If you're battling for a league championship or fighting for a playoff berth, it's an exciting time of the season to be a high school football player.

Coaches are always talking about playing "meaningful" games late in the season. If you're fortunate enough to be doing that, extra motivation isn't needed.That's the situation eight of the nine Times News area teams are in heading into week nine of the season.Some of them control their own destiny and some of them need help. But Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Marian, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Palmerton, Pleasant Valley and Tamaqua all approach this week's games knowing the postseason dreams they began the season with are still alive.But that's not the case for Panther Valley. Under rookie head coach Matt Davis, the Panthers have just one victory.Davis inherited a program that had won a total of just eight games over the previous four years and had arguably suffered more devastating graduation losses than any area team.A young Panther squad that lost all of its playmakers from the previous season was expected to struggle they were picked ninth out of 11 teams in the Anthracite Football League preseason poll and they have.But according to Davis, that hasn't affected the team's attitude or numbers.So despite the fact that Panther Valley is playing out the season without playoff possibilities, it's playing out the season with a purpose."For the most part, our effort and our attitude has been outstanding," said Davis. "That's not always the easiest thing to do when you're losing games."But our kids have continued to practice hard and play hard and that's all you can ask for as a coach."The Panthers started the season with a 55-man roster that included just seven seniors. Heading into the final weeks, they still have 51 players in the program, which is second to Pleasant Valley among area schools."We're really excited about the dedication our kids have shown," said Davis. "It says a lot about their commitment to building this program that we still have so many kids involved with the team. Even the players that are injured and unable to play the last couple of games are attending practices and staying involved."Davis and his staff are also making sure the players know that even though they aren't chasing a playoff berth, the last few weeks of the season matter."We owe it to our seniors to play hard down the stretch and to not focus solely on the future," said Davis. "But at the same time, we've been giving more time to some of our younger kids, we've been giving kids looks at different positions, and we've been letting them know that everyone is still being evaluated and those evaluations can help or hurt them going into next season."The Panthers still have a chance to put up another win as they travel to Minersville (1-7) this week. They will then close out the season with undefeated North Schuylkill.But no matter how the last couple of weeks play out, Davis and his staff have already put their stamp on the program and are excited about what the future holds."It would have been nice to have a few more wins this season," Davis said. "But I feel like we made some strides off the field that are going to benefit us on the field in the near future."We've stressed team rules, academics, and work ethic and our kids have bought into that. They are the first steps toward building the smart, tough, disciplined football team that we want to become."**********TIGERS TURN PICKS INTO TDS ... Last Friday against Palmerton, Northwestern's Taylor Breininger and Harry Hall both intercepted passes and returned them for touchdowns.Breininger's pick-six went 20 yards while Hall traveled 82 yards with his.Since 1993, this is only the third time that a local team had two interception returns for touchdowns in the same game.The other two times were both accomplished by Northern Lehigh. On Sept. 17, 2004 Matt Sutjak and Frank Gnas both had interception returns for scores in a win against Palisades. Before that, on Oct. 5, 1996, the Bulldogs' Frank Lieckel and Keith Blose both registered a pick-six during a victory over Salisbury.**********LEHIGHTON'S LUCKY 13 ... Lehighton has done a good job of putting up points this season, which is why the Indians are enjoying a 6-2 record.Through the team's first eight games they have tallied 13 points or more in every one.The last time a Lehighton squad started the year with 13-plus points in every contest was 1997, when they opened with nine games of 13-or-more.**********ANOTHER 1,200-YARD SEASON FOR HALL .... Besides his interception return against Palmerton, Northwestern's Harry Hall rushed for 228 yards to boost his season total to 1,272.That marks back-to-bak years the junior has run for at least 1,200 yards (he had 1,572 a year ago).In the last 25 years, Hall is now just the fifth Times News area player to have two seasons of at least 1,200 rushing yards.The other four include Lehighton's Robbie Frey (2005-06), and Northern Lehigh's Cody Remaley (2008-10), Ryan Hluschak (2001-02) and Brad Walters (1998-99).**********KICKOFFS TO THE HOUSE ... Marian's K.J. Snerr helped Marian rally for a win against Mahanoy Area last Friday when he returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.Earlier this season the Colts' Nico Agosti also took a kickoff to the house, going 97 yards against North Schuylkill.Since 1992, the Marian pair is just the fourth set of Times News area teammates to return kickoffs 90-plus yards for touchdowns in the same season.The others include Panther Valley's Richard Nase and Kyle Ferryman in 2012, Palmerton Alex Vignone and Christian Marcin in 2009, and Northwestern's Josh Snyder and Mike Galdieri in 1997.**********ANOTHER THREE FOR KRCIC ... Pleasant Valley's Dean Krcic booted a 35-yard field goal last Friday in the Bears' 17-7 win over East Stroudsburg North.The three-pointer was his third of the season and the seventh of his career.Over the past 25 years, only five other players from the Times Area have kicked more field goals than Krcic. They include Northwestern's Jordan Grube (11), Pleasant Valley's Justin Kashner (10), Northern Lehigh's Aaron Mill (9), Northwestern's Tom Caamano (9) and Lehighton's Josh Strawser (8).**********COLTS COMEBACK ... Marian got off to a poor start against Mahanoy Area last Friday, falling behind by a 14-0 score. The Colts, however, came back from the deficit and eventually won a 21-14 decision.The last time Stan Dakosty's club trailed by that many point and rallied to win was Oct. 28, 2005 against Jim Thorpe. And the events of that game were eerily similar to this past Friday.Just like the contest against the Olympians nine years ago, the Colts fell behind Mahanoy 6-0 and then 14-0. After that, Marian cut the gap to 14-7 in both the games before tying it at 14-14. A fourth-quarter score and extra point put the final of both comebacks at 21-14.