Old Forge stuns Southern Columbia

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 22^nd 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

1^st 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

1^st DOWNS: 12

PENALTIES: 10-70

 

Final Old Forge stats courtesy of Damien Scoblink (Press Enterprise)