BLOOMSBURG – South Williamsport has been one of the most successful teams in District 4 for the last decade and a half, and the Mounties are usually at their best when they are controlling the line of scrimmage, and along with it, the running game and clock.
Even with just 23 on its roster this season, South has still managed to impose its will on its opponents for most of the year. Its only two losses were to District 4 Class A finalist Montgomery by six points, and District 4 Class 3A finalist Athens by just 10. Every win has been by double digits, but the Mounties would have their hands full on Friday as they traveled to top-seeded Bloomsburg for the District 4 Class 2A semifinal.
Going up against the undefeated Panthers, South managed to once again dominate the line of scrimmage, but it was actually a defensive touchdown that may have made the biggest difference in the game, and a successful two-point conversion in overtime was the difference in the end as the Mounties stunned Bloomsburg, 43-42, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season in overtime, to advance to next week’s district title game.
South will head back to Columbia County next week as it will travel to defending state 2A champion Southern Columbia for the District 4 Class 2A championship game.
“They have tremendous athletes and speed and hats off to Bloomsburg. It was one of those games and we had the last shot and I thought this thing has gone back and forth and to stop them on the 10 was probably virtually impossible, so let’s see if we can get this two-point conversion and sure enough, that was one of our best plays, we rolled the dice and they did it,” said South Williamsport coach Chris Eiswerth.
A completed pass from Cole Gerber to Neeko Brown for the two-point conversion on South Williamsport’s overtime possession after both teams had scored touchdowns was the difference in the end in what was a back-and-forth contest.
South managed to withstand a 351-yard passing performance by Bloomsburg’s Shane Frey, who threw for four touchdowns on 21-of-33 passing. Seven of those were hauled in by Jharee Moore-Stewart for 146 yards and three touchdowns, while Julius Serrano made 11 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown, and also had a kickoff return for a touchdown.
“I just have to take my hat off to my kids for their fight and their grit. No matter how much they were behind, they continued to believe in each other and believe in the process. South made a play when they needed to when their backs were against the wall and I wish them the best next week, but I’m proud of everything we accomplished and in particular our 11 seniors,” said Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut. “Our kids played well but were just one-point short, unfortunately.
As good of a game as the Panthers had offensively, South Williamsport was just as good, as the Mounties held onto the ball for 26:36 and held over a five-minute edge in time of possession. Almost more importantly, however, they also added a defensive touchdown, which turned out to be just as much of a difference in the game as the final two-point conversion by South.
Garrett Lorson ran the ball 25 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and also had a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown just before halftime that made it a tie score at halftime instead of Bloomsburg holding a one or potentially two-possession lead.
“I have to commend South Williamsport. What a great game. They controlled the ball like I know they wanted to. Lorson really read the screen well and made a nice play,” said Kogut. “We were driving so that was a really big momentum swing at the time.
“They have a very basic but effective offense and they controlled the line of scrimmage. They might have worn down a little bit in the second half and we came back a little bit, but they were big and strong so that didn’t surprise me but it surprised me to the point that I thought we could get some stops but unfortunately we didn’t and they executed when they needed to.”
The pick-six made all the more difference in the game since South Williamsport only had six offensive possessions in regulation compared to eight for Bloomsburg. But the Mounties ran for 319 yards on the evening. In addition to the interception return for touchdown, South also stopped the Panthers right before halftime, as a pass sailed incomplete on third down as the first half clock expired. The Mounties also stopped the Panthers on downs on Bloomsburg’s first second half possession, and while Bloomsburg battled back to tie the game, those three defensive stops and the points scored off one of them were critical, as South only scored on offense three times. Both teams each also recorded a kickoff return for a touchdown.
“We work hard with our offensive line and the running game and we knew we had to control the clock and control the ball and try be there at the end standing and sure enough, we were there,” said Eiswerth.
Neither team managed a stop until South went three-and-out with 3:25 left in the first half.
Bloomsburg scored on its opening drive as Frey hit a wide-open Serrano for a 39-yard touchdown pass at the 7:06 mark of the first quarter that capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive.
South answered with a 12-play, 69-yard drive capped by Eli White’s 11-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-4 play.
Serrano answered that with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown – which marked the last time the Mounties kicked it deep in the game.
But South marched right back down the field after that, this time putting together a 14-play, 70-yard drive that chewed up 7:02 on the clock, capped by Lorson’s first touchdown run of the night from five yards out to knot things back up, 14-14.
The Panthers then converted on a fake punt from their own 46, and one play later, Frey hit Moore-Stewart down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown pass to put Bloomsburg back up, 21-14.
Bloomsburg then stopped South at its own 19, with the Mounties going three-and-out, which forced the only punt of the game by either team. The Panthers took over at their own 41 with a chance to finally break serve by South and potentially go up by two scores.
Instead, Lorson snuffed out a screen pass on the fourth play of the drive, and picked off an ill-advised pass by Frey and returned it 50 yards for the touchdown.
