At Memorial Stadium on Cottage Hill at Steelton-Highspire High School, the "high rolling" Rollers scored 41 straight points to end the season for the Tide in a 41-32 playoff loss.
This one was as different as say night and day or snow or rain.
Columbia dominated the first half of the game. The Rollers dominated the second half. As a result, the Rollers are moving onto a semifinal match-up against Reading Holy Name. The Tide season ended with a 4-7 record.
The four wins is the most for a Columbia football team in the last three years. Three years ago, the Tide went 3-8 and was an un-Columbia like 0-10 a year ago. Had it not been for a couple of tough section losses to Annville-Cleona and Northern Lebanon, the Tide probably would have won two more games.
Under first-year head coach Mike Burke III, the Tide took a big step toward restoring the pride, which had been missing the last two seasons. With a number of key skill people returning next season, the Tide is well suited to make a run at bigger and better things.
As stated early, Friday’s game was as different as night and day.
Columbia, who had lost its previous four playoff meetings to Steel-High was up to the challenge early.
On their second possession of the game after being pinned back at their own 9, the Tide moved early up field. Junior quarterback Tyler Harrison ran for 27 yards on the first two plays of the drive, then completed back-to-back passes to Michel Burke for 60 yards moving the ball to the Roller 11.
Three plays later, Harrison scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard sneak with 3:34 left. Columbia had the early 6-0 lead after missing its first PAT of the game.
After forcing the Rollers to punt, Columbia moved in for its second score. A 46-yard Harrison to Burke pass set up a 10-yard sprint to the end zone for Harrison. With 53 seconds left in the first quarter after missing their second PAT of the game, the Tide led 12-0.
On their first possession of the second quarter, the Tide used the run and pass to move in for their third score of the half. As a sign of how good things were for the Tide. Fullback Dominic Trout rumbled 15 yards with a pass after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage by the Rollers. It was te first of two such plays on the drive, which started at the Tide 1 and ended when Harrison found Burke behind the Roller secondary for a 40-yard score. After missing their third straight PAT, the Tide led 18-0.
But it wasn’t long before the Rollers kicked their offense into high gear. After falling behind, Clayton McNair, who was held to minus 13 yards on his first three carries, broke loose on a 27-yard run to put the Rollers on the board with 1:50 left in the first half.
Trailing now 18-7, Columbia moved in for another score, but a fourth down pass fell short at the Roller 35 with 22 seconds left on the half.
But Columbia got one more chance to score. Cain Warfel picked off a Roller pass with five seconds left, but the Tide didn’t score.
Yes, it looked good for the Tide at the half. They were moving the ball on offense and their defense was the big plays. A trip to the District Three semifinals was just 24 minutes away for the Tide.
But the start of the second half was not a good one for the Tie.
McNair, who found the going rough in the first half, got untracked in the second half.
On the Rollers’ first possession of the second half, he carried four times for 73 yards, including a 3-yard blast for a score with 10:31 left in the third quarter. His second score of the game pulled the Rollers within 18-14.
It still looked good for the Tide. They moved the ball to the Roller 34 before they fumbled, giving the Rollers new life. Steel-High as most good teams do, capitalized. Five plays after the fumble, McNair bounced in from the 4. The PAT gave the Rollers their first lead of the game, 21-18 with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, the Tide moved the ball again, moving to the Roller 45 before being forced to punt.
The punt pinned the Rollers back at their own 7.
The Rollers were now rolling and quickly moved up field, scoring with 7:12 left in the game on a 5-yard run by McNair and it just got worse for the Tide.
On their next possession, Harrison was picked off and that resulted in another McNair score and a 35-18 Roller lead with 6:47 left.
Harrison was again picked off on the Tide’s next possession, but the Rollers fumbled giving the ball back to the Tide at the 2. But for the third straight possession, Harrison was picked off by Jordan Millberry, who took the pick to the house, giving te Rollers a 41-18 lead with five minutes left.
The Tide was down but not out. DJ Wells pulled the Tide within two scores with a 37-yard run with 4:26 left. Again, the Tide botched the PAT and trailed 41-24.
After recovering the onsides kick, the Tide scored again, this time on a 50-yard pass from Harrison to John Markley. The Tide finally converted the two-point conversion and trailed 41-32.
But the Tide couldn’t recover their second onsides kick and the Rollers ran out the clock.
17 comments:
I understand the team had 4 more wins than last year ... but their schedule was weak. The only team in their section that had a winning season was Catholic. I am not a Catholic fan ... but I still think this team has a lot to work towards. We will see what the next years bring.
Are you proud to say they won only 4 games? You are right, they should have won more with the section being so weak.
