the panel

The Daily Item’s Fearless Forecasters’ picks:

the games

THE fEarlEss forEcasT

RecoRds

Michigan (8-2) at Penn State (7-3) (Saturday)

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Bucknell

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Penn State

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Michigan

Colgate

Bucknell (4-6) at Colgate (6-4) (Saturday)

Memphis(8-2) at Temple (8-2) (Saturday)

Temple

Pitt

Temple

Pitt

Temple

Pitt

Temple

Pitt

Temple

Louisville

Temple

Pitt

Memphis

Louisville

Memphis

Pitt

Memphis

Louisville

Temple

Pitt

Temple

Pitt

Louisville (6-4) at Pitt (7-3) (Saturday)

Southern Southern Southern Hughesville Southern Southern Southern Southern Southern Southern Southern

Hughesville (9-2) at Southern Col. (11-0) (Friday)

Montoursville (8-3) at Athens (10-1) (Friday)

Montours.

S. Haven

Montours.

Bloomsburg

Montours.

S. Haven

Montours.

S. Haven

Montours.

S. Haven

Montours.

S. Haven

Athens

S. Haven

Athens

S. Haven

Montours.

S. Haven

Athens

S. Haven

Montours.

S. Haven

Bloomsburg(5-6) at Schuylkill Haven (6-5) (Friday)

2 GAME NIGHT MAGAZINE/The Daily Item/The Danville News Thursday, November 19, 2015

Last wk: 6-3Year: 73-26Pct.: .737

Last wk: 5-4Year: 75-23Pct.: .768

Last wk: 5-4Year: 74-25Pct.: .747

Last wk: 4-5Year: 71-28Pct.: .717

Last wk: 4-5Year: 74-25Pct.: .747

Last wk: 4-5Year: 71-28Pct.: .717

Last wk: 6-3Year: 79-20Pct.: .798

Last wk: 6-3Year: 77-22Pct.: .778

Last wk: 6-3Year: 78-21Pct.: .788

Last wk: 6-3Year: 65-34Pct.: .657

Last wk: 6-3Year: 76-23Pct.: .768

Jersey Shore (9-2) at Selinsgrove (10-1) (Friday)

Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove Selinsgrove

North Penn North Penn Wellsboro Wellsboro North Penn Wellsboro Wellsboro Wellsboro Wellsboro Wellsboro Wellsboro

North Penn (6-5) at Wellsboro (9-2) (Friday)

Join us before the game for a terrific Friday night dinner & drink specials and plenty of team spirit.

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Game NightWhat: Friday 7 p.m.Where: Harold L. Bolig Memorial FieldLast meeting: Selinsgrove won, 28-21 in the 2015 regular seasonRadio: Eagle 107.3-FM, 6 p.m.JERSEY SHORE BULLDOGS (9-2)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr14 Cole Eiswerth 6-2 170 WR Sr.62 Lane Reighard 6-1 232 T Sr.61 Cameron Boughter 6-3 237 G Sr.79 Ethan Kutza 6-2 255 C Sr.75 Isaac Stetts 6-3 246 G Sr.73 Cody Crowley 6-2 210 T Sr.15 Tyler Smith 6-2 201 TE Jr. 7 Travis Bradley 6-1 195 QB Sr.31 Bryce Charles 6-1 245 FB Sr.24 Levi Lorson 5-9 193 TB Sr. 3 Todd Sanford 5-9 155 WR Sr. 5 Cam Griffin 5-1 125 K Fr.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr75 Isaac Stetts 6-3 246 DE Sr.79 Ethan Kutza 6-2 255 DT Sr.61 Cameron Boughter 6-3 237 NG Sr.31 Bryce Charles 6-1 245 DT Sr.45 Seth Young 6-0 172 DE Sr.24 Levi Lorson 5-9 193 LB Sr.55 Nate Lose 5-11 195 LB Sr.23 Austin Bouse 5-10 162 CB Sr. 7 Travis Bradley 6-1 195 S Sr.32 Jarett Guthrie 6-0 186 S Jr.21 Kevin Titus 6-1 165 C B So.2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/Resultat Bellefonte W, 14-6Shikellamy W, 42-28Athens W, 28-7at Montoursville L, 42-25at Mifflinburg W, 45-14Shamokin W. 28-7Milton W, 56-0at Selinsgrove L, 42-10at Bald Eagle Area W, 56-0Central Mountain W, 50-13District 4 Class AAA playoffsShikellamy W, 41-13at Selinsgrove Friday

