BRETT R. CROSSLEY/Talk Williamsport
South Williamsport’s Ashton Martin bursts through the line for a gain against Hughesville. Martin will be a big part of the South Williamsport attack tonight against Loyalsock.
BRETT R. CROSSLEY/Talk Williamsport
Loyalsock’s Cole Cavanaugh will head the Lancers’ rushing attack tonight against 4-1 South Williamsport. Cavanaugh rushed for 150 yards against Hughesville in Loyalsock’s 35-14 win last week.
By BRETT R. CROSSLEY
It’s hard to image Friday will be the sixth week of the High School football season and we’re still in September.
Tonight will feature a “Black Moon”, meaning it will be the second time in the month the dark side of the moon will face the earth.
Take time to appreciate this now, because later tonight all attention will be focused on the field as South Williamsport travels to Loyalsock for a battle of 4-1 teams.
Connor Watkins was just a freshman in the 2015 when the two teams met. He still managed to pass for 168 yards on seven completions. He also threw a 33-yard touchdown to Christian Diggs.
Watkins was helped by a rushing attack that gashed the Mountaineers for 315 yards and seven touchdowns.
Cole Cavanaugh, who rushed for 150 yards in last Friday’s win over Hughesville, will likely head the running game this go around. Marcus Williams, always the duel threat, should be good for one or two highlight runs against a tough South Williamsport defense.
The last two meetings between the teams have been split. South Williamsport won the 2014 game 34-26. In 2015, at Loyalsock, the Lancers cruised to a 54-14 win.
Loyalsock scored on three of its final five possessions against Hughesville.
Watkins capped two drives with his arm and completed another with a 27-yard run.
On the opening drive of the second half, Watkins hit Marcus Williams for a 57-yard touchdown. He then threw a touchdown to Alec Little for the Lancers’ final points of the night.
Loyalsock has been led at times by Williams, who scored the final two touchdowns in overtime against Shamokin, Cavanaugh, and Watkins.
Canvaugh rushed for 150 yards against Hughesville’s stout defense, but it was Watkins who was responsible for two second half passing touchdowns and another rushing touchdown.
The Lancers have a lot of weapons and can hurt opposing teams in many different ways. They also have a defense that has given up just 27 points in the last three games.
Hunter Webb has led the way with 61 tackles, averaging 12.2 per game. Right behind Webb are Alden Mileto and Crae McCracken, who have both registered more than 50 tackles each.
Gideon Green and Ashton Martin will be the focus of Loyalsock’s defense.
Green was big in South Williamsport’s 49-13 win over Warrior Run last week.
Green is averaging 158.8 rushing yards per game and has scored eight touchdowns over that stretch. He is the unquestioned leader out of the backfield, but Martin, who is averaging 60.2 rushing yards per game, isn’t that far behind.
South Williamsport is a team that shutdown Hughesville’s passing attack, stomped out a 3-1 Warrior Run team and only fell at home to Danville, which is’ looking like that bad of a loss.
Manning the helm of the offense is A.J. Flick, who has completed 19 of his 44 attempts for 298 yards and four touchdowns. Flick is not asked to throw much, but when he does he limits turnovers, throwing for just one interception in five games.
Tonight’s game will feature two strong running attacks and two strong defenses. This is a heavyweight showdown in every sense of the word and should be a lot of fun to watch.