I totally agree with the two previous comments. Why do you continue to make excuses for the lapes and letdowns the team has. From what I researched this was by far the weakest I have ever seen Section 3. With the offensive talent the team has they should have ran the tables with maybe Catholic being the only exception. That leads me to another point I want to bring up about a previous blog you wrote condeming the Columbia fans for not supporting the team at the Catholic game. I am an alumni of Columbia who greatly loves the school and town. I was forced to leave the area several years ago because of a job committment. Last year I had both the thrill and privlege of returning to our great town. I immediately started to pick up where I left off supporting the TIDE at football games. I have two grade school aged students. I brought them to the games for what I thought would be a great night of family fun as well as handing off the Tide Pride to the next generation. After what I witnessed coming from our home stands last season I will never attend another game. I still love the TIDE and will continue to follow them, but I would not subject my family to what I witnessed. Fans (or so called fans) standing and shouting
at and team and coaching staff. Where were the administration when all of this was going on. I was appaalled to see our school board president sitting in the stands and allowing this to go on. Perhaps if we all do a little soul searching could our so called fans have contributed to the 0-10 season. I always thought fans were there to support our athletes. Just a thought. I for one thought these performances were a total embarrasment to the school district as well as the town. As the father of two young sons I will never subject them to anything like this again. Perhaps other share my feelings and that's why
they chose not to attend the games.
trying to stop a runaway train isn't an easy thing and takes time, for a team that had no motivation in past years because of lack of coaching and preparation to win more games then the previous 2 years combine is great. Everyone knows the team should have had a much better record, but the kids were not used to 1. playing with a lead or 2. having confidence from their coaches that they can play above their ability and go toe to toe with other teams. Thanks for supporting and being happy for your own towns team!
Some thoughts. Columbia did not play in a weak section. Also, Columbia plays a very tough pre-season schedule. Columbia could have easily gone 7-3 had it not been for the tough competition they faced in the pre-season. Boiling Springs, Daniel Boone, Northeastern,...these are not pansy schools they played. I agree they should have beaten some section teams. (Note to Coach Burke: Please make an effort to find someone who can kick. Please put aside the assumption that a kicker is a minor role on the team. There are kids in the school who are not physically built to play football but who can kick the heck out of a ball if given the chance. Go out and find them and try them out, you actually might find a kicker. Those extra points mean something.) As for the Steel High game. What the heck happened. It seemed the game plan for the second half was entirely different from the first half. It seemed as if Burke was being used only as a decoy in the second half even though SH could not stop him in the first half. If something works, stay with it. Don’t over coach. All in all, there was a lot to build on from this season. I see good things in the future. Hat’s off to the team and the coaching staff. Keep up the good work.
Could previous comments be a disgruntled relation to the ex coach?! Sounds to me that even if their record was 10 and 0, fault still would have been found due to lack of strength of schedule? Anyone that was close to the team knows the majority of the kids actually began to believe they COULD win a game but it took a while to change their beaten-down mentality after the past two years. Some of us are proud of the TIDE for the competitive year they gave us so we look forward to even more improvement next year. They need positive comments so keep your usual negativity to yourself. Negativity breeds negativity....the last two years were evidence of that!
Completely agree that in the previous years recently, fans have been brutal. It is disgusting sometimes what is being said. Seems the past few years have been the worst and mostly at football games. That being said, who knows if this was frustration due to the cumulative effect of poor leadership skills displayed by the previous coaching staff. The administration should monitor fans better and the asst principal was seen many times so maybe things will take a turn for the better. As for the game at SH, keep in mind it looked like Burke was sidelined for much of the 3rd quarter for cramping, starting RB was out the whole game, we couldn't make a PAT if lives depended on it and Columbia has struggled all season when the momentum turned.
It all starts at home. If there are no support systems at home ... they can't take it to the field. I give props to any coach that would want to step up to this challenge. You cant make football players out of kids that dont want to play. This has been evident.
Could be commments from supporters of the previous coaching staff - but maybe the other comments are from people related to the Burkes. Either way ... who cares! I have lived in Columbia for most of my life ... and there are plenty of people not happy about the Burkes taking over. No one will ever be happy. We'll see what happens in the off season and the coming years. The proof is in the pudding!
This is true to a degree but sometimes sports allow kids to have an outlet in life to feel successes they aren't getting at home. Sports teach life lessons not just how to catch a ball. I would surmise that every kid on that team feels different today then they did at this time last year. They got a taste of success and hopefully learned that discipline and hard work do pay off. No doubt about it, kids are a different breed nowadays. Its time parents empower their kids to strive to be more than they themselves are and then and only then will society be a better place, not just CHS. This is society's problem and its evident in every walk of life and every school around.
Looks like it's the prior coaching staff vs. The Burkes ... it's about the kids though, right?! This whole town is a political mess!
I think some of these comments are from people with ties to the old coaching staff. When a beaten dog is finally given a loving home, it takes awhile for the dog to actually think it's in a loving environment. These kids were belittled by their previous coaches and the work ethic mirrored the attitude of their head coach, lazy. The kids looked like they did finally believe they could actually win games and that after years of being told they were terrible, they got some self confidence back. As for the three section games they lost, the NL game the kids came out not wanting to play the first half but still should've won, and its hard to beat a team (AC) when you have 6 fumbles from kids running for tough yardage.