SELINSGROVE SEALS (10-1)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr 8 Colin Hoke 5-11 185 WR Sr.68 Jacob Strickler 6-3 246 LT Sr.54 Cross Krantz 5-9 215 LG Jr.59 Jack Gaugler 6-0 242 C Sr.72 Ryan Hoke 5-11 205 RG Sr.75 Keith Dreese 6-2 252 RT So.22 Joey Radel 5-11 180 TE Sr.18 Logan Leiby 6-0 180 QB So. 9 Ethan Trautman 5-11 185 FB Sr. 1 Juvon Batts 5-9 184 HB Sr.11 Nick Swineford 6-0 180 WR Sr.22 Joey Radel 5-11 180 K Sr.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr77 Andrew Boob 5-11 220 DT Sr.61 Christian Perieira-Muniz 5-11 213 NG Sr.68 Jacob Strickler 6-3 246 DT Sr.9 Ethan Trautman 5-11 185 OLB Sr.12 Tony Dressler 6-1 200 LB So.67 Aaron Boob 5-9 210 ILB Sr.59 Jack Gaugler 6-0 242 ILB Sr. 5 David Klinger 5-10 200 OLB Sr.11 Nick Swineford 6-0 180 CB Sr.23 Garrett Campbell 5-10 180 S Jr.26 Cole Schenck 5-11 165 CB Sr.2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/Resultat Central Columbia W, 38-7Mount Carmel W, 14-7Shikellamy W, 45-9at Shamokin W, 52-7at Berwick W, 17-14Mifflinburg W, 54-26at Montoursville W, 30-24Jersey Shore W, 42-10at Milton W, 55-13Southern Columbia L, 21-14District 4 Class AAA SemifinalCMVT W, 62-8Jersey Shore Friday

By Chris NagyThe Daily Item

SELINSGROVE — To nobody’s surprise, the Dis-trict 4 Class AAA champi-onship comes down to Jer-sey Shore and Selinsgrove.

The two teams will meet again Friday for the third straight year for the district title and a spot in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.

This year’s edition of this modern-day grudge match will be at 7 p.m. at Harold L. Bolig Memorial Field.

Jersey Shore won the title in 2013 and Selinsgrove re-turned the favor with a 6-2 win last season. The Seals got the best of Shore (9-2) in Week 8 by the score of 42-10.

Jersey Shore won 20-16 in the 2013 game, which was played in Selinsgrove.

To say these two teams have built up a rivalry over the years would be an un-derstatement.

Selinsgrove (10-1) comes into the game off of a very

convincing 62-8 win over CMVT in the district semi-finals.

The Seals offense this year has been led by tailback Ju-von Batts. The senior has 1,400 yards in just nine games and has 15 touch-downs. Only twice in those nine games has he failed to go over 100 yards rushing.

But as most teams have focused on Batts, the Seals passing game has come along and has been impres-sive.

Sophomore Logan Leiby has thrown for 1,566 yards and 20 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 11 times and that is a concern for the Seals going into the district championship game, be-cause the team that holds onto the ball usually wins the big games.

Leiby has a pair of 500-yard receivers to throw to in Colin Hoke and Nick Swineford. Batts has also been very dangerous out of the backfield with 200 yards receiving.

And if Batts is not dan-gerous enough on offense, he has been near deadly on special teams and has one touchdown.

Jersey Shore walks onto the turf at Selinsgrove com-ing off a big 41-13 win against Shikellamy last week in the district semifinals.

The Bulldogs also have a big-name back in which they rely on just like the Seals. Senior Levi Lorson has 2,158 yards on the sea-son, along with 23 trips to the end zone. Selinsgrove is just one of two teams to hold Lorson under 100 yards in a game this season, though.

Quarterback Travis Brad-ley gives the Bulldogs a dual threat under center. The senior has thrown for 1,100 yards and rushed for 250 this season. He has thrown 13 touchdowns, but has been intercepted 13 times.

Todd Sanford leads the Bulldogs receiving corps with more than 500 yards, while Cole Eisworth and Kevin Titus have been Brad-ley’s other top targets this year in the passing game.

n Email comments to sports@dailyitem.com. Follow Nagy on twitter @csn1972.

Seals, ’Dawgs battle againn jersey shore aT seliNsgrove

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Game NightWhat: Friday 7 p.m.Where: Tigers StadiumLast meeting: Southern Columbia won, 38-14 in the 2007 regular seasonInternet: blackdiamondsports.netSOUTHERN COLUMBIA TIGERS(9-0)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr31 Steve Toczylousky 6-2 195 SE Sr.76 Aaron Kroh 6-2 230 LT Sr.53 Andrew Bell 5-10 225 LG So.63 Dale Houser 5-9 225 C Sr.52 Gabe Delbo 5-11 240 RG Sr.62 Oak Six 6-1 245 RT Fr.33 Garrett Henry 6-1 185 TE Jr.14 Nick Becker 6-3 190 QB Sr.43 Jarred Torres 5-11 230 FB Sr.23 Blake Marks 5-11 170 HB Jr.26 Hunter Thomas 5-10 185 HB Jr.13 Tyler Keiser 6-1 165 K Sr.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr90 Chase Tillet 6-0 220 DE Sr.59 Nick Freeman 6-1 270 DT Fr.71 Chris Grosch 6-2 300 DT Sr.52 Gabe Delbo 5-11 240 DE Sr. 23 Blake Marks 5-11 170 LB Jr.66 Austin Knepp 5-7 210 LB Sr.42 Matt Bell 6-1 190 ILB Sr.32 Jacob Potter 5-10 175 LB Sr.1 Cameron Young 5-7 135 SE Jr.31 Steve Toczylousky 6-2 195 SE Sr.28 Billy Marzeski 5-10 175 CB Sr.14 Nick Becker 6-3 190 P Sr.2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/ResultMifflinburg W, 49-21at Bloomsburg W, 56-19at Shamokin W, 49-27Danville W, 42-14Central Columbia W, 40-0Mount Carmel W, 42-0Warrior Run W, 56-7at Lewisburg W, 49-24at Central Mountain W, 62-7at Selinsgrove FridayDistrict 4 playoffsTroy W, 42-22Hughesville Friday

