Wilson at No. Lehigh

WHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Wilson 1-0 overall, 1-0 Colonial League; No. Lehigh 1-0 overall, 1-0 Colonial LeagueKEYS TO THE GAME - For the Bulldogs, offensively they need quality possessions. They can't afford consistent three and outs like Palmerton suffered last week in a 45-8 loss to the Warriors. With the amount of one way players for Wilson, the Bulldogs need to manage the clock well and that means keep the clock running. Ray Mosby is the key to the Wilson defense. The Warriors move him around a lot and he flies to the ball and makes a lot of tackles in the backfield as was evident in their opener. He must be accounted for him every play. Defensively The Bulldogs can't allow the big play. With Division I QB Tyler Smith (headed for Maryland) at the helm, Wilson will have good offensive numbers. Nolehi just can't give up the home run. If the Warriors score, the Bulldogs have to make sure that it is on a drive and not on one play.NOTEABLE - Both Wilson and Northern Lehigh had punt returns called back last week so special teams could give one or the other the edge... Smith threw for four touchdowns and ran one in against Palmerton so he was involved in five of the six TDs... After having so many opportunities in the first half and especially the first quarter and not taking advantage point wise, Northern Lehigh showed a lot of composure at Notre Dame... The Bulldogs had a lot of opportunities to be up four touchdowns at half and found themselves in a tight game... They did a great job of regrouping and pulling away in the third quarter... Notre Dame had one more scoring opportunity but Jake Kern blocked a field goal... The fact that the Bulldogs didn't allow a point in the second half was something they look to build off of... Tout felt he had very nice games from Christian Fruedenberger and Brandon Mohrey up front, both players made a big impact defensively... Dylan Bolton gave a big momentum boost with and interception returned it for a touchdown as well... Offensively, the Bulldogs made good adjustments at half and started to open up some holes for Remaley... Since 1994, Northern Lehigh leads the all-time series 9-5... Although Wilson has won three of the last four matchups, including a 59-19 win last season.QUOTABLE - "We cannot have turnovers or give up big plays. Wilson does such a great job of feeding off of emotion especially when it comes to turnovers and special teams. So in order for us to control the pace of the game we cannot make those type of mistakes." - No. Lehigh head coach Joe Tout.Marian at Schuylkill HavenWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Marian 0-1 (0-0 AFL); Schuylkill Haven 1-0 (0-0 AFL)KEYS TO THE GAME - The Colts will be looking to rebound for a three-touchdown defeat at Lehighton last Friday. Head coach Stan Dakosty was pleased with some of the things his team did in the game, however most of those things were negated by big plays from the Indians. He recalled giving up five to six plays of 20 or more yards and four passes of at least 50 yards. That can not happen again if Marian wants to top Schuylkill Haven this week. Marian was inconsistent and that needs to improve. One segment of his team would work well for a play or two and then another segment wouldn't. The defense must be very physical with the Hurricanes since they like to line up or motion to the Power I. Evan Fink is the leader of the Haven running game, as he totaled 121 yards and three touchdowns last week against Tri-Valley. Starting quarterback Pat Leitzel will be back under center. He left last week's game with an injury and forced back-up Matt Quick to come in and lead the offense. Quick didn't do too bad though, as he led the Colts 69 yards for a touchdown. Dakosty reminded that most of his starters were making their very first varsity start last week and that may have contributed to the shaky play. Look for the Colts' nerves to be a little more under control in Week No. 2.NOTABLE - Marian was beat rather soundly at the hands of Lehighton last week, 35-13... The Colts gave up 296 yards and a touchdown through the air... Marian managed just 173 yards of total offense (33 in the first half) while throwing two interceptions... Paul Martin had both of the team's scores, running in from one and 20 yards out... He finished with 74 yards on 14 carries... Backup QB Matt Quick led a 69-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter, which Martin capped off with his 20-yard run... Schuylkill Haven won its season opener over Tri-Valley, 28-6... Though the Hurricanes had only 260 yards of offense, 242 of them came on the ground with a 5.9 average... Evan Fink led the rushing attack with 121 yards and three scores... Fellow signal-caller Brian Murphy helped out with 86 yards on eight carries... He also intercepted a pass and took it 41 yards to the house... Last season the Hurricanes won the meeting between the two teams, 42-14... Marian leads the all-time series 7-5.QUOTABLE - "It is going to be a tough game at their place. I have liked that attitude the kids have had so far since coming off last week's