“We worked on (defending) that all week, we knew they were doing that and Garrett took a chance and took it to the house and then he comes out and takes one the distance in the third quarter and we worked on that all week as well,” said Eiswerth. “It’s pretty gratifying to work as hard as we’ve worked and to be at this point with 23 kids.”
With an extra few seconds, Bloomsburg may have gone back on top before the half, but the Panthers were unable to find the end zone after Frey and Moore-Stewart connected for a 36-yard pickup to flip the field as another three-yard pickup was followed by a pair of incomplete passes as time ran out on the Panthers.
Then Lorson got loose up the middle for a 73-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage of the second half to give the Mounties their first lead of the game, 28-21.
The teams then traded being stopped on downs, with Bloomsburg stopping the Mounties at the Panther 4-yard line with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter.
From there, Bloomsburg proceeded to put together an 11-play, 95-yard drive capped by Frey’s four-yard touchdown run, with a one-handed catch by Brayden Holbert going for 53-yard to flip field position. The PAT was blocked, however, allowing South to maintain the one-point lead.
The Mounties’ Samir Moy then returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, as he picked up a semi-squib kick that had gone through a teammate’s legs first, then burst up the middle and through all Bloomsburg’s defenders, putting the Mounties up 35-27 with 9:56 remaining in regulation.
With their backs against the wall, Bloomsburg dug deep and went down the field in nine plays and found the end zone when Frey hit Moore-Stewart in the left corner of the end zone with a defender draped all over him for the touchdown. The Panthers then ran a trick play with Moore-Stewart hitting Frey in the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game with still over half of the fourth quarter remaining.
The Mounties proceeded to march down the field once again, taking 15 plays to advance from their own 27 down to the Bloomsburg 14, where they faced a fourth-and-10. They elected to attempt what would have been a 32-yard field goal, but were flagged for an illegal substitution and instead attempted a 36-yard field goal, and it was partially blocked with :40 remaining.
Bloomsburg picked up 23 yards on its first play but Frey was picked off by Levi Butler later in the drive to send the game to overtime.
South won the coin toss and went on defense first, and on third down of Bloomsburg’s overtime possession, Frey and Moore-Stewart connected for their third touchdown of the night, and PAT was successful.
On South’s possession, White was stuffed for a two-yard loss on first down, before Lorson got loose around the right flank for a 12-yard touchdown run.
The Mounties took a timeout and elected to go for two, and despite being pushed back five yards for a false start, still managed to convert when Gerber hit Bowen on a crossing route.
“We were in a track meet and just going back and forth and I’m sure he had the two-point play dialed up for a while and they did it, it was a really nice call on their behalf and it didn’t surprise me,” said Kogut.
South Williamsport 43, Bloomsburg 42 (OT)
South Williamsport (10-2) 7 14 7 7 8 – 43
Bloomsburg (10-1) 14 7 0 14 7 – 42
First quarter
7:06 – (B) Julius Serrano 39-yard pass from Shane Frey (Wodehouse kick), 10-73, 4:54
1:29 – (SW) Eli White 11-yard run (Paulhamus kick), 12-69, 5:37
1:09 – (B) Julius Serrano 92-yard kickoff return (Wodehouse kick)
Second quarter
6:07 – (SW) Garrett Lorson 5-yard run (Paulhamus kick), 14-70, 7:02
4:16 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 52-yard pass from Shane Frey (Wodehouse kick), 5-62, 1:51
1:53 – (SW) Garrett Lorson 50-yard interception return (Paulhamus kick)
Third quarter
11:07 – (SW) Garrett Lorson 73-yard run (Paulhamus kick), 2-77, :53
Fourth quarter
10:08 – (B) Shane Frey 4-yard run (kick blocked), 11-95, 4:43
9:56 – (SW) Samir Moy 88-yard kickoff return (Paulhamus kick)
6:57 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 22-yard pass from Shane Frey (Frey pass from Moore-Stewart), 9-67, 2:59
Overtime
(B) – Jharee Moore-Stewart 7-yard pass from Shane Frey (Wodehouse kick), 3-10
(SW) – Garrett Lorson 12-yard run (Bowen pass from Gerber), 2-10
Statistics
SW B
First downs 21 22
Rushes-net yards 52-319 28-94
Passing yardage 30 351
Passing 3-9-0-0 21-33-4-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 9-60 5-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: South Williamsport: Garrett Lorson (25-210-3), Cade Lusk (17-77), Eli White (9-33-1), Team (1-(-1)); Bloomsburg: Shane Frey (11-25-1), Wyatt Schrader (10-51), Jharee Moore-Stewart (5-9), Julius Serrano (2-9)
PASSING: South Williamsport: Cole Gerber (3-9-30-0-0); Bloomsburg: Shane Frey (21-33-351-4-2)
RECEIVING: South Williamsport: Levi Butler (3-30); Bloomsburg: Julius Serrano (11-116-1), Jharee Moore-Stewart (7-146-3), Brayden Holbert (3-89)