HUGHESVILLE SPARTANS (9-2)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr11 Landon Henry 5-10 165 Qb Jr.21 Melvin Derhammer 5-8 185 RB Jr. 8 Trey Smith 5-10 190 WR Sr.48 Alex Welch 6-2 205 TE Sr.70 Josh Dauberman 6-4 275 T Jr.72 Mike Karschner 5-10 225 G Sr.58 Gabe Davidson 6-3 265 C Sr.69 Carter Ohnmeiss 5-9 170 G Sr.78 Brad Beaver 6-1 260 T So.13 Ethan Duff 6-1 205 TE Sr.19 Zach Fry 5-9 170 WR Sr.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr13 Ethan Duff 6-1 205 DE Sr.54 Luther Lozano 5-10 245 DT Sr.70 Josh Dauberman 6-4 275 DT Jr. 7 Adam Warburton 6-1 190 DE Sr.48 Alex Welch 6-2 205 LB Sr.21 Melvin Derhammer 5-8 185 LB Jr.62 Dale Shrawder 6-0 180 LB So.35 Nate Hampton 5-8 150 CB Sr. 8 Trey Smith 5-10 190 SS Sr. 2 Patrick Rogers 6-1 165 FS So.32 Malachi Savage 5-10 165 CB Jr.2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/ResultEast Juniata W, 55-21at Athens L, 41-20Montgomery W, 67-7at Towanda W, 35-21Warrior Run W, 21-0S. Williamsport W, 41-21at Loyalsock L, 14-0at Bloomsburg W, 48-13at Montoursville W, 28-21Muncy W,31-0District 4 Class A playoffsat Loyalsock W, 24-14at Southern Columbia Friday

By Chris NagyThe Daily Item

CATAWISSA — Jim Roth has prepared his team for many challenges in all of his years of coaching.

But even for the veteran head coach, Friday night’s game presents a very unique one for him and his Tigers.

Undefeated and top-ranked Southern Columbia (11-0) will host fifth-seeded Hughesville (9-2) at Tigers Stadium in the District 4 Class AA semifinal.

“Hughesville presents a good challenge for us,” said Roth. “They are as good as anybody left in the Class AA field.”

But it’s an intangible that worries Roth the most — confidence.

“Two years ago they were 1-9 and now they are 9-2 and in the district semifi-nals,” he said. “They have big wins over Montoursville and Loyalsock and right now they are playing better than anybody out there.

“They have a lot of confi-dence and are truly playing their best football.”

The 2015 version of the Spartans is a lot different than the Hughesville teams Southern used to play in the past.

“They are so unlike the old Hughesville teams that used to be run heavy,” said Roth. “This is a different team.”

And one of the rea-sons they are so different

is because of quarterback Landon Henry.

The junior has thrown for 1,931 yards and 25 touch-downs. He also has 252 yards on the ground, add-ing another wrinkle to his game.

“They throw the ball ex-tremely well,” said Roth. “And it always makes it more difficult when you have a quarterback that can run the ball, and he can.”

Henry’s favorite targets have been speedy senior Zach Fry, who has 954 yards on the season, and Trey Smith, a senior who has 557 yards.

But don’t think all the Spartans do is throw the ball.

“They are really bal-anced,” said Roth. “They also have four backs that have more than 200 yards this season and they are very physical up front on both sides of the ball.

“They might have one of the biggest and strongest front seven we have seen all season on defense,” Roth

added. “They have good size. This is a defi-nitely a team that will be a chal-lenge for us.”

As for the Ti-gers, they just keep rolling along.

Southern fea-tures a pair of backs in Hunter Thomas and Blake Marks, both of whom have more than 800 yards this season on the ground and have combined for 30 touchdowns.

Senior quarter-back Nick Becker has thrown for more than 1,200 yards this season. Marks, Thomas,

Steve Toczylousky and Cam Young are all top targets.

The Southern defense has forced 30 turnovers this sea-son and that could be key in a playoff game featuring two teams that are evenly matched.

n Email comments to sports@dailyitem.com. Follow Nagy on Twitter @csn1972.

Spartans present plenty of challengesn hughesville aT souTherN ColumBia

Robert Inglis/The Daily Item

Southern Columbia’s Steve Toczylousky hauls in a pass for posi-tive yards during a game earlier this season at Shamokin.

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Game Night

By Travis JohnsonThe Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State players call it “The Grind.” Their coaches see this stretch of the season as the toughest, too, but not for the physical toll.

Starting in late October, Penn State coach James Franklin began dialing back his team’s practices. Physi-cal periods were shortened, replaced by longer film ses-sions and nuanced squad meetings. But with a bye week behind them, the Nit-tany Lions are coming off their lightest week yet, des-perate to return to form with possibly their biggest test looming against No. 14 Michigan.

For a team that’s relied on solid-to-great defensive ef-forts to buy time for a devel-oping offense that is hit or miss week to week, time off isn’t ideal.

