Roth Picks Up 500th Win
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Dave Fegley | August 31, 2024
Tigers Lacerate Lancers 47-0
Jim Roth Way is the new name of the road leading into Tiger Stadium. His way has made his Southern Columbia program the standard of success. On Friday, the Tigers blanked Loyalsock 47-0 as Roth became Pennsylvania’s first, and the fifth in the United States, to win 500 games as a high school football head coach.
On a night that SCA honored its 1994 and 2004 state championship teams, Roth hit the milestone as did his defensive coordinator Andy Mills.
“It’s nice to have it happen with a game like this. We honored our first ever state championship team from 1994 prior to the kickoff on their 30th anniversary season and the same for the 2004 team on their 20th anniversary of their title. Most of all though, I am glad that this is behind us now so that we can focus on getting better each week,” said Roth.
It was only fitting that the opposition’s score read zero at the conclusion of the game as Mills became the first coordinator to ever reach 500 victories.
“The credit goes to the program as a whole. There are many parts that have led us to this mark. I have been here with Jim since the start, but we couldn’t have done it without the players and other coaches,” said Mills while reflecting back on the past four decades.
Southern has been know for running the football over the past four decades, but early on the Tigers aired it out to go up 14-0 after the first quarter on Friday.
Sophomore Ayden Hockenbroch threw two touchdown passes to get things going.
“It feels amazing to be a small part in this milestone. I have worked so hard to get to this point and the guys around me just keep pushing me to get better. The dream has come true. The first win is under our belt, and we are just going to keep going forward,” said Hockenbroch who threw for 139 yards.
After connecting with Nathan Gallager for the first score, he hit fellow sophomore Jace Malakoski for the longest touchdown of the game. The tight end caught the pass and outraced the defenders for a 58-yard sprint to pay dirt.
“It was a good play call. It was open earlier in the game, but I hesitated a little bit. The second one came around and it was a perfect ball placement from Ayden. Once I caught it, I just ran as fast as I could,” Malakoski said. “It means so much to be part of this program and to be a part of this 500th win. There is nothing like being a member of the Southern Columbia football program.”
Brayden Andrews scored twice on the ground to help SCA extend its lead on a night that will forever be remembered.
“We knew what we had to do coming into the game. I mean come on, this is Coach Roth’s 500th and we all were grateful to be here for it. To put up almost 50 against Loyalsock and to have the defense play the way they did, it was just a great experience,” said Andrews.
Hockenbroch, Grady Garcia, and Parker Pesarchick each had touchdown runs to complete the scoring on a night that the Tiger defense gave up less than 100 yards of offense while blanking the Lancers.
“It was very fitting to get this win with a shutout. Coach Mills is such a clever guy. He knows what he is doing with our defense. At any other school he is definitely a head coach. He just happens to be coaching at the school with the best coach of all time. Coach Roth is the greatest to ever do it and we wanted to win this game in convincing fashion,” three-time all-state linebacker Dom Fetterolf said.
In Roth’s first 40 seasons, he has never had a losing record. In fact, it wouldn’t be until the year 2068 if Roth continued coaching and forfeited every game before his losses would be higher than his win total.
When it comes to reaching each 100th win milestone, Roth’s Tigers have left no doubts on the result. Between his 100th victory in 1993, 200th coming in 2001, followed by number 300 during the 2009 season, the 400th during the 2017 season, and now the newest feat in 2024, each win has come in convincing fashion.
In the five century mark wins, Roth’s Tigers have combined to outscore their five different opponents 254-13.
“You just go into each game hoping that the players execute the game plan that you give them. I was happy with performance in this one and hope that we continue to make strides going forward,” Roth said.
Southern Columbia 47, Loyalsock 0
LOY — SCA
First Downs: 7 — 19
Rushes-yds: 28-59 — 45-251
Passing yds: 34 — 139
Total yds: 93 — 390
Passing (C-A-I): 3-15-0 — 8-14-0
Penalties: 9-68— 3-20
Fumbles-lost: 2-0 — 2-1
Loyalsock (1-1): 0-0-0-0 — 0
Southern (1-1): 14-13-14-6— 47
SCORING PLAYS
1st Quarter
SC — Nathan Gallagher 20 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Preston Shadle kick), 7:10.
SC — Jace Malakoski 58 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick), 1:04.
2nd Quarter
SC — Brayden Andrews 3 run (Shadle kick), 9:42.
SC — Hockenbroch 1 run (kick blocked), 0:18.
3rd Quarter
SC — Andrews 5 run (Shadle kick), 4:27.
SC — Grady Garcia 19 run (Shadle kick), 1:21
4th Quarter
SC — Parker Pesarchick 1 run (missed kick), 1:49.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southern: Brayden Andrews 9-84, 2 TD’s; Grady Garcia 6-53, TD; Nathan Gallagher 8-35; Joey Williams 9-28; Ayden Hockenbroch 4-13, TD; Talon Piatt 2-13; Gavin Brown 1-12; Caden Hopper 2-8; Parker Pesarchick 4-5, TD. Loyalsock: Dolan Harman 14-26; Kashiem Richardson 5-23; Preston Gross 4-14; Matt Rickard 2-3; Jalil Coates 1-0; Cayden Sones 1-(-2); Dawsyn Morse 1-(-5).
PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 8-14-0, 139 yds, 2 TD’s. Loyalsock: Nicholas Avalos 3-15-0, 34 yds.
RECEIVING — Southern: Jace Malakoski 1-58, TD; Blaise Kissinger 4-49; Nathan Gallagher 2-27, TD; Brayden Andrews 1-5. Loyalsock: Jalil Coates 2-26; Deryk Kulp 1-8.
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