By: Dave Fegley (Twitter: @DFegs9)
Legendary college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant used to say that “defense wins championships” and if he was still alive today, he would have liked what he saw from both Old Forge and Southern Columbia in their state playoff matchup. The Tigers came into the state playoffs scoring at least 44 points in each game this season and averaged over 50 per game. They looked like they were going to keep that trend going after the first quarter when they lead 14-0, but they would not score another point the remainder of the night thanks to an outstanding effort by the Old Forge defense. “We were just outplayed up front basically. We didn’t run the ball with any kind of consistency or break off any big plays,” Southern head coach Jim Roth said. The Blue Devils defense shut down the Tigers offense for the final three quarters, and the offense was able to muster three touchdowns of their own to beat Southern 19-14 which gave Old Forge their first ever win against Southern Columbia who won the first three matchups in 1988, 2006, and 2011. “Our team has battled through a lot of adversity all year and we have been in close games all year. The kids are just very resilient and I’m proud of them,” said Old Forge head coach Michael Schuback.
Friday night’s game at Kemp Memorial Stadium in Shamokin, showcased arguably the two best Single-A teams in the state, but unfortunately the way the bracket is setup, they had to face off in the round of 16. The game also showcased some of the top players from the east including Old Forge’s senior running back Brandon Yescavage who scored all three of his team’s touchdowns on his way to a 211 yard night. “We love being the underdog because it makes us practice harder and come out mentally tougher than the opponent,” said Yescavage who came into the game with over 2,000 yards on the season. On the other side of the ball Matt Trotta stepped up and had a huge game from his outside linebacker position coming up with key tackles down the stretch for the Blue Devils. “Trotta set the edge for us fantastically tonight against their run game especially with some of our guys getting banged up early,” Schuback said. Southern Columbia also had great play from players on both sides of the ball starting with their star fullback, Adam Feudale, who finished with 111 yards and a touchdown in his final career game. Cody Pavlick had another outstanding game in his final game in a Tiger uniform as well. He entered the game with 303 career tackles which is third best in school history and had 125 tackles entering on the season which is the second most in a single season. Against Old Forge, he unofficially had seven tackles in the first half alone for the Tiger defense.
The guttiest performance has got to go to a player on the losing end however. Tiger senior running back Nate Hunter finished the game with six carries for 34 yards and the game’s first touchdown. Not bad, especially for playing on one leg. He tore his ACL in last week’s District IV final, but was determined to play the rest of the year. “I got an MRI earlier in the week on Monday and the doctor told me I tore the same ACL that I did last year. They gave me the okay if I felt I could go, and I wanted to keep playing to help my team out the best I could. I was fortunate to be able to play with all of my buddies one last time as a Southern Tiger,” said Hunter. “I had so much tape on my knee that I didn’t really feel anything at the beginning of the game and the touchdown I scored helped me mentally to feel I could play a full game, but the final hit I took was enough to put me out of the game in the second quarter.”
Hunter’s touchdown from four yards out put the Tigers up 7-0 with 7:34 left in the first quarter. Then, Feudale scored on a nine yard run to make it 14-0 after one quarter. The second quarter was when Yescavage took over and shifted the momentum to Old Forge’s side. He made the score 14-7 on an 80 yard dart down the sidelines at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter. Then he scored again with 17 seconds remaining in the first half on a three yard plunge, but a missed extra point had his team trailing 14-13 at the half. He was running so well that Old Forge didn’t even attempt their first pass until there were two minutes left in the second quarter.
In the third quarter both defenses came up with stops on each possession, and didn’t allow any points which sent the game into the final quarter still 14-13. “The biggest thing was them shutting us down offensively for the final three quarters,” said Roth. The score remained that way until Yescavage scored the game winning touchdown from 50 yards out with 6:01 left in the game giving his team a 19-14 lead. “Southern has always had a great defense and they are a state power, but I think we just out-powered them today,” Yescavage stated.
After a touchback, SCA had to drive 80 yards for a score if they wanted to win the ball game. Quarterback Nick Becker was only 5 for 16 passing entering the final drive, but he completed two huge fourth down passes under pressure to Luke Rarig and Blake Marks putting the ball inside the Blue Devil red zone giving his offense a chance to win the game. Old Forge prevailed on the third and final fourth down from the 14 yard line by forcing an incomplete pass which sealed the victory for the District II champs.
