Breaking down the PIAA District Four Playoffs

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

Tristan Klinefelter | November 4, 2021

Jersey Shore’s Elijah Jordan runs for a touchdown in the Bulldogs 62-7 victory over Milton.

As the playoffs begin this week it’s time to take a look at the matchups and teams in District 4 that you should keep an eye on. Within District 4 there are many teams that have the potential to make a deep state playoff run. These teams include Muncy, Southern Columbia, and Jersey Shore. All three of these teams are on top of their class and ranked either one or two in our PFN Rankings. 

A  

Canton receives a first-round bye sitting at the number one seed. The Warriors finished the 2021 season with a perfect 10-0 record while scoring an average of 42 points per game. 

The second matchup in the single-A schedule for District Four is Muncy vs Montgomery. Muncy is the number one ranked single-A team in the state in our PFN rankings and the second seed for this season’s bracket. The Indians finished the year 9-1 with their single loss in week 0 against Northern Lehigh. For the Montgomery Red Raiders, they finished the year 5-5 and the third seed. The Red Raiders had big wins over Warrior Run and Columbia Montour Vo-Tech and will look to upset the Indians Friday night. The winner of this game will face Canton next Friday. 

AA

The first game on the bracket will be a battle between the Southern Columbia Tigers and the Line Mountain Eagles. The Tigers finished the season with a record of 9-1 and claimed the number one seed. Their loss came to Wyomissing in a historic battle. Since the loss, the Tigers have been on a roll outsourcing their opponents 194-17. Leading the Tigers offense is Senior Gavin Garcia. Garcia finished the regular season with 2,118 all-purpose yards with 33 total touchdowns. For the Eagles, they finished 2-7 and will look to upset the Tigers. Line Mountain will have a confidence boost as they started the year 0-7 but have won back-to-back games to close out the regular season. The Eagles captured the eighth seed. The winner of this game will go on to face the winner of South Williamsport and Wellsboro.   

Southern Columbia may have lost a regular season game for the first time in seemingly forever, but the Tigers appear to be back to playing at a level that they hope carries them to a fifth consecutive PIAA Championship. Playing without junior running backs Braeden Wisloski and Wes Barnes for a large portion of the regular season, senior Gavin Garcia looks every bit of the part of how he finished last year which resulted in him earning the state’s 2A Player of the Year. In the return game, he has been equally as dangerous in the return game with three punts and two kickoffs that the Kent State recruit has taken to the end zone.

Garcia’s younger brother Garrett, a sophomore linebacker, leads the team with 124 tackles. On the defensive line, returning all-state senior defensive end Derek Berlitz leads the Tigers in sacks with eight. In the regular season, Southern (9-1) has outscored their opponents in the first quarter of games alone. The Tigers have scored 119 points in the opening quarter this year while giving up a total of just 117 all season.

The second game on the bracket will be a regular-season rematch between South Williamsport and Wellsboro. Wellsboro won the regular-season matchup 17-7. Wellsboro will look to stay hot as they have won four games in a row to close out the season and claimed the fifth seed. For the Mountaineers they will look to take revenge and come out with an opening-round victory. The Mountaineers closed out the season with two straight wins after dropping a close one to PFN number one ranked Muncy. The Mountaineers are the four seed in this year’s bracket. The winner of this game will face the winner of Southern Columbia and Line Mountain next Friday. 

The Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes will look to stay hot after winning five straight to close out the season. With exception of losses to 2A power Southern Columbia and 3A contender North Schuylkill,ground, which are ranked in the top three in our PFN Rankings,  Mount Carmel Area (8-2) has handled all of the other teams that they faced in the regular season. Coming off a dominant win in their Coal Bucket rivalry against Shamokin in the regular season finale, the Red Tornadoes running game has been quite effective behind a powerful offensive line that includes just one senior. Mount Carmel is averaging 323.3 yards rushing per game, topping the previous record of 320.8 per contest in 1969. Senior quarterback Pedro Feliciano (718 yards) and senior running back Julien Stellar (629 yards) lead the Tornadoes in rushing and have each scored 11 touchdowns on the The red Tornadoes claimed the second seed this year. For the Bloomsburg Panthers, they finish the year 4-6 and the seventh seed. And will look to also get revenge as they lost to the Red Tornadoes 40-12 earlier in the year. The winner of this game will face the winner of Troy and Sayre next Friday.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive end Matt Scicchitano has been tough to block for opponents and leads MCA with five and a half sacks. Senior linebacker Thomas Davitt is the team-leader in tackles with 67 despite missing a game due to injury. Stellar is only a few extra points away from breaking the school-record for PAT’s. He stands at 115 and needs three to tie and four to surpass the previous record of 118 set by Mike Sinkovich in 1998.

The next matchup to look at is another regular-season rematch. The Troy Trojans and Sayre Redskins will face off once again. The Redskins won a close regular-season matchup 22-21 over the Trojans. However, since taking down the Trojans the Redskins have lost three in a row to close out the regular season. Since the loss to the Redskins the Trojans have won two of three. Troy is the third seed and Sayre is the sixth seed in the bracket. The winner of this rematch will face the winner of Mount Carmel and Bloomsburg next Friday. 

AAA

Moving to three-A the Danville Ironmen receive a first-round bye and the number one seed. The Ironmen finished the regular season 6-4 with three of their losses to top-ranked teams. The Ironmen had big wins over Midd-West, Montoursville, and Shamokin. Danville will face the winner of Loyalsock and Cowanesque Valley.   

The first matchup is between Loyalsock and Cowanesque Valley. The Loyalsock Lancers finished the regular season with a 6-4 and are the fourth seed heading into the playoffs. record while winning three straight. For the Cowanesque Valley Indians, they finished the regular season 6-3 and claimed the fifth seed the Indians got big wins over Saye and Towanda during the regular season. The winner of this game will face Danville next Friday. 

The next matchup is a battle between second seed Milton and seventh seed North Penn-Mansfield. The Milton Black Panthers finished the regular season 6-4 after begging 5-0. The Black Panthers have big wins over Warrior Run and Mifflinburg. For the North-Penn Mansfield Panthers, they finished the regular season 5-5 with big wins over Towanda and Line Mountain.

The Montoursville Warriors and Athens Wildcats will close out District Four Class 3A matchups. The Warriors finished the season 5-5 and are the third seed in this year’s playoff bracket. with big wins over Wellsboro and Lewisburg. For the Wildcats they finished 6-4 on the year and this helped them claim the sixth seed. The Wildcats had some big wins on the year including wins over Towanda and Sayre. The winner of this game will face the winner of Milton and North Penn. 

AAAA

The first matchup in class 4A represents number one seed Jersey Shore and fourth seed Lewisburg. The Bulldogs of Jersey Shore finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record while outscoring their opponents 408-88. The Bulldogs are led by dynamic duo Brady Jordan and Cayden Hess. The dynamic duo has connected 32 times for 643 total yards and eight touchdowns. Jordan also has 778 yards on the ground for another nine scores. Jersey Shore is also the second-ranked 4A team in the state for PFN. For the Lewisburg Green Dragons, they finished the year 5-4 with big wins over Midd-West and Milton. The Green Dragons finished the tear with a 12-6 win over Mifflinburg and will look to upset the Bulldogs. The winner of this game will face the winner of Selinsgrove and Shamokin. 

The final matchup for this year’s District Four Class 4A playoffs is between third seed Shamokin and second seed Selinsgrove. This is also another regular-season matchup in which Selinsgrove won 33-0. The Shamokin Indians finished the year 5-5 with big wins over Mifflinburg and Milton. For the Selinsgrove Seals, they finished the regular season 7-3 with big wins over Central Mountain and Montoursville. The Seals will look to take down the Indians once again and the winner of this game will go on to face the winner of Jersey Shore and Lewisburg.

For the full District Four playoff bracket follow the link below:
https://pafootballnews.com/brackets/2021-district-4/

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