Southern Wins Championship Fight
Tagged under: District 11, District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Dave Fegley | September 6, 2026
Tigers pull away from Vikings for 30-12 win
Williams Valley held one advantage over Southern Columbia entering Saturday afternoon’s matchup. The Vikings are three-time defending District 11 champions. On the other hand, the Tigers won last year’s District 4 title after failing to get the gold in 2024.
Southern then went on to win a state-record 15th PIAA championship. In total, Southern entered this season winning an eye-dropping 32 of the past 35 district golds.
Over the weekend though, it appeared as if the Tigers forgot to get off the bus in the first half. The state’s top-ranked team eventually went on to win 30-12 over a motivated group of Vikings.
“At the start, it seemed like we were kind of out of it mentally. It seemed like we were taking them lightly, and when you do that against a good team it is going to be a huge challenge,” said Southern coach Jim Roth. “I felt that our mindset changed after halftime and we were finally able to get things going on both sides of the ball.”
The lone score in the first quarter came via a 62-yard run from Williams Valley’s Fletcher Thompson. The junior broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and got out in space to reach the end zone.
“We were sloppy in the first half. We were trying to tackle above the numbers and needed to focus on tackling below the hips. We adjusted to make sure to form tackle,” said SCA defensive back Keagan Diehl who had an interception in the fourth quarter which allowed the Tigers to eventually run out the clock for the win.
With 8:17 to go in the first half, facing a fourth down from the eight, senior Ayden Hockenbroch found classmate Jace Malakoski in the back corner of the end zone on a pass over the head of the coverage.
“Ayden trust’s him in those situations. With Jace’s size, he can reach over the defenders and that’s what happened on that play,” said Roth. “It was a nice boost for us to go into halftime with the lead after our lackluster start.”
In the second half, it was Grady Garcia’s turn to take command on the grass field inside of Viking Stadium. The junior scored three touchdowns, just like his older brother Gavin did in The Citadel’s win hours later, and he made an impact on special teams.
“I don’t want to take the credit for it. This is a team game. We didn’t perform up to expectations in the first half, but we finally got it going in the second half,” Garcia said.
To give the Tigers a 16-6 lead, Garcia scampered 60 yards for a touchdown with 2:15 left in the third quarter. After juking a defender, he switched fields for his first of his three trips to pay dirt.
“When Grady gets in space, those are the things he can do. He was huge for us on special teams as well. He had that punt return called back on a questionable call in the first half and made other big plays,” said Roth. “He isn’t the biggest guy out there, but he is definitely the most elusive. That’s the importance of our line opening up holes for him and the other backs to run through,” said Roth.
Late in the third, Garcia made a heads up play when Williams Valley thought that a punt was going to roll dead.
“It was a bit of a risky play, but I looked up and saw that their guys were kind of just standing around,” said Garcia. “In a tight game like this, those types of plays can make the difference. It can get your team momentum when you need that boost.”
He returned the punt to the Vikings’ 35 and scored two plays later on a 33-yard strike from Hockenbroch.
“I was telling the coaches on the sideline beforehand that I felt that play was going to be open because their defense was kind of just keying on the run all game,” Garcia said.
Thompson scored on a 21-yard carry to trim the Southern lead to 22-12 with nine minutes remaining in the game, but Garcia capped off the Tiger victory with a 46-yard touchdown a minute later.
Williams Valley (1-1) will make the trip to North Schuylkill in Week 3 to try and get back in the win column.
Southern (2-0) returns home on Friday to take on Montoursville, and the Tigers are hoping to come out with more energy from the start.
“There are really no excuses for the way we started the game out. Just because we have the Southern Tigers displayed on the front of our uniform doesn’t mean that we have a guaranteed win every single week,” lineman Aidyn McHale said. “We need to use this as an example. We recovered well in the second half, but we need to be fully focused and energetic from the start.”
Southern Columbia 30, Williams Valley 12
SCA — WVY
First Downs: 17 — 11
Rushes-yds: 43-268 — 25-125
Passing yds: 70 — 74
Total yds: 338 — 199
Passing (C-A-I): 4-7-0 — 8-17-1
Penalties: 5-60 — 4-40
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 — 0-0
Southern Col.: (2-0): 0-8-8-14 — 30
Williams Valley (1-1): 6-0-0-6 — 12
1st Quarter
W– Fletcher Thompson 62 run (pass failed), 2:55.
2nd Quarter
S– Jace Malakoski 8 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Hockenbroch run), 8:17.
3rd Quarter
S– Grady Garcia 60 run (Hockenbroch run), 2:15.
4th Quarter
S– Garcia 33 pass from Hockenbroch (run failed), 11:17.
W– Thompson 21 run (pass failed), 8:59.
S– Garcia 46 run (Joey Williams run), 7:50.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southern: Grady Garcia 13-178, 2 TDs; Joey Williams 10-33; Ayden Hockenbroch 6-29; Gavin Brown 7-11; Gavin Trometter 2-8; Kane Cecco 3-5; Cael Williams 1-4; Ryan Davis 1-0. Williams Valley: Fletcher Thompson 16-105, 2 TDs; Trevon Bair 2-23; Cole Hubler 3-6; Cayden Witmer 2-5, Team 2-(-14).
PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 4-7-0, 70 yds, 2 TDs. Williams Valley: Cayden Witmer 8-17-1, 74 yds.
RECEIVING — Southern: Jace Malakoski 3-37, TD; Grady Garcia 1-33, TD. Williams Valley: Cole Hubler 2-32; Mason Bowser 3-29; Fletcher Thompson 3-13.
