In some respects, the game of high school football is a bit of an oddity and an outlier. For example, are there any other sports in the known free world where the number of months that make up the offseason actually compare, if not totally outweigh, the number of opportunities found in the number of games played themselves? Maybe that’s a bit of a Captain Obvious moment –or perhaps not if you hadn’t ever thought of it in that way before—but when you figure that the months of preparation comes in at a sweet spot of roughly ten months give or take and then realize that the number of game guaranteed to a team is that same exact number, ten, it’s easy to understand why the window of opportunity in this particular sport is oh so precious. Unfortunately, we’re not talking about field hockey, basketball, or insert any other sport of choice here, where there’s always another game right around the corner. To that end, that’s why the old cliché of not letting one loss turn into two is more than just lip service- it’s a hard reality. And on this Friday night, exactly seven days after each their saw respective campaigns both begin with shared 0-1 marks, time was of the essence for two old rivals over in Mount Joy.
While not all losses are necessarily created equal, it doesn’t mean that they are any less easy of a pill to swallow no matter what the final difference at the end of the night ends up being. But, for both Columbia and Donegal, their opening night losses did in fact come in very different fashions. Again, not better or worse one way or another, but difficult all the same.
For the Columbia Crimson Tide, 2024 figures to be a year of growth in more ways than one. Part of that of stems from the fact that, well, a very abridged number of occupied varsity roster spots if you will for this small but proud public high school found on the eastern banks of the Susquehanna, growth won’t just be a wish this season. It’ll flat-out be a necessity for the next few months and beyond. And for their first bit of tangible evidence, growth could perhaps show itself in Friday night’s road game at rival Donegal after the Tide were bested by their other neighboring rivals, Eastern York, by 36 points on Columbia’s home field last Friday night.
Their opponent? Well, they too figured to be chomping at the bit to rectify the lessons learned from last weekend.
While Columbia may have been the ones on the short end of the stick against Eastern York, it certainly didn’t appear that the Donegal Indians would find themselves with a similar fate throughout much of their opener against Middletown. Until that wasn’t the case…
Despite leading by two scores at the intermission against the multiple-time state finalists from the not-so-distant past, Donegal unfortunately saw their two-score lead evaporate throughout the second half last week, largely spurred by a 21-point Blue Raiders’ fourth quarter showing, before fate dealt the Indians a cruel 31-24 final overtime blow on the green and white’s lid-lifter of 2024.
Suffice to say, with that sand dial of a clock that measures the regular season now turned over and effectively slipping by ever so slightly grain-by-grain, come the end of Friday night, that aforementioned ten game window suddenly shrinks down to eight with no stoppage to bail you out anywhere in sight. Simply put, while 0-2 isn’t a totally fatally blow, it certainly isn’t the desired road to travel once you make your way into the month of September which is why this western Lancaster County backyard tussle was especially intriguing given the inherit implications behind it. And while we’re on the topic of oddities here for a second, try this on for size from Columbia’s perspective. Aside from playing their foremost neighboring rivals to begin the season, both of the head men currently leading Eastern York and Donegal these days just so happen to be the previous two Crimson Tide coaches prior the current man in charge, Brady Mathias, found in Bud Kyle and Anthony Sottasante respectively. Interesting plot twist, no?
But despite the upmost importance that this game signified for both Columbia and Donegal in the here and now, there was a new feature added into the equation in the latest chapter in the series. For this would be the first time that signified the “Battle of the Rock,” a brand-new trophy and moniker awarded the victor that bears an uncanny resemblance to the infamous Lombardi trophy of NFL lore. And while there would be plenty of twists and turns when it came to finding out who would be able to claim such distinction –particularly in the first half most especially—the eventual honor of defending “the rock,” or Chickies Rock as it were, would be bestowed on those who call Mount Joy their home community.
That said, if the first measure of the evening was to find out who would be the ones to have the best up-front “curb appeal” when it came to putting their first loss of the season behind them in short order, there was little doubt that Columbia made out the best in that regard.
