SOUTH CENTRE TWP.-It’s no secret Loyalsock has playmakers that can make life difficult for an opponent on both sides of the ball. Following a sluggish first half, those playmakers took over and quickly turned a competitive game into a blowout. Loyalsock scored on four consecutive possessions to start the second half, and added a pick-six for good measure. Central Columbia was able to hang around for a while, but the Lancers used an explosive third quarter to pull away. Led by five touchdown passes from Tyler Gee, Loyalsock cruised past Central for a 50-10 victory.
“We knew (Central) was going to come out and fight as hard as they could,” Loyalsock coach Justin Van Fleet said. “I cautioned our guys about coming out slow. We had to be precise, do our jobs, and recognize that this is a better team than its record indicates. With this travel situation coming down here, we just didn’t have it in the beginning. We were a little flat, and it certainly looked that way in the first half. At halftime, the message was simple. We had to do our jobs and understand our assignments. Our special teams had to get it in gear, and finally, the players had to step up and lead.”
Loyalsock (4-2) led just 17-10 at halftime, but any upset hopes the Blue Jays had briskly evaporated. Gee threw his third touchdown pass of the night on the opening drive of the third quarter. Jamaire Harden tiptoed the sideline and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the front-right corner of the end zone to cap off a seven-play, 50-yard drive. Following a Jeremiah Johnson interception, the duo connected again on a very similar play that went for a 26-yard scoring strike, which basically put the game away less than five minutes into the second half.
“Teams that become great are not led by the coaches, they’re led by the players,” Van Fleet said. “In this situation, they’ve kind of adopted the idea that I’m always the voice, along with the coaching staff. We’re the ones that talk them out of the gutter, and at halftime I said, I’m not doing it. The locker room is yours. We don’t have any adjustments. The adjustments have to be, you take control of this game by doing your job, focusing on your assignments, and I’m getting out of your way.”
Gee continued his big night with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Will Burdett down the right sideline that made the score 37-10. Jaylen Andrews, who had five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, made an impact on defense with two interceptions. The first one was returned 30 yards for a touchdown. Kaden Keefer scored on a 3-yard run to close out the scoring midway through the fourth quarter. Gee finished with 240 yards on 13-of-20 passing. Burdett chipped in with 72 yards receiving, as both of his catches went for touchdowns.
“He played with very clean eyes tonight,” Van Fleet said of Gee. “He was confident the entire time. He was really understanding what we could take, what we couldn’t take. He was very methodical. He threw the ball out of bounds when we needed to. He made the big plays when he needed to, and he also took the short stuff. In the second half, everybody worked to their jobs, worked up to their potential, and the score changed pretty rapidly.”
Central (0-6) did some good things, and held a brief lead in the first half. The Blue Jays put together a well-executed nine-play drive that saw Caius Morrow score on a quarterback keeper from 15 yards out. When Loyalsock took a 17-7 lead, Eli Book promptly responded by returning the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to set up Central at the Loyalsock 12. Although Gaje Gombert had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty, Maguire Blake did kick a 22-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the first half to make it a one-score game at intermission.
“I hope I see the team that was out here in the first half for the rest of the season,” Central coach E.J. Smith said. “That’s kind of what I told the team. The effort was there, and that’s what we’ve been looking for. They played hard. We limited mistakes, and then in the second half, we reverted back to kind of putting our heads down and not flying to the football. We made mistakes in the first half, but we did it going 100 miles an hour, and that was the difference in the second half.”
The first two drives of the second half netted Central minus-10 yards on six plays. Throw in four interceptions, six penalties and no defensive stops, it was easy to see how things escalated quickly. Things won’t get any easier, as the Blue Jays face Southern Columbia next week.
“They’ve got some athletes, and I thought we competed pretty well with them,” Smith said. “Like I said, that effort in the first half is what we need for the rest of the season.”
Loyalsock 3 14 26 7-50
Central Columbia 0 10 0 0-10
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
L-Chris Cooley 35 field goal 3:43
Second Quarter
CC-Caius Morrow 15 run (Maguire Blake kick) 10:38
L-Jaylen Andrews 30 pass from Tyler Gee (Cooley kick) 5:14
L-Will Burdett 23 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 2:09
CC-Blake 22 field goal :25
Third Quarter
L-Jamaire Harden 27 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 10:03
L-Harden 26 pass from Gee (kick blocked) 7:11
L-Burdett 52 pass from Gee (Cooley kick) 4:40
L-Andrews 30 interception return (pass failed) 4:23
Fourth Quarter
L-Kaden Keefer 8 run (Cooley kick) 6:37
Team Statistics
……………………………..L………………………CC
1st downs……………18………………..8
rush-yds……..31-118…………….37-83
comp-att-int…13-20-0…….5-15-4
pass yds…..240………………30
total yds….358………………..113
fumb-lost…1-0…………..2-0
pen-yds…….6-43…………….9-95
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Loyalsock: Dolan Harman 9-41; Tyler Gee 8-37; Logan Bastian 7-25; Jaylen Andrews 1-13; Kaden Keefer 3-3, TD; Nick Avalos 1-1; Jamaire Harden 1-(-1); Jalil Coates 1-(-1). Central Columbia: Gaje Gombert 8-42; Talon Piatt 6-13; Tanner Regan 3-13; Ty Chapin 2-7; Aidan Huntington 5-6; Caius Morrow 8-4, TD; Chase Williams 1-2; Alex Zeisloft 3-(-1); Kole Hummer 1-(-3).
Passing-Loyalsock: Gee 13-20-0, 240 yds., 5 TDs. Central Columbia: Morrow 4-13-3, 23 yds.; Josiah Hosler 1-2-1, 7 yds.
Receiving-Loyalsock: Andrews 5-90, TD; Will Burdett 2-75, 2 TDs; Harden 4-73, 2 TDs; Bastian 1-6; Deryk Kulp 1-(-4). Central Columbia: Parker Day 2-24; Regan 1-7; Piatt 2-(-1).
