Toczylousky, Becker, and Marks lead the way
By: Dave Fegley (Twitter: @DFegs9)
On a night that Southern Columbia senior Blake Marks became the 21st back in school history to rush for 2,000 career yards, it was the passing game that proved to be key in the Tigers 56-7 shellacking over Warrior Run. It was a combination of plays made by three Tiger seniors in particular that made an impact on Senior Night. “The game plan wasn’t really setup to stress us throwing more, but it helps to keep the defense honest. In order to succeed we need to be balanced and tonight we had success throwing and running,” said quarterback Nick Becker. On the first play of the game, Southern’s defense came up with a turnover on a Defenders blunder. Blake Marks recovered a fumble on the 13 yard line setting up short field position. The very next play, Becker connected with his favorite receiver Steve Toczylousky for the score and the Tigers didn’t look back from there. “The most positive things as far as our team’s development this year have been the play of our offensive line and the defense as a whole. Both units have been playing more consistently which is nice to see as the season has progressed,” said Tiger coach Jim Roth.
Marks rushed for the second touchdown of the game from 12 yards out and Toczylousky caught a 77 yard bomb to give the Tigers a three score advantage after the opening quarter. “Nick was putting the ball where it needed to be. Every time I make a catch I just want to make the biggest impact that I can. The ball gets spread around a lot in our offense, so you have to make the most out of every opportunity that you get,” said Toczylousky. Southern’s offensive line was able to keep Warrior Run’s pass rush away from Becker which will continue to be a key after he missed time earlier in the season with an injury.
The start of the second quarter was when Marks made the biggest impact of his career from the linebacker position. “I don’t know if they were having a little bit of a mishap off of the edge or what. They just were not picking up our outside blitzes, and it gave me the opportunity to hit their quarterback from his blindside. It was fun getting the opportunity to lay a bit of a beat down,” said Marks who had three first half sacks to go along with the fumble recovery. He has made the transition after playing in the secondary in previous years. Southern scored four times in the final five minutes of the second quarter. Becker found Toczylousky once more, this one from 29 yards out, and Toczylousky completed the hat trick with his third touchdown of the first half to put Southern up 28-0. “Stevie and I have a good connection and I can rely on him when we need to make a play. We put in a lot of time in the offseason and it makes it more comfortable to have that option,” the quarterback said. Becker threw his fourth touchdown on the next drive to Cam Young. Hunter Thomas, who had 93 yards on just three carries, and Jared Torres each added rushing scores to put the Tigers up 49-0 at halftime in another Mercy Rule effort by the Tigers.
In only 24 minutes of work, Toczylousky finished his night with three catches for 119 yards and the three scores. “We have a lot of different guys making plays this year, so it makes it hard for the defenses to focus their attention on only the run or the pass,” Toczylousky stated. Becker completed eight passes to six different players for 190 yards, and Marks finished with 57 yards on only four carries including a 40 yarder to put him over the 2,000 yard barrier. “It feels great and I have to give credit to my linemen who do an awesome job blocking up front for me. I couldn’t have done it without their efforts each week,” said Marks who joins his father, Jerry, as the first ever father-son combo on the list. That offensive line he is referring to consists of seniors Josh Yoder, Aaron Kroh, Gabe Delbo, Dale Houser, and sophomore Andrew Bell. The blocking tight ends are Garrett Henry and Chase Tillett. SCA’s defense held Warrior Run to only 40 yards rushing on 28 attempts. Tiger senior kicker Tyler Keiser, who converted on all eight of his extra points, was able to outscore the opposition on the night by himself which speaks volumes for the dominance of Andy Mills’ defense in recent weeks.
Each team scored one touchdown in the second half, a run by Southern’s Jake Potter and a catch by Warrior Run’s Teddy Bender from Gage Anzulavich, which made the final outcome 56-7 in favor of the Tigers in their regular season home finale. The Defenders will head back home next week as they host a Mount Carmel Area squad that has struggled mightily in getting shutout over the past two weeks by a combined score of 83-0. The Tigers will travel to Bucknell University to take on the Green Dragons of Lewisburg in a rare Thursday night contest. “It shouldn’t be anything too different and both teams have to prepare for it. The only change is we won’t have a JV game on Monday, so that will give us an extra day to prepare. It’s going to be a little odd since Thursday games are unusual, but again it’s the same for both teams that will be competing,” Roth said. With the win Friday night, the Tigers have now extended their regular season winning streak to 38 games and the Tigers will be favored in their final three games before the playoffs begin.
SCA: 21-28-7-0 = 56
WR: 0-0-0-7 = 7
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (7-0)
RUSHING:
Blake Marks 4-57, TD; Jared Torres 4-37, TD; Hunter Thomas 3-93, TD; Billy Marzeski 1-42; Nic Fetterman 4-29; Jake Potter 2-14, TD; Dylan Kranzel 3-27; AJ Goodlunas 1-5; 0-0; Nick Becker 1-2; Jeffrey Cox 1-1; Thomas Manley 1-(-2); Sami Abdul 1-(-2)
PASSING:
Nick Becker 8-14-0, 190 yds, 4 TDs
RECEIVING:
Steve Toczylousky 3-119, 3 TDs; Cam Young 1-36, TD; Jake Potter 1-10; Hunter Thomas 1-16; Jared Torres 1-8; Blake Marks 1-1
1st DOWNS: 15
PENALTIES: 2-21
WARRIOR RUN (3-4)
RUSHING:
Tyler Brown 15-46; Ty Kirkner 3-11; Anthony Null 3-6; Noah Showers 1-4; Team 1-(-8); Gage Anzulavich 5-(-25)
PASSING:
Gage Anzulavich 13-26-0, 119 yds, TD
RECEIVING:
Matt Truckenmiller 4-43; Matt Gummo 4-28; Ty Kirkner 3-34; Teddy Bender 2-14, TD
1st DOWNS: 11
PENALTIES: 3-25
