Colby Thomas and Zeb Cross made it to the top in high school and they’ve done it again in college.
The two leaders of Mountain View’s 2012 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A boys’ soccer championship struck gold again Saturday as seniors with Messiah College, which won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III national men’s soccer championship game.
Messiah won games on consecutive days at the Final Four in Greensboro, N.C., overcoming a early goal Saturday to defeat North Park University from Chicago, 2-1.
North Park scored 1:12 into the game, but Messiah controlled play from there, building a 20-14 shot advantage, including three shots by Thomas. The Falcons scored twice before halftime and hit the post with a second-half attempt.
Thomas had an assist in the game that sent Messiah to the national final.
Messiah rallied from behind twice before beating Brandeis, 3-2, in double overtime in Friday’s semifinals.
The Falcons scored with 9:29 left in regulation, just 40 seconds after the Judges had taken the lead, on a play started by Thomas.
Thomas beat the defense down the right side to the end line where he served the ball across to Nick West on the far side of the penalty box. West’s header found Kirby Robbins, who one-timed a shot into the goal.
Thomas was recently named first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region. He hit career-highs in goals (9), game-winning goals (7), assists (20) and points (30). The seven game-winning goals has him ranked seventh nationally.
Also, a first-team, All-MAC Commonwealth, Thomas had at least one point in 19 of 26 games. He started every game.
Cross was one of six substitutes Messiah used in Saturday’s semifinal. He did not play in the national championship game.
On the season, Cross appeared in 19 games. He made one start and finished with two goals and an assist.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Southern Columbia reached its state record 16th championship and ended the hopes of the last District 2 team alive in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association football playoffs Friday night.
Gaige Garcia ran for four touchdowns, including three on consecutive runs when the Tigers were breaking the game open, to lead Southern Columbia to a 56-19 romp in a Class 2A semifinal at Danville.
Dunmore scored 22 seconds into the game and went ahead a second time in the first quarter.
Garcia’s touchdowns all came during a streak of 49 straight points from late in the first quarter until early in the fourth quarter for a 56-13 lead. He finished with more than 200 yards on the game and is now over 2,000 for his sophomore season.
Southern Columbia went ahead on Garcia’s 8-yard run with 3:37 left in the first quarter. He added scoring runs of 39 yards with 3:20 left in the half, then 72 and 60 yards in the first 4:16 of the second half.
Michael Muracco forced a fumble and recovered it on a sack on the game’s first play. Dunmore scored on the next play on a 15-yard pass from Gavin Darcy to Steve Borgia.
Billy Donvito put Dunmore back ahead on a 16-yard run later in the quarter. Frank Damiano ran 65 yards for the game’s last score.
Southern Columbia (15-0) will play Wilmington (14-0) Friday at 1 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.
Dunmore, the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 and District 2 Class 2A champion, finished 14-1.
THE WEEK AHEAD
All six Susquehanna County boys’ basketball teams get their seasons started Friday night, including special events at Elk Lake and Susquehanna.
Elk Lake hosts Carbondale in the annual Michael “Red” Wallace Memorial Scholarship Game in honor of the former Boston Celtic, who grew up in the Carbondale Area School District and coached Elk Lake to two state championships.
Susquehanna will host tip-off event doubleheaders Friday and Saturday. The Sabers host Wyalusing Friday and Blue Ridge plays Sayre. The Sabers and Raiders switch opponents the next night.
Nanticoke is at Forest City, Montrose is at Mid Valley and Western Wayne is at Mountain View in other Friday openers.
In girls’ basketball, Valley View is at Montrose and Susquehanna is at Wyoming Area in Friday night openers. The Susquehanna game is being broadcast live on Internet radio by nepabasketball.com.
Tunkhannock is at Elk Lake and Forest City is at Lakeland Saturday in 2:15 p.m. openers.
In wrestling, Blue Ridge, Elk Lake and Montrose all open Saturday in the Gary Woodruff Duals at Wyalusing.
In high school football, the PIAA will conduct its state championships Thursday through Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium.
Our high school football predictions for the season ended with Dunmore’s elimination. Our only pick was correct last week, making us 22-3 (88.0 percent) for the playoffs and 105-24 (81.4) for the season.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
Bud Moore, Nascar Pioneer Passes
Dale Earnhardt and Bud Moore in 1982
Bud Moore passed away November 27, 2017 at the age of 92.
If ever there was a super patriot, to both his country and NASCAR, it was Moore. Before he became a champion NASCAR car owner, he was a World War II fighting hero.
He fought in several major battles in Europe, including the Battle of Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and the Siege of Bastogne.
‘There was a lot of lives given over there,” he said in a 1996 interview. “What we all went through over there was to make us and all the other countries free.
“People ought to thank God every day for the freedom they've got now.”
Walter “Bud:” Moore, a self-described “country boy” of nineteen from Spartanburg, South Carolina vividly remembers his experiences during World War II with the Fourth Infantry Division.
“I was a corporal in the 90th Infantry Division, 359th regiment,” he said. “We left England and I saw all those ships and I knew it wasn't going to be an exercise. Within a few hours a PT-Boat pulled alongside and these officers came onboard. They pulled out this big map and informed us that tomorrow is going to be D-Day. Our outfit's orders were to assault a place on the French Coast called Utah Beach.”