Southern Columbia ends the year with a 12-1 record, and won a remarkable 22nd district title in the last 23 seasons. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, but it was a great season and I was able to play for great coaches. I’ll have a lot of memories, and I will certainly miss it,” said Hunter. The Tigers graduate over half of their starters leaving some major voids to fill heading into next fall.
Old Forge now moves on to the Eastern Semi-Final against District III champion Schuylkill Haven next Friday night at a site to be determined. The Blue Devils will probably be favored to win the east now with the victory over the Tigers and they will probably even be favored to win a state gold. “We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing every week this year. We need preparation and determination and I think we will come out with the wins,” said Yescavage.
SCA: 14-0-0-0 = 14
OF: 0-13-0-6 = 19
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (12-1)
RUSHING:
Adam Feudale 27-111, TD; Nate Hunter 6-34, TD; Blake Marks 10-52; Matt Lupold 3-2, Nick Becker 1-(-2)
PASSING:
Nick Becker 8-22-0, 106 yds
RECEIVING:
Luke Rarig 3-39; Zach Tillett 1-34; Blake Marks 3-26; Adam Feudale 1-7
1st DOWNS: 19
PENALTIES: 4-35
OLD FORGE (12-1)
RUSHING:
Brandon Yescavage 24-211, 3 TDs; Shane Schuback 4-38; Jorden Sekol 3-10; Jake Manetti 4-(-4)
PASSING:
Jake Manetti 4-8-1, 59 yds
RECEIVING:
Shane Schuback 3-45; Brandon Vahey 1-14
1st DOWNS: 12
PENALTIES: 10-70
Final Old Forge stats courtesy of Damien Scoblink (Press Enterprise)
56 Responses
You sound very bitter against Southern. That people is jealousy pure and simple. We should play this, we should play that, our school can beat your school, you need to move up a class. Tell it to the PIAA, they make the rules. It’s not we hide kids in the bus barn when headcount time comes around, make sence man. Let’s show support for Old Forge and get the Gold back on the eastern part of the state.
Apparently people are either embarrassed about their own programs or jealous to belittle SCA for playing in the classification they’re in. Yes, SCA dresses tons of kids but thats because kids see the success they’ve had over the past 20 years and want to be a part of it. In the 90s, SCA had many 2 way starters like a lot of A schools do, but when they started winning everyone wanted to get in on it. As for stealing players, it’s not stealing when families move. Families are moving because those towns are becoming crap holes to live in. Hynoski’s dad was MCA, Henry was not. Henry was never in MCA. Probaly won’t ever win a state title again? oh well if they don’t they have 6. how many does your school have? Will your school ever play in 195 out 196 games in a 13 year span. More stupid igornant comments from jealous people trying to put down a school who’s success can’t be matched at the small school level.
First off, congrats to the OF team, good luck the rest of the year. Second, Chris’s comment is ridiculous about the Tripp kid. Way to make an absolutely awesome kid feel great if he reads your post. He is good enough to play at least 1-AA or high D2. If you watched the replay he absolutely neutralized #51 for OF, who is considered a 1-AA talent. As far as running to his side (they did an above average job running to that side in the first half, after the first series, against a very good OF run defense). That is where I lay the blame on Roth. The team was begging him to run to the side where Tripp/Reynolds/Donlan and a TE would line up, but he only called a run to that side twice in the second half (both gained yards), and 20 times to the right. Any defensive co-ordinator in the world could’ve predicted the plays. Roth made OF’s job easy with his play calling. The Southern line gave Becker all the time in the world to throw last night, he was only hit once, but Roth won’t mention that in his comments. But then again, when you call 75% of the pass plays to go to a receiver who is double-covered… Anyway, to lay blame totally on the line is ridiculous. Roth’s play calling was poor at best. He should own most of the blame, but we know he won’t. The kids play their hearts out for this man each and every week, and when he gets a chance to take some blame, he puts it on kids (that’s right, kids). We all know they felt terrible, but they probably felt even worse this morning when they read his comments in the paper. I didn’t hear Danville’s coach blaming anyone for the loss, way to be a class act Coach Keiser!
yeahyeah,
I’m an LVC guy and your statement is ridiculous. SCA is 1A. What would make anyone think that they are going to compete consistently in a 4A conference? And one of the most competitive conferences in the state at that.
