The Daily Item Thursday December 24, 2015 The Danville News

SPECIAL EDITION

OF GAME NIGHT!

Unbeaten Southern sets record with 7 state titles

The Daily Item Thursday December 24, 2015 The Danville News

SPECIAL EDITION

OF GAME NIGHT!

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Being around the Southern Columbia football program for

the last 23 seasons, I have to step back sometimes to realize just what the Tigers and coach Jim Roth have accomplished over the last 32 years.

It seems like coach Roth finds enough male off-spring in Catawissa, Elys-burg and Ralpho Township that sprint from the womb knowing the double-reverse handoff, or are well-versed in the blocking schemes in the Delaware Wing-T.

However it’s been a slow build for the Tigers pro-gram, believe it or not.

There was a time when the District 4 Class A title seemed elusive for coach Roth and his team — Canton was once a house of horrors for Southern Columbia and I’ll always remember the Bulldogs’ quarterback from that time — Boo Perry.

Of course, Southern Columbia beat the Bulldogs in back-to-back years to overcome the first hurdle.

Then, there was just get-ting into the state playoffs when winning the district title didn’t guarantee you a state-playoff berth, so the Tigers sat at home after los-ing just one game in 1993 by a field goal to South Williamsport.

That Mounties team selected an Eastern Con-ference berth and was able to advance to the PIAA championship game, while the Tigers sat at home after winning the third of what would be 16 consecutive District 4 Class A titles.

Of course, Southern Columbia cleared the hurdles just one year later, completing a 15-0 season and winning the school and

coach Roth’s first PIAA championship by beating Western Beaver at Mansion Park in Altoona, 49-6.

Southern Columbia then entered maybe the most frustrating era of Roth’s career.

The Tigers became known for being the Buf-falo Bills of Pennsylvania prep football, dropping six consecutive state finals in which they appeared, most of them close.

Though it all, coach Roth would sit outside the Tigers locker room and calmly answer the same questions over and over.

But even now, 14 years

The Tigers continue with amazing feats

Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Southern Columbia coach Jim Roth walks the sidelines at the state championship game Saturday at Hershey-Park Stadium in Hershey.

Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Southern Columbia’s Hunter Thomas gets around the edge of the West Catholic defense and dodges a tackle from Dajone Averett during the state semifinals in Slatington.

TODD HUMMEL

On high school football

Please see FEATS, A3

Congratulations STATE CHAMPS!

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later, Roth still aches a little over the fact that some of his players experienced the disappointment of state title games and not the ela-tion of the victories.

“Every time you get a win, it erases some of the disappointments of the years we were runner-up,” Roth said on Saturday after the win over Aliquippa.

Of course, Southern bounced back to win a PIAA-record five in a row.

I think the most interest-ing part of the entire part of the process, though, is how either win or lose at the state level, it’s hard to tell the difference with coach Roth.

I also think it’s that at-titude that didn’t lead to the downfall of the Tigers program when it struggled with losing the state finals.

I also think Roth’s per-sonality is a big help in how Southern Columbia han-dled some of the adversity it faced in the district play-

off and the PIAA playoffs.When Montoursville

scored 29 points in the second quarter to rally in the district final this year, the Tigers didn’t get rattled and won.

When Berks Catholic tied the game at 21 in the third quarter of the PIAA quarterfinals, Southern Columbia scored the final two touchdowns to win.

After allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown just 16 seconds into the semifinals and later fac-ing a third-quarter deficit, the Tigers again scored 20 unanswered points.

And of course, finally, there’s the state champi-onship game. The Tigers defense gave up a touch-down on the opening drive and a fumbled kickoff gave the Quips a chance to take a quick two-score lead.

We know how that turned out as well.

n Email comments to thummel@dailyitem.com. Follow Hummel on Twitter @HummelTodd.

Tigers continue with amazing featsFEATS, from Page A2

Photos by Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Nick Becker rushes against the Aliquippa defense dur-ing the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

By The Daily Item

For years, area football fans wondered what would happen when the Southern Columbia Tigers moved out of Class A.

Would the Tigers and coach Jim Roth continue their run of dominance?

Would the bigger schools beat down Southern Colum-bia?

The answer turned out to be a resounding no.

In just their second season as a Class AA program, the Tigers won their PIAA-record seventh state football title and first as a Class AA school this past Saturday with a 49-14 win over previ-ously undefeated Aliquippa.

Here is a capsule look at the Tigers’ march to the state title:

Regular seasonn Week 1Southern Columbia 49, Mifflinburg 21

CATAWISSA — Despite losing quarterback Nick Becker to injury, the Tigers rallied behind big plays in all three phases to pull away for the win.

