CATAWISSA R.R. - With just over two minutes to play in the first half, Southern Columbia and Line Mountain were locked in the kind of game most people expected in the District 4-A championship game, with Southern leading 14-6.
By halftime the Tigers had scored two more touchdowns and were set to get the second-half kickoff, and well on their way to their 20th district title in 21 years.
Southern scored two touchdowns in a span of 1:05 to go ahead 28-6, then drove 94 yards on its first possession of the second half to effectively put the Eagles away, and went on to a 35-14 win. Southern (11-1) will play District 2 champion Old Forge, a 47-6 winner over Riverside, in the first round of the state playoffs next week, probably at Shamokin. Line Mountain completed its season at 10-2, with both losses to Southern.
Bryce Parry's interception with with about 2:20 to play in the half set the stage for the big swing. Quarterback Brad Fegley completed a 15-yard pass to Casey Savitski to Line Mountain's 46, from where fullback Tyler Levan, who had 165 yards on 16 carries, burst up the middle and carried a couple Eagle defensive backs with him for a touchdown.
Southern quickly forced a punt, stopping the clock twice in hopes of getting good field position again, and Fegley then directed a picture-perfect, six-play, 64-yard drive, which took just 31 seconds, to score again with six seconds left. Fegley was 3-for-4 for all 64 yards on the drive, completing throws of 29 yards to Matt Moore and 24 yards to Keith Day, spiking the ball twice to stop the clock, then throwing an 11-yard fade pass to Day in the end zone for the touchdown.
"That killed us," said Line Mountain coach Mike Carson. "It completely changed the mentality of the locker room at halftime. It drained everything out of us. We played with a lot of pride in the first half, and if we could have gone in down only 14-6, we might have been able to do something. But then it was 28-6, and you could feel it in there."
Southern coach Jim Roth agreed.
"I wasn't displeased with our offense in the first half, but we were having trouble maintaining drives," Roth said. "We'd get a couple first downs, then they'd blow a play up or two on us and we'd have third-and-long."
Southern completed the dissection with a methodical, nine-play, 94-yard drive to start the second half, crunching up four first downs on eight runs, then springing tight end Jake Becker wide open for a 38-yard touchdown pass from Fegley, who was 8-for-13 for 130 yards and still has not been intercepted this season.
"Their quarterback makes such good decisions, he throws a good ball, and then he can hurt you with his legs," said Carson. "Then Tyler Levan is the set piece. We tried to take away their sweeps and outside stuff, then they come back inside with him."
"They were really keying on our halfbacks, so it's nice to have a kid like Tyler who just likes to go ahead and hit people," Roth said.
"It's a great feeling when you run over people," said Levan, speaking like a true fullback. "I really like playing offense and I worked really hard in the offseason, and that's been the difference for me."
The game started like it was going to be a shootout similar to the opening game 42-25 win over the Eagles. Southern recovered a fumble at Line Mountain's 30 on the first series, and Fegley sneaked over from the one to cap a seven-play, 30-yard drive.
The Eagles bounced right back. Kyle Troutman returned the kickoff 41 yards, and quarterback Marty Beninsky ran 32 yards to Southern's 15, with a personal foul penalty tacked on, setting up a seven-yard touchdown run by Troutman.
Southern came back with six-play, 54-yard drive, with Casey Savitski scoring on a seven-yard run.
Roth said the biggest difference between this game and the first meeting of the teams was Southern's defensive improvement.
"Our defense has really come around," he said. "The last two quality teams we played, Mount Carmel and Line Mountain, tonight, they really have played well. Against Mount Carmel, we gave up the opening kickoff, then really played well until the last five minutes. Tonight, we held this team to six points, because I don't count the last touchdown (Beninsky scored on a 75-yard run against the backup defense). To hold a team with the kind of offense they have like that says a lot. They're playing with a lot of confidence right now."