Also you shouldn’t be Class A, you should at least be AA, I know your school is small, but you must have a roster easily over 50.
You’re living in the past, you’ll probably never win a state title again. Even when your pride superbowl champ Hyno; You know Hynoski’s are from mount carmel? Delbo’s are from Shamokin, and so are the Tillets. How many talented athletes do you have that you haven’t stolen from other local school. It’s not 06 anymore:)
The funniest thing is a SCA fan posted in an article about BECHAI vs Berwick that they should be happy they don’t play SCA. Honestly, SCA couldn’t compete in LVC. Catty would pose a problem for them too
A lot of sour grapes here, all around.
First, Old Forge was the better team last night. In spite of calls, because of calls, it doesn’t matter. Old Forge bet Southern Columbia. That doesn’t mean Southern was “garbage” or “overrated”. Heck if they were, then that win for Old Forge doesn’t look like much, does it? Fact is, Southern Columbia is one of the premier programs in Class A in the state, and Old Forge bet them on a neutral field in Southern’s own district.
Southern also has nothing to be ashamed of. They had a great year, won their district, and ran into a good team in the playoffs. At this point, every team still playing is good. Either team could have won that game last night, but it ended up that Old Forge defense was able to hold for 3 quarters.
As far as the officiating goes, I don’t particularly like calling out refs, but that crew from District 11 either had a bad night or were jsut downright awful. A lot of call and non-call went against Old Forge, and that’s coming from a neutral observer. Heck, it was on TV too, so there’s video evidence.
A Southern player goes into the air and fumbles the ball without ever touching the ground. What’s the call? Down by contact.
An Old Forge receiver gets mauled in the secondary causing Southern to intercept the ball. Where’s the pass interference call?
Even something simple as spotting the ball. The refs spot the ball where it would clearly look like a first down. When they call for 3rd down isntead, and were asked to measure, they ignored everyone. So instead of a 1st and 10, we had a 3rd and -1.
Oh and then the fumble when Old Forge came up with the ball right in the sight of either the line judge or sidge judge, and everyone in the stadium knew it, but apparently, they didn’t see it.
And that’s just a few of the more egregious moments. I definitely think they need to review these guys some more. Even a buddy of mine there, who’s an umpire, was watching and couldn’t believe how bad they were. His words being that their mechanics were good, but their judgement was just plain bad.
In spite of all that though, no call or lack of a call ended up deciding the game, thankfully. It nearly did, but didn’t ultimately.
Old Forge just ended up dominating the line of scrimmage. But it’s still mysterious to me why Southern didn’t continue going to the passing game, because that was working great for them. Especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, they seemed determined to try and get the running game going, but just couldn’t get enough momentum going.
One moment that did sit badly with me was when an Old Forge player got hurt and went down, I want to say in the 3rd or 4th quarter, the Southern Columbia fans booed. That was shameful and classless. Be thankful that your team show the class that you couldn’t. Southern’s team took and knee and showed respect every single time an Old Forge player went down, and for that, those kids earned my respect. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the fans there who would boo a kid getting injured.
All junk aside, it was a great game to watch. Even as a neutral observer, I was glad I was able to go and be there in person to watch a classic. Great football game.
Good
Joe, you said it all, at the beginning of each season every single A program has getting by Southern on their wish list before they even think about the title. That says it all about the program that is Southern Columbia Tigers. We have nothing to explain to anyone when you look at the unequaled success of our program. Start bragging after you all have amassed the trophy case that we have stuffed full of history made in the state of Pa in Class A football. Congrats to Old Forge, hope to see you still standing in December. You played with a lot of heart and won the game and deserve to keep going.
Riley, southern Columbia does not pick its own schedule. If you had any knowledge of football you would know that. Last time I checked old forge would need to win 20+ district championships and 6 state titles to be considered as good as a program as southerns. As of the game, the game could of went to either way with how both teams were playing. I love when people celebrate like they just won a state championship game against southern when they beat them. All it comes down to is JEALOUSY of the Southern Columbia program.