The Tigers jumped to a 7-0 lead before the offense took the field for the first time this season. Defensive end Chase Tillet scooped up a fumble after a sack by Steve Toczylousky and raced 36 yards to the house. Full-back Jared Torres followed with a five-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0 Tigers after the PAT was blocked.

Mifflinburg would fight back with a touchdown of its own, getting back to within

13-7. But Blake Marks responded for the Tigers by taking the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.

n Week 2Southern Columbia 56, Bloomsburg 19

BLOOMSBURG — Blake Marks and Hunter Thomas combined for five touchdowns to lead the Tigers in the win.

Marks got his team on

A look back at a perfect season

n 2015 in review

Southern Columbia’s Jared Torres rushes through the Aliquippa defense on Saturday afternoon at Hershey- Park Stadium in the state title game.

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the board with a 73-yard run to make it 7-0. Thomas then took over. He followed Marks’ big run with a 58-yard touchdown reception from Drew Michaels, who was filling in at quarterback for the injured Nick Becker, making it 14-0.

Thomas followed with back-to-back touchdown runs in the second quarter, one from 7 yards out, and the other from 77 yards out to give the Tigers a 35-13 lead.

But Thomas wasn’t finished. He added a touch-down defensively in the third quarter with a 39-yard inter-ception return to help close out the win. Thomas finished with 113 yard rushing, 66 yards receiving, and the four trips to the house.

■ Week 3Southern Columbia 49, Shamokin 27

COAL TOWNSHIP — Nick Becker’s return to the field gave the Tigers some extra juice en route to the win.

Becker finished 7-for-13 with 151 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers quarterback got back in a rhythm quickly, culminating in a 51-yard pass to Hunter Thomas after buying time. That gave the Tigers a 35-7 lead at that point.

Thomas also scored on a 46-yard run to push the game into the mercy rule.

The Tigers defense also had four interceptions in the first half, which were all turned into points. One score included a pick six by inside linebacker Austin Knepp.

■ Week 4Southern Columbia 42, Danville 14

CATAWISSA — In a game where the Tigers honored their top 20 run-ning backs, including Blake Marks’ dad, Jerry, and former New York Giants fullback Henry Hynoski, Blake Marks led his team to the big victory.

Blake Marks highlight of the night was a big 57-yard run, breaking three tack-les. Hunter Thomas helped build an early 21-0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown reception and a 9-yard touchdown run.

Nick Becker also became the school’s all-time leader in touchdowns passes. The record-breaking pass came when Becker hit Steve Toc-zylousky for a 47-yard gain.

■ Week 5Southern Columbia 40,Central Columbia 0

CATAWISSA — Three touchdowns in the first two quarters were all the Tigers needed as they improved to 5-0 on the season.

Blake Marks started the scoring with a 5-yard touch-down run to make it 7-0. Hunter Thomas followed with a big 70-yard touch-down run, making it 14-0 Tigers. Tight end Garrett Henry closed out the half with a 5-yard TD catch from Nick Becker and the Tigers took a 21-0 lead into the half.

Nic Fetterman kept the Tigers’ momentum rolling with a 6-yard touchdown run, followed by another big touchdown run by Thomas, this time from 35 yards out.

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Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Chase Tillet celebrates winning the PIAA Class AA crown Saturday in Hershey.

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Jared Torres joined the party and closed the scor-ing with a huge touchdown run of his own from 43 yards away.

n Week 6Southern Columbia 42, Mount Carmel 0

CATAWISSA — A week after Mount Car-mel’s Kyle Karycki ran for a school-record 368 yards against Danville, the senior tailback had just 29 yards on 13 carries and started the game with just five yards on his first eight carries of the game against the Southern Columbia defense.

On the first possession of the game, Nick Becker connected with Steve Toczylousky for a 68-yard touchdown. Blake Marks also scored three touch-downs in the victory. His first came from 12 yards out, then from 1 yard out

after the Red Tornadoes fumbled the snap on a punt. That gave the Tigers a 28-0 lead late in the first half.

Marks capped off the day with a nifty 17-yard touchdown run. During the run, he cut back against the grain and reversed his field for the score.

n Week 7Southern Columbia 56, Warrior Run 7

CATAWISSA — Nick Becker-to-Steve Toczy-lousky. That’s what was heard all night as the Tigers rolled once again on of-fense.

Becker threw for 192 yards and four touchdowns in the win, including three to Toczylousky. The first came from 13 yards out, taking advantage of a De-fenders fumble. The next two were bombs of 78 and 29 yards.

Becker’s last touchdown toss went to Cameron Young from 36 yards out. Jared Torres and Hunter

Thomas also had rushing touchdowns to add to the scoring.

n Week 8Southern Columbia 49, Lewisburg 24

LEWISBURG — De-spite a big start from the Green Dragons, the Tigers kept their composure and took over to rally for the win.

