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TURBOTVILLE – Anytime a football team can take a lead, much less a two-possession lead, before their offense even takes the field, they know they’re probably in for a good night.
And it certainly was a good night for Southern Columbia, as the three-time defending Class 2A state champion Tigers had little trouble against a rebuilding and young Warrior Run team that lost a majority of starters from last year’s squad that turned in the best season in school history, topping the Defenders 67-0.
But the quick start and 14-0 lead before their offense even saw the field, as well as three combined touchdowns on special teams and defense in the first half alone, deprived the Tigers, who are breaking in several new first-year starters of their own, an opportunity to work on their passing game and try to settle on a clear first-team quarterback heading into two games that figure to be much tougher against Loyalsock and Mount Carmel in a span of six days beginning next Thursday.
“I don’t like playing two quarterbacks but that’s where we’re at,” said Southern coach Jim Roth. “These guys have been very close. We’ve got four wideouts that can play but we just need to get in a little better sync throwing the ball. I tried to come out tonight and just put a little more emphasis on throwing the ball but things got out of hand so quickly. Most of the guys on offense didn’t have much of an opportunity by the time we got to the half.
“But we’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays and we’re just looking forward to the challenge of playing Loyalsock and Mount Carmel within a couple-day period and that will certainly tell us where we are at this point.”
Because of how quickly the visitors’ column on the scoreboard grew – Southern led 28-0 after the first quarter despite running just five offensive plays – the Tigers only threw the ball five times on the night, with quarterbacks Liam Klebon and Greyson Shaud rotating series throughout the first half.
But while a clear first-team quarterback may not yet be decided for the Tigers, the Tigers’ running game appears to be as strong as ever. Behind Gavin Garcia’s 133 yards on just five carries, the Tigers racked up 309 rushing yards on just 24 carries, nearly 13 yards per carry.
“We’ve got some players. We obviously lost some tremendous athletes from last year and a lot of talent but we’ve got some solid people up front and some really good defensive players, and we have a balanced running game,” said Roth. “Some of these teams down the road are probably going to really stack the line of scrimmage so we need to be able to throw the ball, and that’s our biggest concern right now.”
Of course, if the Tigers make a habit of scoring defensive and special teams touchdowns like they did on Friday, that should lessen those concerns as well. Braeden Wisloski took the opening kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown, fielding the ball near the left sideline, running across the field and finishing down the right sideline, never coming close to being tackled.
Warrior Run fumbled on its first drive, and Wade Kerstetter picked it up and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 with 7:46 left in the first quarter.
The Defenders were forced to punt on their next drive, and it was blocked and went out of bounds at the Warrior Run 9-yard line. From there, three plays later, Garcia ran it in from nine yards out through a big hole on the left to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead.
After another three-and-out for Warrior Run and a shanked punt, Greyson Shaud completed a 22-yard pass to Jake Rose and then Garcia found the end zone again, this one from 12 yards out for a 28-0 Southern lead with still over two minutes left in the first quarter.
“We certainly hoped to get more first downs than we got and hoped we’d be able to move the ball a little bit, but things just didn’t go right from the start,” said Warrior Run coach Chris Long. “We tried not to kick the ball to them on the opening kickoff but it just didn’t go where he wanted it. We tried to throw some new looks and put some things on film that other teams might have to prepare for but they didn’t go too well against Southern Columbia.”
Warrior Run again went three-and-out on their next drive, but this time got off an impressive 58-yard punt to force Southern to start deep in their own territory at their own 25. But that was no matter to the Tigers, who needed just three plays to score again after Garcia busted loose for a 75-yard touchdown down the right sideline, showcasing some speed as he outran the pursuing Warrior Run defenders.
“He might be a little faster this year, but he definitely got stronger (from last year),” said Roth. “He didn’t grow a whole lot but he’s probably close to 190 and he’s just so strong and physical. He seems more explosive for sure. As good as he was the last two years, he looks like he’s raised his level even more and is a more explosive back so far.”
On Warrior Run’s next drive, Jake Davis picked off a Nathan Michael pass and ran it back 44 yards for a touchdown on Warrior Run’s next play from scrimmage, giving the Southern defense its second score of the night, and then Braden Heim capped the first half scoring with a one-yard run to give the Tigers a 49-0 lead at halftime.
Michael had a tough night, as he didn’t complete any passes and was sacked twice, but he also showcased some of his athleticism as the senior makes the move from wide receiver to quarterback for this season.
“This is his first time playing quarterback but he has some good athleticism and he looks a lot better against other teams other than Southern,” said Long.
Warrior Run was only able to accumulate 39 offensive yards on the night, and all of their positive yardage came in the second half with a running clock as Southern held them to -8 yards in the first half.
In the second half, with a running block, Southern got fourth quarter rushing touchdowns from Connor Gallagher, Matt Masala and Trevor Yorks to cap the scoring.
Southern Columbia 67, Warrior Run 0
Southern Columbia (2-0) 28 21 0 18 – 67
Warrior Run (0-3) 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
11:51 – (S) Braeden Wisoski 79-yard kickoff return (Carter kick)
7:46 – (S) Wade Kerstetter 40-yard fumble return (Carter kick)
5:15 – (S) Gavin Garcia 9-yard run (Carter kick), 3-12, :11
2:17 – (S) Gavin Garcia 12-yard run (Carter kick), 2-34, :15
Second quarter
9:35 – (S) Gavin Garcia 75-yard run (Carter kick), 3-84, 1:17
9:10 – (S) Jake Davis 44-yard interception return (Klebon kick)
4:29 – (S) Braden Heim 1-yard run (Klebon kick), 6-58, 2:40
Fourth quarter
11:04 – (S) Connor Gallagher 8-yard run (run failed), 5-42, 3:23
8:42 – (S) Matt Masala 38-yard run (run failed), 2-39, 1:12
3:32 – (S) Trevor Yorks 6-yard run (run failed), 3-30, 2:28
Statistics
SC WR
First downs 13 4
Rushes-net yards 24-309 31-24
Passing yardage 25 15
Passing 2-5-0-0 1-9-0-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-3
Penalties-yards 4-20 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Southern Columbia: Trevor Yorks (7-68-1), Gavin Garcia (5-133-3), Braden Heim (4-27-1), Connor Gallagher (3-8-1), Matt Masala (2-48-1), Braeden Wisloski (2-24), Tyler Arnold (1-1); Warrior Run: Justin Blair (12-(-10)), Nathan Michael (7-11), Roman Pierce (4-0), Dominick Buss (2-18), Thomas Royles (2-5), Derek Thomas (2-1), Logan Smedley (2-(-1))
PASSING: Southern Columbia: Liam Klebon (1-3-3-0-0), Greyson Shaud (1-2-22-0-0); Warrior Run: Nathan Michael (0-5-0-0-1), Ryan Newton (1-4-15-0-0)
RECEIVING: Southern Columbia: Jake Rose (1-22), Gavin Garcia (1-3); Warrior Run: Dominick Shuey (1-15)
