While Northwestern looks to keep its unbeaten start to the season intact, Tamaqua, Palmerton and Pleasant Valley will all try to extend their respective winning streaks.

Blue Mountain at

Northwestern Lehigh

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Can Northwestern Lehigh hold off yet another team looking for a statement win?

Blue Mountain is 3-3 on the season, but is showing off some young players who are close to turning the Eagles into one of the better football programs in the area. A win against a top program like Northwestern Lehigh would help to make a statement about the return of Blue Mountain’s program to the upper echelon. Last week, the Tigers turned back a challenge from another undefeated team when they downed Wilson 42-6 to give the Warriors (5-1) their first setback as their program faces a resurgence. Five years ago, Blue Mountain and Northwestern met in the Eastern Conference title game and the Eagles picked up a lopsided victory, which is still remembered by Tigers’ coach Josh Snyder. As a team looking to make a statement, knocking off a previously undefeated team is a good way to do just that. Northwestern Lehigh (6-0) has come up against teams lately who are looking to make such a statement, and move into the upper echelon of teams with that big win. Last week, it was the Wilson Warriors (5-1), who were looking to remain undefeated by beating the Tigers. This week is another matchup with a team that needs that one big win as Northwestern hosts Blue Mountain (3-3), a team that has been reestablishing themselves in the high school football ranks. “They are right there, and look like they’re ready to move into the top ranks among teams, and when you’re at that point, sometimes one win can really tip the scales,” Snyder said. “They’re going to be ready to play, and looking for that win that’s going to make a lot of people realize how good they are. Plus, they have a number of young players who are only going to get better.” The Northwestern Lehigh defense is a tough group to do any damage against, and when they’re clicking, they can shut down both a running game and a passing game like they did last week at Wilson. The Eagles average just over 200 yards rushing per game. Sophomore quarterback Will Jacobson doesn’t put the ball in the air often, but when he does, he spreads it around as 12 different players having pulled in passes this season. Jacobson averages 74 yards per game, and has completed just under 50% of his passes.

Players to Watch:

Dylan Clymer, Northwestern Lehigh

Clymer is healthy for Northwestern Lehigh and is back to being a primary part of the Tigers ground game. The sophomore back rushed for 83 yards on 11 carries against Wilson last week.

Ryan McDonnell, Northwestern Lehigh

McDonnell leads the team with 10 solo tackles and nine assisted tackles. The senior linebacker has been an anchor on one of the better defensive teams in the Colonial-Schuylkill League.

James Seaman, Blue Mountain

The Eagles have James Seaman as their featured back. The junior running back has carried 74 times this season and averages 6.8 yards per carry.

Tamaqua at

Palisades

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Making the most of unexpected off week

Tamaqua’s game against unbeaten Notre Dame Green Pond last week was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns within the Crusaders’ program. Coming off back-to-back wins over Pen Argyl and Salisbury, the Blue Raiders (2-3) are now healthier and ready to take on the Pirates (1-5). “We made the most of the week off. We still did our Friday practice, our Thursday pregame, so we tried to keep it as normal as possible,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “It’s midseason, so it probably didn’t come at a bad time. You maybe don’t want to have one of those really early in the year. But midseason, sometimes it gives you a little bit of a chance to heal up, a little bit of a chance to get a couple more lifts in, and do a few more things that get a little tougher as the year goes on.” Though Palisades has just one win this season, Bonner knows his squad can’t look past a program that won the District 11 Class 2A title last season. “I feel like they’re very similar to us,” said Bonner. “We were on top there for a little while, winning a district championship a couple of years ago. And we know that we have some guys leftover from that team, but a lot of the guys that are playing this year, not only the young guys that are playing, but even some of the seniors, it’s pretty much their first time playing varsity football. I feel like they’re kind of in a similar situation that we’re in. Like us, I feel like they still do a lot of things well. They have some good athletes, I think they’re pretty physical up front, obviously they have a solid running game, they have a quarterback that’s pretty handy, and if you let your guard down, they can get a big play on you. But it’s nice that we had that extra time to prep.” With last week’s scheduled home game canceled, the Blue Raiders will now play three straight games on the road. “It’s a long ride, so it’s one of those things where you need to get off the bus ready to go,” said Bonner. “I felt like when we played Salisbury, we got off to a bit of a slow start, and I don’t think we can afford to do that against Palisades.”

