FROM THE SIDELINES: By LARRY SPEGAR
Southern Columbia Wins A Title With 50-19 Win Over Duquesne
Note it well in the record books. The Southern Columbia Tigers have recorded their fourth straight PA Football Class A Championship. Losing 2 of their first 5 games to AA schools mind you, the Tigers proved once again that they are in fact the cream of the crop with another stellar performance en route to the A crown on Friday afternoon in Hershey.
Using a commanding display of offense and defense, Southern Columbia rolled to yet another state title. Kyle Connaghan, a senior captain and QB and DB led the way, complimented by the hard working effort of fullback, Henry Hynoski, who added 4 TD runs as the Tigers ran away from Duquesne and into the record books.
Not since Berwick’s storied run of championships at the AAA level in 1994-97 has the PIAA seen such dominance. Southern of course was appearing in its eighth straight A State Final, including 11 out of the last 12 title games. Missing only 1997, the Tigers have appeared in the championship game since 1994 and have now won 5 gold medals.
The excited Tiger players gathered around the coveted state trophy and paid respect and tribute to the late Tarik Leghlid and Eric Barnes, who died tragically in a drowning incident during the summer of 2004. The former teammates would have been seniors on this excellence driven football squad. It was inspiring and beautiful to view the Southern players remember in a special way two of their friends who have given them purpose and cause to challenge themselves in a fitting tribute to the memory of those two young men who by fate and tragedy were not able to join in the mighty accomplishment taking place on Friday in Hershey. Congratulations once again to the players, coaches, fans and families of the Southern community. The Tigers have shown to all that they are most deserving of this special honor and show great class, poise and respect for not only themselves and their former teammates and families, but to the entire high school football world that we have come to love and cherish in our great state of PA.
Franklin Regional Shows Power and Speed In Win Over Pottsville
The AAA Championship Game was a classic match-up of speed and power. Franklin QB, Lenny Gallo and the Panther offensive line were difficult assignments for the Crimson Tide of Pottsville. Gallo and his comrades were quick to gain the lead and never slowed down the rest of the evening. Credit two way standout, John Malecki with proving to be a literal nightmare for Pottsville for the entire evening as the standout lineman caused many problems for the Tide the whole game.
While Pottsville made some nice adjustments in the second half and had a chance to close the score to a 3 point lead with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game, it was Franklin which proved to the opportunist of the two hard working teams and held on for a ten point win which gave the Panthers of Franklin Regional the gold medal in the AAA Class.
South Park Outslugs Wilson In a Classic AA Game
The Eagles of South Park literally outlasted the Warriors of Wilson on Saturday afternoon in Hershey to claim the AA prize. Wilson pulled out all the stops complimented by the fine efforts of QB, D.J. Lenehan, who engineered a first half lead of 17-7 for the Warriors. While South Park appeared to be rattled and looking for a way to get back in the game, momentum would swing in favor of the Eagles in the second half thanks to some fine running by HB, Tyler Scruggs and QB, Connor Dixon. Scruggs scored on a nifty 36 yard TD run in the third quarter, which cut the Wilson lead to 17-14 with 2:40 to go in the third quarter. Brandon Detwiler added a monumental TD with a 80 yard scoring strike which covered the left side of the field initially and then Detwiler angled back to the right side and outran the Wilson secondary for the score which seemed to put the Eagles back on track with a 21-17 lead. This was the first lead in the game for South Park and it came at the 11:05 mark of the final quarter. Connor Dixon would seal the deal with a 1 yard TD run with only 1:34 to go in the game and a lead for South Park of 28-17. This would prove to be the final score and the Eagles of South Park won the AA crown and finished the season with a perfect mark and proved to be the No. 1 ranked AA football team in PA the entire season.