After Lewisburg took an early 7-6 lead, the Tigers responded with a 48-yard touchdown run by Jared Torres to take the lead right back. Hunter Thomas fol-lowed with a 39-yard touch-down reception to make it 21-7 Tigers.

After a Lewisburg field goal, Thomas took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for six. That was followed by back-to-back touchdown runs by Blake Marks from three and five yards out. Steve Toczylousky capped off the scoring with a 10-

Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Members of the Southern Columbia football team and cheerleaders celebrate the school’s seventh PIAA championship Saturday.

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yard hookup from Nick Becker.

n Week 9Southern Columbia 62,Central Mountain 7

MILL HALL — Three touchdowns from Steve Toczylousky led the Tigers in the rout.

Two of Toczylousky’s touchdowns came in the second quarter, both through the air in back-to-back fashion. The first was a 57-yard bomb from Nick Becker to make it 14-0 Tigers. The next connec-tion with Becker for six was from eight yards out. Toczylousky’s other score came on defense off an 82-yard pick six.

Hunter Thomas had touchdown runs of nine and 12 yards, while Blake Marks added a 10-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring.

n Week 10Southern Columbia 21, Selinsgrove 14

SELINSGROVE — Blake Marks made some huge plays on both sides of the ball as the Tigers prevailed in a battle of the unbeatens and finished with another perfect regu-lar season.

The biggest play by Marks came when he saved the Tigers’ opening scoring drive after Nick Becker was intercepted — but Marks stripped the Seals’ Garrett Campbell and recovered the fumble. Marks also added a touchdown run and catch, and then a game-

clinching 12-yard run for a first down to seal the win.

It was the first battle of undefeated teams in the final week of the regular season in this area since Danville beat Southern Co-lumbia on Halloween 1997.

Marks’ touchdown recep-tion gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead on a fourth-and-goal from the 5 late in the first quarter. His TD run was from four yards out with 42 seconds left in the half.

District 4 Class AA Playoffs

n QuarterfinalsSouthern Columbia 42,Troy 22

CATAWISSA — A 28-point second quarter helped the Tigers pull away for the win.

Jared Torres had two touchdown rushes of 13 and two yards in the quarter. Hunter Thomas added a 1-yard touchdown run, fol-lowed by Steve Toczylousky on a 29-yard hook-up from Nick Becker.

Thomas also added a 33-yard touchdown run that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

n SemifinalsSouthern Columbia 56, Hughesville 20

CATAWISSA — De-spite giving up an opening touchdown to the Spartans, the Tigers responded with authority as the had all sea-son en route to the win.

Hughesville impres-sively marched 77 yards

Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Southern Columbia’s Billy Marzeski makes an interception in front of Aliquippa’s Jassir Jordan during Saturday’s game.

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and took a 7-0 lead on a 19-yard touchdown run by Melvin Derhammer. But Billy Marz-weski retaliated, taking the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown. Hunter Thomas had two touchdowns in the win as well.

The Tigers ran for 505 yards, totaling 583 yards of total offense in the game. Steve Toczylousky also broke the program’s single-season record for touchdown receptions with his 12th of the season, off a 26-yard pass from Nick Becker in the second quarter.

n Championship GameSouthern Columbia 56,Montoursville 50

CATAWISSA — In a game that had just about everything happen, it was the Tigers defense that made a play late in the game to win the district championship.

With the Warriors facing a fourth-and-8 from their own 46, Austin Knepp and Matt Bell busted through the line and sacked Warriors quar-terback Brycen Mussina to clinch the win. The Tigers set themselves up for the 2-yard go-ahead touchdown by Nick Becker off a big run by Hunter Thomas off their signature double-reverse.

Jared Torres and Thomas started the scoring with touch-down runs of eight and 17 yards.

PIAA Class AA Playoffs

n QuarterfinalsSouthern Columbia 34,Berks Catholic 21

SHILLINGTON — The Tigers kept their season alive through the air as Nick Becker led his team to the victory.

After both teams combined for five punts to start the game, Becker finally found Cam Young for a 40-yard connec-tion, setting up a six-yard touchdown run by Becker to give the Tigers the lead. The Tigers then took a 13-0 lead off a 2-yard touchdown run by Blake Marks. After the Saints tied it at 21 after a Marks

fumble, the Tigers responded with an 18-yard touchdown run by Becker to make it 28-21.

The Tigers had one more piece of adversity to deal with after a Hunter Thomas fumble. Blake Marks came up big on defense, stopping the Saints’ Is-sac Lutz on a fourth-and-inches to help clinch the win.

n SemifinalsSouthern Columbia 34,West Catholic 19

SLATINGTON — The Tigers once again faced early adversity, but fought back and rolled to put themselves back in the state championship game.

