The Warriors were in a position to extend the lead, but then Southern’s Blaise Kissinger made the play of the night inside of Memorial Stadium. The junior intercepted an Elijah Eck pass with 1:50 left in the second quarter to end the threat.

“I wasn’t surprised that they came out throwing on that drive because they threw the ball a lot last game. We prepared and studied that exact play in practice all week,” said Kissinger.

The junior then switched to the other side of the ball and caught a 15-yard pass from Ayden Hockenbroch with just eight seconds left in the half to give the Tigers the lead for good.

Southern had to drive 70 yards, and they did so via the passing game after having just one completion, which went for negative yardage, prior to that. Hockenbroch completed four straight throws with the final coming to Kissinger across the goal line.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Southern Columbia's Brayden Andrews (24) is swarmed by Montoursville's Christian Banks (0), Gabe Vanderwall (65) and Noah Rakestraw (75) behind the line of scrimmage in the first quarter.

“We were close to the end zone, and we usually go with a double-tight end formation and run it in those situations. With just one timeout left, we had to throw. They were playing off a bit in coverage, so we went with the curl route and Ayden hit me at the right time out of my break,” Kissinger said.

That started a string of four consecutive touchdowns for the Tigers, as they went on to win the game 26-16 to earn a PHAC Division II title.

“Our theme at halftime was talking about not playing as physically up front as we needed to. We made a couple of changes to the scheme, but mostly it was about getting down to business and executing on our base plays,” Southern coach Jim Roth said.

Grady Garcia made the score 13-3 on a short touchdown run in the third quarter, and then Kissinger caught a 41-yard TD from Hockenbroch.

“We ran a sluggo (slant-and-go), so I lined up deep on the outside and the defensive back bit on the slant. Out of my break I heard him cursing because he knew he was beat. Then, I had a perfectly thrown ball to me,” said Kissinger after his first career two touchdown game.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Southern Columbia's Brayden Andrews (24) is gang tackled by Montoursville's Kingston Fisher(41) and Hayden Harvey (22) in the second quarter.

Garcia then scored on a run of six yards to make the score 26-3 with 6:25 left in the game before the host scored on two passes that ultimately didn’t change the outcome.

In the second half, Southern simply wore down the counterpart.

After Kissinger’s interception in the second quarter, Montoursville only ran three offensive plays until they got the ball back with just a little more than 10 minutes left in the final quarter. They then only had three more plays as they were forced to punt on another three-and-out on that drive.

Southern took control of the clock and showed the effort it takes to become champions. In this case, it was the 34th league title in the historic program’s history.

The Tigers struggled out of the gate to get things going offensively, but they became more effective as the game wore on.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Christian Banks (0) breaks an attempted tackle in the second quarter Friday.

“We just had to make a quick little adjustment called a bucket where I take a deeper step outside to try and work up the field. Even though they were favoring the outside with the linebackers flowing, coach (Mike) Johnston had a great idea to get a step back and get better aligned before pushing up field to block,” said Southern offensive tackle Jaden Carter.

On the first offensive play of the game, Montoursville’s Christian Banks ripped off a 52-yard run but like last week, the Tigers didn’t surrender a touchdown. The Warriors settled for a short field goal.

“They had a great running play there to start the game, and they have done great running the ball all year. We knew what they were going to do though with their counters and trap plays. We got up big there in the fourth. Even though they are a great team, we played better,” said Carter, who also starts at defensive tackle.

Southern (7-1) will now take on another opponent for a third straight week with just one loss. The Tigers will host Bloomsburg next in the final regular-season home game for the Division II champs.

“We have been talking about this stretch of games and how we have to be ready each week. We are halfway through this four-game tough stretch. Although it is tough competition, it benefits you going into the playoffs,” Roth said. “You may get a first-round district game against a team that may not be very tough, but the quality of opponent will be tough quickly. If you want to make a deep run, you have to come out ready to go from the start.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Christian Banks (0) tries to break a tackle in the first quarter.

The Tigers allowed just one first down after halftime, and with the win, they will move into the top seed of District 4’s Class 2A.

Montoursville’s Christian Banks ran for a game-high 114 yards on just 10 attempts.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Christian Banks (0) runs the ball back to within the 20 on the opening kick-off against Southern Columbia Friday.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville players charge onto the field before their game against Southern Columbia Friday night.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville players charge onto the field before their game against Southern Columbia Friday night.