Botkin leads South Side to upset victory over Shady Side Academy in WPIAL quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 10, 2018 | 12:15 AM

It had been nearly 20 years since the South Side football team had an opportunity to compete in the WPIAL semifinals.

After pulling off a 32-16 upset win over top-seeded Shady Side Academy on Friday night at Montour, the Rams (9-3) are now one victory away from reaching a place they have been trying to get to for nearly two decades.

“We talk about the 1999 team all the time,” South Side’s Jake Botkin said. “Their tape from their state championship game against Southern Columbia is on YouTube, and we watch it all the time. We are trying to follow in their footsteps from that group. Our team has learned a lot from them.”

If the Rams’ 1999 WPIAL and PIAA championship team was known for making big plays, than Botkin is without question following in their footsteps. On the first play from scrimmage, the senior tailback set the tone for the entire night, taking a handoff up the middle, through the Indians (10-1) defense, for a 73-yard touchdown to give his team a lead it would never relinquish.

Botkin finished the night with a game-high 182 yards on the ground and one more score, which came from 40 yards out late in the second quarter.

“We knew in order to have a shot at winning tonight that we would have to have success running the ball north and south, which obviously means getting a big game from (Botkin),” South Side coach Luke Travelpiece said. “We knew we would be giving him the ball a lot tonight, and he came up big for us, like he normally always does.”

In addition to Botkin, South Side also received a big performance from quarterback Trenton Seik, who completed 5 of his 8 pass attempts for 90 yards and a touchdown and contributed two more scores on the ground.

Shady Side Academy played without star quarterback Skyy Moore, who was injured in last week’s win over Serra Catholic. He suffered a broken ankle and was unable to return to the lineup.

“Skyy is one of the most dynamic players in the WPIAL,” SSA coach Chuck DiNardo said. “For us to not have him tonight forced us to change our offense quite a bit. A major factor in this game was ball possession. In the first half we only ran 12 offensive plays. If we had (Skyy) back there, I think things probably go a little different.”

With Moore out of the game, Shady Side’s other marquee player, Maryland commit Dino Tomlin did what he could to keep his team in the game, catching six passes for 88 yards and returning a punt 50 yards for a touchdown in the final four minutes of the game.

For DiNardo, the effort showed by Tomlin and the rest of his teammates down to the final seconds of the game was something he was very proud of.

Though the victory was an exciting one for the Rams, they will have to quickly shift their focus onto the next opponent if they wish to truly emulate the success of the team from 1999. South Side will take on No. 4 Charleroi next Friday with a trip to the WPIAL finals on the line.

Noah Hiles is a freelance writer.

Tags: Shady Side Academy, South Side