Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt them en route to 41-0 loss at Kenneth M. Robbins Stadium on Friday night.

“We were able to move the ball and sustain drives throughout the beginning of the game. And then, as the game wore on, pressure increased, we weren’t able to get the running game going,” Loyalsock coach Justin Van Fleet said And when you’re against a team like that, if you get more one-dimensional in terms of your threat, that’s a big problem.”

After Loyalsock was able to move the ball through the air early on in the game, the Tigers started pressuring Lancer quarterback Danny Dowell at will, led by Chase Williams’ 2 1/2 sacks.

“I didn’t have the greatest game last week, so I kind-of played with a chip on my shoulder,” Williams, who also blocked two punts, said. “I had something to make up for, so I worked very hard in practice and gave it my all.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cayden Sones runs behind the block of Connor Tallman in the second quarter.

The Tiger pass rush paid dividends right from the start. Loyalsock took the opening kick and drove to the Tiger 10-yard line. But, a third-and-goal sack backed them up to the 19, and pressure on fourth-and-goal forced Dowell to harmlessly throw the ball away to get the Southern Columbia defense off the field.

The Tigers went to the ground on their first drive to get inside the Lancer 30. Then a perfectly-timed play-action pass call freed up Nate Gallagher behind the Loyalsock secondary on a post route. Quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch hit him perfectly in stride to open the scoring late in the opening quarter.

Once again Loyalsock used the air attack to drive into Southern Columbia territory on their second drive. But Caius Morrow stepped in front of a pass on fourth-and-5 from the Tiger 37 to stop that scoring threat, too.

“I jammed them off the line. It was a good jam. I didn’t think the ball was coming (my way). I turned around and saw the ball and went and played it,” Morrow said.

Soon after, Southern made it 14-0. After an 18-yard run by Brayden Andrews, Grady Garcia scampered in from 24 yards out for his first of two touchdowns a play later to put Southern Columbia firmly in control.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cayden Sones tries to break an attempted tackle by Southern's Parker Pesarchick (28) in the second quarter.

“The offensive line did really well today. There were a lot of holes opened, and especially with the tight ends, everybody just contributed a good bit,” Garcia said. I had my lead blockers, and everything was just going well. Just did what we could and got in the end zone as many times as we could.”

Southern Columbia wasn’t done scoring in the first half. After the two teams traded punts, the Tigers got another stop with less than two minutes remaining the first half, and Brayden Andrews returned a punt to the Lancer eight-yard line. Two plays later, Talon Piatt plunged in from a yard out to make it 21-0 at the half.

After moving the ball intermittently throughout the first half, the Loyalsock offense couldn’t get anything going in the second half thanks to a suffocating Tiger defense that simply refused to give Dowell any time to throw in the pocket.

“We always stress to our front and our linebackers that any time a team throws the ball, pressure is so critical and that was the difference. We were able to get a ton of pressure on him,” Southern Columbia coach Jim Roth said. “We had a few sacks, but a lot of times he was scrambling and he threw the ball away. So, that really helped. They were hitting some of those quick ones early, but we started getting more and more and more pressure on him. I was really happy to see that, because that’s really important, especially anytime you get a team that you know has a spread (offense) and throws the ball like this team.”

After another long pass from Hockenbroch to Gallagher set the Tigers up with first-and-goal from the 6 midway through the third quarter, Parker Pesarchick scored from six yards out to make it 28-0. And a few minutes later, after an incredible Andrews punt return was called back due to a holding penalty right at the goal line, Garcia plunged in from two yards out to make it 34-0.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Jalil Coates (5) breaks up a pass to Southern's Nathan Gallagher (2) in the second quarter.

Gavin Brown wrapped up scoring, running in from five yards out with 1:13 remaining in the game.

Despite the scoreline, Van Fleet saw considerable improvement against a tough opponent following the team’s opening-game loss to Mifflinburg.

“From last week to this week, I thought we had marked improvement, and from this week to next week, we need to have exponential improvement again. And, the biggest thing we’re focusing on is keeping ourselves towards that level of sustained improvement. We’ve had many teams where we started really hot and then fizzled towards the end. And with this team, we’re going to keep growing and building and finding our way so that as the season continues, that will be the best version of ourselves at the conclusion,” Van Fleet said.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cayden Sones runs a sweep around Southern's defense in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cayden Sones (23) brushes off an attempted tackle by Southern's Brady Arnold (25) in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cayden Sones runs a sweep around Southern's defense in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock quarterback Danny Dowell throws the ball against Southern Columbia Friday night.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Nahmir Thomas makes a pass reception in front of Southern's Brady Arnold (25) in the second quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Jalil Coats (5) pulls in a pass over Southern's Nathan Gallagher (2) in the first quarter.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock football team storms onto the field before their game against Southern Columbia Friday.