South Williamsport Overcomes 2nd Half Canton Rally, Advances To D4 1A Title Game

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

Ed Weaver | November 11, 2023

CANTON – South Williamsport avenged a week four loss to Canton by withstanding a feverish second half rally by the Warriors, earning a 24-18 victory in the District IV Class 1A semi-finals on Friday, November 10.

Earlier this season Canton held on for a 27-21 road win and last year the Warriors knocked the Mountaineers out of the playoffs at Miller A. Moyer Field en route to making last year’s state semi-finals.

South Williamsport is usually known for their ground game, however, it was their passing game that gave them the advantage over the #2 seed Warriors.

On the Mountaineers’ second possession quarterback Tadd Lusk connected with Dylan Scheller on a long ball that went for 74 yards and the game’s first score. Canton blocked Evan Ogden’s extra point try, but South led 6-0 with 5:55 remaining in the opening frame.

Lusk and Scheller connected again on the Mountaineers’ next drive after dropping Canton QB Ben Fitch for a sack on 4th down. Taking over at their own 41, South Williamsport put together a six-play drive that culminated with a 35-yard touchdown to begin the second quarter. Again the Canton defense blocked Ogden’s extra point, but South Williamsport led 12-0.

“Our guys had no quit in them tonight,” said South head coach Chris Eiswerth. “To come out in the second half and do what Canton did, you know, run that charge the way they did, it says a lot about how we kind of bowed our backs a little bit, made some plays, and come out with a win. Everybody we play stacks the box and takes the corners and safeties out to stop the run game. We couldn’t take advantage of it the first game but went back and worked on protections and boy, it was the difference. Tadd played tremendous, Scheller had a rough game the first time around, Landyn Gephart has had a rough go on this field, so for them to come out the way they did and make those catches is really gratifying.”

South Williamsport’s third drive of the evening again resulted in points, putting the visiting Mountaineers up 18-0 with 4:16 left before the half. After the defense sacked Fitch again on 3rd down, Canton’s Michael Davis pinned the Mountaineers at their own 4-yard line. From there, a short run by Lusk moved the ball to the 7, then Kaiser Kistner found a hole in the Warrior defense and broke off a 48-yard run into Canton territory. A 9-yard run by Ryan Casella and 30-yard pass from Lusk to Landyn Gephart setup South with a first and goal from the 6. Two plays later Kistner capped the drive with a 5-yard run.

While South Williamsport dominated the first half, it was the Warriors who took control in the second half. One the half’s first play from scrimmage, Fitch found Davis wide open in the Mountaineers’ secondary for a 55-yard gain to the 34. Three plays later Fitch connected with Holden Ward on a 23-yard pass to cut South’s lead to 18-7 with 9:48 left in the 3rd quarter.

South Williamsport’s ensuing drive chewed up the majority of the remaining part of the quarter, however it came to an end at the Canton 19 on a Casella fumble. From there, the Warriors took back over and worked their way back into the red zone. Fitch connected on passes to Ward, Davis and Aydin Holcomb to get the the 12, then took advantage of an unsportsmanlike penalty to setup a 1st-and-goal at the 6. Fitch, facing a 3rd-and-11 after a false start and two straight incompletions, connected with Zack Colton for a 10-yard gain as the quarter came to a close. Once the 4th quarter started, Fitch sneaked his way into the end zone, making it a three point game after Ward ran in the two-point conversion.

South again went back to work, and put together a 10-play drive, which ended in Lusk’s third touchdown pass of the night. Lusk found Kistner wide open in the end zone from 20 yards out to increase the Mountaineers’ lead to 24-15 with 7:25 remaining.

Davis returned the ensuing kickoff all the way down to the South 18 to setup an Alexis McRoberts 27-yard field goal. McRoberts’ kick split the uprights, cutting the lead to 24-18 with 4:46 left to play.

McRoberts’ field goal was the game’s final score, but there was still more action to be had. South Williamsport was forced to punt the ball back over to the Warriors after failing to pick up a 1st down, giving Canton the ball back at their own 47. A 4-yard run by Fitch, and back-to-back passes to Davis and Colton, moved the ball to the South 36. After an incomplete pass, Fitch was intercepted on 3rd-and-14, however South fumbled on the return and Mason Harold scooped the ball back up and returned it to the South 31 to give Canton a fresh set of downs. On their next play Canton dug into their bag of tricks and attempted to pull off the “hook and ladder.” The pass was complete, however the exchange was fumbled and recovered by South Williamsport. Casella rumbled for 10 yards on the next play to seal the victory for South Williamsport, and advance them to next week’s District IV Class 1A championship game.

While it wasn’t the outcome the Warriors wanted, head coach Tyler Sechrist was proud of the way his team fought to the bitter end.

“That’s what our program’s turned into, that’s what we’re about,” Sechrist said. “They didn’t quit after the first half, we couldn’t make a play and things weren’t going well, but they kept fighting and gave themselves a chance in the second half.”

South Williamsport improves to 9-2 on the season while the Warriors finish their season at 8-3. The Mountaineers square off against top-seeded Muncy next Friday evening, looking to avenge their only other regular-season loss (29-28 on October 6).

Photo courtesy Logan Hill / The Daily Review.

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