CATAWISSA R.R. - It's probably too early in the season for Southern Columbia to be concerned about a letdown after a big opening-night victory over District 4 Class A rival Line Mountain last week.
Those usually happen along about midseason when you follow a rivalry game with one you should win easily. Besides, letdowns by the Tigers over the past 20 years or so have been few, and far between.
And while they'll be heavily favored when they open Heartland II action tonight at home against Montoursville, you can also bet the house they'll be well prepared for a Warriors' team that turned 14 third-quarter points and a pretty stout defensive effort into a 14-6 opening-night win over Central Columbia.
It's that Montoursville defense that stood out most as the Tigers did their prep work for tonight.
"They run a 3-5 defense, and that's sort of become very popular," Southern head coach Jim Roth said. "They're very, very active, and they bring people all the time.
"This type of scheme makes you really prepare. We have to be really in tune with our assignments."
In the opener against Central Columbia, the Warriors' defensive unit allowed only 44 rushing yards, 145 total yards and only nine first downs. That effort, combined with an offense that was solid, if unspectacular, with 278 total yards led to the close victory.
Long-time Montoursville coach Jim Bergen retired following last season, but Roth says there hasn't been much change in system or philosophy under his replacement, J.C. Keefer.
"They are pretty similar to what they were doing last year," Roth said. "They didn't seem to change a whole lot.
"There's a new coach, but he's been on the staff and in the system for a while and they do a lot of the same things."
The challenge to the Tigers' defense hasn't been nearly as great in preparation as it was in prep work before the opener with Line Mountain.
"They (Montoursville) throw the ball a little more than they did, and they were pretty effective with it (against Central," Roth said. "And they run a lot of I (formation) stuff.
"Nothing really fancy, but with a decent variety in terms of formations. They're trying to get their program back on track and working on fundamentals and things like that."
Roth said the Warriors definitely outplayed Central in the opener, and that's something his team will be aware of.
"We had projected both Central and Montoursville to be improved this year," Roth said.
Southern Columbia came out of the Line Mountain game in relatively good health. Roth said no players will miss this week's game other than running back Tyrell Thomas, out for the season after suffering a knee injury on the opening day of practice.