Southern Beats Bloomsburg 53-28

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

Dave Fegley | October 19, 2024

Tigers Run Past Panthers

For being the closest school on a map for the 14x state champions, it had been a few years since the Tigers took on their Columbia County cat opponent. The Panthers and the seven-consecutive PIAA Class 2A champs hadn’t met since 2021 before Friday.

On Bloomsburg’s senior night in the second to last regular season game, Southern Columbia stole the show in the second quarter to pull away with the victory.

Things were going as good for Bloomsburg as they could expect early on against Southern. The Panthers executed a 13-play drive, which included a fake punt for a first down, to take a 7-0 lead into the second quarter.

The Tigers responded in a big way, scoring the next five touchdowns to go on to win on the road 53-28.

“We came out great. We took the lead and had a chance to extend it on the following drive off an interception, but we didn’t. The rest of the game was controlled by Southern’s dominant running game and their defense,” Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut said.

Southern’s run defense shut down its counterpart, and the Tigers running game took over rushing for 453 yards in the win.

“They came out with more energy to start. After the first quarter, I felt that we settled in and were able to move the ball effectively on the ground. We emphasized to the kids that Bloomsburg wasn’t going to make it easy for us coming in, and they didn’t,” said Southern coach Jim Roth. “This was our best game running the football of the year. We need to keep executing like that for the rest of the season.”

Wyatt Brosious scored on a fourth-and-goal from a yard out to give the Panthers the lead after the first quarter. Then, Southern woke up and took control and the fun out of Bloomsburg’s senior night.

Brayden Andrews’ 47-yard scamper started the scoring for the Tigers in the second. Caden Hopper put Southern in front with an eight-yard TD, and Andrews added a 24-yard touchdown on the next drive following a 58-yard carry from Hopper to set it up.

“It’s not about who starts the game or gets the most carries. It’s about getting the job done when your name is called. It’s all about how we do as a backfield and as a team overall,” said Hopper. “The line stayed on their blocks and carried them out which allowed every running back on our team to make plays at different times throughout the game.”

Jace Malakoski caught a 19-yard pass with under a minute to play in the first half from Ayden Hockenbroch. That scoring play gave the Tigers a 27-7 lead at intermission. On the drive, Malakoski and Blaise Kissinger each caught two passes as they were the only four receptions by the Tigers on the night.

“We didn’t need to throw the ball in the second half because we found a rhythm with the was our run game was going,” said Roth.

Andrews returned the third quarter kickoff 94 yards to the end zone after having a long punt return from 89 yards called out in the second quarter.

The next six drives, three by each squad, defense was nonexistent as they all resulted in touchdowns including four from freshmen.

“I felt that we did a great job on defense in stopping their running game. Unfortunately, we had some breakdowns in pass coverage which we will continue to work on heading into the upcoming week of practice,” said Roth.

Grady Garcia had two rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, and Jharee Moore-Stewart caught two from Brosious including an 80-yarder on a hook-and-ladder play where Krue Wheadon caught the initial short pass and tossed it backwards for Moore-Stewart to take it the remaining 76 yards.

“Jharee is a very promising player. He is talented and a hardworking individual. He is only 14 years old, so we know he is going to get even better. We can use him in a lot of different ways to help our team,” Kogut said.

Southern’s dominant run in the second quarter and the opening kick return in the third was just too much for the Columbia County foe to respond to.

Garcia finished with 105 rushing yards and was nearly joined with two other teammates that came within yards of the century mark. Andrews had 98 yards running and Hopper finished with 97 yards on the ground. Fullbacks Joey Williams and Talon Piatt combined for 84 more yards and Hockenbroch added 57 from his quarterback spot.

If we are going to make noise in the playoffs, our running game has to be more consistent like it was tonight,” Roth said. “Hopefully this was the start of something that we can continue on with for the rest of the season.”

Brosious finished with 232 yards and three touchdowns through the air as Bloomsburg (4-5) ends the regular season at Central Columbia.

“You throw the records out the window when you face a rival. It’s huge for the rivalry, and they want to knock us out of the playoffs. We have a lot to fix. Southern played fantastic with the way they ran the ball, so that will be an emphasis going into practice to get ready for Central,” said Kogut.

Southern (5-4) will look to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak after last week’s win stopped a potential three-game losing streak which would have been the first since Ronald Reagan’s first year in office as the President in 1981.

“We want to finish the season strong. Going into the playoffs, we want to be playing our best football of the season. As long as we continue to stay tight as a group, we can get to that point and continue the winning tradition,” said Andrews.

The Tigers host Shikellamy next Friday as Roth goes up against his alma-mater.

“At this point in the year, you approach each game like it is the playoffs. We want to enter the postseason on a high note,” Roth said.

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