JOHNSTOWN — The South squad had won the last three Ken Lantzy Finest 40 football games and the North knows that it once again has its work cut out it for this year’s 39th annual contest.

The first day of practices took place Monday at the Pitt-Johnstown campus and on the artificial turf at Richland High School.

The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Johnstown’s Trojan Stadium.

North defensive coordinator Joe Ridgeley of Central Cambria liked what he saw Monday in his Yankees.

“Traditionally, the last couple years it’s been difficult for the North,” Ridgeley said prior to Monday’s second practice session. “I think this year we’ll have a shot because of the type of players we have on the team. We have more speed and more size. They are very big, and surprisingly quick, and we have a decent amount of speed on defense. It looks pretty good for us.”

Ridgeley said the level of talent among the players is different than during the regular season, where there are differing skill levels on a team.

“These kids are all excellent athletes and that makes a big difference,” the Red Devils coach said. “ A lot will go on to play college ball, but even the ones that aren’t going on are still at a high level, and that’s what makes this game so interesting. Some of the kids who ran track and played baseball probably have a little advantage. The other ones, it’s a little hard to get back into condition right away.”

Both teams are required to play a 5-2 defense,

“They let you do some stunts up front – some twists, some slants, but there is no linebacker blitzing at all,” Ridgeley said. “Coverages, you can run pretty much anything, but that lack of blitzing, that gives the advantage to the offense.”

Linemen for the North include Derek Semetosky of Bishop Carroll, Alex Bakaysa of Purchase Line, Derek Gallardy of Altoona, Nick Johnston of Bishop Guilfoyle and Vance Kimberly of Glendale at the ends; Gregory Strauss of Tussey Mountain and Craig Baker of Purchase Line at the tackle spots; and John McCarty of Forest Hills at nose guard.

“All the stars come out and play, so this should be fun,” said McCarty, who is going on to play nose guard at California University of Pennsylvania. “I just know that everyone I talked to through the years said that this is a blast. The helmet is hard to get used to again. This will help begin my conditioning for going to school. We’re pretty big, and hopefully we can stop the South.”

The linebackers include Josh McDannell of Chestnut Ridge, Zack Faith of Blairsville, Justin Fess of Homer-Center and Noah Walstrom of Altoona.

“The kids on our team are awesome,” said McDannell, who is moving on to wrestle at Lock Haven. “We’re having a lot of fun. I get along with everybody so far. I forgot about the sport. The competition here will get me ready for college, although I’m more a wrestler than I am a football player.

“I don’t know how I’m going to react to that competitive atmosphere coming into the Lantzy Game because when we played, there were always some not-so-good athletes on the teams that we played,” McDannell said. “But everybody here is good, just like everybody in college will be good.”

The secondary includes Matt Glenn of Penn Cambria, Andy Tomovich of Chestnut Ridge and Alex Patterson of Marion Center at the corners; and Matt Repko of Bishop Carroll, Ben Ridgeley of Central Cambria, Bryon Stanek of Cambria Heights and Brad Swindel of Everett at safety.

“The South has a lot of fantastic kids,” Ridgeley said. “It should be a real interesting game come Saturday night.”