Franklin would’ve put his players through the ringer following their sleepy per-formance and loss to North-western on Nov. 7. Instead, he gave them last weekend off, hoping a team that’s struggled to put complete games together all season just needed some time to unwind.

But recent history shows rest doesn’t always lead to success. Penn State is 0-4 after bye weeks the last two seasons and Franklin will wonder until kickoff if his team has had enough reps lately.

“As a coach you want to run as many plays, full speed,” Franklin said. “There’s a part of you that thinks that’s the right thing to do. And then there’s the part of you that’s look-ing down the table at your trainer and what he thinks we should be doing.”

That rest has helped the offensive players.

Guard Angelo Mangiro and tackle Andrew Nelson have both missed games with foot and knee injuries while quarterback Christian Hackenberg developed a no-ticeable limp in each of the past three games after being knocked around.

The combined effects of the hits appeared to wear on the quarterback, who’s been sacked 76 times in the last 23 games.

Hackenberg got off to his worst start of the season against the Wildcats and Penn State’s offense never really got going until it was too late. Running back Sa-quon Barkley found room to run in the fourth quarter and churned out 80 of his 120 rushing yards on two drives and scored the go-ahead touchdown.

That production came with Barkley still on the mend, too. The freshman suffered a left ankle injury in Week 4 that forced him to miss two games and Franklin said it was noticeable that Barkley

wasn’t 100 percent since his return.

While Hackenberg re-treated to his hometown, Palmyra, Virginia, to spend the weekend with his parents, Barkley stayed off his feet, too. He figures to see a simi-lar workload like the 20-or-more carries he’s had in each of the past three games.

“Each week he gets more confident in his protec-tions,” Franklin said. “Each week he gets more confident in his ability to carry the ball at critical times.”

Barkley will get carries against a defense that’s struggled lately. While the

Wolverines rank near the top in every major defensive statistical category, they’ve allowed 1,213 yards of of-fense with 579 of them to opposing rushers the last three games.

Hackenberg says he has an idea how Penn State can avoid a slow start. The Nit-tany Lions need to lean on their running game in what suddenly appears to be a fa-vorable matchup.

Getting Barkley involved in the passing game will be a focus, too.

“He’s done a great job in our screen game,” Hacken-berg said.

Lions hope time off helpsn michigaN aT peNN sTaTeWhat: Saturday 12 p.m.

Where: Beaver StadiumRadio: AM 1070, 10:30 a.m.TV: ABC

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (7-3)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr12 Chris Godwin 6-1 208 WR So.7 Geno Lewis 6-1 205 WR Sr.88 Mike Gesicki 6-6 255 TE So.73 Paris Palmer 6-7 302 LT Jr.70 Brendan Mahon 6-4 318 LG Jr.66 Angelo Mangiro 6-3 321 C Sr.72 Brian Gala 6-3 304 RG Sr.59 Andrew Nelso 6-6 302 RT Jr.5 DaeSean Hamilton 6-1 206 WR Jr.14 Christian Hackenberg 6-4 228 QB Jr.22 Akeel Lynch 5-11 220 RB Sr.34 Dom Salomone 5-10 242 Sr.99 Joey Julius 5-10 259 K So.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr95 Carl Nassib 6-7 272 De Sr.98 Anthony Zettel 6-4 284 DT Sr.99 Austin Johnson 6-4 323 DT Sr.90 Garnett Sickels 6-4 258 DE Jr.11 Brandon Bell 6-1 231 SLB Jr.40 Jason Cabinda 6-1 245 MLB So.42 Troy Reeder 6-1 241 WLb So.15 Grant Haley 5-9 189 CB So.2 Marcus Allen 6-2 209 FS So.9 Jordan Lucas 6-0 193 SS Sr.10 Trevor Williams 6-0 200 CB Sr.

2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/Resultat Temple L, 27-10Buffalo W, 27-14Rutgers W, 28-3San Diego State W, 37-21Army West Point W, 20-14Indiana W, 29-7at Ohio State L, 38-10at Maryland W, 31-30Illinois W, 39-0at Northwestern L, 23-21Michigan Saturdayat Michigan State Nov. 28

MICHIGAN WOLVERIENES (8-2)OFFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr82 Amara Darboh 6-2 215 WR Sr.52 Mason Cole 6-5 305 LT So.71 Ben Braden 6-6 322 LG Sr.61 Graham Glasgow 6-6 301 C Sr.67 Kyle Kalis 6-5 305 RG Sr.78 Erik Mangnuson 6-6 305 RT Sr.88 Jake Butt 6-6 250 TE Jr.86 Jehu Chesson 6-3 200 WR Sr.15 Jake Rudock 6-3 203 QB Sr.36 Joe Kerridge 6-0 248 FB Sr.4 De’Veon Smith 5-11 228 4 Jr.DEFENSENo Player Ht Wt Pos Yr69 Willie Henry 6-3 307 DE Sr.73 Maurice Hurst 6-2 282 NT Jr.43 Chris Wormley 6-5 303 DT Sr.52 Royce Jenkins-Stone 6-2 245 LB Sr. 3 Desmond Morgan 6-1 244 ILB Sr.35 Joe Bolden 6-3 237 ILB Sr.15 James Ross 6-1 241 OLB Sr.26 Jourdan Lewis 5-10 175 CB Jr.22 Jarrod Wilson 6-2 210 FS Sr. 5 Jabirll Peppers 6-1 208 SS So. 8 Channing Stribling 6-2 181 Cb Jr.

