SELINSGROVE-Although the performance wasn’t up to the lofty standards set by one of the elite high school football programs in the state, it was certainly enough to get the job done. Southern Columbia wasn’t perfect in a 55-26 victory over Steelton-Highspire on Friday night, but the Tigers were still able to inflict plenty of damage against an overmatched defense. Ayden Hockenbroch continued his fine play in the postseason by passing for 145 yards and three touchdowns, which was complemented by a trio of backs racking up at least 90 yards rushing. Southern Columbia (13-1) advances to the PIAA Class 2A semifinals next weekend, and will face District 12 winner Lansdale Catholic (12-2) with a trip to the state championship game on the line.
“We had some issues up front in the first half,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “They did some things, just with their alignments and their quickness that gave us some problems at times. But nonetheless, we were still able to put points on the board, and the defense played well until we had a lead, and we kind of got soft on a drive. Their other two scores came on special teams, which we stressed to the guys after the game that when you get in games like this you can’t count on scoring 50 points. You can’t have a letdown and special teams can’t give up a big play there either. But overall, against a quality team, I thought it was a strong performance on both sides.”
Grady Garcia, who tallied 90 yards on nine carries, got things started in a hurry for Southern. After Steel High had a punt blocked, Garcia took the first carry of the game and was off to the races. The sophomore broke loose on a 52-yard touchdown run, beginning an offensive onslaught that saw the Tigers pile up 374 yards offense in the first half on 37 plays.
“Getting a stop, and then getting a big run like that obviously gave us momentum right off the bat,” Roth said. “Then Ayden threw the ball well again tonight, which the last couple of weeks here in the playoffs, that’s been a key for us.
Brayden Andrews led all rushers with 133 yards on just 11 attempts. He scored the first of his three touchdowns from nine yards out with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Leading 12-0, Hockenbroch began to make his presence felt. He completed a pair of passes to Andrews which totaled 51 yards. A couple of penalties would push the Tigers back to the edge of the red zone. Facing a 4th-and-19, Hockenbroch delivered a well-thrown ball to Nate Gallagher for a 20-yard touchdown against man coverage, delivering an early dagger to the Rollers.
“So there were a couple of games this year, not throwing a whole lot, where I was disappointed in the passing game,” Roth said. “I thought when we did throw, we should have executed better, been a little sharper. But the last couple of weeks, it’s been there for sure.”
Hockenbroch and Blaise Kissinger made it four touchdowns in as many drives when the duo hooked up on the first of two scoring strikes. Kissinger made an excellent catch where he got one foot down in the front-right corner of the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. The lead would jump to 41-0 following short touchdown runs by Joey Williams and Andrews. Steel High finally got on the board thanks to a 21-yard pass from Kayden Cole Stephens to Jerome Ross with 3:32 left in the first half. The Rollers would cut the deficit to 41-12 courtesy of a 39-yard blocked punt return by Quann Padgett.
“Honestly, we have a lot of stuff to clean up,” Hockenbroch said. “We heard about it in the locker room and we’re gonna hear about it at practice. We’ll clean it up, it’s the Southern Columbia way. So it looks good on the scoreboard, but we have a lot to clean up.”
Just before halftime, Garcia put Southern in position to strike back by returning the ensuing kickoff 62 yards. Hockenbroch finished off the efficient five-play, 19-yard drive when he hit Kissinger on a slant pattern that went for a 7-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left. After hitting all seven pass attempts last week against Troy, Hockenbroch completed 8-of-10 passes to five different receivers in the first half against Steel High.
“It was slant, and I tried to look off the safety, just to hold them in case there was press (coverage),” Hockenbroch said. “They did press, but Blaise did a great job holding him off, getting position, and making a great catch in traffic.”
Andrews fumbled the second-half kickoff, but Southern’s defense bailed him out by holding the Rollers without a first down. It wouldn’t take long for Andrews to atone for the mistake. Joey Williams got the drive underway by breaking off a 31-yard run. Two plays later, Andrews made a house call on a 37-yard sprint to paydirt as he blew past the defense to complete his hat trick.
“It’s a great group to work with,” Hockenbroch said of the running backs. “They all work hard. They work in the summer, and it’s just fun to work with them. Running the ball really sets up the pass, because you bring up their safeties, your bring up their corners, you just catch them off guard, and I thank them for that.”
With the game well in hand, Steel High scored a on 91-yard kickoff return by Jaishawn George, and added a late touchdown against the Southern reserves. If anything, the breakdowns on special teams and minor bumps in the road will provide an easy focus for the Tigers in preparation for Lansdale Catholic next week. Southern will not ignore in victory what they otherwise wouldn’t have ignored in defeat.
“We’ll definitely do some different stuff in practice,” Hockenbroch said. “It’s up the coaches, they know what they’re doing, they’ve been doing this for a long time, so they know what to do. We’ll do it. We’ll fix it. We’ll be ready for next week.”
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Southern Columbia | 12 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 55 |
| Steelton-Highspire | 0 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 26 |
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
SC-Grady Garcia 52 run (kick blocked) 9:14
SC-Brayden Andrews 9 run (run failed) 5:25
Second Quarter
SC-Nate Gallagher 20 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Andrews run) 11:48
SC-Blaise Kissinger 25 pass from Hockenbroch (Preston Shadle kick) 8:15
SC-Joey Williams 2 run (Shadle kick) 7:04
SC-Andrews 4 run (Shadle kick) 4:54
SH-Jerome Ross 21 pass from Kayden Cole Stephens (pass failed) 3:32
SH-Quann Padgett 39 blocked punt return (pass failed) 1:28
SC-Kissinger 7 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick) :10
Third Quarter
SC-Andrews 37 run (Shadle kick) 7:54
SH-Jaishawn George 91 kickoff return (pass failed) 7:34
Fourth Quarter
SH-Silas Hernandez 18 pass from Stephens (Stephens run) 6:44
Team Statistics
………………………….SC…………………..SH
1st downs…………..21……………………11
rush-yds…………47-348……………….18-21
comp-att-int…….8-10-0………………16-31-3
pass yds……………145…………………..220
total yds…………..493……………………241
fumb-lost…………2-1……………………0-0
pen-yds…………….7-60………………….11-58
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Southern Columbia: Brayden Andrews 11-133, 3 TDs; Joey Williams 9-91, TD; Grady Garcia 9-90, TD; Caden Hopper 5-36; Cael Williams 4-8; Ayden Hockenbroch 3-2; Parker Pesarchick 1-2; Kane Cecco 2-(-3); Gavin Brown 3-(-11). Steelton-Highspire: Jaishawn George 3-15; Jerome Ross 6-7; Kayden Cole Stephens 6-5; Isa Mohammed 1-1; Jayden Cleckner 1-0; Jayce Jones 1-(-7).
Passing-Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 8-10-0, 145 yds., 3 TDs. Steelton-Highspire: Stephens 14-26-2, 198 yds., 2 TDs; Jones 2-5-1, 22 yds.
Receiving-Southern Columbia: Andrews 2-51; Blaise Kissinger 2-32, 2 TDs; Nate Gallagher 2-30, TD; Jace Malakoski 1-31; J. Williams 1-1 Steelton-Highspire: Silas Hernandez 6-130, TD; Ross 5-42, TD; Kalvin Pillier 2-30; George 3-18.
