Gaige Garcia leads Southern with 170 yards rushing, Julian Fleming adds two receiving scores
BY DANIEL LIPOVSKY
Fourth Quarter Media
SLATINGTON — Gaige Garcia’s workhorse performance on the ground propelled Southern Columbia to a 42-6 victory over West Catholic in the PIAA Eastern Final on Friday night and clinched a PIAA Championship rematch against Wilmington next week.
With his brother and fellow running back Gavin Garcia injured early in the game, Gaige Garcia picked up the slack, carrying the ball 16 times for 170 yards and two scores against the Burrs. Garcia surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground with 8:51 remaining in the second quarter.
“There was a lot of talk that they were going to shut the run down but thats not what they did,” Gaige Garcia said.
Gavin Garcia left the game with a head injury and did not return. His status is unknown for next week’s state championship game.
“He got hit in the head,” Roth said. “Its totally up in the air as far as whether or not he’ll be able to come back by next week.”
Ty Roadarmel continued to be an integral part of the run game. Roadarmel added some great lead blocks to go along with his six carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.
“Ty Roadarmel had a great game running the ball,” Gaige Garcia said.
Nate Crowl helped to pick up the slack left in the wake of Gavin Garcia’s injury. He carried to ball 5 times for 27 yards as he ran with the first team offense.
Julian Fleming hauled in four passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns in limited playing time. He also added an impressive catch on a successful two-point conversion attempt.
“That two-point conversion may have been one of the best catches he had,” Jim Roth said.
Fleming was eventually sidelined with leg cramps.
“Yea that was just cramping, I felt another coming, I had like three at the same time,” Fleming said.
The Tigers’ defense managed to hold the Burrs to -1 yards rushing while moving players around due to Gavin Garcia’s injury.
Linebackers Cal Haladay and Max Tillett made their presence known racking up multiple tackles and adding an interception each to their names.
The Tigers ultimately picked off West Catholic’s Tre Johnson three times.
“Our linebackers are all athletes,” Cal Haladay said. “They’re just all tough and fast guys that make plays when we need them."
Southern Quarterback Stone Hollenbach had a down game but was efficient completing 6 passes for 69 yards and three touchdowns. Hollenbach dealt with a few drops from his receivers which lowered his completion percentage, but could have had another touchdown to his his name.
Southern 21 7 14 0 — 42
West Catholic 0 0 0 6 — 6
First quarter
SC - Gaige Garcia 67 run (kick failed), 9:06
SC - Gai. Garcia 10 run (Julian Fleming pass from Stone Hollenbach), 5:08
SC - Preston Zachman 13 pass from Hollenbach (Dunkelberger kick), 0:49
Second quarter
SC - Julian Fleming 12 pass from Hollenbach (Dunkelberger kick), 11:44
Third quarter
SC - Ty Roadarmel 51 run (Dunkelberger kick), 9:35
SC - Fleming 25 pass from Hollenbach (Dunkelberger kick), 6:11
WC - Seth Degree pass from Tre Johnson (kick failed), 4:08
SC WC
First Downs 14 9
Rush-Yds 34-266 28-(-1)
Com-Att-Int 6-12-0 11-26-3
Pass 69 193
Total-Yds 335 192
Penalty 3-40 6-46
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-0
Rushing - Southern Columbia: Gaige Garcia 16-170, 2 TDs;Ty Roadarmel 6-71, TD; Nate Crowl 5-27; Jayden McCormick 1-6; Braden Heim 2-3; Stone Hollenbach 4-(-11). West Catholic : Jacir Savoy 16-60, Zahir Booker 2-4; Team 1-(23); Tre Johnson 9-(-42).
Passing - Southern Columbia: Stone Hollenbach 6-12-0 69 yds, 3 TDs. West Catholic: Tre Johnson 11-26-3 193 yds., TD.
Receiving: Southern: Julian Fleming 4-50, 2 TDs; Preston Zachman 1-13, TD; Ty Roadarmel 1-6. West Catholic: Seth Degree 4-66, TD; Jacir Savoy 3-6; Justino Griggs 2-70; Damen Studstill 2-51.
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