The anticipation is undeniable.

The excitement is palpable.After a two year break, Marian and Jim Thorpe will renew their rivalry Friday night in the Times News Game of the Week.Though still early in the season, the contest is significant for both teams. The Colts are coming off a gritty victory this past Friday against non-league foe Penns Valley, while the Olympians are looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Schuylkill Haven."We're very excited. It's a backyard rival that we haven't played for a couple of years and they have a great program that's always in playoff contention," Dakosty said of Jim Thorpe, which won the last meeting in 2013, 14-7. "The games we played earlier were always tough, hard fought games."There's certainly a strong sense of anticipation about this ball game."Olympians' head coach Mark Rosenberger echoed those sentiments."It's always great to play Marian," Rosenberger said. "A lot of their kids are from Jim Thorpe or our local communities, so a lot of the kids know each other."That always adds a little extra fire - some of them probably played (together) when they were young on the same football team ... a lot of the players know one another so that always adds to the intensity."Marian (1-0) was pushed on opening night by the Rams and trailed 14-7 at halftime, but responded with a 27-24 overtime win.But Dakosty knows the Colts will have to regroup to be ready for the Olympians in their Schuylkill Football League opener."What you do is point at the second game of the season and say, 'This is who we have,'" Dakosty said of keeping the team focused. "That one (against Penns Valley) was nice, but now we have Jim Thorpe, North Schuylkill, Lehighton, Schuylkill Haven ... that's not been a problem, refocusing."I thought our kids showed a lot of grit. We played up-and-down at times. I thought our quarterback (Ethan Kuczynski) had an outstanding game. He played really, really well."Kuczynski, a senior, completed 11-of-19 passes for 129 yards and tossed the game-winning touchdown in overtime to Nick Erbe, who had three catches for 38 yards.Marian also got significant contributions from tailback Seth Paluck, who stepped in for the injured Mike Neary, and carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run.Paluck, along with wide receivers Anthony Collevechio (three catches, 35 yards), Matt Stanziola (three catches, 16 yards) and Erbe, were some of the newcomers to make an impact in the victory for the Colts, who are looking for players to move into key roles this season."We were semi-experienced up front, but at the skill position level, we were relatively green," Dakosty said. "And the five defensive backs we started on Friday, not one of them started a varsity game in the secondary last year. At times it showed. But it was a good experience for them."Jim Thorpe (0-1) worked a number of new faces into the lineup against Schuylkill Haven, and the 31-14 setback was closer than the final score indicated.The Olympians trailed 12-7 at halftime, and led 7-6 after a 76-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Carroll to Nicholas Rosahac in the second quarter before the Hurricanes pulled away in the second half, scoring the final 13 points of the game.Carroll finished with 122 yards passing, while Rosahac threw for 79 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown to Shawn O'Toole in the third quarter. Jim Thorpe struggled to move the ball on the ground, but finished with 201 yards passing.While explosive plays on offense kept the Olympians in the game against Schuylkill Haven, Rosenberger knows the defense is going to have to play well to knock off the Colts Friday night."Defensively, we had a lot of missed tackles. We have to make sure we avoid those missed tackles," Rosenberger noted. "They (Marian) have some great running backs, and their quarterback is exceptional as well, so that will be a challenge for us."And special teams. We really faltered against Haven in that area; we can't afford that again. And we have to get our running game going. Last week we struggled running the ball."Regardless of their results in Week 1, it's clear both teams are eager to write another chapter to their rivalry's storied history.