CATAWISSA -- Now here's something Southern Columbia football fans aren't used to: down time in November.
Line Mountain made sure they'd have plenty of time for holiday shopping, as the Eagles advanced to the District 4 Class A final with a 22-17 win Saturday night over the five-time defending Class A state champions.
The victory comes one year after Line Mountain lost on the same Tiger Stadium field in the district championship game.
"This feels great," said Eagles quarterback Clark Morris, who rushed for 102 yards and had a 1-yard touchdown run late in the game. "They were the five-time defending state champs and we knocked them off."
Third-seeded Line Mountain (10-1) -- which was coming off its only loss of the year after dropping a 14-12 decision to Millersburg last week -- will play at Bloomsburg in the championship game next weekend. The Panthers beat Canton 43-7 in Saturday's other semi.
The second-seeded Tigers (9-2) not only saw their run of state championships end, they also lost their 16-year stanglehold on the D-4 A trophy. Furthermore, Southern will not play in the state final for the first time since 1997; the Tigers have qualified for 12 of the last 13 state title games, going 6-6.
"I never felt real comfortable offensively in the game (Saturday)," Southern coach Jim Roth said. "There were just too many negative plays."
Nevertheless, the Tigers made it interesting at the end. After Morris' 1-yard keeper made it 22-11 with 1:50 left, Tigers quarterback Ted Heitzman drove his team 65 yards in a little over a minute. What appeared to be a 16-yard touchdown toss to Andrew Wimble was overturned when an official said that the ball hit the ground. Three plays later, Heitzman found Wimble in the corner of the end zone on a fade pattern. Eagles defensive back Jachin Spotts knocked down Heitzman's 2-point conversion pass, and the score was 22-17 with 17 seconds to play.
The Tigers then tried an onsides kick, and a few Line Mountain players bobbled it -- leading some Tigers fans and players to think they'd recovered -- before the Eagles came up with it.
"Our kids came out and they just played their hearts out," Line Mountain coach Todd Rothermel said. "They swarmed to the ball; they tackled better this week. Our kids were hungry and they played a great game."
Line Mountain running back Aaron Scheibelhut had 112 yards rushing, with most of that coming on a 76-yard touchdown run in the third to make it 14-3. Jeremiah Lenker (55 yards on eight carries) gave the Eagles an early 6-0 lead on a 25-yard scoring run around left end.
Steve Roth (95 yards on 24 carries) got Southern within 14-11 early in the fourth when he scored on a 13-yard run and then added the 2-point conversion.The Tigers forced the Eagles to punt on their next possession, and then promptly drove 30 yards to the Line Mountain 38. But on fourth-and-two, the Eagles' Travis Leitzel and Chris Moore stopped Roth for no gain. On the next play, Morris ran for 41 yards and later scored on his 1-yard keeper.
"(Moore) told me what lane to go into, I did and he went in his lane," Leitzel said. "That pumped us up pretty good."
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Discussion
High school football: Line Mountain defeats Southern Columbia in District 4 semifinals
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