SHICKSHINNY – South Williamsport has qualified for the district playoffs in every season since 2011 primarily on the strength of its running game. But in order to ensure it makes this season the 14th consecutive year that it plays in the postseason, the Mounties turned to an unusual offensive strategy on Friday, at least for them – throwing the ball.

Behind 11 catches for 200 yards from Dylan Scheller and a 212-yard passing performance from Tad Lusk, who also led his team on the ground with 141 rushing yards, South built a three-possession lead heading into the fourth quarter at Northwest, then held off a comeback attempt by the Rangers to escape with a 21-14 win.

Behind the performance of the senior duo of Scheller and Lusk, the win gives the Mounties a 5-5 record to finish the regular season with a very young squad just a year after making the state semifinals in Class A, and it also wraps up a playoff berth in Class AA next week. South will most likely travel to either Troy or Towanda for the first round of the playoffs.

“We had some guys that couldn’t play this week and had a lot of new guys in and we knew we could do some things in the air,” said South coach Chris Eiswerth. “It’s been an unbelievable year of both adversity and youth, but the seniors just continued to work and believe and they rallied together. To be 5-5 right now with the amount of young kids we have is a credit to that senior class. That’s 14 straight years (in the playoffs), so that’s a credit to all the kids and families and parents and a lot of hard work.”

With his performance, Scheller broke the South school record for single season catches and receiving yards. And the Mounties likely needed every one of those yards in the end.

The Rangers held onto the ball for over 15 minutes in the second half, which not only gave them a chance to come back, but also kept the ball out of the hands Lusk and Scheller, who recorded eight of his catches for 170 yards came in the first half alone as the Mounties built a 14-0 halftime lead.

“He’s one of the best. He’s been a guy that’s had an incredible career for us and we couldn’t have done the things we’ve done the past few years without him,” said Eiswerth.

Scheller caught a six-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game on the Mounties’ second drive of the game with 2:21 to play in the first quarter. His other catches kept South’s offense moving and the ball away from the Rangers. He had receptions for 30 and 10 yards on South’s second scoring drive, which was capped by a 33-yard touchdown run by Lusk at the 7:07 mark of the second quarter.

But Jace McCoy nearly guided the Rangers all the way back. He completed 16-of-32 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown, and also led his team on the ground with 71 yards on 12 carries and a score. In the second half, McCoy completed 11-of-17 passes.

Northwest received the second half kickoff and proceeded to nearly double its offensive output from the entire first half. After managing just 78 yards in the first half, Northwest put together a 12-play drive that went for 62 yards and took 7:13 of game clock, but the drive stalled at the South 8 after the Rangers came up a yard short on a fourth-and-4.

From there, South went 92 yards in just four plays, capped by Lusk’s 31-yard touchdown run to extend its lead to 21-0 with 3:26 to play in the third quarter.

But Northwest responded with another lengthy drive, this one 11 plays for 65 yards in 4:22. This time, the Rangers were able to capitalize as McCoy hit RJ Moyer in the end zone for a short six-yard touchdown pass at the 11:06 mark of the fourth quarter.

South went three-and-out following a possession that included three penalties, and Northwest took over at the South 34 following a short punt. Once again, McCoy guided his team down the field, this time capping the drive himself with a one-yard touchdown run, and he then hit Loegan Diltz for the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game with 7:28 to play.

The Mounties responded by driving it all the way down to the Northwest 12, setting up a 29-yard field goal attempt by Evan Ogden. But the kick was wide right with 3:03 left in the game, giving the Rangers the ball back at their own 20 with a chance to potentially tie the game. But South’s defense held strong and forced the Rangers into a four-and-out to wrap things up.