loss. We are going to be a work-in-progress this year, but if we can improve from week to week then I think we will be a pretty good football team in the end." - Marian head coach Stan Dakosty.Mahanoy Area at Jim ThorpeWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Mahanoy Area 0-1 (0-1 AFL); Jim Thorpe 0-1 (0-1 AFL)KEYS TO THE GAME - The Olympians lost a heart-breaker last week, 28-27 to Tamaqua. With Mahanoy's steadfast reliance on the option, Head Coach Mark Rosenberger feels that defensively the Olympians will not be able to have breakdowns and need to stick to their assignments in order to slow down the Golden Bears' attack. The Bears utilize the run as much as possible with plenty of different options to choose from and JT may have trouble focusing on one specific threat. MA receiver Peter Stanakis led the Bears' receiving corpse with four interceptions... Paul Martin had both of the team's scores, running in from one and 20 yards out... He finished with 74 yards on 14 carries... Backup QB Matt Quick led a 69-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter, which Martin capped off with his 20-yard run... Schuylkill Haven won its season opener over Tri-Valley, 28-6... Though the Hurricanes had only 260 yards of offense, 242 of them came on the ground with a 5.9 average... Evan Fink led the rushing attack with 121 yards and three scores... Fellow signal-caller Brian Murphy helped out with 86 yards on eight carries... He also intercepted a pass and took it 41 yards to the house... Last season the Hurricanes won the meeting between the two teams, 42-14... Marian leads the all-time series 7-5.QUOTABLE - "It is going to be a tough game at their place. I have liked that attitude the kids have had so far since coming off last week's loss. We are going to be a work-in-progress this year, but if we can improve from week to week then I think we will be a pretty good football team in the end." - Marian head coach Stan Dakosty.Mahanoy Area at Jim ThorpeWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Mahanoy Area 0-1 (0-1 AFL); Jim Thorpe 0-1 (0-1 AFL)KEYS TO THE GAME - The Olympians lost a heart-breaker last week, 28-27 to Tamaqua. With Mahanoy's steadfast reliance on the option, Head Coach Mark Rosenberger feels that defensively the Olympians will not be able to have breakdowns and need to stick to their assignments in order to slow down the Golden Bears' attack. The Bears utilize the run as much as possible with plenty of different options to choose from and JT may have trouble focusing on one specific threat. MA receiver Peter Stanakis led the Bears' receiving corpse with four receptions for 24 yards and his outside quickness may be a potential problem. Jim Thorpe hopes to eliminate the 'big play' to prevent anything like last week from happening. Mahanoy, on the other hand, needs to worry about Corey Cinicola. According to Rosenberger, Cinicola needs to continue to be the leader on the field and keep coming up with strong performances. JT hopes to spread the ball around a little more this week and not tend to be too predictable through the air. The Olympians will strive for more consistency running the ball by hitting the holes hard and going more north to south, rather than east to west. The Olympians are instilled with the idea that it isn't necessarily a bad thing to gain five yards on a play and not every play has to be a game-breaker.NOTABLE - QB Corey Cinicola was outstanding in week one, completing 15 of 24 pass attempts for 186 yards and two TDs, while also rushing twice for the endzone... Cinicola also rushed 14 times for 105 yards... Receiver Jon Fritz had ten receptions for 139 yards, while scoring twice... JT had 15 first downs last week and realize the importance of continuing the trend to move the chains... JT showed the ability to never quit as they continuously stormed back from deficits in the contest last Friday... After scoring a last minute touchdown to narrow the gap against Tamaqua in week one, a penalty was assessed, causing less-than-favorable field position for the ensuing point after attempt... Mahanoy was bit by the turnover bug last week vs. Panther Valley, turning the ball over six times in the 48-8 loss... No Golden Bear accounted for more than 47 yards of offense counting the QB... Jim Thorpe won this meeting 56-19 last year... Jim Thorpe is 9-0 all-time vs. Mahanoy since 2000... The Olympians have outscored the Bears 339-67 in those game.QUOTABLE - "The bottom line is that we have to re-focus for this week. We are going to put that heart-breaker of a loss behind us and hope the kids realize that we have a very large season in front of us. We need to continue on the path of taking one game at a time and that means our next goal is Mahanoy Area this weekend." - Jim Thorpe Head Coach Mark Rosenberger.Panther Valley at Schuylkill ValleyWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Panther Valley 1-0 overall, 1-0 AFL; Schuylkill Valley 1-0 overallKEYS TO THE GAME - Panther Valley fumbled the ball six times last week, three of those resulting in turnovers. Coach Damian is emphasizing the mental aspect of the game in this week's preparation in order to get off to a fast start against a Panthers' team that feasts on big plays. The Schuylkill Valley offense is very similar to Panther Valley's in that they spread the field with four wides and give quarterback Derek Gaul the option to read the defense and either hand off to running back Dylan Scheidt (seven carries, 70 yards, one TD) or keep the ball himself (seven carries, 206 yards, four touchdowns). The Panthers' success will hinge on their ability to contain Gaul. Schuylkill Valley only ran 33 total plays last week (25 runs, 8 passes), but when they go to the air they employed a quick passing attack. The Panthers play a tougher schedule and are ranked #9 in Class AA according to

