Mifflinburg Upsets Southern 34-26
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Dave Fegley | October 5, 2024
Wild Win For Wildcats
It’s not over until it’s over. Sometimes, records don’t paint the picture. In sports, one moment can decide the outcome even though every little thing adds up to the final result. In a back-and-forth slugfest, the game wasn’t decided until the final minute in a District 4 battle between two teams meeting for just the third time ever and are both trying to gain momentum after entering with records that they hoped would be better at this point in 2024.
Mifflinburg has been close in all but one of their losses this season. Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost four games entering Friday by no more than a touchdown. This time, the result was different.
Mifflinburg (2-5) came from behind late in the fourth quarter to beat Southern Columbia to beat the Tigers for the first time 34-26.
Now, the seven-time reigning PIAA champion Tigers (3-4) have a losing record through seven weeks for the first time in nearly two decades at this point in the season.
“Beating a team that has won the last seven state championships in a row is amazing. I am so proud of the guys, and despite our record we know that we can hang with anyone that we play. I trust my guys, and they all came through with big plays in this game,” Mifflinburg quarterback Chad Martin said.
The Wildcats used big plays to pull off the wild win. Martin threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. The first touchdown pass went for 48 yards to Landon Moser as the lone score of the opening quarter.
After Brayden Andrews scored for Southern on the first play of the second quarter from 11 yards out, Martin threw his second 48-yard third down TD pass of the half. This one went to Landen Murray.
“We have lost some very close games this season, and that can be tough on a program. It’s tough for the players and the coaches. However, I never lost faith in my guys, and we knew coming in that we needed to get off to a good start,” said Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts.
Andrews, who rushed for a game and career high 204 yards, ran in his second score of the half on an 11-yard reverse. After Mifflinburg missed the extra point on the previous drive, Preston Shadle made is PAT with 1:57 left in the half to give the Tigers a 14-13 advantage at halftime.
In the third quarter, Murray caught a 25-yard pass from Martin in the left corner of the end zone to put Mifflinburg back in front 19-14 as their two-point try was unsuccessful. The following drive, Grady Garcia scored for the Tigers to put them back in front 20-19 entering the final quarter.
The Tigers scored in the first minute of the fourth quarter on a run by Caden Hopper. Trying to go up by two possessions, Southern elected to go for two. Jace Malakoski was open, but Ayden Hockenbroch sailed it over the tight end’s reach.
Leading 26-19, Southern had multiple opportunities to put the game away. However, penalties and missed assignments didn’t allow for that to happen.
“You can look at a lot of different things in a close game. Basically, we just needed to play much better. We gave up too many third and fourth down conversions on defense. Then our offense couldn’t stop from making penalties. At this point in the season, I thought we would be playing much better,” said Southern coach Jim Roth.
False starts halted the next two drives for Southern, including one where the Tigers were stopped on a short fourth down.
Down the stretch, the Wildcats executed. Martin scored on a keeper from a yard out with under 37 seconds left to play. Earlier on that game-winning drive, Moser caught a fourth-down pass to keep the drive alive.
“Chad Martin put the ball in a perfect spot, and I had to do my job to catch it,” Moser said. “We didn’t let the score get to us. We stuck together and never gave in.”
Trailing by a point, Mifflinburg had a choice to make. Kick the extra point for overtime or go for the win. They elected to take a gamble that paid off.
Martin threw the conversion to Murray who was able to haul in the throw near the out of bounds line in the end zone.
“I almost dropped it actually. I knew though once I caught it that I was still inbounds. I was just so happy at that point. We fought hard and did what we could,” said Murray.
Trailing 27-26, Southern had to air it out in the final minute. Moser picked off Hockenbroch and returned the interception 47 yards to put an exclamation point on the Wildcats’ win.
Southern will be home again next week against Montoursville.
“There are so many things that we need to fix. We look like we aren’t playing as well as we were about a month ago in so many areas, and I have no explanation for it,” Roth said.
Mifflinburg will host Central Columbia in their next game.
“At this point in the season, I think we are hitting our stride,” Botts said. “This is definitely a statement win for our program against this team that has been so successful for so many years. This should be a huge momentum booster, and it’s a testament to our guys.”
Mifflinburg 34, Southern Columbia 26
MIF — SCA
First Downs: 10 — 18
Rushes-yds: 12-54 — 51-333
Passing yds: 251 — 113
Total yds: 305 — 446
Passing (C-A-I): 14-25-0 — 9-19-1
Penalties: 5-35 — 10-85
Fumbles-lost: 1-0 — 2-1
Mifflinburg (2-5): 7-6-6-15 — 34
Southern (3-4): 0-14-6-6 — 26
SCORING PLAYS
1st Quarter
M- Landon Moser 48 pass from Chad Martin (Diego Herrera kick), 4:39.
2nd Quarter
S- Brayden Andrews 14 run (Preston Shadle kick), 11:52.
M- Landen Murray 48 pass from Martin (missed PAT), 8:14.
S- Andrews 11 run (Shadle kick), 1:57.
3rd Quarter
M- Murray 25 pass from Martin (two-point failed), 9:37.
S- Grady Garcia 6 run (two-point failed), 5:21.
4th Quarter
S- Caden Hopper 6 run (two-point failed), 11:06.
M-Martin 1 run (Murray two-point catch), 0:36.9.
M-Moser 47 interception return (Herrera kick), 0:10.6.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Mifflinburg: Landen Murray 4-31; Chad Martin 4-14, TD; Radwil Susan 4-9. Southern: Brayden Andrews 21-204, 2 TDS; Talon Piatt 14-63; Grady Garcia 10-49, TD; Caden Hopper 2-9, TD; Ayden Hockenbroch 4-8.
PASSING — Mifflinburg: Chad Martin 14-25-0, 251 yds, 3 TDs. Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 9-19-1, 113 yds.
RECEIVING — Mifflinburg: Jackson Griffith 5-87, Landen Murray 4-82, 2 TDs; Landon Moser 4-64, TD; John Parker Marr 1-18
Southern: Blaise Kissinger 3-40; Jace Malakoski 4-38; Brayden Andrews 1-25; Grady Garcia 1-10.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