Wow! What comments, people just look at yourselves. You should all be ashamed. Apparantly Columbia took a change for the worse while I was away. This is definitely not the town that I grew up in. How does this support our athletes and students. I don't get it. From the sounds of it maybe the school board should have gotten rid of the coaching staff two years ago after their first (rookie) season and not given them a second season.
I find it interesting how anyone can take a side on “new coaches” vs “old coaches” since they are basically one in the same. MBIII is now head coach, but was the defensive coordinator for the “old coaches” so is he new or old? If you forget, most of the “old coaches” were on staff when Coach Burke II, now offensive coordinator, was head coach. So where is this divide that a lot of you want to create? There were no “new” coaches this year, simply different positions for those who were involved in the program before.
Bottom line is coaches “new” and “old” have given a lot of time to try to help our players become the best players and men they could be. It was well stated in previous posts that the fan support of the players and coaches makes all the difference. The key to Tide football rising above has always been the support of the community. Unfortunately the lack of support has also had the same effect.
How can you expect a team to be successful if “fans” and parents are telling the players not to listen to their coaches? In the team game of football it only takes a few players to get this negative message to ruin an entire team and season. Barry has done a great job this year of keeping things positive and the results speak for themselves. Look back to the previous two years and the lack of this kind of support, and again the results speak for themselves. If you recall the “old coaches” were quite successful up until two years ago. If you are looking for someone to blame, just see whether the things you were saying over the past three years were positive or negative.
If you want a successful program, then support the players and coaches who are working hard to be successful. If you think negative comments about players and coaches at home, from the stands, or on a blog is a way of helping, then you are completely wrong and really YOU are the problem. If our community supports our team, then the Tide will rise to this support. It is just a shame that community negativity has ruined our past three years of football. I look forward to the things that an undefeated jr. high team can do as seniors next season if they actually have the support of their community.
If you moved away, what would ever bring you back? The great school system? The many jobs? The great reputation, the low property taxes, all the trasplants that have relocated here and make our town a better place than 25 yrs ago? Its not like it used to be. Let's hope the Turkey Hill experience will be the biggest improvent we have seen in ages. As for the coaching issues, no matter who coaches, you will always have kids that come and go, dedicated ones and the lack of. And the administration made a decision to make a coaching change. Thankfully people like the Burkes and their staff still care enough to give their time. There will always be haters. But I would be curious to know what the players thought of their season as compared to previous years? That would be the real answer. Discipline and mutual respect go a long way with teenagers nowadays and I for one think it was lacking before. You get what you give. Let's let the season go down in the books and wait for next year. I am sure the upcoming team and coaches appreciate all the critiquing. Instead of griping and finding fault, why don't you volunteer your time and help to make the future of all our sports teams successful?
Wow is right! Let me weigh in here. First, to the relocating parent..I beg to differ that the town was much different than when you lived here. I've been here over 50+ years and there has always been a few loud mouths that never seem to agree with anything. I would ask you not to become one of them and give up. Change is usually not without controversy, so we need your help, not your judgement! You sound exactly like the type of parent we need more of, those that care! Can we count on you for that?
To clear up some other misconceptions..the school board doesn't "fire" coaches. All coaches have a one year contract. At the end of each season, they sit down with the AD to reveiw their past years accomplishments or issues. Usually a coach not coming back is a result of an agreement between the AD and coach. Even if they don't agree, the AD decides who comes back and who don't based on whatever information and feedback he has at his disposal. The AD then presents all the coaches for that season that are coming back and leaves off those that are not. The board simply approves or disapproves that list. That said, it doesn't mean the AD goes for a once and done season, afterall, last I looked Jerry Jones or George Steinbrenner wasn't the AD's name!
I was at attendance at the SH game. It was a game of halves. If you watched the Penn State game you saw the same thing happen to them as to what happened to the tide. I don't think the players or the coaches tried any less than 100%, SH simply woke up, much like OSU did. As to whether they shoulda, coulda, or woulda in the rest of season..it went as it did. All you can do is learn and move on. I personally like the future of the program with what I see coming up through the ranks and what we have coming back next year. So whether you love or hate the Burkes, the Shoff's, or the Yohe's of the world, support the kids, they are the future of Columbia unless we give them reason to leave. Most of the same kids will be playing basketball, wrestling, or cheering this coming season..get out and support them, win or lose! Have a fantastic day!
Amen. We should ALL support ALL our children and the sports they participate in...Parents, it's your responsibility to instill in your children a moral code - respect for others, don't quit, stand up for the underdog and NEVER FORGET - GIVE THEM ALL THE LOVE YOU CAN....(you never kknow what's in store for tomorrow-live EACH and every day as it's your last - NO REGRETS!)
Go tide go...Love all you guys. You're ALL awesome and we are proud of everyone of you!!!
Post a Comment