaiser (6-15-32-0-0), Tyler Wetzel (2-4-38-0-0), Brenden Knight (0-1-0-0-0); Southern Columbia: Blake Wise (3-6-97-3-0)

RECEIVING — Hughesville: Joey Swink (3-53), Angelo Ferrigno (3-7), Aiden Barlett (1-4), Brenden Knight (1-4), Jediah Webb (1-2); Southern Columbia: Gavin Garcia (1-54-1), Jake Rose (1-25-1), Matt Masala (1-18-1)

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