Players to Watch:

Warren Stewart, Tamaqua

Bonner expects Stewart to return from injury this week, which should provide a boost to the backfield. Bonner praised the work of Love Ortiz, who saw more playing time at running back during Stewart’s absence.

Jaden Newton, Palisades

Newton has completed 51-of-100 pass attempts with two touchdowns and five interceptions this season.

Kyle McGrath, Palisades

McGrath has been a big-play threat for the Pirates, with 28 catches for 337 yards (12.0 yards per catch) and one touchdown.

Northampton at

Pleasant Valley

Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Can PV continue winning streak?

Pleasant Valley won the last two weeks over Dieruff and rival Pocono Mountain East to improve to 4-1 in 2021. The Old Oaken Bucket stays in Brodheadsville after a convincing PV victory over PM East 42-8 last Friday, and PV head coach Blaec Saeger was proud of the team’s effort. “That was a very important one for us obviously,” Saeger said. “To keep it where we want it and continue to have it, that’s big for us. The kids celebrated like they should and then it’s back to work. They only get one day to enjoy it; that’s the nature of the beast. Now, PV faces 6-0 Northampton for the team’s first game of the season against a Lehigh Valley opponent. The Konkrete Kids eked out a 21-20 win over East Stroudsburg South last week, an opponent PV struggled with in Week 4. “We can’t rest on our laurels,” Saeger said. “It means nothing if we don’t back it up, so we’re preparing. They’re very big and strong. They’re well-coached and very disciplined. They’re a Lehigh Valley team, and it’s going to be a massive challenge.” “Much bigger than us, a couple of good athletes and they do everything well and right. It’s going to be tough.” With the exception of the ES South game, PV has been able to stop the run game against opponents, and Northampton is expected to run the ball more than most. “They’re going to come at us,” Saeger said about Northampton. “They’re going to run the ball more than some teams have at us, and do it with some more size than we’ve seen. There’s a wrinkle or two we have that we’re going to try to throw at them.” The PV defense held Pocono Mountain East to 138 rushing yards on a night where the Bears offense exploded for 366 yards on the ground. Pleasant Valley’s 42 points equaled that of the Allen win in Week 2, and PM East was able to get points on the board late with a rushing touchdown in the 59th annual Old Oaken Bucket game. Saeger and the Pleasant Valley squad has to capitalize on every opportunity given to them, and added room for making mistakes has to be minimal, especially against an opponent such as Northampton. “For the most part, it comes down to what it does every week and that’s playing tough, disciplined and smart, and being in the right spots and getting off blocks and tackle,” Saeger said.

Players to Watch:

Robert Papaleo, Pleasant Valley

Papaleo earned Times News Player of the Week honors with two passing and rushing touchdowns, along with a 188-yard rushing game to cap off a dominating victory over Pocono Mountain East. The senior quarterback faces a tough task in Northampton this week, so it will be interesting to see if Papaleo is able to run through the Konkrete Kids defense.

Fela Olaniyan, Pleasant Valley

Olaniyan carried the ball nine times for 54 yards last week, and made some big strides in the ground game. He shared carries with fellow running backs Jarod Moore and fullback John Brennan in the Pocono Mountain East game. Expect PV to hand the ball off to Olaniyan and their other two running backs throughout the game.

Jarod Moore, Pleasant Valley

Moore scored two rushing touchdowns in an explosive 21-point fourth quarter against Pocono Mountain East. He also rushed for 68 yards on the night.

