Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Columbia football notebook


Offensive heros
There were many for the Crimson Tide. But let's start with the offensive line led by senior Ben Hank,who allowed the Tide to 273 yards on the ground and another 175 through the air. Other members were Dion Matthews, John Bosley, Bryan Flory and Vanyel Peterson.
Seth Lefever rushed for 154 yards,with 144 of those yards as quarterback. He also caught one pass for a score, added a one-point conversion, a two-point conversion and rushed for another.
Michael Burke caught six passes for 126 yards and two scores. Like Lefever, Burke also rushed for a score and added a two-point conversion.
Andrew Combs was steady with 77 yards on 14 carries and score.

On the other side
The Tide allowed the Knights, 133 yards on the ground and 75 through the air. Eastern had two big plays in the game, a 46-yard run and a 52-yard pass that both went for scores.
Tackle chart leaders were Flory with 13 stops, including two for losses and Matthews with nine, including two sacks.
Will Kreiser, with a fumble recovery and Daeshawn McIllwain with a pick, had the turnovers.

Odds and ends
Columbia was flagged five times for 45 yards. There was a female official used in the game in the critical position of umpire. The Knights were flagged eight times for 50 yards. The only area of advantage for the Knights was in the kick return area.
Columbia had scoring drives of 1, 2, 3, 11 and 12 plays. The Knights had drives of 7, 9 and 11 where they didn't score.
The game marked the debut of Richard Brubaker as Eastern coach. He replaced Jeff Shutter.


Opening "K"night success

EDITOR'S NOTE: I had written this on Saturday, but saved it in another file and forgot to post it.

 The high school football season opened on Mount Pisgah for the Columbia Crimson Tide football teamagainst their cross-river rival, Eastern York.
photos by Pat Kreider-Bach
Under the bright lights of one local television station and the illumination of the stadium lights peering off the mountain, the Tide for the second straight season beat the Golden Knights, 36-13 in the season opener before a large crowd.
On this night, the Tide unveiled its “pistol” offense, designed to spread teams out and utilize some of the top skill people in the L-L League, but in the end, it was a “turn back” to the running days of the 1960s and 70s that helped the Tide pull out the win.
Early on, the Tide and its fans got to see the full effect of the pistol attack.
After forcing the Golden Knights to a “three and out” on the first possession of the season/game, the Tide came out firing with all its pistol bullets. Tyler Harrison hit passes to Will Kreiser, Michael Burke and Seth Lefever, while on the ground, Harrison and Andrew Combs picked up big chunks of yards. An 11-play, 67-yard drive was completed when Combs rumbled in from the 5, with 5:34 left in the opening quarter.
And it didn't take too long for the Tide to go up two scores. On their next possession, the Tide on a quick pitch and catch from Harrison to Burke, covering 75 yards gave the Tide a 13-0 lead, still in the first quarter of the game.
But something happened during those first two possessions that could have a long lasting affect on the Tide's season. Harrison suffered a leg injury and was unable to push off his leg. The seriousness of the injury was not known until later, a fractured fibula, but Harrison, who completed his first six passes, continued in the game until late in the first half.
And because the Tide's pistol wasn't firing on all bullets, their offense slowed on their next two possessions, both punts. The second punt led to the Knights' first score of the as Alex Cooley sprinted 46 yards up the gut for a score. With just over six minutes left in the first half, the Tide led just 13-7.
But on the next two possessions, the two teams traded picks. Harrison was picked by Spenser Yost, while Daeshawn McIllwain picked off Chase Beaverson.
And that's when the Tide went old school, in terms of offense. Lefever, who last quarterbacked regularly as a sophomore, took over the pistol attack. Lefever's first play as quarterback ended with an 89-yard jaunt to the end zone and the Tide following a Burke to Lefever two-point conversion, led 21-7.
The third quarter was not a good one for the Tide. They went “three and out” and the Knights began a long drive at the 2. Fourteen plays later, the Knights at the Tide 41 fumbled the ball, which Kreiser pounced on. The Knights had the ball for more than 10 minutes in the quarter and had nothing to show for it.
High Tide the rolled on. Combs broke off a 40-yard run, which led to a 7-yard run to the end zone by Burke. Nine seconds into the fourth quarter, Columbia was well in front, 28-7.
But two plays later, the Knights scored on a long pass play to pull within two scores.
It was up to the Knights to stop the Tide and they couldn't. A 12-play drive ended with just the second pass of the second half as Lefever found Burke for a 12-yard score.


Columbia Talk Live Chat

Let's try this again. A second Columbia Talk "Live Chat" will be held tomorrow night, Wednesday, Sept. 7, starting at 7 p.m.
<iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3f2fee0535/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3f2fee0535" >Columbia Talk Wednesday Chat</a></iframe>

Something to think about

Got this link in an email this afternoon and tend to agree with it: http://fingerfood.typepad.com/finger-food/2011/09/the-forgotten-hero-of-the-champion-cubs-columbia-pa.html#more

Upcoming events

Here are a list of upcoming events in our town through Sunday.
If you have any events, send me an email and I will post them, free of charge.
Friday night will be a special night  on the hill, when the fourth class  of inductees into the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame is honored.
The inductees will be honored at a reception, starting at 5 p.m., in the high school cafeteria followed by the induction at halftime of the Tide's home opener with Northeastern.
Leading the way is the undefeated 1970 football team, known by many as the Big  Red Machine, along with Donald Schoelkopf, Aaron Anspach, Glenn VonStetten and Lamar Kauffman.

Saturday, the Columbia wrestling team is hold a chicken barbecue at Scott's Automotive,12th Street and Lancaster Avenue. Across the street at Glatfelter Field, as part of a Day of Caring, a number of community groups will participate in a clean up.

Also Saturday, the Columbia Football Booster Club will host a Night of Comedy at the Susquehanna Fire Company.

Saturday morning, three Columbia Churches will host a yard sale in the 500 and 600 blocks  of Walnut Street.

Sunday morning, the Columbia Community will come together to observe the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a service in the Locust Street Park at 9 a.m.