Danville’s Defense Delivers In 34-8 Win Over Southern
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Dave Fegley | September 28, 2024
Patrick leads charge against Tigers
The Ironmen lived up to their name on Friday with the Bloomsburg Fair in town. In a battle between two District 4 powerhouses, Danville was able to jump out to a two-score lead in the first quarter against a Tiger team trying to find its way. The defense for Danville played like iron. At times they bent, but they never fully broke.
Defensively, Danville was able to force Southern into committing six turnovers after taking a two touchdown lead in the opening quarter. In the premiere game across the state between two ranked opponents, the Ironmen were able to win at home 34-8.
After missing last season’s game with an injury, Danville senior quarterback Madden Patrick had to make it count in order to beat his father’s alma mater on Friday. Starting out with his legs and finishing with his arm, he helped lead the Ironmen by being part of four of the five touchdowns.
After breaking the school record for career touchdown passes last week, Patrick put Danville in front with two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter.
“My dad Ryan was actually on Coach Roth’s first District 4 championship team back in the early 1990’s. My mom is from Danville, but it is cool to go up against a guy that your dad played for,” said Patrick who finished with two touchdown passes in addition to his rushing scores.
Patrick’s runs of 7 and 26 yards put the Ironmen up 14-0 after the first quarter.
Down the stretch he connected with Cole Duffy who has become his top receiver. Duffy, who is also a tremendous golfer in the fall, finished with 112 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
“Last year, I learned a lot from Aaron Johnson on his state record. Before that, I was behind Carson Persing. So, I have played with two outstanding wide receivers throughout my career. This year, I am getting my time to shine,” Duffy said. “Madden and I have a connection where we change things up on routes at the line of scrimmage depending on the coverage.”
Things just haven’t gone the way a team that has won seven consecutive and 14 overall PIAA championships had expected.
“We have to figure out something on offense. I can’t remember the last time we have lacked to execute this far into the regular season. It starts up front. We shouldn’t have this many blocking mistakes with a lot of our line returning,” Southern coach Jim Roth said.
Other than a long 70-yard touchdown run by Brayden Andrews the Ironmen limited the Tigers to any big plays. Amongst nearly every stop, Landon Kehoe was getting off the bottom of the pile as he made play after play.
“All week in practice we were hyped up. We were focused and came in ready. We always preach getting everybody to the ball, and I think we played a really good game,” said Kehoe.
Following Duffy’s touchdown catch to put Danville up 21-0 in the second quarter, Southern’s Kaden Zachman was taken off on a stretcher during a nearly 20-minute delay.
As everyone on the Tiger team came to his side to show support, Southern’s defense forced a safety on the following play to make the score 21-2.
“He had feeling in all of his extremities which was great news. I don’t know any more than that right now. Hopefully he will make a quick and full recovery,” Roth said. “Our defense gave up some big plays, but our offense didn’t help them out. When you turn the ball over that many times, it’s hard to win against a quality opponent.”
Down the stretch, Danville was able to take care of business defensively and added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter. Bo Sheptock scored the final touchdown of the night to put him over 1,000 yards rushing on the year.
“We have a very fast and explosive defense. As much as our offense makes big plays, it’s our defense that sets the tone. We have gotten some guys back from injuries, and we knew they weren’t going to quit. I mean it’s Southern. You know they aren’t ever going to quit with the tradition of their program,” Danville coach Carl Majer said.
Southern (3-3) will head home next week with a .500 record which they haven’t had this late in a season since 2009.
“We take on Mifflinburg next week and they have been very competitive despite their record. Then we take on a good Montoursville team the following week. Right now, we have to figure out a way to be more consistent on offense,” Roth said.
Danville (6-0) will stay at home as they’ll have another tough challenge when Mount Carmel Area comes to town.
“We have to fix some penalties, but overall this was a big win to stay unbeaten. I have all the confidence in the world in our players and they come to practice every day looking to get better. We take it one game at a time, and we try to improve each day,” Majer said.
In a losing effort, Andrews outrushed Danville by himself with 152 yards.
“We got deep in their side of the field, but we couldn’t get into the endzone. You can’t squander those opportunities,” said Roth.
Patrick finished with 209 yards passing and accounted for four of the five touchdowns for Danville.
“He is a special player. He can do it all. Between his passing and running, I am thankful to have a guy like him leading the offense,” Majer said.
Danville 34, Southern Columbia 8
SCA — DAN
First Downs: 16 — 17
Rushes-yds: 47-240 — 31-127
Passing yds: 48 — 209
Total yds: 288 — 336
Passing (C-A-I): 5-15-2 — 14-25-0
Penalties: 5-35 — 15-108
Fumbles-lost: 5-4 — 1-1
Southern (3-3): 0-2-6-0 — 8
Danville (6-0): 14-7-7-6 — 34
SCORING PLAYS
1st Quarter
D-Madden Patrick 7 run (Garrett Hoffman kick), 11:11.
D-Patrick 26 run (Hoffman kick), 6:39.
2nd Quarter
D-Cole Duffy 28 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick), 11:45.
SC-Safety, 5:16.
3rd Quarter
D-Duffy 18 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick), 4:53.
SC-Brayden Andrews 70 run (kick blocked), 2:48.
4th Quarter
D-Bo Sheptock 25 run (kick blocked), 7:30.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southern: Brayden Andrews 12-152, TD; Talon Piatt 13-49; Gavin Brown 3-20; Joey Williams 3-12; Parker Pesarchick 1-4; Caden Hopper 1-3; Grady Garcia 8-1; Ayden Hockenbroch 6-(-1). Danville: Bo Sheptock 22-85, TD; Madden Patrick 9-42, 2 TDs.
PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 5-15-2, 48 yds. Danville: Madden Patrick 14-25-0, 209 yds, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING — Southern: Jace Malakoski 2-16; Garcia 1-14; Blaise Kissinger 1-12; Andrews 1-6. Danville: Cole Duffy 7-112, 2 TDs; Carter Raup 5-86; Sheptock 1-21; Landon Kehoe 1-(-10).
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