Football Preview: Montoursville Warriors vs. Southern Columbia Area Tigers
Montoursville is 1-6 against Southern Columbia Area since November of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Montoursville Warriors will head out to take on the Southern Columbia Area Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Southern Columbia Area took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Montoursville, who comes in off a win.
Last Friday, Montoursville was fully in charge, breezing past Central Mountain 44-7 at home. Given the Warriors' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 173rd, while the Wildcats are ranked 476th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Montoursville to victory, but perhaps none more so than Christian Banks, who rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries. Another rusher making a difference was Hayden Harvey, who rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Montoursville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 231 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Central Mountain only rushed for 133.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Southern Columbia Area challenged Mifflinburg on Friday. Southern Columbia Area took a 34-26 hit to the loss column at the hands of Mifflinburg. The Tigers gained 150 more yards on the day, but it was the Wildcats that made the best use of them.
Southern Columbia Area might have lost, but man, Brayden Andrews was a machine: he rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. Andrews was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 55 yards.
The win made it two in a row for Montoursville and bumps their season record up to 5-2. As for Southern Columbia Area, their loss ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 3-4.
Friday's match will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Banks and Andrews. Banks has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 118.4 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Andrews has averaged 84 rushing yards per game this season.
Montoursville suffered a grim 21-0 defeat to Southern Columbia Area in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Montoursville avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