Hey Riley,
Are you a freaking ?! “Maybe your team could have an actual shot at a state championship”! If you weren’t living under a rock for the last 20 years, you would know that no one has won more state championships (6) or played in more (13) than any team in PA history. Southern has dominated for two decades and played in a state championship only two years ago regardless of what like you let out of your mouth!
Sincerely,
A person with a logical brain
nope 6 state titles, 22 district titles, no match whatsoever with any of them. haha you’re a joke riley. Oh and SCA was the closest to beating Clairton during their streak out of anyone. can’t compete? they lost by 5 to old forge, lost to dunmore by 7. Also this is Old Forge’s first ever win against SCA so who couldn’t compete with who before?
content unapproved. Please keep it respectful. Billy Splain
Southern was the better team, more talented.Got robbed with the chop block call worst call I’ve ever witnesses. This costed these kids a state title
If i recall a few weeks ago someone posted that teams from D2(Berwick,AH,WVW or any other AAA/AAAA team) are afraid to play Southern because Southern would destroy them. Southern struggled to compete with an D2 single A team,let alone a 3A or 4A team… Todd you put your foot in your mouth on that one… Southern plays a weak schedule and this is the outcome of it…
A team’s success is based off of the line play & Old Forge unquestionably had the better line on both sides of the ball. They dominated the Tigers up front & that is why they are moving on and why SCA will be watching from the stands for the rest of the year. It was certainly a great game to watch & Old Forge has to be ecstatic that they finally made it over the hump to beat the Tigers after never before doing it. My prediction is that Old Forge beats Sto-Rox 35-21 in the state final.
Bottom line was that Old Forge won the battle between the trenches. I was shocked to see it, but Old Forge dominated Southern on both sides of the line. The Tigers offensive line got absolutely man-handled all night long & the Blue Devils wore down SCA’s defensive line…Roth must not have much faith in that Tripp kid that is supposed to be a high recruit, which I think he should consider playing small Division 2 or at a Division 3 program if he wants to see the field. He didn’t call a play to Tripp’s side running the entire 4th qtr. They ran to the right every single time in the final quarter? I think Roth should have at least mixed it up to keep the defense honest because Tripp does have the size to open up holes at the high school level and it was almost like Old Forge saw it coming the way they were stacking the box!
SOUTHERN WAS OVERRATED!!! I’m not going to be like Paul & point out the personal flaws in players, but I do agree with how all of their stats were not realistic because they played against horrible teams all season long and that hurt them big time…they couldn’t handle the Devils!
That was certainly a great game to watch if you are a fan of defense. I was shocked that neither team scored more than 35 points yet alone not reaching 20! Unfortunately, the refs flat out sucked and it was a disgrace to have that crew do a state playoff game. I hope the PIAA suspends them for the rest of the season because clearly they had no clue what was going on. The crew was from D11 & actually more calls went SCA’s way then they want for Old Forge. The refs had no clue where to spot the ball at times, missed penalties, and called a couple fumbles down which were terrible calls.
Going off the 2011 comments, I agree that the Tigers had a much better team back then. SCA had a 12-1 record this year, but about ten of those wins came against the school of the blind & deaf. If the two teams were to square off in a game I would say the 2011 team would beat this years team probably around 49-21 and that 2011 team had to earn mostly every win they got which is why they were able to run through the state playoffs all the way to Hershey. This years team had a disadvantage which wasn’t there fault, because they played in the Heartland Division III which is probably the worst league in Pennsylvania if not on the entire east coast of the country.
Other than Feudale & Rarig, all of the offensive stats were padded because they played against such inferior opponents.
The Tigers needed that final piece on offense this year to get them over the hump. I thought Becker made a couple key throws down the stretch, but all year long Rarig bailed him out because lots of times Becker just threw the ball up in the air for grabs hoping that one of his players would come down with it like Marks did late in the game last night. The Tigers needed that accurate passer like Latorre or Fegley, but obviously at the high school level guys like them are once in a generation type of quarterbacks. Hopefully Becker is able to get his accuracy and confidence up over the offseason because he still has two more years and he is big enough to have a successful finish to his career. It would have also helped to have a Moore or Levan’s speed at the running back spot this year. A couple other players with breakaway speed that I remember were guys like Wimble, Springer, & Morton in the past few years.Feudale had an outstanding season, but didn’t have that breakaway speed like those two did. He was a bruising back and I can’t speak enough for hard he ran his entire career. Rarig was clearly all-state worthy and reminded me of Day the way he has a knack for the ball on both sides of the ball. The Tigers are also going to miss Pavlick greatly next season at inside backer because he was in on almost every tackle it seemed all year long. Losing Tillett & Sosnoski in the secondary will also be huge because I dont know of the Tigers have anyone else to fill those spots.
