SCA Shocked By Sock
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Dave Fegley | September 10, 2022
Lancers left Tiger Stadium with 27-10 victory
A lot has happened in the past 4,361 days. Barack Obama was early in his first term as the President of the United States. The founder of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, wasn’t yet assassinated. The iPad was only invented a few months beforehand. The San Francisco Giants won their first, what many people forget, of three World Series titles during the decade. Heck, Aaron Donald, who many people think will eventually go down as the greatest defensive player in NFL history, was just months away from graduating high school before starring for the Pitt Panthers.
From the high school football landscape, Loyalsock traveled to Southern Columbia and became the first team to beat the Tigers in a home PHAC game since four weeks into the 2010 season. The Lancers won 27-10. With the exception of a 2016 state final loss to Steel Valley, the last time Southern was held under double digits in a game was a state playoff loss in 2010.
“It’s a big program win. It is a statement of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes,” said Loyalsock coach Justin VanFleet who is very active as a leader in District IV for football. “As a coach, I don’t hide in the background. I don’t just look at my Loyalsock Lancers, I try to look out for anyone in the district that is looking for an opportunity. With that we are a more public program and this offseason we strived on getting better.”
Last season, the Tigers put a Mercy Rule win on the Lancers 51-15.
“This was a game where we knew we had to be ready. They had the majority of their starters returning. We didn’t match their energy level. In our first game (Berwick) we came out slow, but I thought after last week (Shamokin) we fixed that,” SCA head coach Jim Roth said.
In a defensive battle throughout the first quarter, with two undefeated teams facing off, SCA forced a safety to take a 2-0 lead into the second at Tiger Stadium.
From that point, with a strong performance by junior quarterback Tyler Gee, it was two players that have faced off against each other on the hardwood that are teammates on the gridiron.
Seniors Davion Hill and Jaylen Andrews highlighted the victory for the visitors. Hill, who is a student at St. John Neumann that is on the team because of a Co-Op agreement, faces off against Andrews in the Winter on the basketball court, but is his team in the Fall for football.
The duo made plays throughout the night in a variety of ways.
The score remained 2-0 until Andrews caught a 10-yard touchdown from Gee with 8:21 to play in the half. The Lancers had to drive 92 yards on that possession after SCA’s Isaac Carter pinned them deep on a punt.
“It feels good to get this one. Our entire team is confident, and to be able to win on their turf, it was a huge win for our program,” Andrews said.
That was the only passing play of the drive as the Lancers used their ground and pound game to get them into the red zone. On that drive, 71 rushing yards were picked up by Hill who finished the night with 29 carries for 177 yards.
“As a competitor, you want to take on the best team. They have established themselves as the best program ever in Pennsylvania, but we know that we have a very good team this year,” said Hill.
Just over a minute later, Hill scored on a 37-yard run after a Southern fumble on their first offensive play. After a missed extra point, the Lancers led 13-2 with 7:18 until the break and it remained that way at halftime.
“I am proud of the way the guys executed. This was a team win. We approach each week trying to go 1-0. We did that and can enjoy this one,” said VanFleet.
To start the third quarter, Southern went to their bread and butter. Seniors Braeden Wisloski and Wes Barnes combined to go 75 yards on the ground, two carries a piece, to make the score 13-10. Wisloski finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown and Barnes added the two-point conversion.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, that one-score deficit lasted for just a few seconds. Andrews returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.
“That was a huge play. We felt like we were gaining momentum, and just that quickly they answer back. We will spend a lot of time watching the film, but the bottom line is they beat us in every aspect. Offense, defense, and special teams, they outplayed us which is something that we have to let sink in and use as motivation moving forward,” said Roth.
Andrews was confident that he could make the play with guidance ahead of him.
“After they scored, I told the guys to get some blocks for me and I was going to take it to the crib,” Andrews said.
With the Lancers in front 20-10, Gee scored from a yard out early in the fourth quarter to make the final score 27-10. Gee also played well with the dual-threat approach of throwing and running.
Loyalsock (3-0) will take on undefeated Danville next week. Southern (2-1) will host a struggling Lewisburg squad before traveling to Danville the following week.
“When I was a younger coach, I didn’t really celebrate victories. I just paid attention to losses and that mindset can be depressing, so we will celebrate this and look forward to next week,” said VanFleet.
After losing Garrett Garcia on the first play of the season, the injury bug continues to haunt the Tigers. Wisloski, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career, reinjured his hamstring early on. Junior two-way starter Carter Madden was hampered with cramping all night, and senior defensive end Tyler Arnold, who leads the team with 3.5 sacks, hurt his shoulder in the second half.
“Just the way Braeden was running, you could tell he wasn’t himself. He didn’t have that explosive step. Hopefully we don’t suffer anymore major injuries going forward,” Roth said.
As for Hill, who has now rushed for over 500 yards already this season, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would play football this season. The highly recruited basketball point guard was contemplating a transfer out of state for his final year of high school.
“In the summer I played AAU basketball for the New Jersey Scholars and had the opportunity to go up against some of the best prospects in the world. That gave me some exposure, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to transfer,” said Hill. “A lot of rumors were floating around that I was going to transfer to Camden High in New Jersey, but I wanted to stay and play football as well.”
Hill, who played against LeBron James’ oldest son Bronny this summer on the court, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of playing football at the next level.
“I love both sports, so I am still open to playing football in college if the right opportunity presents itself. We will just wait and see,” Hill said.
Loyalsock 27, Southern 10
SCA — LOY
First Downs: 11 — 21
Rushes-yds: 26-224 — 46-258
Passing yds: 52 — 66
Total yds: 276 — 324
Passing (C-A-I): 7-13-0 — 5-13-0
Penalties: 7-57 — 3-25
Fumbles-lost: 5-3 — 1-0
Loyalsock (3-0) 0-13-7-7 — 27
Southern (2-1) 2-0-8-0 — 10
SCORING:
1st Quarter:
S — Safety, 5:44.
2nd Quarter:
L — Jaylen Andrews 10 pass from Tyler Gee (Chris Cooley extra point), 8:21.
L — Davion Hill 37 run (missed extra point), 7:18
3rd Quarter:
S — Braeden Wisloski 11 run (Wes Barnes two-point run), 8:20
L — Jaylen Andrews 96 kick return (Chris Cooley extra point), 8:06
4th Quarter:
L — Tyler Gee 1 run (Chris Cooley extra point), 10:54.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING —
Loyalsock: Davion Hill 29-177, TD; Tyler Gee 17-81, TD.
Southern: Wes Barnes 11-124; Braeden Wisloski 8-57, TD; Louden Murphy 4-33; Carter Madden 3-10.
PASSING —
Loyalsock: Tyler Gee 5-13-0, 66 yds, TD.
Southern: Blake Wise 7-13-0, 52 yds.
RECEIVING —
Loyalsock: Jaylen Andrews 4-61, TD; Will Burdett 1-5.
Southern: Louden Murphy 1-20; Jake Hoy 2-17; Braeden Wisloski 3-15.
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