Jim Thorpe-Mahanoy Area

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Jim Thorpe (6-0); Mahanoy Area (3-3)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Jim Thorpe def. Panther Valley, 27-6; Blue Mountain def. Mahanoy Area, 35-6IMPACT PLAYERS: Mahanoy Area - The Golden Bears were held to just 124 total yards of total offense in last week's blowout loss to Blue Mountain. That number would have been lower had it not been for Mahanoy's Matt Lewandowski running an end around that fooled everyone and resulted in a 62-yard touchdown for his side's only score. Lewandowski finished the game with 66 yards on just two carries. Jim Thorpe - Junior defensive ends Colton Hurley and Greg Palmer have been active parts of an Olympians defense that has allowed a total of 39 points this season. Hurley and Palmer came up big once again in last week's dominating performance against Panther Valley, holding the Panthers to just over 100 yards of total offense. When they're not wreaking havoc on opposing offenses, both Hurley and Palmer have proven to be more than capable on the offensive side of the ball. Both play tight end and have contributed in the passing game and as blockers in Jim Thorpe's rushing attack.FAST FACTS: Jim Thorpe won last year's contest 26-0, and it's clear the Olympians have had the Golden Bears' number in recent years. Aside from a 52-14 loss in 2011, Jim Thorpe is 9-1 against Mahanoy in the last 10 years. The Olympians have dominated on the scoreboard, too, posting an average score of 35.9-12.2 during that span ... Mahanoy is 0-2 at home this season, and the games haven't been very close. The Golden Bears lost their season opener to Lehighton, 47-12, and suffered a 49-7 setback to North Schuylkill in Week 5 ... After that opening night loss to the Indians, Mahanoy went on a three-game winning streak, taking down Schuylkill Haven, Panther Valley and Minersville. But during a two-game losing streak that has followed, the Golden Bears have been held to a total of 13 points in blowout losses to North Schuylkill and Blue Mountain ... Despite being undefeated, Jim Thorpe has played some tight games in recent weeks. Since a 46-0 victory over Shenandoah Valley in Week 2, the Olympians have won their last four games by an average score of 17-9.75. Last week's 27-6 victory over Panther Valley inflates the average a bit, and two of those wins 7-6 over Tamaqua and 14-13 over Schuylkill Haven came on blocked extra points.QUOTABLE: "Last week was another victory for us. We haven't had many pretty wins this season, but we'll take it. Our defense has been strong all year and those guys played well again last week. We know that Mahanoy is a dangerous team and we know that we have to be ready for them. They have a lot of weapons on offense and they really seem to be coming together, so we certainly can't take them lightly." - Jim Thorpe head coach Mark RosenbergerPleasant Valley-DieruffWHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Pleasant Valley (3-3); Dieruff (2-4)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Pleasant Valley def. East Stroudsburg South, 33-30; Freedom def. Dieruff, 21-14IMPACT PLAYERS: Pleasant Valley - Ahmad Curtis (Defensive/Offensive Line) was a critical part of the Pleasant Valley monumental comeback last week against East Stroudsburg South. Curtis handled the South guards all game, as he had numerous quarterback pressures and a handful of sacks which contributed to the momentum change. Dieruff - Tailback/Receiver Devonte Robinson gave the Huskies a stunning 14-0 lead over an undefeated Freedom (6-0) team last week with touchdown runs of one and four yards, respectively. Robinson finished with 64 yards and two scores on 19 carries. Shakur Lester chipped in 55 yards on just 11 carries for Dieruff.FAST FACTS: The Bears scored a remarkable 33 unanswered points during a sequence in the second half last week against East Stroudsburg South en route to a thrilling 33-30 victory ... Austyn Borre was a big part of the comeback, as he scored three touchdowns in the second half and compiled 135 yards on the ground ... The Bears have four special teams scores in two of their last three contests ... Despite being involved in lopsided losses against Bechai and Stroudsburg, Dieruff led for most of the contest against undefeated Freedom last week ... Unfortunately for Dieruff, it ran out of gas and lost, 21-14 ... Pleasant Valley holds a 2-0 series lead over the course of the last decade against Dieruff, including a 51-34 shootout last season in favor of the Bears.QUOTABLE: "We have a lot of guys that can do great things. We needed one guy to make a spark and (tight end) Tanner Parascando gave that to us (on a 58-yard touchdown reception). We didn't have that spark in the first half. He's been doing a great job doing things such as blocking, but he finally made a huge impact catching a big pass. The kids know what they're capable of and they knew they could come back from that defecit. I've been preaching all week that this is another upcoming champioinship week for us. Dieruff has some guys that can really move the