www.pafootballnews.com. Experience favors Panther Valley in this match-up. Schuylkill Valley lost a bevy of players to graduation, while PV returns all of its skill position players from a season ago.NOTEABLE - In last week's 48-8 victory over Mahanoy Area, the Panthers scored 34 points in the second quarter... The 48 points were the most points by Panther Valley in a game since October 25, 2003 (a 48-12 victory)... Panther Valley's defense forced the Golden Bears into six turnovers last week... PV's Jake Dunn scored a touchdown on both sides of the ball, an 89-yard touchdown reception and a 30-yard fumble return... Quarterback Casey Lawrence passed for 115 yards and two scores and added 43 yards on the ground with a touchdown... Kyle McAvoy rushed for 123 yards on 10 carries with two TD's... Panther Valley leads the series with Schuylkill Valley 2-1, including a 34-0 victory last season... Schuylkill Valley is under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Chillott... Schuylkill Valley finished last season with a 1-9 record... They equalled that win total last weekend with a season-opening 44-0 victory over Springfield Township ... In last week's win, Gaul ran for 206 yards on just seven carries and a school-record-tying four touchdowns (42, 42, 52, and 31 yards)... Gaul is also an All-League second-team cornerback on defense ... Schuylkill Valley had 327 yards of rushing offense last weekend, but likes to spread the field... The Panthers' defense limited Springfield Township to 150 total yards of offense, while Panther Valley limited Mahanoy Area to 167 total yards.QUOTEABLE - "Schuylkill Valley is an athletic team that relies on big plays and we need to eliminate those if we want to be successful. Their quarterback can really make things happen, both running and passing, so our main goal going into this game is to contain him and to try to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible." - Panthers head coach Frank Damian.Southern Lehigh at PalmertonWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Southern Lehigh 0-1 overall, 0-1 Colonial League; Palmerton 0-1 overall, 0-1 Colonial LeagueKEYS TO THE GAME - Talk about your early season matchups that could be crucial to both teams since the Spartans (Class 3A) and Blue Bombers (Class 2A) both had high hopes of making the post-season playoffs and are coming off losses in Week 1. Neither want to start the season 0-2. Before the season, Paul McArdle and his staff felt Southern Lehigh would be one of the teams to beat. To beat them, the Bombers have to minimize their mistakes on offense and be disciplined on defense to contain the Wing-T. Last week against Wilson, youth stood out quite a bit when the Bombers were penalized twice for illegal formations and were burned a couple of times in the defensive secondary.NOTEABLE - The Spartans are fundamentally sound, have great team speed, and a four year starter at QB in Corey Sroka ... Sroka completed 12-of-20 yards for one TD in last week's 20-13 loss to Catasauqua ...Matt Gotzen was the leading rusher carrying 10 times for 76 yards, while Colby Kent picked up 71 yards on 15 carries and scored the lone rushing TD ...Jeff Smillie caught eight passes for 54 yards, including one for a 18-yard TD ... Despite the loss, Spartans had 19 first downs to just four by the Roughies and had 315 total yards to 192 by Catty ... McArdle thought the Bomber defense was well prepared and played well until the Warriors, who have only two players go both ways, wore them down. "We needed a couple big plays on 'O' to get momentum and we didn't get them," said McArdle. "In retrospect, I should have tried to have our DB's and WR's go primarily one way." ... Joe Weber showed some of the promise of what he can do offensively. He made some things happen in the air and on the ground for the Bombers ... Aaron Cook was also a pleasant surprise after being moved to TE. ... Spartans are probably being reminded of the game the Bombers stole at their place last year when Austin Cseh blocked an extra point attempt with just over four minutes remaining to preserve a 28-27 win ...QUOTABLE - "Defensively, our LB's Levi (Serfass) and Lanny (Buck) played tough, especially against the run. They will be the keys this Friday going against the Wing T." - Palmerton head coach Paul McArdle.Honesdale at Pleasant ValleyWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Honesdale 0-1 (0-0 LFC); Pleasant Valley 0-1 (0-0 MVC)KEYS TO THE GAME - Pleasant Valley did not commit a turnover last week and that is something they are hoping to carry over in this week's game with non-league opponent Honesdale. Last year the Bears turned the ball over 24 times and had a differential of -14. Pleasant Valley turned the ball over in every game last year except for two: East Stroudsburg South and Honesdale. While the Bears gave up 483 yards rushing last week, Honesdale gave up quite a bit as well (297). Look for both offenses and defenses to focus on the run. PV was gashed mainly up the middle vs. Nazareth and is hoping to do a better job this week. Left-hander Derrik Walling will be looking to make his second start at QB. He completed half of his passes last week for 200 yards and a score. It was head coach Jim Terwilliger's first game last week, so expect the bugs to be worked out a little better this game.NOTABLE - Honesdale dropped its 2009 opener to Western Wayne last week, 35-26... It was the first time the Wildcats had defeated the Hornets in nearly a decade... The Hornets allowed 183 yards and four TDs to W.W. running back Josh Harrison... Western Wayne finished with 297 rushing yards for the game... Honesdale QB Andrew Branning was the leader, as he ran for two scores (29, 23) and threw for another (25)... He finished 13-for-17 with 138 yards and no INTs... Branning was also the team's leading rusher with 107 yards on six carries... Three other backs carried the ball six times for just 36 yards... The Hornets turned the ball over once and gave up three sacks... Patrick Maher, Donnie Wasylyk and Nick Hessling each had three receptions... Maher had the lone TD... Pleasant Valley fell to Nazareth 49-18 last Friday... The Bears were weak against the run as well, surrendering 483 yards... New quarterback Derrik Walling threw for 200 yards and two scores in the loss... Former quarterback Anthony Bumbulsky converted to receiver and made five grabs for 104 yards and a TD... He also threw a 30-yard pass on a reverse-option... The Bears did not turn the ball over once last week, something they did quite a lot of last season... Pleasant Valley's lone win of the season last year came at Honesdale, when they won 35-7.QUOTABLE - "Friday is going to be another step in the process. We are hoping to improve from last week in ever aspect. We want to correct the things we did wrong and better the things we did well. If we can cut down on the big plays and make good decisions offensively then I think we will have a good chance." - Head coach Jim Terwilliger.Northwestern at Saucon ValleyWHEN - Friday, 7 p.m.RECORDS - Northwestern 1-0 overall, 1-0 Colonial League; Saucon Valley 1-0 overall, 1-0 Colonial LeagueKEYS TO THE GAME - The line of scrimmage will be important. The Panthers will try to run between the tackles behind a big offensive line. Their three primary running backs, Nick Edmonson, Ian Gimbar and Terrell Drayton will see the most touches…Northwestern will also want to establish a running game. The Tigers have their own stable of backs, led last week by fullback Michael Oswald and halfback Kevin Oxley….Saucon Valley has size on the defensive line as well. The Panthers play a 4-3 defense. Outside linebackers Edmonson (6-1, 195) and Gimbar (5-11, 185) and middle backer Chris Rahs (5-11, 190) can't be allowed to run free while the linemen occupy blocks….Northwestern wants to finish drives this week. Last week they held the ball for over 19 minutes in the second half, but settled for two missed field goals and no touchdowns. Only one of the team's nine offensive possessions resulted in points.NOTEABLE - Receiver/return man Garrett Lerner scored both Northwestern touchdowns last week. He could line up in the backfield, in the slot or run an end around to get a few carries in the running game….Starting quarterback Trevor German came out of last week's game with an injury, but is expected back this week. German, a senior who played wide receiver last year and was making his first start behind center, went 4-for-6 for 92 yards through three quarters. Sophomore Ben Snyder relieved German and would get the start this week if German can't play. Snyder, the JV quarterback last year, did not attempt a pass last week as the Tigers had a 14-point lead.…While Northwestern has at least seven or eight different players who will touch the ball on a regular basis this year, head coach Bob Mitchell said he doesn't have to worry about making sure everyone gets their touches. He said this team is one of the most unselfish he's coached….The Tigers take a step up in class this week after beating Salisbury 16-0 last week. They take another next week when they host Wilson, making this week a good test in preparation for the almighty Warriors on Sept. 18.QUOTABLE - "We're impressed with them offensively and defensively. They have some big people up front. If we're going to be successful (on offense) we're going to have to control the box. Their front four (on defense) are very aggressive. They try to reestablish the line of scrimmage in your backfield." - Northwestern head coach Bob Mitchell.