I still have faith that Roth and staff will put together a winning team next season, but I don’t think they can make it to Hershey because I don’t know if they can replace the players they are losing with what I have seen this season. I didn’t see any jv games all year, but I don’t know how many players will help other than the running backs. Marzeski, Jeremiah, Marks, & Noll will be good, but who is going to help Rarig as another receiver? Teams are going to be able to triple team him next year and it’s going to force Becker to look for other options. I also think you will see Becker running more next year from his QB spot because he has a big body that could be beneficial to picking up some chunks of yardage on the ground. 12-1 season isn’t bad because the boys won another D4 title, but with how weak single-A was across the state this season, they almost had it gift wrapped to win gold at states!
It never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous some folks opinions are, and why they feel the need to put them out there for the world to see. Yes, Old Forge played an outstanding game last night and deserved to win. But then you diminish the Blue Devils accomplishment by commenting on how poor this Tiger team is compared to the 2011 team! On top of that, you make another mind numbing statement that the Tigers didn’t beat a good team all year and that they play in a “bad district.” District 4 has quite a number of state championship teams, not to mention many high quality teams who are strong year in and year out. Who the Tigers have played this season had no impact on last night’s game. Ultimately, it was the play of the Blue Devil defense which never allowed the SC running game to “get on track.” It was one score that finished the Tigers season, one that was taken away. Had they won last night, this Tiger team had a very good chance of winning it all, which says a lot for the Blue Devils.
I was impressed with Old Forge. I thought SCA would wear them down and their 2 way starters on the line would tire. That never happened so credit to them for their physicality and conditioning. SCA only had one 2 way starter on the line I believe. Best of luck the rest of the way.
I agree with the regular season comment. The past 2 years SCA was forced to play in the HAC III conference, which has the smallest schools and they’re required to play them. Unfortunately their big games (Mt. Carmel, Selinsgrove, Bloomsburg) were all teams that were having down years. Prior to the last 2 years, SCA played in HAC II because another team in HAC II felt they couldn’t compete there and wanted to move down to HAC III, which allowed SCA to be in HAC II. That team felt they were more competitive and they wanted back in HAC II the past 2 years so SCA had to move back down to HAC III. Let’s just say that team was 1-10 this year and is moving back down to HAC III. SCA will be back in HAC II now. It will be interesting since SCA graduates so many players how well they will do next year.
Watching in the 1st quarter I thought the refs were going to hand the game to Southern. The interception that was ruled interference, Fuedale’s non- fumble had me convinced that Old Forge was going to have the same experience Clairton’s opponents in Hershey had with the officiating but it evened out over all. The real turning point for me was’nt the missed field goal Southern had, it was the personal foul when a Southern player deliberatly raked Yezcavage’s eyes. Yezcavage said on channel 16 it fired him and his teamates up even more. Over the years I wonder how many of Southern’s losses in states have been attributable to a cheap shot providing extra motivation to an opponent?
Finally we got over that hump and beat the Tigers. I have been waiting for this moment for over two decades! Old Forge is loud as ever right now. Lots of celebration going on because we knocked off the top team!
Congrats to Southern on another great year, but I have even following the comments on this site about the comparison to the team that beat is back in 2011 and that Southern team was outstanding. Not to diminish the accomplishments of this years Tiger team, but the team two years ago would Mercy Rule the team they had this year. In 2011, SCA had a better quarterback, faster running backs, a stronger offensive line, and better playmakers on the defense. That is why that team made it to the state final and this years southern team is done in the first round. Plus, Southern didn’t beat a good team all year to prove they were worthy of the top seed in the playoffs. They play in a bad district and it showed tonight.
I am excited to see if we can beat Sch. Haven next week, then I think we will go all the way to Hershey finally.
Old Forge is moving on!!!