FRANKLIN TWP.-Southern Columbia brought the District 4 championship back to familiar territory on Friday night by putting on a clinic. The Tigers executed their running game to consistently stay ahead of the chains, got meaningful contributions through the air while totally shutting down an offense that featured a pair of 1,000-yard rushers. Brayden Andrews ran for 175 yards and three touchdowns, and Ayden Hockenbroch completed all seven of his pass attempts, as Southern captured its 32nd district title in the last 35 years thanks to an impressive 42-0 win over Troy. Southern (12-1) will play District 3 champion Steelton in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals next week.
“I was very pleased,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “You come into a game like this, and the way it started with us getting down there, having that penalty, getting backed up, and not being able to get any points out of that, sometimes when a game starts that way, it can be a bad momentum swing. We obviously recovered from it. We didn’t punt all night, hit a couple key passes in the first half when the going was tough, and then I think it was just a matter of wearing them down, and our defense playing well enough that they never really got much momentum.”
On their opening drive, the Tigers got inside the red zone, but a holding penalty and 10-yard loss on a fumble thwarted the early threat. It proved to only a be a temporary speed bump for a Southern team that ran 43 plays in the first half. Joey Williams opened the scoring by crossing the goal line on a 3-yard run to complete a lengthy 12-play drive early in the second quarter. Troy (11-2) had its best scoring chance taken away by a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that turned a 3rd and 2 into a 3rd and 17 from the Southern 28. Eventually, a 36-yard field goal attempt was low and never had a chance. The Trojans only ran 16 plays of their own in the first half, as Southern began to pull away in the waning minutes of the second quarter. Quarterback Mason Smith led Troy with 69 yards on 15 carries, with 43 of those yards coming on one play.
“With our offense, if our defense plays like that, and just keeps giving us the ball back, that’s just huge when you keep getting those opportunities,” Roth said. “They’re option game, especially with the quarterback keeping it, they burned us a few times last year with the quarterback running it, we worked real hard at that. But overall, we did a great job with (Brendan) Gilliland, as good of a running back as he is. We kept him bottled up pretty much the whole game. So, I can’t say enough about the way the defense played.”
Andrews scored on a 14-yard run off the right side, capping off a 92-yard march, and giving Southern a 14-0 lead at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter. Things went from bad to worse on the very next play when Caius Morrow recovered a fumble at the Troy 34. Hockenbroch used the clock wisely and delivered a dagger by finding Nate Gallagher on a fade route for an 11-yard touchdown with only 14 seconds left before halftime. Hockenbroch finished with 74 yards passing, as he continues to put together a very solid junior season. He now has 14 touchdown passes to go with just three interceptions.
“We were in the huddle before the play, and coach called out the fade,” Gallagher said. “I told Hock, just throw it up. I went up and just made a play on it, and it really gave us momentum going into the second half. We knew we could end this and put them down for good.”
In the second half, the Tigers picked up right where they left off. Southern took the kickoff and drove 62 yards in eight plays. Andrews looked like he was stopped for short gain, but kept his legs churning as he scored on a 7-yard run. Following another three-and-out by the Southern defense, Andrews made his best play of the night. Facing a 3rd-and-8, Andrews took a handoff, patiently waited for things to open up, and once he turned the corner, he was gone. Andrews outraced the final defender down the right sideline for an outstanding 87-yard sprint to paydirt with 4:25 left in the third quarter. In addition to the big night from Andrews, Williams added 90 yards on 16 carries and Grady Garcia chipped in with 63 yards on eight attempts, as Southern rushed for 57 times for 367 yards in the game.
“All three backs ran well and contributed,” Roth said. “I know Garcia didn’t have the numbers Andrews did, but Joey really kept them honest inside and had some big key runs for us. It was definitely a team effort. (Troy) is maybe not quite as good as last year, but they’re still a quality team.”
This victory erases a bitter taste Southern felt just over a year ago when Troy beat them 69-28 in the District 4 semifinals. The Trojans went on to bring home their first state championship, and came into Friday’s matchup riding a 10-game winning streak. Despite earning a huge measure of revenge that was a long time coming, there is still plenty of work to be done for the Tigers, beginning with preparation for Steelton.
“To have an outcome like this, it’s a tremendous effort,” Roth said. “We just have to realize that there’s not much celebrating you can do because you’re in the state playoffs. So you’ve got a big game next week against a quality team.”
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Troy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Columbia | 0 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
Individual Scoring
Second Quarter
SC-Joey Williams 3 run (Preston Shadle kick) 8:44
SC-Brayden Andrews 14 run (Shadle kick) 2:15
SC-Nate Gallagher 11 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Shadle kick) :14
Third Quarter
SC-Andrews 7 run (Shadle kick) 8:07
SC-Andrews 87 run (Shadle kick) 4:25
Fourth Quarter
SC-Parker Pesarchick 1 run (Shadle kick) 4:53
Team Statistics
………………………T………………..SC
1st downs………..6………………….20
rush-yds………32-140………….57-367
comp-att-int…1-3-0……………7-7-0
pass yds……….8………………….74
total yds………148………………441
fumb-lost…….2-2……………….2-0
pen-yds………..1-15…………….3-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Troy: Mason Smith 15-69; Brendan Gilliland 8-24; Hunter Watson 2-16; Kael Millard 3-14; Landon Cole 3-11; Bridon Putnam 1-6. Southern Columbia: Brayden Andrews 16-175, 3 TDs; Joey Williams 16-90, TD; Grady Garcia 8-63; Caden Hopper 3-22; Ayden Hockenbroch 9-10; Parker Pesarchick 5-7, TD.
Passing-Troy: Smith 1-3-0, 8 yds. Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 7-7-0, 74 yds., TD.
Receiving-Troy: Gilliland 1-8. Southern Columbia: Jace Malakoski 2-26; Garcia 2-24; Nate Gallagher 1-11, TD; Andrews 1-8; Blaise Kissinger 1-5.