Southern Columbia Wins 600th Game

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

Dave Fegley | November 8, 2025

Tigers Trump Panthers

Southern Columbia is focused on rebounding from last year’s playoff exit. The Tigers took another step in the right direction on Friday as they beat Bloomsburg in their District 4 Class 2A semifinal matchup.

Against a team they know more than any other, it was fitting that they reached a milestone in the process.

After building a 41-0 lead with 11:07 to go in last night’s dominant win, Southern Columbia earned a 41-21 victory over Bloomsburg to advance and host next week’s final.

“Bloomsburg’s line wasn’t the best. They had great hearts, but we handled them on the offensive and defensive line. Before the second team went in, we were shutting them out,” said two-way Tiger starting lineman Jaden Carter.

With the win, the Tigers became the 71st program in Pennsylvania history to win 600 games. Although there were a good number of teams to reach the feat before, Southern was the quickest to get to the milestone as the program didn’t start until 1963.

Ironically, Southern hit the mark against a Columbia County opponent that became the most-played opponent after entering tied with another cross-county opponent. What are the chances?

This was the 65th all-time meeting between the Tigers and Panthers. That broke a tie as Southern and Central Columbia have faced each other 64 times.

“That’s a nice thing to talk about down the road as it is something that a lot of individuals took part in between all the players and coaches. Right now, we are focused on this season and continuing to move on,” Southern head coach Jim Roth said after his 517th win as the leader of the program.

Bloomsburg accomplished a lot this season, but they just couldn’t get anything going against the Tigers over the last month.

“We were excited to get this challenge. As they say, in order to be the man, you have to beat the man. We are shooting to be a program like Southern Columbia, and I was proud of the effort despite the result,” said Bloomsburg head coach Mike Kogut.

The Panthers (9-3) got revenge on one of their two regular season losses last week in a playoff win versus Loyalsock, but they didn’t do so against the 14x PIAA Champion Tigers.

By the time the starters were pulled, Southern had outscored Bloomsburg 102-0 in just over seven quarters after playing less than a month prior in the regular season.

Kogut was proud of his senior class who ended their careers on Jim Roth Field last night.

“Those guys went from two wins to five wins, to a playoff appearance, to now nine wins showed their character,” said Kogut. “With a playoff win last week, they have done something that we haven’t done in a long time.”

Tensions flared in the closing minutes of the game as some Tiger players didn’t feel good that the Panthers kept their starters in and attempted successful onside kicks. Opinions aside, as each had their reasoning, local rivalries provide emotions.

One team felt like they had decided the result and didn’t want to continue to pile on the points.

“If they want their flowers for scoring on our second team, then they can have them. Those late touchdowns didn’t change the outcome,” Carter said as he will join his teammates in pursuit of a 32nd district gold for the SCA program next week.

The other side wanted to fight until the end.

“The end of a season is always emotional. I felt like we did a good job of competing in the second half. We could have just laid down. The players, especially our leaders, didn’t want to give up,” said Bloomsburg’s coach.

Grady Garcia and Brayden Andrews each scored two times in the first half, and Kaden Zachman’s fourth interception for the year resulted in a 42-yard pick six as the Tigers (11-1) showed their dominance through two quarters.

“We knew that their main goal was to throw the ball. They did it last game against us and have relied on it most of the season,” Zachman said after the win. “I was just trying to sit back and wait for one. I missed on two earlier in the game. Then, I got another chance and took advantage of it.”

After his first 100-yard rushing performance last week, Garcia topped his previous career high seven days later as his third touchdown went 45 yards to put the game into the Mercy Rule in the final quarter.

“It feels really good to have success in the playoffs but there is no way that I have success without my line blocking for me,” Garcia said after his 133-yard display. “We were just outpowering them consistently in the beginning of the game. First down after first down, and our backfield just does what we can as the line provides holes for us.”

Ayden Hockenbroch had one of his best outings of the season as the Tiger QB threw for 145 yards including a pair of third-and-long conversions that resulted in rushing touchdowns on the next play for the second and third touchdowns for Southern to build a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

“We knew coming into the game that they were going to stack the box. I know at one point in the game they had all 11 of their defenders within five yards of the line of scrimmage,” Hockenbroch said. “We were prepared for it. We got into a couple of long third downs, but we converted.”

He found Brayden Andrews open to start the scoring from 37 yards out midway through the first quarter after the Tiger defense registered a turnover on downs.

“I was happy to get the passing game going. Ayden did a nice job, and we will need to continue to execute when we throw the ball. We tried to throw more in the past few games but didn’t get the opportunity to with how the games played out after building big leads early on,” Roth said.

After the season ended, and he talked to his team, Kogut sat on the bench for a period of time with his senior quarterback Wyatt Brosious.

“I need a minute to take this in,” said Kogut who became emotional when asked about his senior leader. “He has meant everything to our program. We are really close. Probably the closest I have ever been to a player. His work ethic, his determination, and his leadership, I truly never seen someone that wanted to win like him. What he was able to do on a football field for us was truly special.”

Southern will now welcome Troy. After the Trojans knocked the Tigers off from a chance at making a 10th consecutive state championship appearance last season, this is what they wanted.

“They beat us last year, and we are trying to get revenge. We wanted this opportunity and now we have it,” said Zachman.

Southern is riding an 11-game win streak into a matchup that will be a first. In 2019, Southern beat defending South Carolina state champion Hammond on an ESPN broadcast. A couple of years later the Tigers knocked off reigning 1A champion Bishop Guilfoyle.

This will be the first opportunity that Roth’s program gets to take on a defending Pennsylvania champion in the same classification since the 2011 group met Clairton in Hershey.

Troy beat Warrior Run 48-34 in the other semifinal. After Southern had to travel up north for the past three years, this time the Trojans will make the two-hour trip down south.

“We showed good balance in this game, and if Troy is really trying to overplay the run next week hopefully, we can take advantage of it with the momentum we showed tonight in our passing game,” Roth said. “Our defense has been really good in stopping the run all year. That will be the key next week because Troy is a real heavy running team. They don’t throw the ball all that much.”

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