Southern Columbia defense also tough against Danville
By: Dave Fegley (Twitter: @DFegs9)
Prior to Friday night’s kickoff at Tiger Stadium, Southern Columbia honored their top 20 backs to come through the program. The criterion for the club is 2,000 career rushing yards, and current Tiger halfback Blake Marks is closing in on the mark. He now sits at 1,832 yards after the Tigers dropped the Ironmen 42-14. “It was just a great atmosphere to begin with and being a running back made it even more special,” Marks said. On the third play of the game, he scored on a 57 yard run down Southern’s sideline. “That was probably my favorite run of my career. All of the honorees watched the game from our sideline including my father (Jerry Marks). Running right past them and giving them the view was just really cool,” stated Marks who now unofficially sits 168 yards away from becoming the 21st member to make it on the prestigious list. When he reaches, it will be a first for a father-son combination to both be in the record book.
Hunter Thomas scored in the second quarter on a 14 yard screen pass to put Southern Columbia up 14-0 in a half that was controlled by the Tiger offensive line and the Ironmen secondary. “The glory for the line is watching the runner taking off down the field on a long run. It makes it even better when you personally contribute with a key block,” said Tiger offensive tackle Aaron Kroh. In the opening half, the Tigers were able to sustain long drives thanks to the blocking of the big boys up front. Credit the Danville defense though for having a bend, but don’t break mentality. On two separate drives, the Ironmen intercepted Nick Becker’s passes to end potential scoring opportunities. Matt Meloy and Trent Hilkert were the two players with the interceptions to keep the score at 14-0 heading into the break.
Southern’s Cam Young started the second half by intercepting a Gannon Feldmann pass, and Thomas took advantage of it five plays later on a nine yard rush into the end zone. Tiger senior Gabe Delbo had the key block on that run that put SCA up 21-0. Delbo is one of the two-way players on Jim Roth’s squad. “I love being in the continuous flow of the game and not missing anything. When the ball’s turned over, I’m back on defense to try and make a stop. On offense I try to open up holes for guys to score,” said Delbo who made the transition from tight end to guard in the preseason. Danville scored their first touchdown on the ensuing drive thanks to a six yard pass from Feldmann to freshman Shane Kozick making the score 21-7. Not to be outdone, on the next offensive play, Becker threw a perfect ball to fellow senior Steve Toczylousky to push the Tiger lead to 28-7.
The Tigers forced a turnover on the next drive that lead to Thomas’ third touchdown of the game. “The saying is that defense wins championships, and I really believe in that theory. As one of the leaders on the defense, I just try to get better and better each week. I think the defense is starting to really come together nicely,” senior Matt Bell said. At the end of the third quarter, the Tiger lead was more comfortable at 35-7. Andy Mills’ Tiger defense held Danville to only five first downs and 156 total yards for the game. “That was probably our best game of the year defensively, and that puts you at ease a little bit. Even though we weren’t able to score on some good opportunities, our defense was shutting them down for the most part,” head coach Jim Roth said.
Reserve fullback Nic Fetterman put the game into the Mercy Rule with a six yard touchdown run. The game’s final touchdown was scored by Danville’s Ryan Palm on a three yard carry. Southern Columbia (4-0) will host Central Columbia next Friday for Homecoming. Danville (2-2) will try to get back over the .500 mark as they travel to the Silver Bowl to take on a Mount Carmel Area squad that is currently one of the hottest teams in District IV. The win for Southern keeps their regular season win streak intact. The Tigers have not lost a regular season game since the 2011 season which was the last time they made a State Championship appearance. The current Tigers haven’t lost a regular season game in any of their careers, but they also haven’t won any state playoff games. “Since I’ve been here, this is the hardest we’ve worked as a team during the offseason. Two and three years ago we lost in the first round of states, and last year we weren’t even able to make it out of the district. This year, we are hungrier than ever to try and get back to a state title game,” said Josh Yoder who is the only four year starter on Southern’s roster.
SCA: 14-0-21-7 = 42
DAN: 0-0-7-7 = 14
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (4-0)
RUSHING:
Hunter Thomas 7-50, 2 TDs; Blake Marks 9-96, TD; Jared Torres 14-62; Billy Marzeski 1-2; Nic Fetterman 4-21, TD; Thomas Manley 1-4; Jake Potter 2-34; Cole Potter 1-1; AJ Goodlunas 1-(-3
PASSING:
Nick Becker 8-14-2, 171 yds, 2 TDs
RECEIVING:
Steve Toczylousky 2-72, TD; Hunter Thomas 3-66, TD; Cam Young 3-33
1st DOWNS: 18
PENALTIES: 1-10
DANVILLE (2-2)
RUSHING:
Trent Hilkert 8-8; Gannon Feldmann 6-21; Ryan Palm 5-2, TD; Eric Sees 4-55; Cross Truesdell 3-4
PASSING:
Gannon Feldmann 11-19-1, 66 yds, TD
RECEIVING:
Peyton Riley 3-16; Colton Riley 2-19; Matt Meloy 2-12; Trent Hilkert 2-1; Peyton Persing 1-12; Shane Kozick 1-6, TD
1st DOWNS: 5
PENALTIES: 5-36
