CATAWISSA — Between Jim Roth's early play calls and Chase Williams' blocked punt, it was as though Southern Columbia played with a sixth sense Friday.
Roth, the state's all-time winningest football coach, wanted to establish the Tigers' passing game versus Milton. That game plan produced three quick touchdowns before the Black Panthers revealed themselves as, in Roth's words, "one of the tougher teams for us to run against."
As for Williams, Southern's standout senior defensive end had a hunch that he would block a punt, and he did so early in the second quarter. It was a momentum-shifting play the Tigers didn't necessarily need but certainly welcomed in their 42-14 victory in a Heartland Athletic Conference-Division II matchup.
Ayden Hockenbroch threw three scoring passes to stake Southern Columbia to a 21-point lead, and the Tigers' rushing attack mostly nickel-and-dimed its way to nearly 400 yards on Senior Night. The state's top-ranked Class 2A team methodically put up the game's first 42 points, scoring on all but one of its first seven possessions.
"I was pleased, overall, with the balance we had on offense and the passing early in the game," said Roth. "We threw the ball quite a bit early, and it’s just good to see those guys continuously making those connections and making some big plays through the air. Because down the road, when we get in these tougher games, that can be huge for us to have that balance.
"That success early was a good sign."
Southern (7-1 overall, 4-1 HAC-II) honored some 16 seniors Friday, many of them difference-makers such as Williams, Hockenbroch, defensive lineman Jaden Carter, receiver Blaise Kissinger, cornerback Keagan Diehl and tight end Jace Malakoski. The long pre-game ceremony emceed by Mike Williams only underscored the contrast between the Tigers and Milton's contingent of three seniors.
Still, the youthful Black Panthers (3-5, 1-4) made Southern work for its points. Nine plays on the first drive; six snaps on the second. Heck, the Tigers took the ball at the Milton 46-yard line with 2:26 to play in the first half and couldn't add to a 28-0 lead.
“I told our guys, ‘To me, a win is making them drive,’” said Panthers coach Matt Wilson. “One-play drives when they score a touchdown, usually, against most teams, that’s deflating. So these guys, just making them put drives together, to me is a win — especially for the young crew that we have.”
The Tigers didn't criss-cross the field with 60-yard runs, but their precise, efficient passing game was just as potent.
"They played the run pretty tough,” Roth said of the Panthers. “We didn’t gash them; we didn’t have a lot of big runs. ... I thought their secondary and their linebackers did a good job rallying to the ball. I mean, we'd get that initial gain, but we weren't getting those bigger, 10-, 15-yard runs. I thought their kids played tough against the run and they were physical."
Hockenbroch hit five of his first six throws, including the opening score of 19 yards to Kissinger on a pass to the left flat. It was more run than catch as Kissinger slipped a tackle and raced to the left pylon, but Southern's next two TDs were all Hockenbroch. He dropped a perfect 23-yard dime to Kissinger on a post-corner pattern to make it 14-0, then followed Williams' blocked punt with an 8-yard strike that only the big, athletic Malakoski could pluck out of the air at the goal line.
How the Tigers got to 21-0 — on the heels of the blocked punt — was bigger than the margin itself.
Milton had converted third-and-long on each of its first two possessions with clutch passes from freshman quarterback Paxton Humphrey. The Panthers came up just short on that third series (getting 6 yards on a third-and-8 throw), and Williams made it hurt with his block.
"I was kinda getting upset with the fact that we were allowing them to get first downs," he said. "On their first punt I knew that I could get there on the next one, so I had to get there. I had to make a play. I could feel they were trying to get momentum to start, and I felt that I had to make a play to stop that."
Cahner O'Grady's kick from the Milton 33 was deflected toward the Milton sideline where the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Carter scooped it and returned it to the 8. Hockenbroch hooked up with Malakoski on the next snap.
"We're able to move the ball, we're making them put drives together, but then that blocked punt ... it's deflating. It's deflating," said Wilson. "(Williams) came off the end, two guys tried to block him, (but) he's an animal; we knew the type of player he was. You can't give a team like this the ball within the 10-yard line."
Joey Williams made it 28-0 on Southern's longest run of the game to that point, a 40-yard burst up the middle.
Grady Garcia, who a week earlier became the quickest to a 1,000-yard season of the program's four Garcia brothers, ran an inside reverse 43 yards to the end zone to open the second half. Williams added a 29-yard scoring dash with 66 seconds left in the third quarter.
Garcia finished with a team-high 160 rushing yards, while Williams had 116. They were the 29th and 30th Tigers, respectively, to reach 2,000 career rushing yards.
Milton's impressive young skill players realized a game's worth of promise in the fourth quarter with a pair of long TD plays.
Humphrey, who had two good deep balls broken up by Diehl earlier in the game, went 5-for-5 for 82 yards at the start of the fourth quarter. He hit sophomore Kamryn Wilson (8 catches, 87 yards) with a 30-yard streak down the home sideline for the Panthers' first points. Humphrey finished 14-of-24 for 151 yards.
More than nine minutes later, Milton sophomore Brody Locke accelerated around the right end for a 59-yard TD run that vaulted him to 104 yards in the game.
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SOUTHERN COLUMBIA 42, MILTON 14
Milton (3-5, 1-4);0;0;0;14 — 14
Southern Columbia (7-1, 4-1);7;21;14;0 — 42
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
SC-Blaise Kissinger 19 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Lincoln Billig kick), 4:24
Second quarter
SC-Kissinger 23 pass from Hockenbroch (Billig kick), 11:08
SC-Jace Malakoski 8 pass from Hockenbroch (Billig kick), 9:24
SC-Joey Williams 40 run (Billig kick), 5:47
Third quarter
SC-Grady Garcia 43 run (Billig kick), 8:15
SC-Williams 29 run (Billig kick), 1:06
Fourth quarter
M-Kamryn Wilson 30 pass from Paxton Humphrey (Cahner O'Grady kick), 9:09
M-Brody Locke 59 run (O'Grady kick), 0:58.6
TEAM STATISTICS
;M;SC
First downs;10;20
Rushes-yards;16-116;42-390
Passing yds;151;94
Total yds;267;484
Comp.-att.-int.;14-24-1;7-9-0
Fumbles-lost;0-0;2-0
Penalties;2-18;3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Milton: Brody Locke 9-104, TD; Luis Santos 4-8; Ja'Cori Brown 2-3; Paxton Humphrey 1-1. Southern Columbia: Grady Garcia 15-160, TD; Joey Williams 10-116, 2 TDs; Cael Williams 2-60; Gavin Brown 5-27; Ayden Hockenbroch 1-13; Will Wojtowicz 1-7; Kane Cecco 3-5; Ryan Davis 2-3; Gavin Trometter 2-0; Orion Wojtowicz 1-(-1).
PASSING — Milton: P. Humphrey 14-24-1, 151 yards, TD. Southern Columbia: Hockenbroch 7-9-0, 94 yards, 3 TDs.
RECEIVING — Milton: Kamryn Wilson 8-87, TD; Jhemzuel Feliciano 2-21; J. Brown 1-23, Santos 1-18; Locke 1-6; Schuyler Humphrey 1-(-4). Southern Columbia: Blaise Kissinger 3-57, 2 TDs; Jace Malakoski 3-30, TD; Garcia 1-7.