SCA earns 18th District 4 crown with 42-12 rout of Line Mountain

MANDATA - At Southern Columbia, district championships haven't always been something to get excited about. When you've won 18 of them in 19 years, and followed a bunch of them with trips to the state championships, that's understandable.

But lately, winning a district title has become more of an accomplishment, because the rest of the district has been fighting back. And when the Tigers started this season 3-4 and were in danger of not even making the field, well, let's just say Southern's players were a little more excited than usual with their 42-12 win over Line Mountain Friday for the District 4 Class A title.

Junior quarterback Jake Townsend completed 8-of-10 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns and had a 28-yard run to set up another score, and fullback Jake Morton carried 17 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers (8-4) won their fifth straight game and earned a date with District 2 champion Northwest Area next Friday at Kemp Memorial Stadium in Shamokin. Northwest downed Riverside, 40-30.

"I told the team before we came out of the locker room tonight to think about what this game means to them in relation to where we were at one point," Southern coach Jim Roth said. "There were people doubting what we could do.

"We've had some stretches where winning this game was kind of an afterthought. But we had to battle in both games this year, and it's been that way for a few years now."

Don't let the final score make you doubt how much the Tigers had to battle, too. From the kickoff, they and the Eagles (8-4) went at each other with real intensity. Southern led 14-0 at halftime, and got one score with help from a fourth-and-1 decision by Line Mountain at its own 36 which the Tigers stopped.

After that stop, Townsend had a 28-yard run to the one, from where Morton scored the second of his three touchdowns. He scored earlier on a one-yard run to cap a 53-yard drive.

"I took it real slow and deliberate, and I saw my fullback leading, and he made a block that sent me," said Townsend of his run.

"I probably put us in bad position when we didn't make that first down," said Line Mountain coach Mike Carson. "That was my fault. There was some hesitation about it on the sideline. But we felt like if we couldn't make a foot, we probably didn't deserve it."

Line Mountain made a defensive stand late in the half, forcing a 37-yard field goal attempt by Brian Snyder which was short, and it was still a 14-0 game.

"Had we given up another score, it probably would have been a little different atmosphere in the locker room at halftime," Carson said.

Southern made it 21-0 on its first possession of the second half on a beautiful 44-yard touchdown pass from Townsend to David Shoop. But Line Mountain finally got the spark it needed. Tyler Klinger returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to Southern's 48, and the Eagles, led by freshman quarterback Cole Rickert, who was playing for starter Marty Beninsky, who tried to play with a dislocated shoulder, drove for its first score. Rickert had several key runs and a 14-yard pass to Mike Marciniak (six catches, 70 yards) to set up a three-yard touchdown by Joey Hukill.

Southern came back with six-play, 73-yard scoring drive. The big plays were a 40-yard run by Tim Benner and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Townsend to Cody Rosenberger.

"Our receivers did a great job tonight," said Roth. "Rosenberger came back on an underthrown ball, and David Shoop changed his route on his touchdown when they took the post route away, and Jake picked up on it."

"They played well," said Carson. "Their quarterback did a great job and their receivers did a great job. I give them a ton of credit."

Another good kick return, by Jordan Welker, put Line Mountain in position to score again. Rickert completed three passes for 45 yards, including a fourth-down conversion to Marciniak, and a 23-yard touchdown to Marciniak.

But Southern answered again. Taking possession at the Eagles' 45 after a bad onside kick, Townsend completed a 19-yard pass to David Shoop on fourth-and-10, and Tyrell Thomas scored on an 11-yard run.

Morton finished the scoring with a 34-yard run. moments after he had a 17-yard run in which he broke several tackles against the tiring Line Mountain defense.

"We've had trouble with the 4-3 (defense) this year, and their linebacker (Chris Moore) really gave us some problems early," said Roth. "But with the exception of a few breakdowns upfront, we played pretty well, and defensively, I thought we played well for the most part."

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