At five o'clock on the morning of June 6, 1944, the front of the LCI Moore was on dropped its ramp 200 yards short of dry beach and he stepped out into shoulder deep water. He was carrying a machine gun plus his regular 40-pound backpack.
He fell into a hole made by German artillery and almost drowned, before regaining his footing.
“I swam a little and struggled until I got going again,” he continued. “About that time a boy near me got hit and just disappeared. Finally I got to the beach and right then I realized what war is all about. It was crazy.
“On that beach I realized those Germans in front of us were going to kill us unless we killed them first. You learned pretty quick what it took to survive. A lot of fellas got hit. Some of them were my buddies. We felt it was awful. And it was.”
Moore was awarded five Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for meritorious service and promoted to sergeant as his outfit continued to fight across France, Germany and into Czechoslovakia.
“I guess it was bound to happen,” he said. “We were pulling into an abandoned complex, which I think had been a hospital. We got into a heck of a fight. I took three slugs in the left thigh.”
Moore's outfit was near Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, meeting a Russian force, when he learned of Germany's surrender. He left Europe for home on Nov. 1, 1945 aboard the USS Excelsior, named for Excelsior Mills in Union County, South Carolina, not far from his Spartanburg home.
He was one of the founding fathers of NASCAR, and from his Spartanburg garage, operated a NASCAR team for nearly 37 years, winning two season championships and 53 races. He and driver Joe Weatherly took the Grand National title in 1962 and '63.
He started fielding cars in 1950 and continued to “go racing” until 1999, when he sold his operation and retired.
Among his other drivers through the decades were “Fireball” Roberts, Darel Dieringer, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Darrel Waltrip. All of them would later become hall-of-famers.
Moore was the crew chief for Buck Baker's NASCAR championship in 1957. He won the NASCAR Grand American championship in 1968 with Tiny Lund, and a Sports Car Club of America title in 1970 with Parnelli Jones.
His colorful career includes many significant accomplishments. Dieringer won the 1966 Southern 500 in a Bud Moore car. Buddy Baker won three straight 500-milers at Talladega for Moore in 1975-'76. Bobby Allison drove to victory in the Daytona 500 and National 500 at Charlotte.
“During my career we had a lot of good drivers, including Dale Earnhardt,” continued Moore. “I really got along well with all of those drivers and they ran great for me.
“Dale started for me in 1980 and he liked the Ford. The only thing was that we had a 300-mile engine. That's about as long as it would last and Dale was pretty hard on equipment. I know this, if we'd had some good valve springs and valve trains, we'd have won 10 or 12 races in those years. And we probably would have won the championship too.”
Several years ago, just prior to the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, Bud heard an announcer say, “The drivers are getting ready to go to war.”
Bud winced and shook his head.
“That man doesn't know what he's talking about,” he said. “Racing ain't war. Real war is hell on earth.”
In an interview in 2004, he was asked what he thought about today's drivers.
“Now, it would be hard to say who is today's best driver, because all of them have good equipment to race with,” said Moore. “You've got a lot of good drivers, and there's a lot of talented young drivers too. The only way to find out who's best would be to have them in identical cars with the same crew.
“I think Jeff Gordon has done a great job. Dale Earnhardt is the best driver to ever sit behind the wheel, in my opinion.
“I saw NASCAR when it started in 1947 and it's come a long way. I think the racing today is more sophisticated and little better than back then. We've got more speedways. Back then, we didn't get too much prize money, but nowadays, the prize money is in the millions. That allows you to put better race cars on the track.
“The reason that people like racing is the rubbing and bumping on one another. That's what they come to see. They don't want to see them all get out there and be gentleman racers. They want to see some beating and banging. NASCAR looks at it a little different. If guys get to beating and banging, they get called in and fined and all that stuff. I don't want to see anyone hurt, but beating and banging is what made NASCAR what it is today.”
He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.
CHANGES TO NASCAR RACE DAY CREWS
NASCAR pit crews and at-track team rosters will look slightly different for the 2018 season.
Pit crew numbers will be reduced from six to five next season in an effort to cut costs and create an equal field across all teams, according to an announcement from NASCAR executive vice president Steve O'Donnell.
“The drive toward parity is to have more teams have the ability to win,” O’Donnell said. “We want everybody to have the same amount of resources at the track. And we want to put focus on other team members, as well.”
In addition to over-the-wall pit crew changes, rosters will be divided into two other categories: organizational and road crew. There will be restrictions on the number of crew members who are allowed to come to the track in each category as well.
The organizational category includes the competition director, team manager, technical director, IT specialists and similar positions. Cup teams with two or fewer cars are limited to three people, while organizations with more than two cars will be allowed to have four members at the track. Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series will be limited to one person.
The road crew category includes crew chief, car chief, engineers, mechanics, shock specialist, tire specialist and aero specialist. Cup teams will be limited to 12 members while Xfinity teams can have seven and Camping World Truck Series will be limited to six members.
Racing Trivia Question: Where did Kyle Busch finish in this year's Chase for the Championship?
Last Week's Question: Which driver will replace Dale Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports? Answer. Alex Bowman.
Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR writer and author. His books may be viewed and ordered online at Amazon.com. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
