Several Times News area teams are looking to remain undefeated, while several others are hoping to pick up their first win of the season.

Let's take a look at the matchups as we head into Week 2 of the high school football season.Lehighton at Sch. HavenFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:SKID IS OVER... Lehighton snapped a six-game losing streak dating back to Sept. 22 of last season with a convincing 42-6 win against Fleetwood last week. "The biggest takeaway was the way our defense executed and got to the ball," said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. "Any time you hold a team under 100 total yards, you're doing something right."WHO ARE YOU?... Lehighton and Schuylkill Haven only played once across the last decade. Haven topped Lehighton last season, 27-20.UPSET?... Schuylkill Haven (0-1), the preseason favorites to win the SFL small school division, took a 19-7 defeat against Jim Thorpe last week.CHANGE OF PLANS... Haven threw the ball 15 times last week against Jim Thorpe. The Hurricanes only threw a total of 54 times last season, and on two separate occasions, Haven didn't throw a pass against either Mahanoy Area or Panther Valley. However, the Hurricanes did throw eight times against the Tribe (1-0) in their meeting last year, which was the Canes' highest regular season tally. ""There seems to be some minor changes in what Haven showed, but they still want to pound the ball down your throat," McCarroll said. "If they do that successfully, they won't change anything. Jim Thorpe was able to slow the ground game down and forced Haven to throw more than we're used to seeing. They have a very good running back and they won't get away from giving him the ball unless we force them to by slowing him down."DUAL THREAT... Lehighton quarterback Cody Scherer led his team in passing yards, as well as rushing yards during the rout of Fleetwood last Friday. "As I mentioned all preseason, Cody is the most dynamic player in this league," said the Lehighton coach. "I respect the other great players we will face this year, but not many have the ability to run and throw like he can. He's a threat every play, and if defenses give him an opening, he can exploit it. He could be a matchup problem for every team we play this year."Hamburg at Panther Vy.Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:DEJA VU... Panther Valley defeated Columbia Montour Vo-Tech last Saturday, 36-7. Last season, the Panthers defeated CMVT on opening week, 40-18. "We're hoping to build on the confidence that the opening week win gave us," said Panther Valley head coach Scott Price. "We want to use it as a springboard for the rest of the season."LAST TIME... Hamburg cruised by PV last year, 34-14. It was the only meeting between both teams over the last 10 seasons. "We now have three home games in a row," Price said. "Our goal is to bring back the fear factor to Panther Valley stadium, and that starts this week."POUR IT ON... PV's 36 points were the most it has scored in a game since its win over CMVT last season.CLOSE ONE... Hamburg fell to Nativity last week, 14-7.BIG WEAPON... Derek Beckham became the second Panther over the last 20 games to crack 100 yards receiving. Beckham hauled in eight passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. The last Panther to hit 100 yards in a single game was Danny Gilberry, who had 127 against Marian on Sept. 30, 2016.Catasauqua at No. LehighFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:RECENT ADVANTAGE... Northern Lehigh owns a 9-6 record over the Roughies since 2004. However, Catty has won five of the last six meetings, including a 39-31 victory last season.GOTTA ESTABLISH THE RUN... The Bulldogs were held to 72 rushing yards last week, less than any of their single game totals last year.LOOKING BACK... Catasauqua fell to Salisbury last week, 33-14. Despite the loss, Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout knows his team will have to be prepared this week. "Catty is a very fast and athletic team. They can score quickly, and we have been impressed with their skill positions," Tout said.ELIMINATE BIG PLAYS... Each Southern Lehigh score against the Bulldogs in Week 1 was 20 yards or more. They return several key offensive starters. Their quarterback (Andrew Brett) has a strong arm and is mobile. They have two excellent receivers in Corey Raysely and Miguel Hernandez. They use a couple of quick backs as well. So we have to eliminate the big play. They run a ton of screens and will use the screen to set up the deep pass. I thought they moved the ball well last week, and did score three touchdowns in the last 15 minutes of the game. So we need to be aware of the explosive nature of their offense," Tout said.GETTING DEFENSIVE... "Defensively, their strength is their secondary. They are athletic and fast. Salisbury had success running the ball last week. Catty blitzes just about every play. So for us to have success , we