Freshmen Lead Tigers

Fleming, Garcia, and Wilk provide spark in victory

Every one of Southern Columbia’s opponents had to be thrilled to see all of the Tigers losses to graduation and the amount of freshman on this year’s roster. After two weeks, the thought now has to be that the year 2019 can’t come soon enough. “We knew we had a very talented freshman class. The players getting varsity time have shown lots of confidence so far and they will only get better with time,” said Tiger coach Jim Roth. That’s a scary thought for the rest of PA. Freshmen Gaige Garcia, Julian Fleming, and Teagan Wilk were the standouts this week in helping SCA move to 2-0 on the season by defeating Bloomsburg in convincing fashion 65-21 in a Heartland Conference cross-over matchup.

However, the scoring onslaught started with a senior. All-state running back Hunter Thomas rushed 49 yards to the end zone to put the Tigers up 7-0 against his former team. Thomas was at Bloomsburg his freshman season before switching to the black and gold uniform. It took Bloomsburg less than a minute to cut into the lead. Nick Anderson hit fellow junior Logan Benintende with a perfectly thrown ball for an 89-yard score. “We made some mistakes, but we also did a lot of good things. Not everything is going to go your way, so sometimes it’s how you respond. The freshmen responded in a big way again,” Roth stated. A missed extra point kept Southern’s lead at 7-6. On the following possession, Fleming won a jump ball on a pass and tried scoring after catching the pigskin near the goal line. The extra effort caused him to fumble it resulting in a Panthers recovery in the end zone.

Bloomsburg tried taking the lead by throwing early in the possession. Wilk made them pay by intercepting a pass at the 41-yard line and returning it all the way to the 11. “The line got some good pressure on the play forcing a quicker pass. I watched a lot of film which I think helped me with reading the routes they ran,” said Wilk who is now the man at safety after rotating last week with Blake Day who tore his ACL. “I feel bad for Blake because he put a lot of time and work in. Now it’s my job to step up in his absence,” the freshman said. Nic Fetterman scored on a one yard dive with just eight seconds left in the first quarter putting the Tigers up 14-6, and the defending state champions would not look back.

Garcia started the scoring in the second quarter after Thomas went down with an ankle injury causing his night to end prematurely. “I hope Hunter is able to play next week. It’s fun playing with him in the backfield. We both have our strengths and are obviously much better with him on the field as another weapon,” said Garcia. After his four-yard touchdown run, Cam Young, who like Thomas used to attend Bloomsburg, intercepted a pass on the ensuing possession. He then caught a pass on the next play for 39 yards from Stone Hollenbach. “It’s the last time I got to play against some former teammates. I just wanted to go out and give it my all. It’s motivating to want to go out and make plays,” Young said. Fleming caught a 28-yard jump ball on the following play to extend Southern’s lead to 28-6. “Stone knows that I can jump a little bit, so he puts it up there where he knows I can make a play on it. I feel any pass in my area is one that I can come down with,” Fleming said.

After Bloomsburg scored on the following kickoff return and converted on a two-point attempt, Garcia returned a kick to the 28. One play later, Hollenbach kept it himself and scored from 28 yards out making the score 35-14. That was the game’s third TD in less than a minute of game action. The Tigers defense forced a 3-and-out after some hard hitting. Garcia picked up 40 yards on a run, Fleming caught a 32-yard pass, and then Garcia carried the final six yards for another score. Less than two minutes later, Garcia scored again. This time he went 64 yards to show off his speed. “The line blocked well tonight. When a running back has a big hole to run through, you need to take advantage of it,” Garcia said. That touchdown put the Tigers in front 49-14 at the half. In that half, Garcia carried the ball seven times for 148 yards and three scores.

Fleming added to his already impressive night of 99 receiving yards, by taking the third quarter kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown. “Once I got through the first couple of blocks, I was off to the races. The blockers and other returners set up a lane for me,” said Fleming. Bloomsburg scored later in the third on a short run. Fetterman added the Tigers final touchdown of the night on a 35-yard run and Elijah Hoffman converted on his ninth straight extra point. A fourth quarter safety added two points for SCA and those were the only points of the final frame. Bloomsburg will try and pick up their first win next week as they take on Warrior Run. Southern Columbia travels to rival Mount Carmel Area who got shutout this week against Shikellamy. “I’m sure they will be ready. It’s a rivalry game so both teams will be hyped up,” said Young.

SCA: 14-35-14-2 = 65
BLM: 6-8-7-0 = 21

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (2-0)

RUSHING:

Gaige Garcia 7-148, 3 TDs; Hunter Thomas 4-59, TD; Nic Fetterman 8-66, 2 TDs; Stone Hollenbach 3-32, TD; Tom Manley 5-27; Cole Potter 3-21; Nate Crowl 2-12; Ty Roadarmel 5-11

PASSING:

Stone Hollenbach 7-10-0, 153 yds, TD

RECEIVING:

Julian Fleming 4-99, TD; Cam Young 3-54

1st DOWNS: 19

PENALTIES: 6-43

BLOOMSBURG (0-2)

RUSHING:

Joe Zola 4-20; Darius Green 10-16; Hunter Coulter 2-15; Nick Anderson 5-13; Jonathan Stone 2-9; Colby Kashner 5-7; Jack Malatesta 1-7; Jacob Mattive 2-4, TD; Zahier Stewart 1-4

PASSING:

Nick Anderson 4-9-2, 100 yds, TD

RECEIVING:

Logan Benintenda 2-92, TD; Eric Foust 1-7; Jacob Mattive 1-1

1st DOWNS: 5

PENALTIES: 1-15