H.S. FOOTBALL: Vikings hang tough, but Tigers pull away late
· Yahoo Sports
WILLIAMSTOWN — It was a valiant effort, but Williams Valley ultimately came up short against defending Class AA state champion Southern Columbia, as the Tigers pulled away late for a 30-12 win.
Both teams were searching for a big play to gain some momentum, and Williams Valley found it first with a fumble recovery as Southern Columbia was nearing the red zone.
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“I’ve said it time and time again, we’re going to be super prepared, super organized as a staff,” Williams Valley Coach Frank Gaffney said. “I’m beyond proud of my staff today, the hours they put in studying and breaking down film. Coach Mike Kalyan’s calling the (defense). He was calling on every one of their plays, putting us in position to make plays. And our guys did”.
The Vikings capitalized as Fletcher Thompson broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run to take a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter. The two-point try failed, but the Vikings had the Tigers on their heels.
After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Southern Columbia’s offense broke through with an 8-yard touchdown reception by Jace Malokoski on fourth-and-goal. Quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch took it in himself for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers the lead.
It was a blow for the Vikings, but knowing how strong their opponent was, Gaffney was pleased with the first-half effort.
“We had our two-point conversion wide open,” he said. “We dropped the ball (and) should have been tied going into should have been tied going into half. We stuck to our game plan. We stuck to our script. We leaned on our guys.”
The Vikings indeed leaned heavily on their front seven which was a constant presence in the Tigers’ backfield.
“We had a great game plan put together,” Gaffney said. The (defensive line) attacked the gaps where we thought were vulnerable. We made the plays. I’m going to say we were in the teens for tackles for a loss today as a defense. …It’s just phenomenal. I’m beyond proud of them.”
Linebacker Trevon Bair accounted for five tackles for loss on his own.
Williams Valley’s defense kept the pressure on to start the second half and forced Southern Columbia to punt on its opening possession.
However, despite extending the drive with help from a penalty and a fourth-down conversion, the Vikings ultimately had to punt it back and again rely on the defense.
With much of the Williams Valley roster playing two ways under the hot sun, Southern Columbia began to take advantage of the fatigue.
Grady Garcia, who had been kept quiet thus far, found a hole and took it 60 yards for the touchdown. A successful two-point try made it a two-possession game.
“Let’s be honest, our legs got heavy,” Gaffney said.
The Vikings were again forced to punt on their next possession and the Tigers began to take control.
The punted ball nearly rolled to a stop, at which point the play would have been blown dead, but Garcia had other plans. He scooped it up and returned it deep into Williams Valley territory to give his team good starting field position.
“That was a great play by Garcia. That’s a heads-up, just that’s a veteran football play,” Gaffney said. “He let it come in knowing, thinking we were going to break down and we did. He scooped, took off. We missed the tackle.”
Garcia’s punt return set up his second touchdown of the game, this one through the air from 23 yards out to make the score 22-6 with 11:17 left in the game.
Williams Valley wasn’t done fighting, though, as Thompson scored on a 21-yard run just over two minutes later.
“I knew that my team was going to compete today,” Gaffney said. “I’m beyond proud of them. What the adversity, the turmoil, the chatterness that they hear about them and how they just stayed focused on the line. … We had every opportunity to take that game.”
Unfortunately for the Vikings, any further comeback efforts were thwarted.
After scoring through the air, the Tigers returned to the ground game, and Garcia iced the game with a 48-yard touchdown run.
The final score was not what Williams Valley had hoped for, but hanging tough with the defending state champions still yielded a positive result.
“We knew the cards were stacked against us in a large portion,” Gaffney said. “But I thought our players would play well against them, and we did.”
Williams Valley’s next matchup against North Schuylkill is another tough one, but Gaffney sees opportunity in adversity.
“We got North Schuylkill this week, putting our kids to the test,” he said. “But that shows a lot of character of who this team is, and the brick and mortar of this program right now.”