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Wyoming Seminary wrestling romps at X-calibur; Wyoming Valley West top WVC team with 4 medalists

Local H.S. roundup: Big 3rd quarter lifts Hazleton Area over Bethlehem

HERSHEY &#8212; Quarterback Nick Becker rushed for two touchdowns and Billy Marzeski returned an interception 41 yards as Southern Columbia defeated Aliquippa 49-14 Saturday in the PIAA Class AA football final.The Tigers (16-0) won their seventh overall title and first in Class AA, turning four first-half turnovers by the WPIAL champions into a 28-14 lead after 24 minutes. Becker&#8217;s 88 yards paced Southern Columbia&#8217;s Wing-T as the Tigers tied a championship record for points.Aliquippa (15-1) &#8212; led by Pittsburgh recruit Kaezon Pugh, who rushed 19 times for 109 yards and a touchdown &#8212; set its own mark with a Class AA-record seven turnovers in all.Quips quarterback Sheldon Jeter was intercepted three times, twice by Marzeski, who put Southern Columbia ahead 21-6 midway through the second quarter.&#8220;They were that way throughout the playoffs,&#8221; Southern Columbia coach Jim Roth said. &#8220;There were times where people have driven the ball on them and had some success. But they&#8217;ve really hung tough. They&#8217;ve gotten stops when we needed them to. They were opportunistic and they played hard all the time. We didn&#8217;t let down.&#8221;Aliquippa, attempting to win its first Class AA title since 1993, took an early 6-0 lead on Pugh&#8217;s 1-yard dive. The Tigers responded with touchdown runs from fullback Jared Torres and Becker as well as Marzeski&#8217;s pick. Becker&#8217;s second scoring run stretched 30 yards with 33 seconds left in the opening half.Aliquippa threatened early in the third quarter but a Josh Yoder sack and fumble recovery by Gabriel Delbo ended the developing series at Southern Columbia&#8217;s 36. Seven plays later, Torres had his second touchdown run and the Tigers led 35-14.Hunter Thomas, one of three 1,000-yard rushers for the Tigers this season, scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to finish with 57 yards on 17 carries.&#8220;Losing sucks, it&#8217;s just the way it is,&#8221; Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said. &#8220;The team that loses the Super Bowl or game 7 of the World Series, they are miserable. There&#8217;s only really one happy team every year.&#8221;Class 4APittsburgh Central Catholic 21, Parkland 18HERSHEY, &#8212; Pittsburgh Central Catholic captured the PIAA Class 4A football championship Saturday after holding off Parkland 21-18 at Hersheypark Stadium.It&#8217;s the fourth Class 4A crown for the Vikings and their first since 2007, which also came against Parkland. Central Catholic also won titles in 1988 and 2004.The Trojans trailed 21-0 in the fourth quarter and staged a comeback by scoring the final 18 points on a Donovan Berger 33-yard field goal and touchdown receptions from Zach Bross and Kenny Yeboah.J.J. Younger led Pittsburgh Central Catholic with 184 yards. Ronnie Jones added 119 yards on 27 carries.Jones scored a pair of six-yard touchdowns in the first half to give the Vikings a 14-0 lead at the half. Younger&#8217;s 54-yard scamper late in the third quarter made it 21-0.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>Associated Press</bylineMeta></div>

PIAA FootballSouthern Columbia, Central Catholic win state titles