Case in point, after beginning their second offensive series well inside Donegal’s side of the field at the Indians’ 39-yard line following a timely interception courtesy of Tide freshman defensive back, Miguel Ocasio, the guests went right to work. Of course, a little help goes a long way too. For that, courtesy of a horse collar tackle whistled against the Indians prolonged the ongoing Columbia march on the heels of a failed 4th & 4 attempt with a fresh set of downs, a powerful run by way of senior back, Miguel Aviles, not long afterwards ushered the white-clad Tide inside Donegal’s 5-yard line. From there, with another bit of good fortune shining upon them considering the play came on a 4th & Goal attempt, a crossing route across the middle resulted in not just a 7-yard touchdown strike from the underclassman duo of sophomore quarterback, Cameron McClair, to freshman wideout, Tyler Brommer, but it also signified Columbia’s first moment of playing with the aid of a lead throughout this young season thus far as the Tide successfully carried the 6-0 advantage with them into the second frame once the final 2:14 eventually bled off the first quarter clock after an unsuccessful PAT try.
But while the record books will show Columbia as the owners of the six-point lead throughout the first quarter, the truth of the matter was that Donegal was rolling downhill at an alarming pace on their ensuing drive following the Columbia touchdown.
On this, their second offensive series of the evening as well, Donegal also appeared to get into a lather and a groove in their next stint with the pill. And in the most tried and true Donegal way possible, by leaning on the running game, specifically the option game, the chunks of yardage the Indians found in the waning stages of the first frame were nothing if not impressive. 16 yards such as the case when Donegal sophomore quarterback, Leelan Baughman, called his own number on a keeper to move the ball down to the Crimson Tide 30. Deandre White then barreling his way for 10 yards up the gut on the very next play to officially reach the red zone. Then, yet another in the cupboard of the Indians’ plentiful bounty of backs, Chase Gerz, getting himself into the mix, Donegal was poised to strike once the curtain was raised on the second frame.
Truth be told, Deandre White probably had to help push the curtain aside considering just how fast and determined he proceeded to tote the rock on the very first play of the second stanza as the talented senior multi-sport Indians’ athlete helped to give the hosts their time playing with the lead on the evening following the subsequent PAT booted through by fellow senior, Brayden Givens, making it a 7-6 Donegal lead with all of 11:54 remaining in the first half of play.
It would later prove to be a lead which Donegal would never surrender.
Speaking of splash plays by way of the ground attack, so too did Columbia find like success in the immediate aftermath of Donegal’s go-ahead score. Ignited by a litany of runs courtesy of Cameron McClair, Kareem Nichols, and Tyler Brommer to name just a few, the Tide started to tilt field position back in their favor as the visitors found themselves sitting just one yard away from paydirt when it came to rebuking Donegal’s last answer. However, that yard would prove to somewhere closer to around a million miles away it had to feel as not only were the Tide stood up by the Donegal defensive front wall for the second straight play when trying to plunge forward, but in this instance, insult was added to injury as the ball came loose, eventually ending up in the hands of Donegal senior defensive lineman, Jaiden Gichuki, propelling the Indians’ offensive unit back onto the field at their own 33-yard line following his scoop and run, but not before he and fellow tribe mates were likely wiping the beads of sweat off their foreheads in the process no doubt.
And that largely was the game’s turning point right then and there.
In fact, as if to even be the visible to even the naked eye as to how crushing that ill-timed turnover truly was in real time, Donegal’s offensive series following the Gichuki theft was played downhill to say the least.
First up, a sizable gallop by way of Deandre White once more, this time moving the camo-green jersey squad to the Crimson Tide 40 within a flash. Speaking of flashes, that’s precisely what Donegal senior co-captain, Chase Gerz, appeared to be as he ripped off a 39-yard touchdown jaunt around the right side and in front of his own sideline as Gerz’s score made it a 13-6 affair with 7:36 left in the first half following the missed PAT.
Yet that was more than enough time for Donegal to continue upping the ante.
For the second drive in a row, Columbia was turned away by way of a turnover. In this instance, those thievery honors would be bestowed upon Donegal sophomore defensive back, Nysaiah Dejesus, who climbed the ladder on an errant Tide pass down the field which gave way to the Indians’ offense trotting back onto the field while eager to inflict more damage.
