By: Dave Fegley (Twitter: @DFegs9)
For the first seven minutes of Friday night’s game at Kemp Memorial Stadium, the Shamokin Indians (0-8) actually outplayed the Southern Tigers (8-0). However, the final three and a half quarters belonged to the top ranked Tigers as they went on to thrash the Indians by a score of 56-0 giving Southern head coach Jim Roth his 350th career victory, the quickest to do so in PIAA history. Coach Roth didn’t mention that milestone at all and he gave more of the praise to Shamokin first year coach Yaacov Yisrael, who was a standout defensive back for Penn State in the early 2000s. “I’ve gotten to know Yaacov pretty well over the past few years and he’s doing the right things, so I hope he has the opportunity to establish a program because it’s not going to happen in just one year,” Roth stated.
Shamokin came out to open the game on an 11-play drive that ultimately ended in a punt, but it seemed to certainly give the Tigers defense trouble in the process. “Shamokin came out strong and you have to give them credit for that,” said Tiger all-state linebacker Cody Pavlick. In that opening series, the Indians chewed up over half the quarter and the Tigers didn’t touch the ball until 5:11 remained in the opening quarter. Southern went no-huddle for the entire drive and the final play was a 32 yard touchdown pass from Nick Becker to Zach Tillett, who was an Indian last season, that put the Tigers up 7-0 and was the only score in the first quarter. “When they took a lot of time off the clock on their opening drive, I thought it was even better to run this and obviously we were going to maximize the time when we got the ball. We were planning on practicing the hurry up and the way Shamokin took their time, it worked out for us,” said Roth when asked about his decision to run a quick offense to start the game.
The Tigers put the game away by scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter to put the game in the mercy rule by the half. Matt Lupold, who scored twice in the quarter, was the offensive star and was the team’s leading rusher for the game by slicing through the Indian defense, giving him seven carries for 62 yards on the night. He also had a 56 yard reception to set up one of his scores. “I felt like I was due for a good game, and the line and backs blocked well. I have to give them the credit for those runs,” Lupold declared. The most thrilling touchdown of the quarter belonged to Pavlick though. The linebacker played tight end for a play and caught his first ever pass that resulted in a touchdown. “It was an exciting moment, being that my first ever catch was a touchdown got me real pumped,” stated Pavlick. Nate Hunter added the final touchdown of the half with under two minutes remaining giving the Tigers a 35-0 lead heading into the locker room.
Southern Columbia tacked on three more touchdowns in the second half thanks to a 10 yard run by Blake Marks and two runs by Brad Noll. The Tigers also extended their streak to eight straight games to start the year with at least 300 team rushing yards and 45 points scored per game. “I thought our kids executed and played hard. The game was competitive early and eventually we just took over,” said the newest member of the 350 win club, Jim Roth.
Shamokin will take on Shikellamy next Friday to try and pick up their first victory of the season. “I’m proud of the boys, but one thing we are going to take out of this season is how the mental part of the game can hurt you,” said first year Shamokin coach Yaacov Yisrael. Southern will travel to Central Columbia next week to try and stay unbeaten for the year. The Tigers need to probably win out in order to keep the top seed for districts because Wellsboro is undefeated as well. It will also be the second week in a row that the Tigers will play on turf, which is an excellent practice for postseason venues.
SCA: 7-28-14-7 = 56
SAHS: 0-0-0-0 = 0
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (8-0)
RUSHING:
Adam Feudale 8-48; Nate Hunter 4-27, TD; Blake Marks 3-20, TD; Matt Lupold 7-62, TD; Brad Noll 8-61, 2 TDs; Billy Marzeski 4-19; Matt Jeremiah 4-37; Nick Becker 1-2; Jake Potter 3-21; Sam Abdul 3-13; Dylan Kranzel 1-0
PASSING:
Nick Becker 7-10-1, 145 yds, 2 TDs
RECEIVING:
Zach Tillett 1-32, TD; Luke Rarig 3-52; Cody Pavlick 1-10, TD; Matt Lupold 1-56; Adam Feudale 1-(-5)
1st DOWNS: 24
PENALTIES: 3-34
SHAMOKIN (0-8)
RUSHING:
Sean McLaughlin 18-34; Erik Taylor 3-15; John Demsko 10-11; James Snyder 1-3; Dave Stevens 1-(-6); Dillon Decample 1-(-1)
PASSING:
Sean McLaughlin 0-3
RECEIVING:
NONE
1st DOWNS: 7
PENALTIES: 4-52
Final Shamokin stats courtesy of Damien Scoblink (Press Enterprise)
