Southern Wins D4 Crown Back From Troy

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

Dave Fegley | November 15, 2025

Tigers Motivated in 42-0 Victory

It was something that Southern Columbia had long waited for. The Tigers had to endure more than a full calendar year to get redemption against Troy.

Entering the District 4 Class 2A final, Troy was ranked No.1 in the state and Southern was No. 4 based on PFN’s weekly rankings.

Something had to give on Friday night inside of Tiger Stadium. Both teams entered the District 4 Class 2A championship on a collision course as both squads were riding double-digit winning streaks.

In the end, the Tigers reached the top of the mountain as champions once again. Following last season’s loss in the district semifinal meeting against the Trojans, Southern was able to flip the script with a statement in the form of a 42-0 Mercy Rule victory.

Facing a defending state champion squad that entered averaging nearly 50 points per game, Southern’s defense suffocated the opposition from start to finish.

“Our defense just played so well. They played disciplined, especially against their option scheme. When the defense consistently gets the ball back in the hands of our offense, it’s just huge at this point in the season,” said Southern coach Jim Roth. “Offensively, I can’t say enough of how well we played as well. We had to earn it, but consistently we moved the football when we needed to. The defense was the biggest key though for sure.”

Southern’s defense set the tone from the start. The Tigers stuffed the Trojans on a fourth and short to start out the game.

By the time the starters were pulled, Southern surrendered just three first downs versus a team that entered ranked No. 1 in the state.

“It was very satisfying. I am proud of the way the defense played. We didn’t do anything fancy. We basically sat in our base defense,” Tiger defensive coordinator Andy Mills said. “We stressed all week about reading keys and not falling for fakes. The players executed the game plan very well. It was just an overall great team win.”

Neither team scored in the first quarter, but Southern took over by scoring three times in the second. Joey Williams scored on a three-yard run to start the ambush, and then Brayden Andrews made it 14-0 on a 14-yard run with 2:15 left in the half.

On the ensuing possession, Troy’s Mason Smith fumbled an exchange to Brendan Gilliland on the first play of the drive. Southern’s Caius Morrow pounced on it to give the Tiger offense the ball back.

“I really didn’t see exactly what happened on the play, but once I saw Caius came up with it, I knew it could be huge for gaining more momentum. Going into the half 21-0 feels a lot different than being in a two-score game,” Roth said.

With 14.3 seconds remaining, Ayden Hockenbroch threw a fade to Nate Gallagher and the receiver caught the ball in tight coverage for a 12-yard TD.

“I told Hock in the huddle if he threw it to my side I would go up and get it. That’s what he did. We knew in the film watching that their corners weren’t that strong. That pumped us up as halftime was completely different this year compared to last year,” said Gallagher.

Andrews then scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. His third of the night went 86 yards to put a statement on the win as Parker Pesarchick added a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“All game long, I was one tackle away from breaking one. That’s what happened on that long run. I’m just very excited. The line played great, the defense was awesome, and it was just a night to remember all the way around,” said Andrews who finished with a season-high 181 rushing yards.

After not playing the way he wanted against Troy in last season’s loss, Hockenbroch was perfect with his throws in this one. He completed all seven of his attempts and has not thrown a single interception during the 12-game winning streak.

“Running the ball helps open the pass, and we knew the play-action passes would work. We had a perfect game plan for this one,” Hockenbroch said. “That game last year is a game I didn’t want to remember, but watching the film helped me learn a lot. I felt a lot more comfortable and confident this time against them.”

Troy’s senior class finished their careers with a tough loss, but the group helped bring the program to a new level in a league that hadn’t had much success prior to last season.

“This has been a great group of kids that helped put the Northern Tier League on the map. I can’t be upset over this. We were beaten by a better team. They beat us in every aspect of the game,” Troy coach Jim Smith said.

The Tigers now must find room to find a spot for another District 4 title plaque somewhere in their trophy case that already has more hardware than any other program in the state.

In the win, Southern dominated where it mattered most in the most popular sport in the United States.

“We knew this game was going to be won in the trenches. We take a lot of pride in helping add to the success of our program. We want to showcase complete dominance every single week. That’s the standard that we shoot for,” SCA offensive lineman Aidyn McHale said.

Getting Revenge

Remarkably, this is the 32nd district championship in the last 35 years for Southern. In each of their three seasons that didn’t end in gold during the span, the Tigers got redemption the following season.

In 2008, Southern beat Line Mountain in the district final after falling to the Eagles in the opening round of the playoffs a year prior. The 2015 state championship winning season for the Tigers resulted in first getting retribution over Montoursville a year after the Warriors eliminated them in the district semifinals.