ball. They're big up front and we're making sure that we will have the right adjustments for their formations." - Pleasant Valley head coach Dave PacchioniTamaqua-Shenandoah ValleyWHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Tamaqua (4-2); Shenandoah Valley (0-6)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Tamaqua def. Minersville 40-8; North Schuylkill def. Shenandoah Valley, 42-7IMPACT PLAYERS: Tamaqua - Trevor Schilling has been a key cog in the Blue Raiders' defense, stepping in at outside linebacker and turning in solid performances every week. The junior turned in his best outing of the season last week against Minersville, recording a season-high seven tackles to go along with three sacks. For the season, Schilling has 19 tackles and three sacks to go along with one interception and one fumble recovery. Shenandoah Valley - Junior quarterback Ian McCole has been a big part of the Blue Devils' offense this season. McCole has attempted 98 passes this year, completing 33 for 454 yards and one score. In addition to being picked off four times, McCole has fumbled three times and lost all three. McCole is Shenandoah's second leading rusher with 96 yards on 48 carries to go along with one touchdown. For the season, McCole is averaging just over 75 yards per game through the air and 16 yards per contest on the ground.FAST FACTS: Tamaqua won last year's contest 38-15 and has won the last two in the series. Prior to that, the two teams split the previous four meetings. But from 2004-07, the Blue Devils went 4-0 against the Blue Raiders by a combined score of 104-32 ... Tamaqua has outscored its last two opponents (Panther Valley, Minersville) 81-8. Shenandoah, on the other hand, has been outscored 63-7 in its last two games, losses to Minersville and North Schuylkill. The Blue Devils are being outscored 205-40 this season, while the Blue Raiders have outscored opponents 144-79 ... Tamaqua is 0-2 on the road this season, scoring six points in each of its losses to Jim Thorpe and North Schuylkill. The Blue Raiders will also be away next week, when they travel to Blue Mountain ... Offensively, Tamaqua is averaging just over 280 yards per game, while Shenandoah comes in at barely 130 per contest. Tamaqua has been stout on defense, allowing only 182 yards per game. Shenandoah has given up an average of just under 320 yards per game. As a team, Tamaqua is averaging just under 5.5 yards per carry, while Shenandoah sits at roughly two yards per carry.QUOTABLE: "I'm happy with the way we've played over the last few weeks, but we still just have to make sure we're getting better as a team. Our defense has been playing really tough lately, and that's going to need to continue as we get towards the end of the season. We know we have some really important games coming up, but we also know that we have to take care of business (against Shenandoah) before we get there." - Tamaqua head coach Sam BonnerLehighton-Panther ValleyWHEN: Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Lehighton (4-2); Panther Valley (1-5)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Lehighton def. Marian, 24-0; Jim Thorpe def. Panther Valley, 27-6IMPACT PLAYERS: Lehighton - Dakota Smith (Defensive Line) has been a part of a vastly improving defensive front for the Indians. Lehighton has faced a few tough physical tests of late, and the play in the trenches will be extremely important on a short week. Lehighton is the Times News leader in turnover ratio, and Smith largely contributes to that statistic. Panther Valley - Look for Anthony Vavra to step up and take most of the carries against the Indians. Vavra usually sees his playing time at linebacker, but will have his hands full on both sides of the ball in this AFL matchup against Lehighton.FAST FACTS: The Panthers and Indians have faced two common opponents this season in Marian and Mahanoy Area ... Lehighton stomped Mahanoy 47-12 to open the season and then handled Marian 24-0 a week ago ... PV was not as fortunate as they got shut out 52-0 to the Colts and stuck with Mahanoy for a 19-13 loss ... The Lehighton defense has been tough throughout the season (16.2 ppg) and that's having faced North Schuylkill, Blue Mountain, Governor Mifflin, and Marian, which are all formidable offenses ... The PV offense has struggled this season and will need to improve on its 10.5 ppg and 143.7 yards per game ... The injury bug has bitten the Panthers this week as starting center Tristan Strunk and starting running back Rian Shubeck will not play. Strunk will be lost for the season with a knee injury, making that the second PV lineman lost to a knee injury this season. Matt Hudicka will get the nod at QB for the third time in the last three weeks.QUOTABLE: Lehighton - "Our kids are excited about playing the only game in town on Thursday night; they know a lot of eyes will be on them and they want to perform well. PV is a team that is better than its record indicates, is well-coached and is going to put its players in the best positions to be successful." - Lehighton coach Tom McCarrollPanther Valley - "We really grew as a