Southern Rolls Past Montoursville
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Dave Fegley | September 12, 2026
Balanced attack, stout defense carry SCA to 48-13 win
Southern Columbia entered Friday night knowing Montoursville was likely to test the Tigers through the air.
The Warriors did in the early going, but the Tiger defense simply didn’t allow them to turn those opportunities into points.
The Tigers stopped Montoursville on fourth down on each of its first three possessions and used a balanced offensive attack to pull away for a 48-13 victory at Tiger Stadium. The win kept Southern unbeaten at 3-0 and gave the Tigers their first PHAC divisional victory of the season.
“I was a little nervous coming into this game because I knew Montoursville was going to pass a lot,” Southern coach Jim Roth said. “We have some new guys starting just like every team does usually entering a season, but I was proud of the defensive effort.”
The Warriors managed only two first downs in the opening half and were held to negative rushing yardage during the first three quarters while Southern’s starting defense was on the field.
“I was very pleased with the way our defense played overall. The focus was better this week. That was the emphasis in practice leading up to this game,” Roth said.
While the defense kept the Warriors off the scoreboard, Southern’s offense steadily built its advantage.
Ayden Hockenbroch completed his first four passes on the Tigers’ opening drive, which covered 79 yards on 10 plays and ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jace Malakoski.
The Tigers struck again on their next possession when Hockenbroch found Blaise Kissinger behind the defense for a 64-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Hockenbroch finished 8-for-10 for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Kissinger was his favorite target, catching five passes for 115 yards and two scores.
“We had success passing early, and then we used the clock when we had the big lead,” Kissinger said. “Ayden got the ball to Jace and me, and Gavin Brown also had a big catch early on that set up our first touchdown.”
The only blemish for Hockenbroch came in the second quarter when a tipped screen pass was intercepted by Montoursville’s Riggs McGraw. It was Hockenbroch’s first interception since the opening game of last season.
“Those things happen, and it is all about the response,” Roth said.
Southern quickly answered with another defensive stop, and the defending 2A champions continued to control the game.
Grady Garcia scored on a 3-yard run with 3:44 remaining in the first half, giving the Tigers a 21-0 lead. Kissinger then hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:04 left before halftime, sending Southern into the break with a 28-0 advantage.
After Montoursville struggled to contain him in the second half, Garcia ripped off touchdown runs of 49 and 50 yards in the third quarter. He finished with 194 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns and became his school’s 29th rusher to top 2,000 career yards on the ground in the process.
“Montoursville has a tough defense, and they showed that early on as there wasn’t as much running room in the first half,” Garcia said. “Credit to all my linemen and the guys blocking at the other skill position spots in the second half. They all allowed me to find room to run.”
Southern finished with 549 yards of total offense, including 373 rushing and 176 passing.
“It was a good game where we were able to find success in multiple ways. Everyone contributed to this win on offense, defense, and special teams,” said Hockenbroch.
The Tigers’ offensive line was connecting on nearly all cylinders.
“I think it was just about playing physical football,” Southern offensive tackle Braylin Smith said. “Last week, we came out a little flat before we turned it on. This week we were more physical and it showed. We did a better job of executing our plays.”
Garcia’s two long touchdown runs pushed the Tigers’ lead to 41-0 before Montoursville finally got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter.
Colton Conklin scored on runs of 2 and 7 yards for the Warriors, but Southern answered the first touchdown almost immediately.
On the first play following Montoursville’s initial score, Kane Cecco broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run to cap Southern’s scoring.
Gavin Trometter helped set the tone defensively for the Tigers. As one of three new of four starting linebackers, the sophomore recorded a sack to end one of Montoursville’s early drives.
“You just have to go 100% and learn throughout the week in practice,” Trometter said. “We knew it was going to be key to make stops and provide pressure against their pass.”
The Tigers’ performance came on a night that began with Southern honoring the branches of the United States military before the game. Each branch was represented during a pregame ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the devastation caused on September 11th back in 2001.
“It ended up being a great night,” Roth said. “We had that pregame ceremony to show our support and thank the military members, and then our players performed well.”
Southern will return to action next Saturday night against Lewisburg at Milton. The game will be played at Milton because Bucknell University’s field is unavailable due to alumni weekend.
The Green Dragons are the next opponent to face a Southern squad that has now won 18 straight, including a state record 15th Pennsylvania title last December, and the Tigers have developed a sense of swag with some of its players.
Two-way lineman Jaden Carter was disruptive throughout the action for the Tigers. He was part of a pass rush that made things uncomfortable for the Warriors for the majority of the game.
He comes up with a way of his words to try and emphasize the path forward.
“I said pressure makes diamonds in our opening win. Now that we have three straight wins under our belts to start things off, I say don’t get in the water if you can’t swim,” SCA’s confident Carter said. “We are looking to drown our opponents with pressure on defense. We are locking in going forward.”
Southern Columbia 48, Montoursville 13
MTV — SCA
First Downs: 7 — 22
Rushes-yds: 26-57 — 39-373
Passing yds: 163 — 176
Total yds: 220 — 549
Passing (C-A-I): 10-18-0 — 8-10-1
Penalties: 3-20 — 5-45
Fumbles-lost: 1-0 — 0-0
Montoursville (1-2): 0-0-0-13 — 13
Southern Col. (3-0): 14-14-13-7 — 48
1st Quarter
S– Jace Malakoski 19 pass from Ayden Hockenbroch (Lincoln Billig kick), 6:30.
S– Blaise Kissinger 64 pass from Hockenbroch (Billig kick), 0:31
2nd Quarter
S– Grady Garcia 3 run (Billig kick), 3:44.
S– Kissinger 16 pass from Hockenbroch (Billig kick), 1:04.
3rd Quarter
S– Garcia 49 run (kick failed), 7:57.
S– Garcia 50 run (Billig kick), 2:30.
4th Quarter
M– Colton Conklin 2 run (Brent Crawford kick), 9:51.
S– Kane Cecco 43 run (Billig kick), 9:40.
M– Conklin 7 run (kick blocked), 4:28.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southern: Grady Garcia 16-194, 3 TDs; Joey Williams 11-49; Ayden Hockenbroch 4-44; Kane Cecco 1-43, TD; Orion Wojtowicz 1-16; Gavin Trometter 2-14; Will Wojtowicz 1-7; Gavin Brown 3-6. Montoursville: Colton Conklin 7-38, 2 TDs; Mason Lapinski 3-23; Kaden Kleinman 6-4; Elijah Eck 4-3; Jacob Schon 4-2; Team: 2-(-13).
PASSING — Southern: Ayden Hockenbroch 8-10-1, 176 yds, 3 TDs. Montoursville: Elijah Eck 10-18-0, 163 yds.
RECEIVING — Southern: Blaise Kissinger 5-115, 2 TDs; Gavin Brown 1-32; Jace Malakoski 2-29, TD. Montoursville: Colton Conklin 1-48; Cole Snyder 1-46; James Williams 3-37; Kaden Kleinman 3-15; Colby Ulmer 1-11; Mason Lapinski 1-6.