Sure enough, not even two minutes later, Donegal found themselves celebrating in the endzone. And for the second time, it would be Deandre White’s time to shine as White’s second TD run of the evening, this time from 9-yards out, propelled Donegal out to a sizable 21-6 cushion following White’s successful 2-pt conversion run right behind it with 4:42 remaining in the half.
But that wasn’t the last of it either.
Yet again, as if they even needed the benefit of playing on a tilted field in their favor, that’s exactly what the hosts found when they went back out with exactly 60 seconds remaining in the first half while just 40 yards away from a possible back-breaking score. It would take them all of nine seconds to insert that metaphorical dagger as a blazing 40-yard untouched touchdown tote by way of the other Donegal senior co-captain, Caidyn Leaf, helped to send the home side into the half with the commanding wind of a 27-6 advantage at their collective backs to begin the second half of play.
If the first half provided the highlights and the fireworks, the third quarter effort put forth by the Donegal Indians was more so of the blue-collar variety in that it signified leaning on the opposition as a means to further impose their will. For that, look no further than an 86-yard touchdown march over the course of 3:02.
Here again, bolstered by sizable runs compiled by the likes of Deandre White and Caidyn Leaf respectively, the home side was poised to author yet another six-point addition. Ironically though, for as mundane and methodical as this particular Indians’ series was throughout its duration, it did have its punctuation mark found not just in Leelan Baughman’s 15-yard touchdown keeper on the option by itself, but when the Indians’ quarterback proceeded to lower his shoulder at the goal line before bowling over a would-be Crimson Tide tackler in the process, it was an exclamation point that helped to make it a 35-6 Donegal advantage with 2:10 left in the third by that juncture.
Sometimes though, when it’s your night, it’s truly your night.
Here, after holding Columbia to a three-and-out on the Tide’s ensuing offensive series, the Indians decided to bring the rush on the punt. And while they didn’t get a total block in terms of the ball never getting up into the night’s sky, a partially blocked kick nonetheless proved to be even more lethal. Why? Well, once the short kick wound up in the arms of Donegal junior up-back, Quinn Weyers, and the Crimson Tide punt coverage unit already having well overrun the play trying execute their planned assignments, Weyers looked more than fluent in running with the ball as his 30-yard punt return touchdown by definition helped to make it a 43-6 Indians’ lead heading into the final dozen minutes on Friday.
Remarkably, considering that the opening twelve minutes ended with Donegal being shutout, the fact that the Indians proceeded to rattle off 43 unanswered points over the course of next two frames was just as eye-popping in and of itself to effectively take control and never really let Columbia back into the fight when it came to deciding the formality of the eventual outcome. Fair, but “fight” and “resolve” are two terms that are nonnegotiable within the Crimson Tide’s walls without question. And as if to be right on cue, Columbia would indeed have one final answer with time winding down to give them something to build upon heading into next week.
On this scoring drive, there was no bigger catalyst than the 40-yard reverse run thanks to handiwork –or legwork—of Tyler Brommer, as the Tide freshman’s jaunt moved the Columbia attack to the Donegal 10-yard line. From there, with senior triggerman, Loudon Rupp, now at the controls for the Tide, a nice run by way of Rupp moved things down to the Indians’ 1-yard line. And for that eventual 43-point Donegal salvo-bursting Columbia touchdown, those honors would go to Kareem Nichols as the Tide’s sophomore feature back –who ran hard all evening– finally got his just desserts in the form of a 1-yard touchdown plunge to make it a 43-12 contest with 9:34 remaining following the missed 2-pt try.
But needless to say, with the score the margin that it was, it was only a matter of time before Donegal would find themselves back on level ground officially when it came to evening their overall record at 1-1 following a decisive victory over their next-door neighbors in this one. How decisive you ask? Well, aside from that aforementioned 43-point blitzkrieg that put things out of reach, a sultry 6.5 yards per carry on the ground throughout the course of the evening probably doesn’t hurt matters either does it? And once the game clock did reach its final moment of rest, it would prove to be a successful night at the office for the Donegal Indians that came complete with a newfound trophy for their spoils as a cherry on top following their 43-12 triumph over Columbia in the latest iteration of this age-old donnybrook.
