Nick Becker had never won a state playoff game before entering his senior season. He started as a sophomore when the Tigers lost in the opening round of states to Old Forge and then missed making the district title as a junior when Montoursville beat Southern Columbia. The senior captain didn’t want to miss out on the experience again. “Our class had a lot of success in the regular season, but until this year we didn’t have much success in the playoffs,” said Becker. The Tiger quarterback wasn’t graduating without etching his name in the history books.
Southern Columbia didn’t just make noise in the state playoffs, they made history. The Tigers defeated Aliquippa in Mercy Rule fashion to go on to win the PIAA Class 2A State Championship giving the Tigers a state record of seven state titles and went 16-0 in the process. “There’s no better feeling than being able to finish your final game as a high school player in Hersey. To be able to win the state championship means so much to all of us,” the quarterback said. In the final, Becker rushed for a team-high 88 yards and two touchdowns and he completed six of eight passes for 82 yards. In total, he passed for 1,750 yards which is the fifth best single-season total in school history. He also threw 20 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions on the year, but only one of those interceptions came in the postseason.
More impressively than throwing the ball was Becker’s ability to rush for success in the playoff run. He rushed for 255 yards and nine touchdowns in the postseason alone. Not bad considering his first rush of the season resulted in him being carted off the field in an ambulance with his senior season in doubt. “At that point I thought my high school career was over. It was like a nightmare after knowing how much time and work we put in over the offseason,” said Becker. What a difference 16 weeks can make.
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