As far as football coaches are concerned, there's no such thing as a bad opponent.
So when unbeaten Southern Columbia (7-0) hosts Loyalsock (1-6) tonight at Tiger Stadium, Southern fans need not worry - head coach Jim Roth has found some things the Lancers do well to give Southern something to work on.
"Coming off a couple of pretty tough games, it's kind of nice to go into a game like this," Roth said earlier this week. "If everyone does their jobs, hopefully you can get your starters some rest and get the young guys some playing time and nobody will get hurt. But still, we're looking at this as a trap game. We've got Mount Carmel ahead next week, and you don't want to get caught looking ahead."
And Loyalsock, despite severe offensive woes, does some things which concern Roth.
"They run a version of the 4-3 defense which we haven't seen before," Roth said. "It's a 4-3 but they're always moving people in and out of the slots. So that's something we can work up a game plan for and the kids can focus on. You want to see how kids react after you've prepared them for something different."
Offensively, although the Lancers have had trouble scoring points, they've moved the ball, and they're doing lots of things to try to score.
"They've been moving the ball on most of the teams they've played," Roth said. "But putting it in the end zone has been a problem for them."
Loyalsock has used four different quarterbacks as well, all of whom have thrown at least 16 passes, including their defensive leader, senior linebacker Mike Kinney.
"They put Kinney back there in the wildcat like they did with (Sean) Stopper a few years ago when they went deep in the playoffs," Roth said. "Now Kinney's not the same kind of athlete as Stopper was, but they're trying things."
Roth can also point to Loyalsock's recent playoff successes and the Lancers' present record as a warning against complacency for the kids in his program. It doesn't take a whole lot for a team to fall on hard times.
Still, this is a game in which Southern will be heavily favored, and which it should heavily win.