2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/Resultat Utah L, 24-17Oregon State W, 35-7UNLV W, 28-7#22 BYU W, 31-0at Maryland W, 28-0#13 Northwestern W, 38-0#7 Michigan State L, 27-23at Minnesota W, 29-26Rutgers W, 49-16at Indiana W, 48-41 (2 OT)at Penn State Saturdayvs. Ohio State Nov. 28

The Associated Press

Penn State quarterback Tommy Stevens throws during practice Wednesday.

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Double trouble

By Josh FunkFor The Daily Item

CATAWISSA — You’ve read the stories of Southern Columbia’s perennial domi-nance of District 4 football. Of its gaudy statistics. Of its six PIAA titles.

What you might not have heard, though, is how mul-

tidimensional the Tigers’ wing-T base offense actually is, and how it can shift in focal points from season to season.

“We brought the wing-T here in 1985 because my alma mater (Shikellamy) ran it and Susquehanna University ran it under

Rocky Reese,” said 33-year veteran head coach Jim Roth. “I think it’s a great high school system because it allows the chance to high-light different athletes with different skill sets well.”

That’s been the case at Southern, which has seen offenses feature dual-threat

quarterbacks like Matt Kaskie, lethal play-action passing attacks under Dan Latorre, and bruising full-backs like Henry Hynoski and Adam Feudale.

SLIGHT CHANGEUP: The 2015 edition of the Ti-gers, 11-0, are a little bit dif-

ferent than those names of the past. Its key focal points are a pair of halfbacks, se-nior Blake Marks and junior Hunter Thomas.

“We have a true two-halfback system,” Roth said. “We’re a more halfback oriented team this year. You look at those two guys and

Fully healthy, Thomas and Marks driving Tigers in the playoffs

Daily Item file photo

Southern Columbia’s Hunter Thomas has run for 925 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2015.

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Cover Story

they have similar produc-tion because they basically have the same role.”

Their stat lines are simi-lar, to a degree. Both have surpassed 800 yards rush-ing for the season. Thomas leads the team with 925 yards; Marks is second with 802. Both have scored at least 14 touchdowns. Both have pass reception totals in the double-digits (Thomas 20, Marks 13).

But there are differences.“Hunter’s definitely about

speed,” Marks said. “I don’t have a quick 40 time, but I can hit the quick 10-yard bursts.”

“I’m faster than Blake,” Thomas said, “but he’s definitely got me beat in the balance and power depart-ment.”

Marks is also a wrestler, which Thomas believes is what helps the senior’s bal-ance.

“I used to hate wrestling him in practice because he’d always kick my butt,” Thomas said, laughing.

BOUNCE BACK YEAR: It would be easy to point to the Tigers’ 2014 D4 semifinal loss to Montours-ville as a fueling point for what stokes Thomas’ and Marks’ fires.

Except the fact that neither played in that game. Both halfbacks had inju-ries which rendered their services unavailable.

“You hate to use injuries as an excuse because they’re a part of the game,” Roth said. “But for a school our

size to lose two guys of that caliber, along with a very good receiver in Luke Rarig, it was difficult to overcome.”

“I was devastated,” Marks said. “But instead of sulking about it, I said that I wanted to work hard and be the best in every sport that I played.”

Thomas’ injury helped him see more of the bigger picture.

“It really made me think about things,” he said. “You just don’t know which play is going to be your last, so it’s made me play every snap like it was my last.”

Does Roth believe the motivation from the injuries is what’s fueling his half-backs?

“It might be,” Roth said.

“But it’s so hard to tell with Blake. He’s like a 2-year-old that’s had a couple 5 Hour Energy drinks.”

ADDING TO THE LEGACY?: It’s impossible not to grow up a Tiger and know about the football program steeped in its successes. SCA’s 459 wins are tops in the state among programs established in the 1960s or later, and its 89 playoff victories are tied for first in state history with Aliquippa. There are six golden footballs in the trophy case. Three 6,000 career rushers.

The list goes on. And on.Both Marks and Thomas

want to add to that history, but know that the Tigers can ill afford to get ahead of

themselves.“We can’t be focused on

what we do individually,” Marks said. “We have to stay focused on what we do as a team. We cannot make stupid mistakes. We are confident, but we don’t want to be overconfident.”

Thomas said it was always a dream of his to play in a state title game. But now that he’s put on the pads and fastened the chin straps, he sees just how difficult that goal can be.

“It’s the playoffs now, so we have to play with an extra level of intensity,” Thomas said. “We can’t look forward or backward. It would mean the world to play in a state title game in front of all of those South-ern fans.”

Daily Item file photo

Blake Marks has 802 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns this season.

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Game NightWhen: 1 p.m.Where: Andy Kerr StadiumRadio: 107.3 FM, 12:30 p.m.