In retrospect, not too shabby of a bounce back effort authored by Donegal on this night following the way last week went down for them. And while the progress was there, Anthony Sottasante is cognizant that the ceiling remains plenty high for his Indians’ squad from here on out.
“I think we’re past that,” the second-year boss of his alma mater said when asked regarding a potential hangover that could’ve lingered in his team’s camp this past week. “Hopefully we learned from our lesson last week. We sort of dominated that game for three quarters, but then lost focus. But hey, (Middletown) is a good football team with good players, and they came back and won it.”
“We started off really shaky again tonight,” Sottasante continued. “Just tons of penalties and missed assignments. Once we settled into our rhythm though, I thought we played well except for those penalties with roughing the passer and things like that when we had (Columbia) backed up. But I’m proud of how hard they played,” he added of his bunch with a satisfied tone. “We definitely, definitely improved a lot from Week One to Week Two and now we have a really tough game against West York next weekend. We’re going to have to play a lot better than we did tonight to beat a team of that caliber.”
And while this win in particular was vital not just in the sense that it meant Donegal getting to .500 footing, there was far more to this one beyond just the final outcome itself. Something Sottasante himself knows perhaps better than most anyone.
“I’ve said it before. It’s a very historic matchup. There’s been tons of really good games and year in and year out, any team can win this game. A break here or there, and it can go either way,” the former Columbia head coach turned current Donegal head coach said when asked about the rivalry series between the two programs. “I’m just really proud that we were able to get that very first ‘Battle of the Rock’ and get that win to keep that trophy. But you know, the only time I ever want to see Columbia lose is when they play us. There’s a special place in my heart still for them,” Sottasante said with much gratitude when referencing Columbia. “(Columbia) gave me my first opportunity at being a head coach and I’m forever grateful for that. It’s such a great town with great tradition. In the end, I just want to see the best for them too.”
Finally, for himself, an alum who now has the keys to the car after his playing days and in the aftermath of bouncing around the landscape by way of head coaching gigs at a few different spots which includes Columbia of course, this 1989 Donegal alum knows better than most what it will take to continue moving the Indians up the Lancaster-Lebanon League pecking order.
“We’ve always been a school that can run the ball. I played for Gayne Deshler here, Hall of Fame coach. I coached for him too…More than anything, I just want to get that winning legacy back,” the Donegal football player of yesteryear said. “I just want us to get back to where we’re relevant every single year. That’s pretty much it.”
With wins like the one demonstrated on Friday, it’s hard not to believe that Donegal already finds its way on Sottasante’s desired trajectory.
NEXT UP: As Coach Sottasante alluded to in his postgame comments following the Columbia win, going 2-1 come this time next weekend appears to quite a formidable challenge put in front of his squad. From here, Donegal will head back on the road to tangle with the West York Bulldogs for the final nonleague tilt of the season. Aside from being a perfect 2-0 through the first two contests, West York is also rather sparkling considering that they have outscored their first two opponents by a combined 54-12 score thus far, including a game against 6A Red Lion for an added jolt. And if they can knock off Donegal, West York would be the quasi leader in the clubhouse at 2-0 in L-L Section Four play (if they weren’t a YAIAA school themselves of course) considering they would have already picked off both ELCO and Donegal in two of their first three contests if that were to come to pass.
In Columbia camp, it’s time to get back to work. While it’s true that there really will be no real rest for the weary for the Crimson Tide in 2024, next week does offer a distinct possibility that they can head into L-L Section Five play with a boost in their step provided they can knock of York Tech next Friday night, a 6A school that the Tide can likely find themselves on level footing with by and large. Yet no matter how next Friday night or the rest of this season turns out, you can be assured that there will not be many teams on this side of the state will play with more vigor and fight than Columbia does for the duration of this season. Yes, small roster size and all.
