Tigers Tear Apart Black Panthers
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Dave Fegley | September 7, 2024
Southern beats Milton 49-7 in Tomato Bowl
Coming into Friday’s matchup, Milton was the only program that Southern Columbia had played at least 10 times and had a losing record against. Granted, the majority of the games took place in the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was an interesting tidbit entering the game.
That changed in the 18th all-time meeting, as the Tigers won 49-7 to even the overall series at nine wins a piece. As if the Southern football program needed any more hardware, they won their first ever Tomato Bowl.
A trophy is given out to whoever Milton hosts in their September opener and this was the first time the Tigers were in the situation.
“We got off to a good start in the first quarter and we had the bulk of our success through the air passing. It’s probably the first time that we had a quarterback that threw touchdown passes to five different guys,” said Southern coach Jim Roth who is now 4-0 during his tenure against the Black Panthers.
Southern’s quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch was dialed in from the start and finished with touchdown passes to Brayden Andrews, Blaise Kissinger, Travis Wegrzynowicz, Grady Garcia, and Jace Malakoski.
“My weapons make the plays on the field. I just put the ball in a place to give them the chance to catch it and they do the rest. The offensive line seems to be improving which is going to be the key going forward,” Hockenbroch said.
The sophomore in just his second career start after beginning the opener as the backup, threw for 186 yards and is up to nine touchdown passes with no interceptions thus far on the season.
“I feel more comfortable each time I go out on the field. I have more confidence each week and I am continuing to learn. After the first game, we have played much better as a team these past two weeks,” said Hockenbroch.
On a fourth down, Hockenbroch connected with Andrews just over two minutes into the game for a 17-yard touchdown. Following an interception from Brecken Reamer, it was Kissinger that reeled in a 25-yard pass on another fourth down to make the score 14-0.
Reamer had his second interception of the night on the following series which led to the Tigers going up 21-0 just two plays later when Wegrzynowicz got behind the Black Panthers for a 32-yard score.
“Being able to get our defense off the field quickly helps save our energy,” Reamer said. “If we get the pressure from our defensive line and linebackers, it makes it easier for us in coverage because the quarterback isn’t set to throw.”
Lucas Ditty scored for Milton with 4:50 remaining in the half on a throw of 15 yards from Chase Lytle to cut into the Tiger lead.
On the following possession, Joey Williams scored on an eight-yard run to put Southern back in front by three scores at 28-7.
Southern’s defense forced another turnover moments later. Dominic Fetterolf, who tied Cal Haladay’s career tackle record at 473 heading into next week, forced a fumble and Ethan Makowski recovered it.
Garcia caught a 24-yard pass with less than a minute left in the second to give the Tigers a 35-7 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, Malakoski caught Hockenbroch’s third fourth down TD strike. The tight end split out wide on a fourth and 20, caught a slant and broke a pair of tackle attempts for a 23-yard score.
“Jace Malakoski is a unique player. He has the height that he makes a bigger target and is also fast where we can move him around from tight end to receiver. He has gotten stronger since last year and is faster,” Roth said.
Garcia scored the final touchdown on a 26-yard cutback that was reminiscent of his brother Gavin.
In the Garcia household, Gaige and Garrett were more of the bruisers that would run through tackle attempts. The freshman, like Gavin, cut and make guys miss.
“I got to watch all three of them play and dominate. I want to be like them and win championships for the Tigers,” the freshman said. “Garrett and Gaige were more power backs. Gavin ran everywhere on the field and did whatever he could on the spot to make guys miss and I’m trying to get to the level of being as good as him with the cuts and stuff.”
In his first season as Milton’s coach, Matt Wilson’s team held the Tigers in check for the most part running the football for the better part of the first half. Knowing the program he was up against, he realized quickly that Southern finds ways to get it done.
“They are a perennial powerhouse in the whole state of PA. We knew what to expect from them in the run game. They traditionally don’t pass the ball as much as they did tonight. We game-planned for the pass because we were starting two young guys on our defensive side, but we were focused on taking away their run. They run phenomenal, and that was our goal to stop the run,” said Wilson.
The Black Panthers (1-2) travel to South Williamsport next Friday. The Tigers (2-1) will head to the Silver Bowl to battle their rival Red Tornadoes.
“We have to clean up some things up front before taking on Mount Carmel. We had a lot of penalties in this game. That will be an emphasis at practice as we prepare for them,” Roth said.
Southern Columbia 49, Milton 7
SCA — MIL
First Downs: 18 — 3
Rushes-yds: 36-226 — 27-5
Passing yds: 186 — 137
Total yds: 412 — 142
Passing (C-A-I): 11-16-0 — 6-14-3
Penalties: 10-66 — 6-36
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 — 7-3
Southern (2-1): 21-14-14-0 — 49
Milton (1-2): 0-7-0-0 — 7
SCORING PLAYS
1st Quarter
S-Brayden Andrews 17 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Preston Shadle kick), 9:37.
S-Blaise Kissinger 25 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick), 4:50.
S-Travis Wegrzynowicz 32 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick), 2:59.
2nd Quarter
M-Lucas Ditty 15 pass from Chase Lytle (Tristan Steiner kick), 4:50.
S-Joey Williams 8 run (Shadle kick), 2:41.
S-Grady Garcia 24 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick), 0:52.
3rd Quarter
S-Jace Malakoski 23 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick), 7:46.
S-Garcia 26 run (Shadle kick), 3:31.
4th Quarter
None.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southern: Grady Garcia 8-90, TD; Joey Williams 8-61, TD; Parker Pesarchick 6-24; Brayden Andrews 6-22; Caden Hopper 2-16; Nate Gallagher 3-14; Gavin Brown 2-4; Ayden Hockenbroch 1-(-5). Milton: Jaeden Canelo 6-21; Dom Lytle 2-4; Luis Santos 1-3; Chris Doyle 7-(-4); Chase Lytle 10-(-8); Hayden Patterson 1-(-11).
PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 11-16-0, 186 yds., 5 TDs. Milton: Chase Lytle 6-14-3, 139 yds, TD.
RECEIVING — Southern: Blaise Kissinger 4-57, TD; Brayden Andrews 2-36, TD; Travis Wegrzynowicz 2-36, TD; Grady Garcia 1-24, TD; Jace Malakoski 1-23, TD; Joey Williams 1-10. Milton: Lucas Ditty 3-27, TD; Montgomery Fisher 3-112.
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