WILLIAMSPORT — Start a conversation about Class A football in District 4, and Southern Columbia is mentioned in the first few breaths.
And deservedly so.
The Tigers have been the state’s premier Class A program over the past two-plus decades, winning 22 of the last 23 District 4 Class A championships and perennially contending for a state championship. Jim Roth’s club has won six PIAA Class A crowns (1994, 2002, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06) and was the state runner-up seven other times.
This year, however, Southern Columbia makes the jump to Class AA for the next two-year PIAA enrollment cycle. The Tigers’ switch in classification was the talk of Tuesday’s first District 4 Football Coaches Association Media Day held at the Williamsport Country Club.
Twenty-six of District 4’s 33 football teams attended the function, and most coaches mentioned Southern Columbia in some form during their address to the media.
For the Class AA schools, the addition of Southern makes an already ultra-competitive field even stronger.
For the Class A schools, the Tigers’ departure opens the door for several teams to claim their first District 4 Class A crown.
“In the past, Southern was so strong, even if you had good teams, they seemed to just steam roll through,” said Muncy coach Jay Drumheller, whose squad went 6-5 and lost 34-13 to Marian in the Eastern Conference semifinals. “This year, there’s a bunch of very good teams. It’s going to be very competitive.
“The main thing is getting into the playoffs.”
District 4 fields 10 teams in Class A, and seven of them have realistic shots to make the four-team playoffs and contend for a district title.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the contenders:
• South Williamsport — The Mounties went 10-2 last year, falling 47-21 to Southern Columbia in the district final. South returns seven starters on offense and six on defense, including running back Dominick Bragalone III, the Associated Press Sports Writers All-State Class A Co-Player of the Year.
Bragalone rushed for 3,268 yards and scored 48 touchdowns a year ago. The 5-foot-10, 208-pound bruiser rumbled for 326 yards in the loss to Southern.
“Making it to the district final was really exciting,” Bragalone said Tuesday. “This year, it’s really more exciting because if we get there, we won’t have to play Southern Columbia, who is usually the more dominant team. It’s something to look for to if we make it to that point.”
• Wellsboro — The Green Hornets won the Northern Tier League Large School Division title last season and went 10-0 in the regular season before losing 42-28 to South Williamsport in the district semis.
Matt Hildebrand’s club returns 16 seniors and 15 starters, including All-State quarterback Michael Pietropola, who completed 118-of-190 passes for 2,755 yards and 39 TDs last season.
“We have high expectations,” Hildebrand said. “We met South Williamsport in the first round of districts last year, and if you look back on it, it’s a game that could have gone either way.
“I think it will be between a few teams, but we’re definitely looking to compete (for a district title).”
• Bloomsburg — Former Mount Carmel and Tri-Valley coach Mike Kogut is in his second year with the Panthers, who were 6-5 and lost to Southern in the district semis.
Bloomsburg returns 12 letterwinners — five starters on offense, seven on defense — but lost star quarterback Ricky Klingerman (169-of-267, 1,847 yards, 15 TDs) to graduation.
Kogut’s squad also has a killer schedule competing in the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference Division III. The slate features seven playoff teams from 2013, with fellow Class A contenders South Williamsport, Muncy and Wellsboro on consecutive weeks in the middle of the season and games against Class AA contenders Loyalsock and Southern Columbia.
“The District 4 Single-A race is really going to be tough,” Kogut said. “We have seven playoff teams on our schedule, including Southern Columbia. We’re just going to try to take it game by game.
“It’s definitely a tough gauntlet. It’s tough out of the gate, but we want the challenge. If we can get through our schedule, hopefully it can prep us for a playoff run.”
• Muncy — Drumheller’s squad returns nine starters on defense, including linebacker Scott Appleman (120 tackles) and defensive tackle Nick Roberts.
The Indians return running backs Junior Ramos (59-358, 6 TD) and Dakota Nixon (95-560, 6 TD), and wideout Maurice Brown (43-710, 7 TDs).
• North Penn (6-5) drops down from Class AA, where it lost 28-6 to North Schuylkill in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Canton (5-5) must replace 18 graduated seniors, while Line Mountain (3-7) is looking to rebound from its first losing season in 13 years.
Sayre (3-7), Bucktail (4-5) and Montgomery (1-9) round out the Class A schools.
It shapes up to be a competitive race for the District 4 Class A title, and with Southern Columbia out of the picture, teams are chomping at the bit for a chance to win it.
“Having Southern out of there, it’s definitely a benefit, because every year they’re so dominant,” Hildebrand said. “Losing them, there’s going to be somebody new there this year competing (for the title), and we hope to be in that mix.”
(Boyer is sports editor and covers high school football for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)