Now, they have completed the revenge tour again. Southern is now 7-1 all-time against Troy with the lone blemish coming in the 2024 semifinal disappointment at Mansfield University.

“With us beating Troy in prior games, and then them beating us the way they did last year, this has become a huge rivalry. We looked at that poster every day that is hanging in our locker room on the door. The poster shows Troy celebrating after winning states last year and has our loss 69-28 on it at the bottom. Now, we got back the district title from them and want to win another state championship here in the next three weeks,” said Andrews.

Steelton-Highspire, a 52-20 winner over Chestnut Ridge, is the next opponent for the Tigers. That PIAA quarterfinal next week will be at a place yet to be determined.

The Tigers are 5-0 all-time against the Steamrollers with the last meeting being the 2005 Eastern Final.

“I don’t know anything about them right now. My wife Kenda was kind of mad at me though because she likes to plan ahead all the time as the cheerleading coach,” Roth said. “I told her I wasn’t looking ahead. That’s superstition with me. My only focus is on the team we are playing that week. You don’t get to the next round until you win the round you are in.”

Right now, the Tigers seem poised to go as many rounds as the opponent has to offer.

“As long as Southern stays healthy, I see them winning another state championship if they keep rolling like this. Their program just wins. It’s plain and simple. We were happy to beat them last year because it is a rarity against them in the playoffs,” said Smith after speaking to his Trojans following their season coming to an end.

Moving Forward

Last year’s Trojan victory stopped Southern’s bid for an eighth straight Pennsylvania crown and snapped a run of nine straight state-final appearances, a stretch that included a 2015 state title and 2016 runner-up finish.

The defeat was unprecedented as it remains the only time in program history Southern has allowed 60 or more points in a game. Before that, the highest total the Tigers gave up was 53, happening twice in a month, in 1976.

“We had the utmost motivation. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I didn’t think of that game,” said Southern defensive end Ethan Makowski. “We all collectively had one goal after last season ended. We wanted to win a state title, and we are still on that path.”

For a program built on standards, giving up 16 more points than any game over the last five decades didn’t sit well with the returners. They didn’t bury the loss or try to spin it — they made it fuel for a fire that burned perfectly in last night’s win.

After Troy went on to win last year’s state championship, Southern purchased a poster showing the Trojans celebrating with the 2A trophy, then wrote the score underneath (69-28). It was a not-so-subtle reminder that Troy had become the Northern Tier League’s first-ever state champion, and that Southern owed them one.

That semifinal loss also marked Southern’s largest margin of defeat overall since a 42–0 regular season setback to Mount Carmel in 2002 during a year that both teams won state titles in their respective classifications. Fittingly, the Tigers won by that exact same score in this one.

“I mean, what more can you say about the defensive effort. That Troy team might have lost a few key pieces from last year, but they still had a lot of talent that returned. In terms of the competition, that is about as good of a result that you can expect from your defense against a team that has scored a lot of points this season,” said Roth following the victory that ended Troy’s season.

The poster first hung inside the weight room. Eventually, it was moved to the locker room’s exit door, making sure players saw it every time they headed to practice or to a game — a daily reminder of the revenge tour ahead.

“That loss left a bad taste in our mouth. That is something you think about all Winter, Spring, and Summer. That poster is daily motivation for us to make sure to keep the tradition that our program has established for many years,” said lineman John Quinton who is a team senior captain with Makowski and Andrews. “The reason we put it in the weight room at first is because that is where it all begins. You need to put in the work to get the results.”

Southern’s dominance is nothing short of extraordinary, and in the rare years the Tigers didn’t finish on top, they wasted little time reclaiming their crown as they got revenge over the same opponent the following year.

In 2008, Southern avenged a first-round playoff loss to Line Mountain by defeating the Eagles in the district final. The Tigers followed a similar script in 2015, securing a state title after first earning payback against Montoursville, which had knocked them out in the district semifinals the previous year.

“It feels great to be able to come from a game that you got the Mercy Rule put on you the year before. To come back and Mercy Rule that opponent the next year, I’m glad we were able to get revenge like the prior teams did. You want to keep this program going and we took advantage of our chance,” said junior Jace Malakoski who had a pair of key receptions in the win.

“The players earned this on the field. We don’t have much time as we will prepare for our next opponent on Monday. At this point, you need to be focused if you want to reach that final game. No distractions can be in the way,” said Roth, who has been at the helm for all 32 of Southern’s district titles.

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