SHICKSHINNY – South Williamsport has built one of the best programs in District 4 this side of Southern Columbia over the last decade plus. But coming off a state semifinal appearance in Class A last year, the Mounties had a massive rebuilding job to do this season, with the added challenge of moving up to Class AA.
And in order to make sure they qualify for the district playoffs for the 14th consecutive year, the Mounties needed a win in their regular season finale at Northwest on Friday.
The Rangers, which entered the game 1-8, have had a challenging season, but Northwest didn’t just roll over for the Mounties. In a season that has largely been a struggle, the Rangers flipped the script late in the game and made sure it was a struggle to the end for the Mounties to earn that postseason berth.
In the end, despite rallying back from a 21-0 deficit and having the ball late in the fourth quarter with the chance to tie the game, the Rangers came up just a bit short, as they fell to the Mounties, 21-14.
“It took 10 weeks to find who we are as a football team, but I was really glad to see them do it,” said Northwest coach Stephen Nestorick. “I saw them execute at a higher level in the second half than I’ve seen since we got our first win against New Hope, so that is very encouraging for what happens next.”
For Northwest, that will be a Week 11 game at Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, in what will be the final game of the year for both teams. In the meantime, Northwest will get an extra week of practice to help the very young roster further develop, and one last game for seniors such as quarterback Jace McCoy, who nearly led his team back from being down by three scores.
But thanks to the efforts of a pair of seniors for South, Dylan Scheller and Tad Lusk, the Mounties finished 5-5 on the regular season with a very young squad, and what’s next for them will be a trip to either Troy or Towanda next week for the first round of the District 4 Class AA playoffs.
Behind 11 catches for 200 yards from Scheller and a 212-yard passing performance from Tad Lusk, who also led his team on the ground with 141 rushing yards, South built a three-possession lead heading into the fourth quarter at Northwest, then managed to hold on at the end. The air attack was also a little bit uncanny for the Mounties, who during their current string of playoff appearances have been primarily a ground-and-pound team offensively.
“We had some guys that couldn’t play this week and had a lot of new guys in and we knew we could do some things in the air,” said South coach Chris Eiswerth. “It’s been an unbelievable year of both adversity and youth, but the seniors just continued to work and believe and they rallied together. To be 5-5 right now with the amount of young kids we have is a credit to that senior class. That’s 14 straight years (in the playoffs), so that’s a credit to all the kids and families and parents and a lot of hard work.”
With his performance, Scheller broke the South school record for single season catches and receiving yards. And the Mounties likely needed every one of those yards in the end.
The Rangers held onto the ball for over 15 minutes in the second half, which not only gave them a chance to come back, but also kept the ball out of the hands Lusk and Scheller, who recorded eight of his catches for 170 yards came in the first half alone as the Mounties built a 14-0 halftime lead.
“He’s one of the best. He’s been a guy that’s had an incredible career for us and we couldn’t have done the things we’ve done the past few years without him,” said Eiswerth.
Scheller caught a six-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game on the Mounties’ second drive of the game with 2:21 to play in the first quarter. His other catches kept South’s offense moving and the ball away from the Rangers. He had receptions for 30 and 10 yards on South’s second scoring drive, which was capped by a 33-yard touchdown run by Lusk at the 7:07 mark of the second quarter.
But McCoy nearly guided the Rangers all the way back. He completed 16-of-32 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown, and also led his team on the ground with 71 yards on 12 carries and a score. In the second half, McCoy completed 11-of-17 passes.
“Jace has always been capable of that, he did it last year, he’s done it this year,” said Nestorick. “This year, we’ve lacked in some spots. We always talk about how you have to have all 11 on every play, and a lot of times, we’ve had 10, but today more often than not, we had 11.
“Believing in themselves and believing in their teammates was the biggest difference. A lot of times when you don’t trust what’s happening next to you, you push and get out of position and that leads to other things. Today they just learned to trust the guy next to them and execute their assignment and that led to better results.”
Northwest received the second half kickoff and proceeded to nearly double its offensive output from the entire first half. After managing just 78 yards in the first half, Northwest put together a 12-play drive that went for 62 yards and took 7:13 of game clock, but the drive stalled at the South 8 after the Rangers came up a yard short on a fourth-and-4.
From there, South went 92 yards in just four plays, capped by Lusk’s 31-yard touchdown run to extend its lead to 21-0 with 3:26 to play in the third quarter.
But Northwest responded with another lengthy drive, this one 11 plays for 65 yards in 4:22. This time, the Rangers were able to capitalize as McCoy hit RJ Moyer in the end zone for a short six-yard touchdown pass at the 11:06 mark of the fourth quarter.
South went three-and-out following a possession that included three penalties, and Northwest took over at the South 34 following a short punt. Once again, McCoy guided his team down the field, this time capping the drive himself with a one-yard touchdown run, and he then hit Loegan Diltz for the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game with 7:28 to play.
The Mounties responded by driving it all the way down to the Northwest 12, setting up a 29-yard field goal attempt by Evan Ogden. But the kick was wide right with 3:03 left in the game, giving the Rangers the ball back at their own 20 with a chance to potentially tie the game. But South’s defense held strong and forced the Rangers into a four-and-out to wrap things up.
South Williamsport 21, Northwest 14
South Williamsport (5-5) 7 7 7 0 – 21
Northwest (1-9) 0 0 0 14 – 14
First quarter
2:21 – (S) Dylan Scheller 6-yard pass from Tad Lusk (Ogden kick), 4-53, 2:12
Second quarter
7:07 – (S) Tad Lusk 33-yard run (Ogden kick), 8-80, 3:46
Third quarter
3:26 – (S) Tad Lusk 31-yard run (Ogden kick), 4-92, 1:21
Fourth quarter
11:06 – (N) RJ Moyer 6-yard pass from Jace McCoy (run failed), 11-65, 4:22
7:28 – (N) Jace McCoy 1-yard run (L. Diltz pass from McCoy), 6-34, 1:45
Statistics
S N
First downs 16 16
Rushes-net yards 27-194 27-103
Passing yardage 212 148
Passing 12-20-1-0 16-32-1-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-61 6-47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: South Williamsport: Tad Lusk (11-141-2), Cade Lusk (8-30), Paxton Gephart (4-12), Dylan Scheller (2-13), Team (2-(-2)); Northwest: Christopher Martinez (14-29), Jace McCoy (12-71-1), Shane Hempel (1-3)
PASSING: South Williamsport: Tad Lusk (12-19-212-1-0), Cole Gerber (0-1-0-0-0); Northwest: Jace McCoy (16-32-148-1-1)
RECEIVING: South Williamsport: Dylan Scheller (11-200-1), Neeko Bowen (1-12); Northwest: Noah Arnett (6-96), Loegan Diltz (6-18), RJ Moyer (3-33-1), Christopher Martinez (1-1)
