Southern Columbia shows heart of a champion in final drive to win Pennsylvania high school football Class 2A state championship over Westinghouse
MECHANICSBURG, Pennsylvania - When their backs are up against the wall, champions will find a way to fight.
And in the PIAA Class 2A state championship on Friday afternoon, six-time defending state champion Southern Columbia couldn't be backed up more, as they trailed Westinghouse 20-14 and had the ball at its own 1-yard-line with 6:19 left.
But the Tigers went on a 12-play, 99-yard drive that ended on a 12-yard touchdown run by Madden Carter on a sweep to the left side with 42 seconds left, and Isaac Carter's PAT gave Southern Columbia a 21-20 win and its seventh straight state title.
Going into that final drive, the Tigers had confidence in themselves that they could pull off the win.
"If anyone could do it, we could do it," Carter said. "Our team has been playing together for I don't know how long and that just shows how good we are as a team. That shows our character and that shows what we can do."
On the first play of the drive, a handoff to Garrett Garcia went off the left edge for 28 yards to give the Tigers breathing room.
"Thankfully we had a couple of longer runs (on that drive)," Southern Columbia head coach Jim Roth said. "Garcia's first run from the 1-yard-line was huge."
The drive looked to stall out on several occasions, but the Tigers found a way to pick up first downs each time, sometimes on the legs of the running backs and sometimes on the arm of senior quarterback Blake Wise.
The composure his team showed in methodically getting down the field impressed the head coach.
"I felt we showed a lot of character and determination to take the ball at the 1-yard-line and be able to pretty much be able to run it down the field and complete a couple passes," Roth said.
The one adjustment the Tigers made on the drive was to make sure they weren't wasting any time between plays.
"I told Blake we have to get in and out of the huddle," Roth said. "Because if we do this, it is going to be primarily on the ground and it is going to chew up some clock."
Southern Columbia senior Cater Madden hugs fellow senior Garrett Garcia after the Tigers won the 2023 PIAA Class 2A state title on December 8, 2023. Photo credit: Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
It looked like the championship streak may be over on a 4th-and-18 play, but a defensive holding kept the drive alive and made it 4th-and-8. Wise then found Kyle Christman for an 11-yard catch to pick up the first down.
Even facing a loss, the Tigers drew on their experience as a championship team to keep going on the drive.
"We've been in games like, we've lost we've been tied, we've been winning," Wise said. "Every situation we're kind of prepared for. This is definitely the most pressure at any situation, but we just knew we had to go out and execute the game plan."
Just a few plays later, it was Carter sprinting to the end zone.
"As soon as I got that handoff, I saw open space and I'm like, I gotta get in," Madden said. "And nothing was stopping me but a brick wall right there."
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sblivepa