After the Burrs took a 7-0 lead just 15 seconds in when Craig Jones returned the open-ing kickoff, the Tigers defense took over, forcing six turnovers. Blake Marks made big plays in all three phases once again, with two interceptions and two touchdowns — one rushing and one receiving. Marks’ receiving touchdown came from 19 yards out and tied the game after a big interception from Cameron Young set it up.

Then, after the Burrs took a 19-14 lead, the Tigers scored on

their next three possessions to put the game out of reach. Two of those scores were rushing touchdowns by Becker.

n ChampionshipSouthern Columbia 49,Aliquippa 14

HERHSEY — The Tigers defense had a monster game en route to the program’s seventh overall state title, and first in Class AA.

The Tigers forced seven turnovers against an offense averaging 42.5 points per game, and held the Quips’ 2,400-yard rusher — Kazeon Pugh — in check. But again, the Tigers faced early adversity as the Quips took a 6-0 lead on their opening possession, then threatened for more after a Blake Marks fumble. And again, the Tigers responded in a big way off a Billy Marzeski interception in the end zone. Jared Torres then turned it into a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers a 7-6 lead.

The Tigers began to put the game away off a Nick Becker 30-yard scoring run. That gave the Tigers a 28-14 halftime lead, and they never looked back.

Southern’s Blake Marks disrupts a pass intended for West Catholic’s Craig Jones in the state semifinals.

Photos by Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Southern Columbia’s Hunter Thomas runs to the outside during Saturday’s Class AA state championship game in Hershey.

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SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (16-0)Southern Col. 217 280 141 100—38Opponents 47 88 63 81—279statistics SCHS OppFirst downs 323 145Rushes-net yards 648-5,166 498-1,750Passing yardage 1,749 2,565Passing 120-201-11 172-334-27Fumbles-lost 33-14 34-18Penalties-yards 71-570 86-662INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING — Hunter Thomas 145-1,629, 25 TDs; Blake Marks 130-1,105, 17 TDs; Jared Torres 172-1,007, 16 TDs; Nic Fetterman 61-398, 2 TDs; Nick Becker 49-332, 9 TDs; Thomas Manley 16-126, TD; Drew Michaels 11-67; Dylan Kranzel 20-65, TD; Jacob Potter 15-107, TD; A.J. Goodlunas 13-58, TD; Billy Marzeski 15-85, TD; Garrett Henry 1-3; Sami Abdul 18-67; Cole Potter 5-23, TD; Jeff Cox 4-32, TD; team, 1-(-1).PASSING — Nick Becker 105-172-10 for 1,763 yards, 19 TDs;

Drew Michaels 12-18-1 for 214 yards, 3 TDs; Justin Derk 3-9-0 for 62 yards.RECEIVING — Hunter Thomas 33-581, 4 TDs; Steve Toczylousky 30-749, 12 TDs; Cam Young 22-284, 3 TDs; Blake Marks 23-217, 2 TDs; Jared Torres 8-115; Garrett Henry 3-51, TD; Cole Potter 1-10; Tom Ivey, 1-3.SCORING — Hunter Thomas 25 rushing TDs, 4 receiving TD, 2 kickoff return TD, 1 interception TD, 192 points; Blake Marks 17 rushing TDs, 2 receiving TDs, 1 2-point catch, 1 PAT, 118 points; Jared Torres 16 rushing TDs, 1 2-point catch, 98 points; Tyler Keiser 91 PATs, 1 FG, 94 points; Steve Toczylousky 12 receiving TDs, 1 interception return TD, 78 points; Nick Becker 9 rushing TDs, 54 points; Cam Young 3 receiving TDs, 1 inter-ception return TD, 24 points; Nic Fetterman, 2 rushing TDs, 12 points; Billy Marzeski 1 rushing TD, 1 kickoff return TD 1 interception return TD, 18 points; Dylan Frantzel 1 rushing TD, 6 points; Jacob Manley, 1 rushing TD, 6 points; Austin Knepp 1 interception return TD, 6 points; Garrett Henry 1 receiving TD, 6 points; Jacob Potter, 1 rushing TD, 6 points; A.J. Goodlunas 1 rushing TD, 6 points; Jeff Cox 1 rushing TD, 6 points; Chase Tillett 1 2-point catch, 2 points.

Southern’s final season statistics

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Photos by Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Members of the Southern Columbia Tigers football team celebrate at the final whistle of Saturday’s PIAA Class AA title game in Hershey.

Southern Columbia’s Blake Day kisses the state championship trophy on Saturday in Hershey.