AA State Semifinal Thread: Ligonier vs. Southern Columbia

[OpinionatedOrange]

My players to watch in this one:

LV: Smith, Parish, Tutino, Daugherty

SC: Hollenbach, Garcia, Thomas, Fleming

All of these players have had great seasons. Good luck to both teams! As I stated in an earlier post though: Ligonier prevails with a 42-21 victory. Based off film and one LV game I've been to (LV vs. Bishop Mccort) and one SC game I've been to (SC vs. Selinsgrove) I believe LV's potent offense and consistent defense will just be too much for SC in the end.

[sasquatch260]

Just curious on who gets the home seating. Last week we (LV) had it. Is it determined by state ranking? The visitor bleachers are pretty small at BEA for a game of this magnitude.

[lhacbigfan]

Ligonier should be the home team again. Goes by who is listed at the top of the bracket.

[TAHS92Alum]

They should have went 10 mile further down the road to Central Mountain and it wouldn't have matter what time you got there for a seat

[sasquatch260]

My 11 year old son keeps asking me why they cant just have it at Beaver Stadium so everybody gets a seat.

[footballfan1]

Local Newspaper for Southern Columbia write up for the game. Coach Roth is a classy guy who has done recording setting things at SCA.  The kids breath-eat-sleep-football 365. Even though SCA is pretty young they have IT no matter who takes the field. However, I feel LV senior play makers in all phases of the game will be a little to much for Southern's young team.  Look for SCA to be playing again next season at this same time in Eastern Finals but tonight LV makes history and will be preparing for a state championship game next weekend.  Article from newsitem.


When tonight's PIAA Class AA semifinal matchup between Southern Columbia and Ligonier Valley comes to a close, Southern's defense will have had an opportunity to prove to all naysayers just what it was capable of despite youth and inexperience.
Step one involved stopping an aggressive run-based Schuylkill Haven offense that averaged about 40 points per game. Southern defenders held the Hurricanes to five, two of which they were not responsible for due to a safety call on an offensive holding penalty.
Tonight's objective will be the polar opposite — stop the spread offense of Ligionier Valley at all costs. It will not be an easy task, with the Rams fielding quarterback Collin Smith, who has committed to West Virginia University for football in June.
Smith, who stands at 6-foot-1-inch and weighs 201 pounds, has completed 152 of 246 passes thrown (61.8 percent) for 2,801 yards and 41 touchdowns. His receivers collectively average 18.4 yards gained per catch. Smith is also the team's leading rusher, having gained 882 yards on the ground this year on 129 carries.
"He's a Division I athlete," Southern head coach Jim Roth said. "He's a guy that is outstanding at what he does and he's a very good runner. He has speed — when he takes off it looks just like a running back, not a quarterback. Another thing that jumps out at me is his release. He has a very quick release and that's such a huge asset because it makes it a lot harder for our secondary to react."
The senior quarterback has used two main targets to achieve those numbers, leading receiver Jackson Daugherty (junior, 6-3, 180) and Aaron Tutino (sophomore, 5-11, 160).
Daugherty, who missed six games this year, has caught 43 passes for 736 yards and nine touchdowns, while Tutino, who has played all 14, has caught 52 throws for 1,075 yards.
"Daugherty is their leading receiver," Roth said. "The other kid is a nice receiver but he's only a sophomore and he's smaller."
Last week, Ligonier Valley defeated Dunmore in a 39-19 decision and made heavy use of Daugherty, with the junior catching 11 passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns.
Roth said the key to stopping the Rams attack will be giving a variety of defensive looks to keep the quarterback uncomfortable.
"The best approach against a good passing team is not to get predictable," Roth said. "We need variety with our coverage and our defense to make sure they can't throw the ball in a rhythm."
As far as pass rush goes, Roth said it will be important to get penetration, but due to Smith's quick release there likely won't be much time to actually reach him.
"If they're going to throw the ball downfield we need to be able to get to the quarterback, but as far as the short pass goes, it's going to be really tough to get to him with how quick he is," he said.
Southern's offense is coming off an uncharacteristically low scoring game against Schuylkill Haven, but Roth is confident the Hurricanes deserve praise more than his offense deserves criticism.
"They had one of the best defenses in our class in the state," he said. "We're kind of in a starting over mode with all the kids we lost last year and Schuylkill Haven has worked years to get to that point. Our offense was out of synch with running the ball and that carried over to the passing game, but when you reach this level not every win is going to be pretty — a lot are very tough games."
While there are similarities between Ligionier Valley and Schuylkill Haven as far as defensive schemes are concerned, Roth said he would be surprised if the Rams were able to match the Hurricanes' level of physicality.
"They look about the same on film," he said. "They're a quick team that is aggressive and are not very big up front. I don't know if they are as strong as Schuylkill Haven. They were the strongest we saw all year and we knew that going in — the linemen had strength beyond their size."
Roth praised the Rams' linebacker unit.
"I'm impressed with their linebackers. They seem to be moving in unison with the running back and have no hesitation. Their middle linebacker (Elijah Parish, senior, 5-9, 206) is a very good football player and isn't a big kid but knows what he's doing. He is the key for them defensively."
Parish is a returning all-state selection for the Rams.

[billmurray]

They should have went 10 mile further down the road to Central Mountain and it wouldn't have matter what time you got there for a seat

Don't know what's going on down there...they haven't hosted any playoffs...

[TAHS92Alum]

Don't know what's going on down there...they haven't hosted any playoffs...

Not sure either but a far better venue. State Highs Memorial Field also is suited for these games. Obviously Mansion is packed this weekend

[billmurray]

Don't know what's going on down there...they haven't hosted any playoffs...

Not sure either but a far better venue. State Highs Memorial Field also is suited for these games. Obviously Mansion is packed this weekend

Not State High, no press box

[Crimson's Ghost]

I wasn't real impressed with State High's facility.