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Southern dominates in 39-7 win over Dunmore

Tagged under: District 2, District 4, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

| December 2, 2023

Tigers tag their Bucks

In any level of sports, it’s very rare to carry a streak of the highest magnitude past one. Duplicating a result is tough, accomplishing something three times in a row is remarkable, and then there is Southern Columbia.

The Tigers defeated Dunmore in the PIAA Class 2A Eastern Final on Friday at Harman-Geist Memorial Field in Hazleton 39-7 to punch their ticket to a ninth straight, yes ninth, state championship appearance.

“As you grow up, you see the success happen and you want to continue to make it happen. When you’re in elementary and middle school at Southern Columbia, you get excited to be a part of it. When you get the chance in high school, you want to take advanatage of it,” said senior halfback Carter Madden. “You make sure to work hard because you want to experience this type of feeling like we are again and want to win another title.”

After the Tigers were in scoreless games at the half in each of the previous two weeks, the offense did its part against Dunmore to get out to an early lead. Louden Murphy finished off a five-play drive to start the game with a run of six yards for a TD.

After the Southern defense dropped the Bucks on their opening drive, like many hunters set out to do this time of year in the woods, Garret Garcia added to the lead. His two-yard score finished off the second drive.

“It was great to put points on the board early. From the start, our players did a very good job of executing their assignments,” said SCA head coach Jim Roth.

As the Bucks were forced to their second straight three-and-out to start the game, a low snap to the punter caused a fumble to set up a short field for the Tigers after Colden Bloom and Ethan Makowski swallowed him up before he could grasp the pigskin.

Madden wasted no time as he reached the end zone from 21 yards out. Garcia scored again, this time with a 48-yard dash, as the six-time defending PIAA champions led 26-0 after the first quarter.

At that point, with the way Southern’s defense had been feasting, and the way their three runners were maneuvering with the blocking from the men up front, Dunmore was done. The Tigers were just finishing things out before making plans to cruise into Cumberland Valley School District next Friday as they will look to add another trophy to their shelf which already contains 13 PIAA Championships.

“We weren’t able to find the end zone in the first half of the last two games against two strong defensive units (Bald Eagle Area and Troy), but this game we got into a rhythm. I thought this was the best the three backs ran as a group. They ran hard and were physical as the offensive line was executing blocks,” Roth said.

In the third meeting between the two historic programs, Southern’s trip to their 22nd state title game was well in hand as Dunmore’s potential fifth trip was stopped.

“I can’t say enough about how proud I am with our defense. Last week we faced a team with a prolific passing game, and tonight a team that was known for running the ball. Our defense had to shift the approach in facing two totally opposite schemes,” said Tiger defensive coordinator Andy Mills. “I think the area I was really pleased with tonight was our pursuit to the ball.”

The Tigers added two TDs in the second quarter, a 13-yard carry by Murphy and a third score from Garcia, as Southern’s lead ballooned to 39-0 at the half. The Tigers will now take on Westinghouse, a 28-8 victor over Beaver Falls in the Western title, at 1:00 in the second of six state championship contests next weekend in a rematch from last year.

Stars Align

It seems like the numbers align weekly for Roth’s squad.

To start the 60th anniversary season for Southern’s program back in their opener, Southern scored 50 points in a shutout to start Roth’s 40th year as the head coach of the Tigers.

A few weeks ago, the Tigers beat Mount Carmel Area 43-0 as Southern’s #43 Isaac Carter led the way with four sacks.

“If we play like this on defense and have the type of offensive success like we had in this game, I am really confident going into next week. We know from last year that Westinghouse is a great team, but so are we and we want to prove that we are the state champions again,” said Carter who had a pair of sacks and five tackles for losses against the Bucks.

Garcia, who wears the #23 like his oldest brother Gaige did during his days as a Tiger that saw him break Pennsylvania’s record for touchdowns, scored with 23 seconds remaining in the opening half to put the game against Dunmore into the Mercy Rule.

During his 21-yard journey into the endzone, he gave out a pair of stiff arms.

“It was great to see our offensive performance match up to the way our defense has been playing throughout the playoffs. Right now, we seem to really be clicking overall as a team,” Garcia said after rushing for 191 yards.

Southern’s starting defense has now held their five playoff opponents to one single touchdown, a late pass last week against Bald Eagle Area, as they have beaten four consecutive state-ranked foes.

“We have proven now time and time again that we can shut down any offense that we have faced. When you have to prepare for all the different offensive looks that we have seen in the postseason, we are ready for anything I feel at this point,” said cornerback Jake Hoy who turned 18 on Saturday.

Defense Wins Championships

Mills has drawn up defensive game plans every week in the playoffs and his Tigers have executed the plan with flying colors. The Tigers defensive unit took down Dunmore behind the line of scrimmage more often than they allowed positive yardage.

“We have an athletic defensive line. We have ends that fly off the edge and the middle guys stuff the inside runs. Our guys up front all have different moves to get pressure on the quarterback, and we have outside linebackers for containment on the outside and a pair of outstanding inside linebackers,” said outside linebacker Gavin Krebs who had a sack.

Southern’s defense limited Dunmore to just two yards on offense with the starters on the field.

“Everyone wants to have the opportunity to win states. To be part of a program that consistently does this, we are grateful,” Bloom said. “We have one more game to go in order to get to where we want to be to end the season.”

Teams to remember play in December, and this Southern defense is approaching the ‘Stairway to Seven’. One more game, and one more outstanding performance by the defense, is the final hurdle that the Tigers need to step up to in order to win a record seventh consecutive PIAA Class 2A Championship.

As the saying goes, “defense wins championships”, and Mills’ squad is living up to it.

Southern Columbia 39, Dunmore 7

SCA — DUN

First Downs: 16 — 9

Rushes-yds: 36-337 — 32-102

Passing yds: 9 — 36

Total yds: 346 — 138

Passing (C-A-I): 2-5-1 — 4-16-1

Penalties: 1-15 — 3-25

Fumbles-lost: 2-0 — 1-0

Southern (14-1): 26-13-0-0 — 39

Dunmore (12-3): 0-0-0-7 — 7

SCORING PLAYS

1st Quarter

S — Louden Murphy 6 run (Isaac Carter kick), 9:48.

S — Garrett Garcia 2 run (kick blocked), 6:02.

S — Carter Madden 21 run (pass failed), 3:47.

S — Garcia 48 run (Carter kick), 1:13.

2nd Quarter

S — Murphy 13 run (pass failed), 9:02.

S — Garcia 21 run (Carter kick), 0:23.

3rd Quarter

N/A.

4th Quarter

D — Thomas Bowen 4 run (Eric Reesey kick), 0:07.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Southern: Garrett Garcia 11-191, 3 TDs; Louden Murphy 10-83, 2 TDs; Carter Madden 9-79, TD; Brayden Andrews 1-3; Joey Williams 1-(-1); Jack Biermaas 1-(-3); Blake Wise 1-(-3); Anthony Martino 1-(-4); Team 1-(-8). Dunmore: Danny Pigga 11-58; Ryan Mecca 4-53; Jake Hickey 6-5; Nick Donvito 1-8; Brayden Reuther 1-5; Dom DeSando 1-(-2); Thomas Bowen 7-(-6), TD; Team 1-(-19).

PASSING — Southern: Blake Wise 2-5-1, 9 yds. Dunmore: Thomas Bowen 4-16-0, 36 yds

RECEIVING — Southern: Jake Hoy 1-8; Carter Madden 1-1. Dunmore: Dom DeSando 1-20; Danny Pigga 3-16.

 

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