Southern Beats Troy 21-14

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

Dave Fegley | November 14, 2026

Tigers overcome determined Trojans in D4 semifinal

In each of the previous eight meetings, the winner of the Southern Columbia and Troy matchup has gone on to make the PIAA championship and in all but one season win the gold. If the pattern continues, look out for the Tigers yet again.

It was far from easy as Southern overcame a determined Troy squad to secure a 21-14 victory in the District 4 Class 2A semifinals. The win ended the Trojans’ 10-game winning streak and sent the defending state champions into another district championship appearance.

The Tigers (11-1) had three different players find the end zone on the ground, led by senior Joey Williams, who delivered with a 99-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter.

Southern’s defense had just made a crucial goal-line stand, stopping Troy on fourth down at the one-yard line. Williams took the ensuing handoff and found a crease up the middle before breaking free for the longest possible scoring play on offense.

“At first, I was just hoping to get a couple of yards since we were at our own 1-yard line. The goal was to get us in better field position, but after the hole was stuffed where I was supposed to run, I was able to sneak through a seam on the right and was off to the races after making one man miss,” Williams said.

Williams finished with a career-high 176 yards on 15 carries, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the process. It was his second consecutive career-best performance after rushing for 162 yards the previous week.

While Williams provided the early fireworks, the Tigers’ ability to sustain drives proved equally important. Southern repeatedly leaned on its offensive line and rushing attack to keep Troy’s offense on the sideline.

After the Trojans (10-2) answered with a 31-yard touchdown connection from Spencer Martin to Logunn Heasley, Southern retook the lead.

Junior Grady Garcia capped the nearly seven-minute drive with a six-yard touchdown run, putting the Tigers ahead 13-7 with 4:13 remaining in the first half.

“That was a nice response. It was obviously different than the first drive that was just one play, but in the end, it was the same result,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “Troy certainly played inspired football, but we were able to make a few more plays than them to close it out.”

The defensive battle continued throughout the third quarter, with neither team managing to find the scoreboard. Troy, however, had difficulty establishing its own ground game against Southern’s front, finishing with just 47 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

The Trojans instead relied heavily on Martin’s arm, as the senior threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns while completing 12 of his 28 attempts.

Southern’s Kaden Zachman was among those making an impact defensively, consistently contributing in pass coverage with breakups and coming forward to help contain the run.

“It goes back to just watching film and working through practice. It’s about trying to see plays before they happen,” Zachman said. “Bringing energy fires you up to make more plays and we need to continue to have energy moving forward.”

Facing a fourth-and-four situation on the final play of the scoreless third quarter, quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch kept the ball and picked up six yards to extend the drive.

It was a particularly important conversion for the senior, who admitted he needed to trust his blockers after coming up short on an earlier attempt.

“We ran the same play earlier and I didn’t follow my blocks. Coach Roth kind of got on me about that and told me to trust my blocking, so I made sure to do that. I needed to follow my pulling guard and fullback Joey Williams,” Hockenbroch said.

Hockenbroch eventually finished the possession himself, breaking loose for an 18-yard touchdown run with 10:45 remaining. He added the two-point conversion to stretch Southern’s advantage to 21-7.

The drive consumed nine minutes of game time, putting the pressure squarely on Troy to respond.

“We had a big drive in the second quarter that finished with the same result, executing each play, and this time I just happened to be the guy that scored the touchdown and added the two-point conversion,” Hockenbroch said. “It was a hard-fought win, and I need to credit the guys up front for making the blocks at crucial moments in the game.”

The Trojans did not go quietly. With just over three minutes remaining, the Trojans connected on a 29-yard hook-and-ladder play for a touchdown, trimming the deficit to 21-14 with 3:25 to go.

Southern’s Madden Gaul recovered the ensuing onside kick, and the offense picked up a pair of first downs to exhaust the remaining clock.

“This was one of those games where things weren’t going our way, but we found a way to win and advance to next week,” said Roth. “Troy definitely made it tough on us by playing us real tough up front. They played inspired football, and I think it kind of caught us off guard at times.”

Roth acknowledged that his team would need to take lessons from the closely contested semifinal as it prepares for the next challenge.

“Hopefully moving forward, we learn from this, but ultimately they came in with the same record as us, so they certainly were no slouch,” Roth said.

Southern will now turn its attention to South Williamsport, which knocked off top-seeded Bloomsburg in a thrilling 43-42 overtime victory. The Tigers will host the Mounties next Friday with a District 4 championship and another step toward defending their PIAA title on the line.

“We will be ready to play. We know the expectations from the success of the past in our program,” Zachman said.

Southern Columbia 21, Troy 14

SC — TR

First Downs: 12 — 9

Rushes-yds: 49-330 — 23-47

Passing yds: 18 — 205

Total yds: 348 — 252

Passing (C-A-I): 2-5-0 — 12-28-0

Penalties: 4-32 — 6-42

Fumbles-lost: 0-0 — 1-0

Troy (10-2): 0-7-0-7 — 14

SCA (11-1): 7-6-0-8 — 21

1st Quarter

S– Joey Williams 99 run (Lincoln Billig kick), 3:51.

2nd Quarter

T– Logunn Heasley 31 pass from Spencer Martin (Landon Lee kick), 11:07.

S– Grady Garcia 6 run (kick missed), 4:13.

3rd Quarter

None.

4th Quarter

S– Ayden Hockenbroch 18 run (Hockenbroch run), 10:45.

T– Reed Palmer 29 pass from Martin (Lee kick), 3:25.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Southern: Joey Williams 15-176, TD; Grady Garcia 19-73, TD; Ayden Hockenbroch 11-70, TD; Gavin Brown 4-11. Troy: Evan Allen 9-25, Jayden Kutt 8-21, Spencer Martin 6-1.

PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 2-5-0, 18 yds. Troy: Spencer Martin 12-28-0, 205 yds, 2 TDs.

RECEIVING — Southern: Grady Garcia 1-10; Jace Malakoski 1-8. Troy: Trey Teribury 3-68; Josiah Pesesky 5-53; Reed Palmer 2-45, TD; Logunn Heasley 2-39, TD.

Photos by: Noah Hockenbroch