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WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca took the opening kickoff and dashed 51 yards down the left sideline, sending the home portion of the overflow crowd into a frenzy Friday night.
Then came a goal-line stand where the Warriors mauled Southern Columbia quarterback Preston Zachman short of the end zone. Another burst of excitement arose from the Wyoming Area fans.
The real eruption, though, hadn’t taken place yet. And the other side of the stadium packed with Southern Columbia fans was about to awake from the early stunners not often seen this season.
The Garcia brothers — Michigan-bound Gaige and sophomore Gavin — sparked Southern Columbia after a lackluster first quarter as the perennial state power Tigers went on to dominate Wyoming Area 42-0 in a battle of state-ranked teams.
Southern Columbia improved to 8-0, winning its 79th consecutive regular-season game and its 40th in a row overall. The Tigers entered the game ranked atop the Class 2A state rankings. Wyoming Area, which was ranked third in the state in Class 3A, fell to 7-1.
“It’s invaluable,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said of playing Southern Columbia, which has now shut out six opponents this season. “When you’re at this point of the season with what lies ahead potentially, the experience against those level athletes and that level of a program … gives us confidence against any opponent going forward.”
After finding uneven success running between the tackles, the Tigers attacked the perimeter of the Wyoming Area defense on three drives, scoring on all of them to take a 21-0 lead at halftime.
Gavin Garcia had a 28-yard run in a six-play, 67-yard drive capped by Gaige Garcia with a 3-yard run at 11:04 of the second quarter. A 36-yard run around the right side by Gaige Garcia led to a 23-yard TD run by Gavin Garcia around the left side.
Gaige Garcia then angled from left to right on a 49-yard screen pass, making it 21-0 with 3:28 left until halftime.
“There’s just a lot of good football players in the skill positions who started stepping up and making plays,” Southern Columbia coach Jim Roth said. “They have a big line and lots of physical people up front, and their linebackers were doing a good job against us early.
“But we scored every time we had the ball in the first half except the first drive where we fell short and lost the ball on downs.”
Receiver Julian Fleming, who is committed to Ohio State, was the main attraction among Southern Columbia’s four players heading to Big Ten programs. The No. 3 recruit in the country had a quiet game by his standards — five catches for 82 yards and no touchdowns — but didn’t seem to mind.
“A lot of us were irritated, to be nice, when they canceled (the game) the first time,” said Fleming, who posed for pictures with Wyoming Area fans long after the game had ended. “Soon as they brought it back, everybody was excited. We wanted to play into the second half all season and they gave us a good run. They’re a great team, great coaches.”
Wyoming Area couldn’t do much after DeLuca opened the game with his kickoff return. The running game was stymied throughout. The Warriors had some mild success through the air, but too often DeLuca was under a heavy pass rush. He was sacked six times.
Southern Columbia basically ended any comeback hopes on its first two plays from scrimmage in the third quarter. After attacking the edges in the first half, the Tigers blasted through the interior of the Warriors’ defense, with a 39-yard run by Ty Roadarmel followed by a 17-yard TD burst by Gavin Garcia.
The Tigers put the final touches on the win when Zachman, who has committed to Wisconsin as a linebacker, returned a pass that hit off a Wyoming Area receiver 51 yards for a touchdown.
Southern Columbia 42, Wyoming Area 0
Southern Columbia`0`21`21`0 — 42
Wyoming Area`0`0`0`0 — 0
Second quarter
SC — Gaige Garcia 3 run (Ethan Haupt kick), 11:04
SC — Gavin Garcia 23 run (Haupt kick), 6:32
SC — Gaige Garcia 49 pass from Preston Zachman (Haupt kick), 3:28
Third quarter
SC — Gavin Garcia 17 run (Haupt kick), 11:15
SC — Gavin Garcia 2 run (Haupt kick), 5:45
SC — Preston Zachman 51 interception return (Haupt kick), 4:50
Team statistics`SC`WA
First downs`16`9
Rushes-yards`28-273`30-46
Passing yards`131`96
Total yards`404`142
Passing`6-12-1`7-17-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`6-33
Punts-avg.`0-0`5-31.4
Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`1-10`4-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — SC, Gaige Garcia 8-70, Zachman 2-19, Gavin Garcia 7-108, Ty Roadarmel 3-59, Wes Barnes 2-0, Braden Heim 3-14, Mike Masala 2-3, Trevor Yorks 1-0. WA, Darren Rodney 5-(minus-4), Dominic DeLuca 14-18, Leo Haros 3-7, FJ Braccini 1-1, Colby Gashi 2-6, Richie Hyzinski 2-15, Vincenzo Giambra 2-5, team 2-(minus-2).
PASSING — SC, Zachman 6-12-1-131. WA, DeLuca 7-16-1-96, team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — SC, Julian Fleming 5-82, Gaige Garcia 1-49. WA, Derek Ambrosino 2-33, Brian Williams 3-26, Riley Ruzyn 2-37.
INTERCEPTIONS — SC, Zachman 1-51. WA, Williams 1-0.
MISSED FGs — WA, 45 S.
