Vincent Albarano breaks away for a big gain after a reception as Dalton Reasinger dives for the tackle.

Hollidaysburg is hoping for a major feeling of deja vu on Friday night when the Golden Tigers host DuBois in the District 6-8-9-10 Class 5A subregional championship at Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m.

Hollidaysburg downed the Beavers, 49-0, just two weeks ago and also beat DuBois two times in a two-week period to win last year’s subregional title at Tiger Stadium.

But that doesn’t mean Homer DeLattre’s 11-0 Golden Tiger squad will be looking past the 7-4 Beavers.

“I don’t think it’s difficult to keep their focus,” DeLattre said. “We went through the same thing last year where we went to DuBois and won by 20-plus points and we didn’t take them lightly and ended up with a 28-23 victory two weeks later. We understand the situation. They are really good. There’s no doubt about it.”

DuBois rebounded from its loss to Hollidaysburg with a 48-21 win over Mifflin County in the subregional semifinals last week.

DuBois running back London Duncan, who left the Hollidaysburg game with an injury and was on crutches after it, played and ran for 105 yards.

Trey Wingard threw for 279 yards and completed seven passes for 117 yards to Jaxson Hanzely, who beat Hollidaysburg defenders down the field a couple times in the first game but just missed on long touchdown grabs.

“Last game, we did a good job at keeping them in front of us,” DeLattre said. “They had a couple deep balls that they didn’t execute. We played very well on third down last time. That was a big factor, and we converted a couple fourth downs. A lot of those things were very good, but one or two of those plays goes differently, and it’s a completely different game.”

Hanzely has 72 catches this season for 1,590 yards and 21 touchdown catches.

“The biggest thing is that our players played against it,” DeLattre said. “It’s hard to replicate things in practice. He is a very fast player, so we’ll make some adjustments on the way we practice when we play teams with really good speed, adjusting the way our scout team runs things. But they have the game speed now and understand that. I’m sure they’ll have some different plays and sets we haven’t seen. We’ll have to go back and look at the last two years and be prepared for them to bring out everything they have.”

And DuBois has plenty to prepare for too. Hollidaysburg hasn’t lost a home game since 2023 and hasn’t lost to DuBois since 2009.

“To play 14 home football games in two years is awesome,” DeLattre said. “The seniors have played 14 the last two years plus five their sophomore year, so to play 19 home games is pretty cool. They deserved it. When you are in this subregional, you are playing every week for a home game in the championship game. They earned this through the first 10 games, and hopefully they can win a 15th consecutive game at home.”

SUBHED: 2A bluebloods

Richland and Bellwood-Antis have been among the two best teams in District 6’s 2A classification for a long time.

The schools meet in the semifinals on Friday at Richland.

“It’s a big matchup,” Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich said. “We have run into Richland before in the playoffs. They have won many district championships and are definitely one of the best schools in District 6 2A. Coach Bailey does a great job with his kids, and they have a lot of athletes there. Our kids are really excited for the challenge to go play them.”

So far, those matchups haven’t gone in the favor of the Blue Devils.

Richland won 54-14 in the 2021 postseason and 29-0 the year before.

“We have had some history with Bellwood, seeing them in the playoffs in both 2020 and 2021,” Richland coach Brandon Bailey said. “None of the kids on the field remember, but we also had a nice series with them in 2012 and 2013 where both teams had a lot of success and met up in Week 10. We have a lot of respect for those guys and are excited for the challenge.”

The previous Bellwood losses, though, came when the Blue Devils were still playing weekly in the Inter-County Conference throughout the regular season.

The school entered the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference to better be prepared for games like Friday’s.

“Bellwood has really had a couple strong performances in a row,” Bailey said. “Especially rushing the football the last two weeks against Forest Hills and River Valley for 350 yards in each game.”

Richland can run and throw the ball well. Arnold Mugerwa is averaging 19.3 yards a catch on 46 catches this season.

“They have a good mix of running the ball and passing,” Lovrich said. “Their skill kids are pretty outstanding. They have the one receiver who is getting Division I looks. He’s around 6 foot 4, and he’s fast. We have to be able to contend with him. Their quarterback throws a good ball, and their offensive and defensive line is a stout group. Watching them play, they will definitely be a formidable opponent for us.”

And Mugerwa isn’t even the leading receiver. Jamere Christian has 55 catches for 885 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Rams.

“I think coming in, we started out strong and kind of tripped up against Bishop McCort,” Bailey said. “We talked to the team and knew we would probably have to finish 9-1 if we wanted to have some home field advantage in the playoffs. Our kids were very workmanlike through the rest of the season and did a great job to put ourselves in a position to have two home games.”

Bellwood-Antis is coming off a dominant performance over River Valley, but Lovrich knows a few miscues that didn’t bother the Blue Devils last week could hurt them much worse against Richland.

“We have to make sure we eliminate some of the little mistakes we made,” Lovrich said. “We had a couple turnovers and some untimely penalties. We have to make sure we stop that and focus on stopping their explosive plays.”

Alex McCartney has 122 more carries than any other B-A running back and has taken advantage of that with 1,271 yards, but Bailey is wary of the teams’ other weapons.

“McCartney is the workhorse,” Bailey said. “But the (Chase) Plummer kid and the (Colin) Gibbons kid both average over 7 yards a carry when they get it, so if you concentrate too much on Alex McCartney, you get yourself into some problems. We just need to line up, have guys in the box and tackle without focusing on any one guy.”

In 2021, Richland won its fourth straight District 6 title, but the Rams haven’t won one since.

“It’s real important,” Bailey said. “Our goal every year is to be the best program in the region. If you’re not finishing off with a district title, it’s hard to achieve that goal. Our senior class has really worked hard and led our underclassmen to get our kids back to that level. Obviously Bellwood is in our way. They are a really good program. Coach Lovrich does an awesome job as well as his assistants at getting his kids lined up and doing a good job, so we’re not talking about district championship games yet, because we have to get through this semifinal game first.”