will need to pick up blitzes. Also, we have to be aware of the tricks. Coach (Phil) Dorn is the biggest gambler in our league. They will onside, fake punts, and run trick plays at anytime. So we cannot give them any extra momentum by allowing them to have success in those areas," Tout said.BRIGHT SPOTS... Northern Lehigh was the TN's best area team in terms of committing penalties last year, with just 28. The next best area team (Tamaqua) committed 42. Northern Lehigh ranked last in the area with a -13 plus-minus in 2016, but the 'Dawgs didn't commit a turnover last Friday. "We did have some positives last week. We were disciplined and did not have penalties or turnovers. We moved the ball well in the first quarter, and were solid defensively for the first quarter. So we are going to build on that. We also saw a lot of team speed last week, and one of the top tier QB's in our league. So that game should prepare us for the rest of the schedule. After playing a much larger school, we are hoping that has prepared us for a school that resembles us size-wise," said Tout.Palmerton at So. LehighFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:THE RUN DOWN... Last week, Southern Lehigh blanked Northern Lehigh, 42-0. This week, the Spartans will take on a Palmerton team (1-0) that surprised many by rolling by Northwestern in the opening week, 42-14. "It's obviously a confidence-booster starting with a win over a quality team like Northwestern," said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. "Especially with a young team that we have. We started five sophomores on offense and four on defense ... Credit to the kids, they had a great summer and were here all offseason."BEEN A WHILE... Palmerton's win over Northwestern was its first against the Tigers since 2011. The last time the Bombers beat the Spartans was in 2008, by a 28-27 final.STRENGTH UP FRONT... The Bombers held the Tigers to -13 rushing yards in Week 1. Something will have to give, as Southern Lehigh ran for 244 yards during its rout of Northern Lehigh. "Southern Lehigh is a historically good program," said the Palmerton coach. "The emphasis this week is, 'what are we going to do?' We're going to keep our focus, practice our fundamentals, and try and execute to a better level than we did last week. We'll learn from our mistakes last week, and try to get better each day and each week; that's the message we keep on sending every week."YARDS, YARDS, YARDS... Palmerton's 466 total yards in Week 1 was more than any total in any of their games last year. "If you start worrying other people, then your attention is off of you," said Walkowiak. "We just have to focus on ourselves."Mahanoy at TamaquaFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:RECENT HISTORY... Tamaqua defeated Mahanoy last season, 35-7. Tamaqua ripped off 28 points in the first quarter of the rout. The Raiders are 9-2 against the Golden Bears across the last 11 meetings. "Offensively, they have decent size up front," said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. "They have a similar defense as Minersville. They have a couple of athletes in the secondary, and we have to make sure to complete passes. Overall, if our guys play well up front, I think we'll be alright."LAST WEEK... Mahanoy fell to Towanda, 28-21, while the Raiders rolled over Minersville, 42-0. "Defensively, it's a little more of a challenge," said Bonner of his matchup with the Golden Bears. "They have a good quarterback, if you don't play assignment defense and control your gaps, one guy missing an assignment up front can lead to a big play. It's imperative that we do so against (the option) style offense."KILLER B'S... Last week, Tamaqua got 127 yards from Nick Breiner and 83 from Nate Boyle. Jake Barron also got six carries. "We definitely want to use the kids that we have and put the best kids in positions to make plays," Bonner added.SPLIT REPS... Tamaqua will likely feature two quarterbacks in senior Thad Zuber and sophomore Brayden Knoblauch, who were both effective against Minersville in Week 1.ACC at Pleasant ValleyFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:TRENDING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION... Pleasant Valley has lost three straight games dating back to last year. The Bears closed out the regular season with a 26-22 loss to Stroudsburg in the regular season finale before falling to Easton 27-12 in the District 11 Class 6A playoffs. Pleasant Valley dropped a 50-10 decision to Nazareth in last week's season opener. The Bears have averaged just 14.7-points-per-game in the three losses.READY OR NOT... Though Nazareth put 50 points on the board last week, Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Versuk said his team was prepared for what the Blue Eagles were going to do. "They didn't do anything else. We saw everything that they had. We prepared for the plays, we just didn't execute. We practiced the plays that they ran, we