BAKER'S SPORTS PEN: DISRTRICT 4 FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PAIRINGS SET — NEWS & NOTES (2020-10-29)

For the third consecutive postseason, the Canton Warriors will be hosting the Muncy Indians in a battle for the District Four, Class A championship. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Miller A. Moyer Field.

In the Class AA tournament, fourth-seeded Line Mountain (4-1) travels to undefeated and top-seeded Southern Columbia (7-0) on Friday. The second-seeded Troy Trojans (4-1) will host third-seeded South Williamsport (4-1) at Alparon Park, also on Friday. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

The Athens Wildcats (5-1), seeded third, open their Class AAA playoff competition Saturday when they travel to Danville to take on the second-seeded Ironmen (6-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Top-seeded Montoursville (6-0), in search of its third straight district title, welcomes fourth-seeded Loyalsock (4-2) to town – also on Saturday. The visiting Lancers played the Mounties tough two weeks ago – dropping just a 23-12 decision. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.

One of the Class AAAA semifinals features second-seeded Selinsgrove (4-3) hosting third-seeded Shamokin (4-3). On the other side of the bracket, Mifflinburg (4-3) travels to Jersey Shore to chase after the top-seeded Bulldogs (6-0). The two games kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Statisticians were needing a second calculator to keeps up with Muncy in its shutout win over Wyalusing. Gearing up for their run at a possible third straight district championship, the Indians put together a 402-yard rushing effort en route to 502 total yards.

Montoursville jumped out to a 50-0 halftime lead in its 71-0 victory over Warrior Run.

Colin Miller scampered 95 yards for a touchdown in Mifflinburg’s 28-0 win over Hughesville. He finished with 172 yards on the night as the Wildcats totaled 475 yards – 368 of them on the ground.

A nice turnaround for coach Jack Young and company as Athens goes 5-1 after last year’s 1-10 season. There’s plenty of young talent on this team to keep the momentum going in the playoffs and into next season.

Towanda, looking for a spark on offense, found a pleasant surprise in Alex Perez. Needing some power running, coach Craig Dawsey moved Perez to the backfield at halftime and the newly-discovered fullback did not disappoint with 100 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em: Plenty of Mountie fans watching through the fence Friday night to get around the limitation restrictions set for outdoor sporting events.

South Williamsport’s Zach Miller put a pair of touchdowns on the board just 27 seconds apart. Miller, who did not play in the first quarter, scampered 83 yards for a touchdown and on the next play striped the Towanda running back of the football and went 33 yards for the score. Miller totaled 132 yards on the ground and found the end zone four times.

Muncy’s Ty Nixon piled up 213 yards on his way to a pair of touchdowns against Wyalusing. Teammate Ethan Gush adding 131 yards and two scores.

Lewisburg’s Max Moyers had a nice 132-yard, two-touchdown effort in a loss to Loyalsock.

Shayne Reid got ready for the post-season with 142 yards rushing against Montgomery as Athens takes a two-game win streak into the district semifinals – scoring 35 points in both of its latest wins.

The Wildcat defense limited Kaide Drick, the NTL’s leading ground-gainer, to just 76 yards. Caleb Nichols setting the defensive tone of the night with a 35-yard “pick six” on the game’s first play.

Canton’s Cooper Kitchen completed just five passes against Wellsboro, but four of them went for six-pointers in the Warriors’ big win. Weston Bellows on the scoring side of two of them – teaming up with Kitchen on strikes of 25 and 52 yards. The Warriors hit the Hornet defense for 340 total yards.

Canton’s defense is in postseason form, keeping the Green Hornets under 100 yards rushing.

Muncy (6-1) and the top-seeded Warriors (4-0) have met the last two years in the title game – both times in Canton – with the visitors winning each game. Last year, Muncy captured a 23-19 championship decision.

It was Canton winning this year’s regular-season contest 19-0 against a short-handed Muncy squad.

Troy takes a four-game winning streak into the district playoffs, including shutouts in three of those games against Towanda, Wellsboro and North Penn-Mansfield.

Led by the one-two backfield punch of Caleb Binford and Damien Landon, the Trojans are averaging 32 points per game. Binford is the NTL’s fourth-leading rusher and Landon the sixth.

Jersey Shore’s Brandon Wheary threw for 220 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldogs take a 6-0 record into the district playoffs.

Northern Tier League leading rushers: Kaide Drick, Montgomery (821 yards); Ty Nixon, Muncy (722); Zach Miller, South Williamsport (681); Caleb Binford, Troy (676); Shayne Reid, Athens (633); Damien Landon, Troy (569); Gage Sutliff, Bucktail (553); Riley Parker, Canton (447); Mitchell Burke, Wyalusing (354); Alex Mosier, Wyalusing (300).

District Four scores: South Williamsport 48, Towanda 22; Canton 39, Wellsboro 13; Muncy 42, Wyalusing 0; Athens 35, Montgomery 7; Troy 21, North Penn-Mansfield 0; Montoursville 71, Warrior Run 0; Loyalsock 21, Lewisburg 14; Mifflinburg 28, Hughesville 0; Selinsgrove 20, Shamokin 7; Line Mountain 44, Newport 21; Jersey Shore 21, Central Mountain 9; Bloomsburg 28, Midd-West 2; Curwensville 36, Bucktail 0; Southern Columbia 52, Central  Columbia 3; Shikellamy 41, Milton 0.

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