Palmerton at

Pine Grove

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: The Bombers take a far ride to Pine Grove to try and stay hot and unbeaten in Schuylkill-Colonial White Division Play

Palmerton will travel almost 50 miles this week to take on the Cardinals. The game plan for the Bombers will be an – if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it approach – by forcing turnovers and being explosive offensively. That certainly was the Palmerton approach a week ago against Schuylkill Haven, where it forced three turnovers and its quarterback Matt Machalik took the opening snap 82 yards to the house. Machalik - who already has an impressive 14 scores on the season - rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another, rushing for 227 yards on just seven carries for a healthy 32.4 yards per carry average. Machalik was responsible for 352 total yards of offense against the Hurricanes. Four different Bombers scored in the game, with Daniel Luckykanish, Stephen Jones and Lucas Heydt joining the sophomore Machalik. Palmerton is plus-10 in the turnover department this season, and is averaging over 42 points per game. “We’re looking to continue to build off the momentum we’ve gained by playing complimentary football. We’re taking care of the football, we’re forcing turnovers, and we’re striking fast and often offensively. We need to keep that going,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “This week though, I want to see us come out and establish some more physicality defensively from the start. I think we can be better there. And they have a talented array of weapons offensively. They have some guys that can make plays at quarterback and some athletes in the passing game. We’re going to be tested defensively for sure.” Pine Grove likes to work a two-quarterback system with freshman Carson Lengle and junior Mason Kroh. Kroh is the more mobile of the two, and will look to tuck and run it when things break down, but both are able to make plays with their legs and arm. The Cardinals have three players in the passing game with over 100 yards receiving in Brennan Stanton, Aaron Crumrine and Dalton Geesey, who leads the team in receiving yards with 198 yards. However, Pine Grove has struggled to put up points on the season, with 26 being its highest point total. The Cardinals are averaging just 11.3 points per game.

Players to Watch:

Stephen Jones, Palmerton

Jones is putting together a nice season, having rushed 30 times for 242 yards and six scores.

Matt Machalik, Palmerton

Machalik is putting up monster numbers, averaging over 11 yards per carry and 702 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns, while passing for 828 yards and six scores.

Garrett Lehman, Pine Grove

Lehman leads the Cardinals in rushing with 344 yards and two scores.

Williams Valley at Marian

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Limiting mistakes

The Colts remained winless, falling 53-0 to Tri Valley last week. Tri-Valley didn’t pump up the yardage, but its defense was the bottom-line. The Dawgs only had 297 yards of total offense while putting up 53 points. Marian can’t give short fields to Williams Valley (5-1), which put up over 500 yards of offense in a 44-14 win over Panther Valley last week. “We are in these games, and we don’t have a large margin of error,” said Colts’ head coach Stan Dakosty. “Tri Valley had two touchdowns of 10 yards, two other touchdown drives of 20 yards. So we put ourselves in a position that makes it even tougher. And Williams Valley is going to be the same way. We’ve got to play error-free football, we’ve got to be strong in our assignments, and that’s my job as the head coach to get them ready that way. The kids we have are showing up and doing the best they can. We have so many young kids, and I know everyone has young players, but 80% of our roster is freshmen and sophomores, so they’re looking down the line. But we also have five seniors and five juniors, and they want to do well so everybody’s all in. Everybody’s doing what they can to get better. We just have to stop having self-inflicted mistakes and things like that. It’s hard enough to win a game, but that makes it even more difficult. Our kids are working hard to fight through it.” Dakosty lauded the play of his upperclassmen, who have continued to fight and set an example for the younger players on the squad. “Our five seniors. Matt Rehrig is done for the year with his knee, but we have four others that are still active, and they’ve been there every day,” the coach said. “They’ve been loyal, they’ve been leaders, and that’s helped these young kids keep themselves on track. When we reach success, and we are going to somewhere down the line and get this thing going in the right direction, they’re going to play a big part in what we did and how we do it.”

Players to Watch:

Alex Achenbach, Williams Valley

The sophomore rushed for 329 yards and four scores in last week’s win against Panther Valley. He had 232 yards on 14 carries in the first half with two long scores for the Vikings.

Isaac Whiteash, Williams Valley

Whiteash completed nine passes in the first half for 135 yards last week against the Panthers, giving Williams Valley an aerial dimension to open things up for the ground game.