BUCKNELL BISON (4-6)OFFENSENo. Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Yr.6 R.J. Nitti 6-4 230 QB Jr.34 Matt DelMauro 5-7 185 RB Sr.80 Andrew Owers 6-3 240 FB Fr.2 Bobby Kaslander 6-2 200 WR Sr.18 Will Cater 5-10 180 WR Jr.70 Julie’n Davenport 6-7 315 LT Jr.76 Clayton Hoffmaster 6-4 295 RG Jr.71 Ramy Kased 6-6 315 RT Sr.87 Andrew Podbielski 6-4 240 TE So.DEFENSENo. Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Yr.48 R.J. Sheldon 6-2 235 DE Jr.40 Abdullah Anderson 6-4 295 DT So.99 Ben Schumacher 6-2 270 NG Jr.15 Jimmy King 6-1 250 DE Sr.29 Ben Richard 6-1 235 LB So.42 Mark Pyles 6-0 220 LB So.5 Clayton Ewell 6-1 195 SS Sr.12 Bret Berg 6-1 200 FS Jr.28 Connor Golden 6-0 195 WS So.37 Bryan Marine 5-10 180 CB Fr.8 Nick O’Brien 5-10 195 CB Jr.

2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/ResultMarist W, 17-0Duquesne L, 26-7at Cornell W, 19-14at VMI W, 28-22 (OT)Lehigh L, 21-10at Army West Point L, 21-14Georgetown L, 17-9at Lafayette W, 35-24at Fordham L, 24-16Holy Cross L, 23-7at Colgate Saturday

COLGATE RAIDERS (6-4)OFFENSENo. Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Yr.71 Ryan Paulish 6-3 290 LT So.79 John Weber 6-3 295 LG Sr.66 Max Hartzman 6-3 290 C So.73 Jordi Dalmau 6-2 290 RG Jr.74 Grant Siegel 6-4 285 RT Jr.80 John Quazza 6-6 250 TE Sr. 3 Alex Greenawalt 6-3 205 WR So.29 John Maddaluna III 6-1 190 WR Jr.89 Thomas Ives 6-4 205 WR Fr.15 Jake Melville 6-1 195 QB Jr.20 Demetrius Russell 5-10 200 TB Sr.32 Dan Grasso 6-2 220 FB Jr.DEFENSENo. Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Yr.37 Pat Afriyie 6-2 235 LE So.62 Alex Campbell 6-3 275 NT Jr.93 Brett Field 6-5 270 RE Jr.47 Charles Caimie 6-5 245 OLB Jr.38 Kyle Diener 6-0 235 ILB Jr.48 Cameron Buttermore 6-2 220 ILB Sr. 2 Chris Morgan 6-0 205 OLB Jr.10 Tyler Castillo 5-10 170 LCB Fr. 7 Keyon Washington 5-7 170 SS So. 1 Joe Figuera 5-10 190 FS Jr.23 Ty McCollum 5-10 170 RCB Sr.40 Jonah Bowman 6-1 210 PK Jr.85 Nikkko Armiento 6-1 195 P Sr.

2015 SCHEDULEOpponent Date/Resultat Navy L, 48-10#12/15 New Hampshire L, 26-8Yale L, 29-28at Holy Cross W, 31-14at Cornell W, 28-21at Princeton L, 44-20at Georgetown W, 17-13#11 Fordham W, 31-29at Lafayette W, 28-19Lehigh W, 49-42Bucknell Saturday

By Todd StanfordThe Daily Item

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Bucknell has just one game left on its schedule for 2015. And if the Bison can walk off the field with a victory Saturday, they’ll have a huge feather in their cap heading into next season.

Bucknell, which held dreams of a Patriot League title entering this year, can take out Colgate, which has already won the crown and will represent the PL in the NCAA FCS playoffs.

“It’s obviously the last game the seniors will play in as Bucknell football play-ers,” Bison coach Joe Susan said. “(A win) can give you momentum. It becomes a one-game season, and that’s the way they have to see it.”

After starting the year 3-1, Bucknell has gone 1-5 down the stretch. The Bi-son are 4-6 overall (1-4 PL) heading into Saturday’s game.

The Raiders’ season has been just the opposite. They started the year with three straight losses, but are now 6-4 and 5-0 in conference.

“They haven’t been beaten in the league,” Su-san said. “It would be a great finish for us to go up there and beat a team that hasn’t been defeated in the league yet.”

Colgate may have started the year 0-3, but that re-cord may be misleading. The Raiders lost to Navy, an FBS team, before fall-ing to perennial FCS power New Hampshire. They then dropped a one-point game

to Yale.The Raiders have

bounced back thanks to a high-powered offense. They’ve scored at least 28 points six times. Last week, they beat Lehigh 49-42.

“They score points fast, and it’s all related to the quarterback,” Susan said. “Jake (Melville) is an out-standing runner. So when there’s a back in the back-field, there’s two backs in the backfield.”

Melville has completed 58 percent of his passes this year for 1,939 yards and eight touchdowns. But as Susan noted, he’s per-haps even more dangerous as a runner. He leads the team with 732 yards on the ground (73.2 per game) and seven touchdowns.

Colgate usually saves its

best for last, which is one reason why the Raiders have pulled out so many close games this season, particularly against Ford-ham and Lehigh.