just weren't in the right positions. We didn't make tackles; we were out of place. We just gotta do a better job," Versuk said after the loss.TURNING POINT?... Pleasant Valley suffered a 38-27 setback against Allentown Central Catholic last season. After the loss, the Bears ripped off seven straight wins before falling to Stroudsburg and Easton at the end of the year. Can they do it again this year?BOTTLED UP... Central Catholic was held to just 81 rushing and 52 passing yards in last week's 27-3 loss to Freedom. The Vikings didn't help themselves, committing nine turnovers for 70 yards, Freedom, ont the other hand, rolled up 360 total yards of offense - 247 through the air and 113 on the ground. The Patriots scored 27 unanswered points after trailing 3-0 midway through the first quarter.SETBACK... Central Catholic senior quarterback Conner Nejad was hurt early in the first quarter and was replaced by junior Frank Rauscher.KICK IT... Rustin Seyle nailed a 30-yard field goal for the Vikings last week against Freedom. Douglas Cummings did him one better, drilling a 31-yard field goal for the Bears against Nazareth.UPS AND DOWNS... After throwing just five interceptions all of last season, Pleasant Valley quarterback Brandon Keyes threw three last Friday against Nazareth, including two in the first quarter. Ball security is always paramount for any team, and the Bears plan to put an extra emphasis on it heading into this week's game against Central Catholic.Salisbury at NorthwesternFriday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.Here's what you need to know:OW! THAT HURTS!... The injury bug that hit Northwestern late last season survived the summer in New Tripoli and started biting again in the days leading up to Week 1 against Palmerton, which turned out to be a 42-14 Tigers loss. Hardest hit were the offensive and defensive lines, forcing coach Josh Snyder to sub-in a number of young players who went from playing Junior High Football to starting the season opener on the varsity team.To make matters worse, running back Tyler Lobach went down with a collarbone injury against the Blue Bombers and is lost for a couple weeks.ROSTER CHANGES. .. Four players - Dan Burke, Anthony Colucci, Phil Dangello and Jack Moloney - were removed from the Northwestern roster this week for undisclosed reasons. Colucci and Dangello were being especially counted on to provide leadership this season. There was no information available on when or if any of the players would be reinstated this season."Right now, let's just say that we're going to play with the guys on the roster right now and we have to see how that's going to work," said Snyder. "It's not good, but we've got young players who have an opportunity, and they are looking to take advantage of that."ON THE BRIGHT SIDE... Snyder is still optimistic about the young players who are stepping in on the offensive and defensive lines. He pointed out that they were thrown into the fire the first week with little to no time to really work together in practice. This week, Snyder has had the crew intact all week and believes that they'll come out with a stronger performance against Salisbury because they've had some time to work together."In 2012, we played a bunch of sophomores and a couple freshmen here and there, with some juniors," recalled Snyder. "It's a process every few years here at Northwestern, so it's not new to us. You've just got to be patient and you can't get too high or too low. You just have to trust in what you're doing."BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD... It was just last season that Salisbury debuted their flex-bone offense that they had drawn up over the Summer. In their 47-29 win over Catasauqua in Week 1, the Falcons were back to their more familiar Wing-T offense and it provided good results. The Falcons racked up 588 total yards of offense, with 506 of them coming on the ground against the Rough Riders.Tim Buda ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns against Catasauqua, and the challenge will be for the Tigers defense to slow him down after they were hit for 213 yards rushing by Palmerton.ON THE OTHER HAND... The Salisbury defense, which has switched to a four-three from last year's three-three stack, was victimized for 631 yards, 453 rushing and 178 passing against Catty.Meanwhile, Northwestern's attempts to establish their ground game this season took a hit in Week 1 when they had minus-eight yards net rushing, thanks in part to five sacks that resulted in minus-30 yards for Northwestern.GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME... Sophomore quarterback Deven Bollinger had some success in finding Caleb Clymer, connecting with the senior six times for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Bollinger was pressured much of the game, but having had the full week to work with the young offensive line may help give Bollinger a little more time to settle in on pass plays.