Football Game Preview: Altoona Mountain Lions vs. Harrisburg Cougars

Altoona is 0-6 against Harrisburg since October of 2018 but things could change on Saturday. The Mountain Lions will head out to square off against the Cougars at 1:00 p.m. Altoona has given up an average of 27.2 points per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Altoona's offense might be in the hot seat on Saturday considering what happened against Bishop McDevitt on Friday. They took a blow against the Crusaders, falling 38-0. The contest marked the first time this year in which the Mountain Lions were not able to get on the board.

Meanwhile, Harrisburg strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They blew past Carlisle 49-0. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matchups by 42 points or more this season.

Harrisburg's win came from a few key players Altoona will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Elias Coke, who picked up 81 receiving yards and two scores, and also rushed for 40 yards and one TD. Princeton Dent was in the mix as well, providing Harrisburg with two touchdowns.

Harrisburg's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB six times. Carlisle's QB won't forget Noah Ewell anytime soon given he sacked him twice. Ewell has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 19 times he's played. Kayson Judge was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, forcing one fumble, and making four total tackles (2.0 for loss).

Harrisburg's win bumped their record up to 6-0. As for Altoona, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.

Altoona was dealt a bruising 33-0 defeat at the hands of Harrisburg in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Cougars' Messiah Mickens, who rushed for 132 yards and three scores on only ten carries. Now that the Mountain Lions know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.