“Colgate defended a two-point play twice against Fordham,” Susan said. “Cornell was in the red zone with a chance to tie it (in a 28-21 loss to the Raiders), and they defended that.

“What happens is, they’re making the plays when they count. If it’s close in the fourth quarter, the team that does better in the fourth quarter is going to win.”

n E-mail comments to tstanford@dailyitem.com. Follow Stanford on Twitter @ToddRStanford.

Bison look to go out on high note

n BuckNell aT colgaTe

Justin Engle/The Daily Item

Bucknell’s R.J. Nitti stands in the pocket looking for an open receiver against Holy Cross on Saturday in Lewisburg.

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Game Night

By Larry LageThe Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh lined up his fast-est players last spring on more than one occasion and staged 40-yard races.

Jehu Chesson sprinted across the finish line first each time, he said, just ahead of speedy teammates such as Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis.

After a slow start in terms of scoring, the 14th-ranked Wolverines are finding ways to make the most of Ches-son’s blazing speed.

Chesson’s fourth receiving touchdown Saturday with 2 seconds left in regulation matched a school record and helped Michigan get to the first of two overtimes in a 48-41 win over Indiana.

He has seven touchdown receptions during Michi-gan’s three-game winning streak. The junior is the first Big Ten player to have at least seven receiving TDs in a three-game stretch since Michigan State’s B.J. Cunningham did it in 2011, according to STATS.

Chesson will try to keep both streaks going when the Wolverines (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) play at Penn State (7-3, 4-2) on Saturday.

“I’m not a huge stats guy,” he said. “My biggest thing in terms of stats is just wins.”

If Michigan keeps win-ning, beating the Nittany Lions and Ohio State, it will need one rival to beat an-other rival in order to reach the Big Ten championship game for the first time.

The second-ranked Buck-eyes must beat No. 9 Michi-gan State at home Saturday — at the same time as the Michigan-Penn State game — to give the Wolverines their best shot to win the conference championship for the first time since 2004. The Wolverines, of course,

are simply trying to focus on what they can control.

That includes throwing to Chesson early, often and deep because he has found a knack for scoring after a slow start. He did not catch a TD pass during the first seven games of the year before having seven receiving scores over the last three games.

“I think he’s improving tracking the deep ball,” Harbaugh said. “You watch him run, you watch him catch, you watch him block, cover kicks. Tracking down the deep ball has really come along. That’s the final piece he’s acquiring.”

Chesson scored two times on the ground earlier in the season and had a game-opening, 96-yard kickoff return for a score against Northwestern, but he had not scored in the usual way a receiver gets into the end zone until recently.

He equaled Derrick Alexander’s single-game record for receiving TDs set in 1992. He surpassed his personal bests with 10 receptions and 207 yards receiving.

“When you have someone like Jehu, who works that’s hard, it’s not a surprise,” Michigan tight end A.J. Williams said. “We’ve come along on an offense. We’ve been able to connect a lot better and a lot more and you’re starting to see the results of that.”

It’s not a coincidence that Chesson’s emergence as a scoring threat through the air has happened at the same time that Jake Rudock has gotten into a groove. Rudock was 33 of 46 for 440 yards with a school-record six TD passes against the Hoosiers.

The first time Harbaugh was asked about Chesson on Monday, he chose to speak about him and three other players in the passing game:

Rudock, Amara Darboh and Jake Butt.

“Those four are playing

as well as anybody the Big Ten conference as a group,” he said. “All four of them

deserve any success or acco-lades that they’re achieving because they’ve earned it.”

Chesson has turned into dangerous WRn michigaN woLveriNes

The Associated Press

Michigan wide receiver Jehu Chesson (86) catches a 12-yard touchdown pass in front of Minnesota defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun in a game last month.

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Game Night

By Dan GreenspanThe Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Al-though the Pac-12’s vicious internal competition has all but eliminated the confer-ence from the College Foot-ball Playoff chase, UCLA is still in a prime position in its own playoff race.

Even after a home loss to Washington State last week-end, regular season-ending wins over No. 18 Utah and No. 22 Southern California would put the Bruins into the Pac-12 title game for a chance at its first conference title and Rose Bowl berth in 16 years.

“The way we see it is we’re in the quarterfinals,” defen-sive line coach Angus Mc-Clure said. “You got to win in the quarterfinals to get to the semifinals. Win the semifinals and you’re in the championship game, that’s the way we are looking at it as a program.”

The Utes’ double-overtime loss at Arizona essentially rendered UCLA’s last-min-ute 31-27 loss to the Cougars irrelevant in the race for the Pac-12 South. Running back Paul Perkins admitted keep-ing an eye on the scoreboard Saturday night to see what was happening with Utah, and the redshirt junior was glad for the reprieve.

“Us as players, we’re not going to admit it — well, we will — we always look at the scores and see what is going on around college football,” Perkins said. “Once we lost, we realized we still had a mulligan. Our goal is still within our grasp.”

Whether UCLA can reach it is a question that pits the program’s road dominance under coach Jim Mora against its occasionally overwhelming tendency to self-destruct. With a 16-5 road record in Mora’s four

seasons, winning nine of its last 10 games away from the Rose Bowl, UCLA knows how to perform on the road.

