Shoaf spoils alma mater’s homecoming as Southmoreland remains unbeaten with win over Yough

By: Ted Sarneso
Friday, October 3, 2025 | 11:03 PM

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Normally a homecoming elicits feelings of remembrance and allows for reflection of years gone by.

Dustin Shoaf, Southmoreland’s coach and Yough’s all-time leading rusher, downplayed most of those feelings as his team rolled into Cougar Mountain in Herminie and came away with a win.

“It was just another game for me,” Shoaf said. “My staff and I don’t put a scenario or story line on it. There are great people here in the Yough school district and at Southmoreland. We’re just out here enjoying the opportunity to come out and play football every Friday night.”

The only feelings left were those of celebration as the Scotties (7-0, 2-0), Trib HSSN’s No. 4 team in Class 3A, cruised to a 41-0 win over Yough (2-5, 0-2) in an Interstate Conference clash.

“It’s a great win, gives us two conference wins and two shutouts on the season,” said Southmoreland sophomore running back Jackson Mickens. “Our defense is rolling, our offense put up big numbers tonight and our team chemistry is really starting to click.”

The Cougars fumbled the ball four times, twice on bad snap exchanges, and quarterback Aiden Shaffer threw an interception.

“We had a game plan coming in, and turnovers don’t really help us,” Yough coach Ben Hoffer said. “We have to be better with ball security, and that starts with me.”

Southmoreland’s offense took total advantage of Yough’s mistakes, scoring 31 of its 41 points off those turnovers and remining on the field for the bulk of the first half.

“Our defense continues to play lights out and we expect that from them just as we expect our offense to continue to score points,” said Shoaf.

The scoring avalanche began after the first of Yough’s fumbled snaps, and the Scotties drove deep into Cougar territory on six plays but were held to a 35-yard field goal from Liam Smith.

That score came on the Scotties’ second drive of the game. On their first, quarterback Dawson Wolfe had a pass deflected and intercepted by Yough’s Ryan Sarver off the hands of his recever Mickens.

“In football you’re going to have ups and downs and our kids faced adversity at points tonight,” said Shoaf. “We tell them to face that adversity head on and were proud of how they respond.”

It was the only mistake for Wolfe, who came back to go 4 of 11 through the air for 103 yards and a touchdown and that one pick.

“It was a shaky start, but I talked with my position coach and Coach Shoaf, and they got me straight and right back out there,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe’s touchdown came off the third Yough fumble of the first half when he found Ty Whoric streaking down the right sideline for a 43-yard touchdown.

Mickens also shook off the deflection and did the best to imitate his coach’s days as the Cougars tailback as he carried the ball four times for 101 yards and scored two long touchdowns: 32 and 58 yards.

“All the credit goes to my offensive line. They opened running lanes for me all game long,” Mickens said.

He wasn’t the only one in the Scotties backfield who benefitted from stellar blocking as Averyon Darnell and Cam Lee ran for a score.

“I was proud of Jackson, and our whole backfield ran well tonight,” Shoaf said. “Three different guys ran in a touchdown. That speaks to that group and the whole roster continues to buy in.”

Yough struggled to come up with anything offensively, finishing with just over 100 total yards of offense.

“We wanted to give them different looks that they hadn’t seen all season,” Hoffer said. “Dustin does a great job over there, and their defense is top three in 3A in giving up points. We knew they were going to attack and rally to the football.”

On its third drive of the game, Yough’s Johnny Gergely coughed up the ball and Whoric recovered for Southmoreland. Two plays later, Darnell scored from 33 yards. The Scotties failed on the 2-point conversion and led 9-0.

On their next drive, the Cougars were gifted 15 yards due to a facemask by the Scotties. Two plays later, the Cougars avoided disaster as Gergely fumbled again, but his teammates were able to engulf the ball and retain possession.

Unfortunately, two plays later the Cougars gave up the ball again as fullback Braiden Snyder was stripped of the ball on a run up the middle and Wolfe recovered for the Scotties.

On consecutive possessions, Yough went three-and-out, punted and Southmoreland responded with a pair of two-play touchdown drives, each of them being Mickens socres that build the lead to 31-0.

Yough quarterback Shaffer was picked off on the Cougars next possession by Darnell, and the Scotties took over at their own 34-yard line.

Darnell ran the ball for 21 yards, two plays later Wolfe found Stanley Betters down the right sideline for 44 yards and Betters was tripped up short of the end zone by Shaffer.

On the next play, Cam Lee punched it in for the Scotties to take a 38-0 lead.

Southmoreland capped their scoring after another fumbled snap from Yough, this time recovered by Jake Hull. Smith added another field goal, this time from 24 yards out to close out the first half.

It was a no-doubt win, but Shoaf admitted that his team wasn’t perfect.

Said Shoaf: “We still have a lot to work on. I told our kids we’re 1-0 tonight. It’s been a good start, but we need to continue to grind and improve as a football team. We’ll put this game to rest and start getting ready for next week.”

They will have to be sharp at the Scotties host rival Mt. Pleasant next week for their homecoming and have a showdown with Elizabeth Forward the following week.

“We’re going to have the same mentality we have every week—go 1-0 every day at practice and have a solid gameplan for that week’s opponent,” said Wolfe.

Tags: Southmoreland, Yough