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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP -- Southern Columbia's defense made fourth-down stops on each of Montoursville's three opening drives and a balanced offensive attack by the Tigers resulted in a 48-13 win.
On offense, Southern finished with 549 yards with four touchdowns via the ground and three through the air.
Other than an early pass and some late yardage against the Southern reserves, Montoursville couldn't get much going on offense. By the time the Tigers pulled their starting defense late in the third quarter, the Warriors had a net of negative-6 yards rushing.
"I was very pleased with the way our defense played overall. We knew Montoursville was going to be a passing team, but other than that one early pass, we did a good job of stopping it," Southern coach Jim Roth said. "What made me feel even better was the fact that when they got deep into our territory, our defense made the stops to keep them from scoring. It was a great response to not give up in those scenarios."
On Southern's opening drive, the Tigers went 79 yards on 10 plays for a lead that used almost half of the quarter. Ayden Hockenbroch started off the game going 4-for-4 on that first drive.
The TD connection was a 19-yard pass to tight end Jace Malakoski. On the next drive, Hockenbroch found Blaise Kissinger streaking down the visitors' sideline for a 64-yard touchdown.
"Ayden played another great game as the leader of our offense. He has such good chemistry with Malakoski and Kissinger and showed that again tonight. He was efficient as a passer and when we called for him to run on some quarterback keepers he delivered," Roth said.
On the third drive for the Tigers, Hockenbroch was intercepted for the first time since the 2025 season opener. A designed screen pass was tipped at the line and picked off by a Montoursville defensive lineman.
Following that, Southern's defense made a third straight turnover on downs stop. Gavin Trometter recorded a sack to end the drive.
"You just have to go 100% and learn throughout the week in practice. We knew it was going to be key to make stops and provide pressure against their pass," the sophomore linebacker said. "I was nervous in the first game this season with it being my first start, but I feel comfortable now."
Grady Garcia gave Southern a 21-0 lead with 3:44 to go on in the second quarter on a 3-yard run. After forcing a three-and-out, Kissinger caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with just over a minute to go in the half.
For the second year in a row, Kissinger reeled in two touchdown receptions against Montoursville.
"I am friends with a couple of their guys, so I don't know if that gets me going or what it is," Kissinger said. "Their corners were kind of just sitting there expecting to have to contain the run, but it opened up the plays for us to have passing success."
Last week, Kissinger didn't have any catches. This week ended with him having five receptions for 115 yards.
"Coach Roth didn't say anything to me specifically, but we definitely threw more in this game compared to last week. It seemed to definitely work out to balance our run game," Kissinger said.
In the third quarter, Garcia ripped off a pair of long touchdown runs of 49 and 50 yards. He finished with 194 yards rushing in the win.
"Grady is able to make those types of runs in any moment, but when we get our passing game going it allows for him to have more free space because they can't just sit there and key on stopping him," Roth said. "I thought our line played much better than last week too, so that is an added positive here early on in the season."