“I personally thrive off of a hostile environment,” cen-ter Jake Brendel said.

Said Perkins: “We just go out there with the mental-ity that the whole world is against us.”

But that same mentality too often forces UCLA to over-come a litany of self-inflicted mistakes, something it could

not do against Washington State. There were punts of 29 and 0 yards, two lost fumbles, 13 penalties for 75 yards and only one touchdown in five trips to the red zone. The lat-ter two issues were clearly linked, Perkins said.

Consecutive false starts forced UCLA to settle for a 22-yard field goal on its first drive, and a delay of game penalty helped scuttle an-other red-zone possession in the fourth quarter.

“We had to stay on track,” Perkins said. “We can’t get out of whack, can’t get pen-alties. We definitely need those (touchdowns) against a good Utah team.”

After committing seven false starts at Oregon State, there were six more flags for early movement against Washington State. Offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch said those issues should be resolved by being more dis-ciplined.

“It’s simple. It’s on us,” Benenoch said. “We just got to handle our business. Can’t worry about what anyone else does, what the defensive line does, what gets called and what doesn’t.”

Brendan believes the use of a silent count against Utah and USC should help cut down on those issues, seemingly another benefit of playing on the road. In a de facto playoff, UCLA needs every edge it can get.

Goals still in sight for Bruinsn ucla

The Associated Press

UCLA running back Paul Perkins looks for yardage against Oregon State earlier this month.

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Game Night

By Tim ReynoldsThe Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — At Miami, next season is more than nine months away. No one knows who will coach. No one knows what the roster will look like. No one knows what styles of play will be utilized.

Very little of that matters right now to Brad Kaaya. To the Miami quarterback, 2016 essentially starts now.

Assuming bowl-eligible Miami actually gets a post-season bid, and there’s no reason to think it will not, three games remain on the 2015 schedule. In Kaaya’s estimation, something the Hurricanes — who are as-sured of falling short of their preseason goal, namely play-ing for an Atlantic Coast Conference title — can do to salvage this year is build mo-mentum for next season and finish yet another tumult-filled Miami campaign the right way.

“Obviously, it’s impor-tant to finish strong for our seniors who have done so much and been through so much, to send them out the right way,” Kaaya said Tues-day. “At the same time, the end of the season is when the momentum can build. Look at all the teams last year that finished strong and started this year strong. So going into next year, that’s impor-tant for us.”

That’s what Saturday’s home finale against Georgia Tech, the Nov. 27 regular-season finale at Pittsburgh and the bowl game mean for the Hurricanes. Everyone knows what Miami (6-4, 3-3) hasn’t done since joining the ACC — such as win 10 games, be ranked No. 1, win a conference title or even compete for a national cham-pionship — but for Kaaya, what’s of more importance

is what the Hurricanes can do going forward.

“Guys know 8-4 is a lot better than 6-6,” Kaaya said.

Playing for titles used to seem like a birthright to the Hurricanes, who won five national championships in a 19-season span ending in 2001 and have spent the last decade-plus in a perpetual rut trying to return to the game’s upper echelon. An

easy parallel to draw is that Miami hasn’t been dominant since making its ACC debut in 2004.

The Hurricanes sim-ply don’t believe changing leagues tells the story of their struggle.

“If you ask me if I think it was a mistake to move into the ACC, then I’ll put it on the record: No, I don’t think it was a mistake,” Miami ath-letic director Blake James

said. “I think it was a great move for our institution and our athletic program.”

When Miami was an inde-pendent and then in the Big East, the Hurricanes made winning look easy. Since joining the ACC, regardless of coach, regardless of style, regardless of situation, the Hurricanes — even with per-haps the nation’s most fertile recruiting base to choose players from — have made

nothing look easy.For some fans and former

players, it was unthinkable for a Miami team to go into a season listing an ACC di-visional title as a goal. The reality is, even though Mi-ami technically played for the ACC title in 2004 (in the pre-divisions era) and would have gone to the conference title game in 2012 had it not been for the NCAA scandal caused by the actions of a former booster, even that ti-tle is too daunting for Miami right now.

“Anytime you get an op-portunity to be a bowl team, you’ve got to say that the season wasn’t a failure,” said Miami interim coach Larry Scott, who took over for Al Golden last month. “Obvi-ously, we’re at the University of Miami. Expectations are always high. We have high standards and expectations for our players and for our-selves as coaches and as a staff. But at the end of the day, it’s not a failure.”

Plenty of people would surely disagree.

Miami’s last 10-win sea-son was 2003, when the Hur-ricanes went 11-2 and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Since then, 76 differ-ent FBS programs — that’s more than 60 percent of the nation’s programs — have had at least one 10-win re-cord, and that number could conceivably grow to 85 by the end of this season. And 57 teams have been in the AP Top 25 since Miami last appeared in the poll.

Meanwhile, Miami has been topping out at nine wins, and needs to win out just to get there this year.

“Let’s finish it the right way,” Kaaya said. “Let’s fin-ish it like men and not give up because one goal is out of our reach.”

Hurricanes playing for 2016 nown miami

The Associated Press

North Carolina’s Mike Hughes breaks up a pass intended for Miami’s Braxton Berrios during the second half of last week’s game.

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