team last week and although the scoreboard said 27-6, I thought the game was a lot closer than that. Lehighton is tough team with a lot of tough players, so I just want to see our kids compete and play with effort and hopefully we'll be in the game come the fourth quarter." - Panther Valley coach Matt DavisSchuylkill Haven-MarianWHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Schuylkill Haven (3-3); Marian (3-3)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Schuylkill Haven def. Nativity, 67-0; Lehighton def. Marian, 24-0IMPACT PLAYERS: Schuylkill Haven - The 'Canes have been shuffling around their backfield throughout the season due to a hamstring injury by senior QB/RB Ryan Fink. Fink looks to be 100 percent now and in weeks past has been in the backfield with Haven's 2,000-yard rusher from a season ago Will Casella. Marian - The Colts have been up and down as far as consistency goes on the offensive side of the football. It also doesn't help that their top receiver Angelo Maskornik is currently sidelined with a knee injury. Look for Nick Sully to be key for the Colts this week as he will mix in with K.J. Snerr, especially in short yardage situations. Sully also leads the team with 89 tackles.FAST FACTS: Right now there are five teams that are all 3-3 in District 11 Single-A Marian, Haven, Mahanoy, Tri-Valley, and Williams Valley. Obviously after this week either the Colts or 'Canes will be in a very precarious situation when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs. So this is pretty much a must win for both of these teams. Marian has Mahanoy, Shenandoah, and Tamaqua after this week, while Haven has Minersville, North Schuylkill, and Blue Mountain ... Marian holds the 9-8 all-time series advantage over Schuylkill Haven.QUOTABLE: "We need to clean up some things like penalties and missed assignments and we've been working hard this week to do that. A win this week puts us right back on track and that's what we have to try and accomplish." - Marian head coach Stan DakostyPalmerton-CatasauquaWHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Palmerton (4-2); Catasauqua (3-3)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Southern Lehigh def. Palmerton, 68-21; Catasauqua def. Northern Lehigh, 25-23IMPACT PLAYERS: Palmerton - Northern Lehigh was able to pile up some big yards on the ground against Catasauqua so it'll be important for QB Garrett Perschy and running back Tre Nelson to do the same this week for the Bombers; Catasauqua - The Roughies have a balanced attack and used shifty running back Michael Shutta, who carried the ball 29 times for 160 yards, and receiver Jacob Kober, who caught five passes for 127 yards, to rack up 361 yards of total offense during last week's win against Northern Lehigh.FAST FACTS: The Roughies defeated the Bombers 38-7 last season ... Catasauqua is 15-6 in the last 21 meetings and has won the last five matchups scoring over 30 points in each victory ... The last Palmerton win in the series came back in 2008 by a 20-17 score with the deciding touchdown coming on a pass from Matt Falcone to Austin Cseh.QUOTABLE: "Last week we were humbled; however the true measure of a team is how it responds to a bad defeat. It is time to put egos aside and play fundamental, disciplined, physical football. The strength of the team relies on the strength of the many." - Palmerton head coach Chris WalkowiakSalisbury-Northern LehighWHEN: Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.RECORDS: Salisbury (3-3); Northern Lehigh (4-2)LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: Northwestern def. Salisbury, 47-15; Catasauqua def. Northern Lehigh, 25-23IMPACT PLAYERS: Salisbury - The Falcons' QB Tevon Weber passed for over 1,000 yards last season and can pick apart a defense if he is given time in the pocket. He is well on his way to a 1,000-yard season again completing over 60 percent of his pass attempts. Northern Lehigh - The Bulldogs defense will be the key once again and will have to put pressure on Weber and contain the running game of Teddy Denver and Nick Sikora. Kyle Kromer and Keith Schmidt will be two of the Bulldogs counted on to get the job done.FAST FACTS: The Bulldogs escaped with a 12-6 win over the Falcons in last year's contest ... It was Northern Lehigh's first win of the season as it rode the running of Nate Farber, who rushed for 207 yards on 37 carries as he handled the majority of the snaps after QB Chance DeLong was injured on the team's second offensive possession ... Since 1994, Northern Lehigh leads the series 17-2 and has won seven straight ... The Falcons' only wins came in 2006 (20-13) and 2001 (28-10).QUOTABLE: "This week we have to play our keys well defensively and offensively we have to finish in the Red Zone. We felt as if we left 14 points off the board again at Catty. It happened at Wilson, Palisades, Notre Dame and Catasauqua. It's been holding penalties and dropped snaps. We've been moving the ball really well, but this week if we get inside the 20, we have to come away with a touchdown." - Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout