LEHIGHTON-For the 23rd time in its illustrious history, Southern Columbia will play for a state championship.
Led by a defense that continues to shut down high-caliber opponents and a running game that made big plays when it counts, the Tigers earned a trip to Mechanicsburg with a well-earned 24-7 victory over Lansdale Catholic in the PIAA Class 2A state semifinals. Southern (14-1) will face the survivor of the Farrell-Seton LaSalle game, which will be played Saturday in Ellwood City. The Tigers will be in pursuit of a record-setting 15th state title next Friday afternoon, with kickoff scheduled for just after 1 PM.
The game was tied 7-7 at halftime, but quickly turned after the second-half kickoff. Preston Shadle booted a ball that landed inside the five. It rolled towards the goal line but never reached the end zone. Following a very short return, Lansdale Catholic (12-3) was forced to start a drive deep in its own territory. Two plays later, a high shotgun snap over the head of quarterback Yeboa Cobbold Jr. resulted in a safety, giving Southern 9-7 lead, and marked the beginning of the end for the Crusaders.
“It was a definitely a key in the game, there’s no doubt, both point-wise and momentum-wise,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “It seemed like after that, we did a better job with controlling things. We had some problems up front, they gave us problems. Number one, they had a good scheme, and they had some good, quick, aggressive kids. Like I told our guys after the game, we can learn something from this game going into next week. Just be on top of things up front and do a little better job staying on people.”
Another unlikely series of events soon followed, starting with the ensuing free kick. The hard line drive hit a Southern player and was immediately recovered by Lansdale Catholic. However, another errant shotgun snap struck again, and Jace Malakoski fell on it at the Crusaders 2-yard line. Grady Garcia immediately cashed the turnover in for points, as he crossed the goal line on the very next play off the left side.
“Well, the kickoff started it for us,” Lansdale Catholic coach Dom D’Addona said. “Then the two bad snaps. We just didn’t regroup after that. The way that they were containing the quarterback from the edges, they weren’t letting him get on the edge, which we like to do. They did a nice job doing that. Their defense is pretty good, we knew that.”
Cobbold Jr., who is committed to play his college football at Akron, entered the game with over 1,300 yards rushing on the season. Southern held him to just 12 yards on 12 carries. He also entered the game with over 1,300 passing yards. Although Cobbold Jr. completed 14-of-19 passes for 150 yards, his stats through the air could have been better. A couple of important first-half drops while the game was still tied ended up being drive killers. Once Southern took a 16-7 lead following the Garcia touchdown, the defense took over. Brady Arnold recorded a sack for a loss of 14 yards and John Quinton recovered a fumble that stopped a drive when the Crusaders were nearing the red zone in the fourth quarter.
“Better job in the second half,” Roth said. “First half, we weren’t tackling real well, we weren’t finishing real well. But in the second half, we picked it up and pitched a shutout against them. What we saw on film was, they were in some close games at halftime. Then they were pulling away and really opening things up in the second half. That was our message at halftime, these guys have been a second-half team. We’ve got to go out and play well in the second half, which we were definitely able to do.”
With an impressive 85-yard drive late in the third quarter, Southern was basically able to put the game away. Garcia led all rushers with 77 yards on 11 carries, and he broke loose on a 38-yard run that put the ball in Crusaders’ territory. Two plays later, Ayden Hockenbroch scored on a 31-yard sprint to paydirt, which was his second long touchdown run of the night Brayden Andrews then scored on the two-point conversion to make it a three-possession lead. Hockenbroch finished with 61 yards on 10 carries. Although Lansdale Catholic did a good job limiting Andrews to 58 yards on 13 attempts, guys like Hockenbroch, Garcia, and Joey Williams (67 yards on nine carries), were able to pick up the slack.
“Grady stepped up and made some nice plays,” Roth said. “In a game where Brayden normally gets to a point where he’s able to break some, they were obviously keying on him. We didn’t get anything going in the passing game to speak of, but Ayden was huge running the ball. Some of those runs were definitely key.”
Nick O’Brien outran the defense on a 43-yard run to the end zone midway through the first quarter that tied the game. Unfortunately for Lansdale Catholic, it would be the last time the Crusaders would get on the scoreboard. Dropped passes, two turnovers and ten penalties made life even more difficult against a defense that its hitting its stride at the right time. After a season-opening loss to Wyomissing, Southern has rattled off 14 consecutive wins. The Tigers shoutout Troy, easily handled Steelton-Highspire, and contained a Lansdale Catholic offense with multiple Division I recruits over the past three weeks.
“The defensive front has really improved,” Roth said. “We have done a much better job against the run, and even when teams are throwing the ball, again tonight we got pressure on the quarterback. So whether it’s run or pass, the defensive front has set the tone for us. Our defense has controlled things, really ever since that first game. Even against an explosive Mifflinburg team, to hold them to 14 points get some critical stops in that game, a goal-line stand, our defensive front has really set the tone.”
Lansdale Catholic 7 0 0 0-7
Southern Columbia 7 0 17 0-24
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
SC-Ayden Hockenbroch 13 run (Preston Shadle kick) 7:53
LC-Nick O’Brien 43 run (Raymond Williamson kick) 5:54
Third Quarter
SC-Team safety, 10:51
SC-Grady Garcia 2 run (Shadle kick) 10:03
SC-Hockenbroch 31 run (Brayden Andrews run ) 3:51
Team Statistics
…………………………….LC……………………..SC
1st downs……………….10……………………..15
rush-yds……………24-46……………………46-274
comp-att-int…….14-19-0………………….3-6-0
pass yds……………..150……………………….35
total yds……………..196……………………..309
fumb-lost…………….3-2……………………..3-2
pen-yds………………10-79…………………..3-25
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Lansdale Catholic: Nick O’Brien 5-44, TD; Yeboa Cobbold Jr. 12-12; Braden Smith 1-6; John Cobbold 3-3; Asher Thickening 1-2; Team 2-(-21). Southern Columbia: Grady Garcia 11-77, TD; Joey Williams 9-67; Ayden Hockenbroch 10-61, 2 TDs; Brayden Andrews 13-58; Parker Pesarchick 2-12; Team 1-(-1).
Passing-Lansdale Catholic: Y. Cobbold Jr. 14-19-0, 150 yds. Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 3-6-0, 35 yds.
Receiving-Lansdale Catholic: Thickening 5-50; James Webb Jr. 2-27; O’Brien 2-23; Saeed Robinson 2-18; Smith 1-17; Darren Jackson 2-15. Southern Columbia: Blaise Kissinger 2-27; Andrews 1-8.
