If Southern Columbia hopes to win a District 4 AA title to go along with all the A championships it has won, the Tigers (11-0) will have to beat Montoursville (7-4), a team that looks downright threatening at this point of the season, in tonight's semifinal.
The Warriors, 2-3 at the midway point of the season, have gone 5-1 since. They have wins over South Williamsport, Loyalsock and Lewisburg, and gave unbeaten Class AAA finalist Jersey Shore possibly its toughest game of the season in a 27-21 loss. They average 31.5 points and 370.5 yards per game offensively, and have a balanced attack with a runner closing in on 1,800 yards, and a quarterback who has passed for more than 1,600 yards.
And the Warriors have a shot at a Southern team which, because of injuries to skill players, started two players at running back who had not played the position before.
Southern head coach Jim Roth is a fan of both junior tailback Keith Batkowski and sophomore quarterback Brycen Mussina, and says they have support, too.
"Their tailback has been piling up yards, and their fullback (sometimes Nolan Ott, sometimes freshman Josh Dinges) is a good lead blocker," Roth says. "On top of that. Mussina has really developed since the beginning of the year. He's playing at a higher level than he was. You could really see it in the (second) Lewisburg game. He's not a big runner but he can move around in the pocket and make people miss."
Senior wide receiver Wyatt Entz started the season at running back but was moved to the outside by head coach J.C. Keefer in order to give Mussina a more athletic target. He has caught 35 passes for 573 yards and five touchdowns, and another senior, Curtis Miller, has caught 21 passes for 316 yards and four scores.
The defense is led by junior inside linebacker Logan McKeag (88 tackles) and Entz, who has five sacks.
Keefer has praised Southern's ability to withstand injuries and replace players.
"This has been an interesting year," Roth said. "I can't remember a year when we've had injuries to the caliber of people we've had this year, and we're just trying to make a positive out of it. It's kind of been like, 'Ok, next man up.' The next guys up have done a good job. For example, Brad Noll came back the last couple of games, and while he hasn't carried the ball much, he's done a great job blocking and playing defense.
"This group, as a whole, has responded. Normally, when you get some key injuries, it can become a mental thing for everyone but it seems like this group just raised the bar a little."
Roth was pleasantly surprised with the success both Steve Toczylousky and Billy Barnes had carrying the ball last week.
"Steve had some nice punt returns for us earlier but playing running back is completely different and he looked very, very comfortable," Roth said. "So did Barnes. Those two guys both played with a lot of confidence, and I think that's important at that position."
And for all the injuries that the skill people have had, the offensive and defensive lines remain, for the most part, healthy.