It's been 8 years since Southern and Mount Carmel did this!!!

Before we get Mount Carmel-Southern, here is Dave Zielinskie and Jim Bergen with some chat before their clash last Friday.

Zielinskie who won a District IV AAA title against Bergen in 1991, lost a tough 14-9 this past weekend.

In week 3, smoke under the teepee is beginning to flame. In the News-Item published 9/11, Zielinskie was already mentioned in Sound Off. All things being equal, the Indians probably had one of the toughest opening two games of any AA team in the district if not the region.

With his past record against Mount Carmel, Zielinskie is sure bet to be more popular than the current board that hired him.

MCA vs. SOUTHERN COLUMBIA

This past week was a little historical for Southern Area and Mount Carmel. It was the first time they lost on the same day since 11/5/99. It came on week 10 of the season. Southern lost to Danville 31-27 while Mount Carmel got beat by Selinsgrove 21-14. Both rebounded to make the state finals five weeks later.

How will it go this week? Hard to gauge. If you are a Southern fan, will the running game get going? If you are from Mount Carmel, can you cover the pass? It's hard to believe you can question Southern's running game or Mount Carmel's defense in the same game story. This will be a telling game for both teams and how the rest of their season shapes up. A win for Southern will mean the running game may have returned. If the running game struggles, Snyder and Heitzman may have to hook up for over 200 yards or the defense needs to come up big.

The Red Tornadoes have gotten two big games out of James Haynes. How do you fix a suspect secondary? You pressure the quarterback. That may leave some other things open. The main thing, there is no clear cut favorite or underdog in this one. The sure bet is the hitting will be hard.