Matt Martin, Marian

The junior recorded a team-high 10 total tackles, including one for a loss, in last week’s game against Tri Valley. For the season, Martin and Joey Walko are tied for the team lead with 42 total tackles.

Bangor at Lehighton

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Can the Tribe get off to a good start and beat the Slaters?

When it comes to understanding Lehighton’s 1-5 record thus far this season, the statistics help to explain why. In the six games, opponents have scored 89 points in the first quarter, and 86 in the second. Overall, the Tribe have been outscored 175-63 in the first half of their games. Last week against Blue Mountain, a fumbled snap on the first play of the game led to an Eagles TD on the very next play, and just 12 seconds into the game, Lehighton trailed 7-0. On the bright side, Tom McCarroll’s squad was ahead in the game 22-21 with a few minutes left in the third quarter before taking the loss. “Our team has shown their best fight in the past three weeks,” said McCarroll. “We’re not making excuses, but the first half of our schedule was a murderer’s row, playing really good teams.” He said his players have stuck together through the losses, and are as healthy as they’ve been all season heading into their home game against Bangor. “We play a lot of young kids, and they have been going through their growing pains,” he said. The Slaters come to town with a 3-3 record, and McCarroll believes they might have had one or two more wins. “They had a few teams on the ropes, but lost late in the games.” He sees the Slaters as more of a run-oriented team. “They have a solid running back, and a quarterback who leads their rushing attack,” he said. “The key will be to get ahead and make them throw the ball more, which they prefer not to do.” Bangor has given up 42 second half-points against Northwestern and Saucon Valley - which has contributed to its current two-game skid - so this week the task will be for the Tribe to get off to a good start and keep the Slaters on their heels during the second half of the game.

Players to Watch:

Brady O’Donnell, Lehighton

McCarroll says his sophomore quarterback is getting better every week, has a great attitude, and is becoming a strong team leader.

Ethan Buchert, Lehighton

The junior wide receiver is becoming a key target in the Tribe’s passing game. He has 10 receptions on the season, and last week caught two touchdown throws.

Kael Godshalk, Bangor

The senior quarterback will be a force to stop for Lehighton’s defense. Last week against Saucon Valley, he carried the ball 23 times for 170 yards and two TDs.

Panther Valley at

Shenandoah Valley

When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Panthers primed to get first win

Panther Valley travels to Shenandoah in search of its first victory of the season against the 1-4 Blue Devils. Last week, the Panthers took an early lead before succumbing to 5-1 Williams Valley. “We’ve been playing one- or two-loss teams every week,” said PV coach Rick Jones. “No excuses, but we’re very young and very inexperienced. Some of our kids are freshmen playing varsity football, and we also have upperclassmen playing for the first time.” According to Jones, the Panthers have been burned on the perimeter by faster teams, and have also given up the big play with their inexperienced secondary. “Williams Valley took advantage of the fact that we played two new linemen, and we also had to play some kids out of position,” said Jones. The Black and Gold have had trouble sustaining drives, and have scored only 20 points in four games. “There’s no question we have to move the chains and score more points,” said Jones. “Michael Pascoe is still our go-to guy, but we’ve also put in some offensive packages for Nasir Ervine at quarterback, who has shown his quickness and speed.” Jones says the Blue Devils like to throw the ball, and have big- play capability with their two wide receivers. “We have to get a pass rush, and shut down their long pass plays,” he said. Jones likes the attitude his players bring to practice each week, and they continue to learn the intricacies of the game. “We have been playing with more physicality, and we can’t ask for more when it comes to the efforts that our kids bring to practice every week.”

Players to Watch:

Austin Hadley, Panther Valley

The 6-3, 216-pound junior defensive end had three sacks last week against William Valley, and looks to again wreak havoc against Shenandoah’s passing game.

Trey McAndrew, Panther Valley

The junior wide receiver has one TD and is averaging over 11 yards per catch.

Owen Kosar, Shenandoah Valley

The senior quarterback has 856 career passing yards, and has completed over 50 percent of his throws this season.

Capsules compiled by Rich Strack, Brad Hurley, Kyle Magda, Chuck Hixson and Patrick Matsinko.