Northwestern will try to extend its winning streak to five games this week with a road test against Pottsville.

Elsewhere, Jim Thorpe will try to extend its run to three consecutive victories after a 1-3 start at home against a strong North Schuylkill squad.

Northwestern at Pottsville

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

Storyline of the Week

: Who will win the ground war?

Sophomore Landen Matson can be added to the group of potential ground weapons for Northwestern (5-1). Matson rushed for 142 yards last week, just off the pace of 143 yards set by Dalton Clymer. Cade Christopher still rules the gridiron with 682 yards on the season, but missed much of last week’s game with an injury. Word is that he is okay, and will be back in his usual quarterback spot against the Crimson Tide. “We have been waiting for Matson to fully pick up the game plan so we could use him in a more expanded role, and he did a great job for us,” said coach Josh Snyder. “He gives us another speed guy to go to, and that’s something that always works in our favor.” Meanwhile, Pottsville (3-3) junior Parrish McFarland ran for 150 yards in a 34-21 win over Bangor last week, and on the season has three games of 100-plus yards and four rushing touchdowns to go with his 575 yards. “He’s a quality runner, and we are going to have to look to slow him down this week because he can break off some big plays,” noted Snyder. “Their offense is pretty similar to ours, so we should at least have an idea about what is coming.” Senior quarterback Tejay Allen is never afraid to use his legs, and is second on the team in rushing with 147 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The Northwestern defense threw its second shutout of the season last Friday, and over the past four weeks, the Tigers have allowed just 37 points. They will have to be ready for the Tide to roll because the Pottsville offense has a quality running game, and can compliment its backs with an adequate passing game to keep defenses off balance. “It’s an interesting game because they can do a lot of different things and have some guys that chip in here and there, so you can’t take anything for granted against them,” said Snyder. Of course, the Northwestern defense has a way of making even the best offenses struggle. “We have a lot of young guys, and some seniors who didn’t have a lot of varsity experience coming into the season, but now they have some games under their belt and they have really settled in for us and are playing really well,” said Snyder, who mentioned not only Matson, but defensive stalwarts Sam Mauro, Blaine Snyder, Austin Sosnovik and Eli Zimmerman, who have all contributed defensively. Snyder has also been a key at the center position for Northwestern this year.

Players to Watch:

Blaine Snyder, Northwestern

Snyder has received kudos for his defensive performance on the season - 23 tackles, 31 assists, 3 sacks – which all lead the team. What often goes overlooked is his play from the center position on the offensive line. Snyder was one of the players that coach Josh Snyder singled out this week as having shown constant development throughout the season.

Devon Hildebrand, Northwestern

Among the players who are showing week-to-week improvement is Hildebrand, who as a junior is showing himself to be a useful player at multiple spots positions. Hildebrand leads the Tigers in receptions with 10, and has amassed 81 yards receiving. He also provides a bit of a change-up to the ground game with eight carries over the first six games. Defensively, Hildebrand has eight solo tackles and two assisted tackles with one broken-up pass play to his credit. On special teams, Hildebrand has four kick returns for 57 yards.

Parrish McFarland, Pottsville

McFarland’s rushing is only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to his rushing exploits for the Crimson Tide, he is also a threat on kick-off and punt returns with a total of 340 return yards this season, and has also chipped in with 92 receiving yards. However, McFarland’s prowess isn’t just limited to offense and special teams. On defense, he has recorded 21 solo tackles, has assissted on 21 other stops, and has an interception with a 23-yard return.

No. Schuylkill at Jim Thorpe

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

Storyline of the Week

: Can the surging Olympians maintain their momentum and defeat the high-powered Spartans?

In every sport, momentum builds confidence, and confidence builds success. Jim Thorpe has evened its record at 3-3 with two straight dominating victories in which the Red, White, and Blue have outscored their opponents 108-20. “We’ve been able to execute on both offense and defense in our last two games,” said JT coach Mark Rosenberger. The Olympians are now averaging 36 points per game with a balanced attack, led by Sal Capria and David Fiorito, who have scored eight touchdowns apiece. Quarterback Brett Balliet has thrown for 904 yards and eight TDs. His top receiver in recent weeks has been Justin Yescavage. The sophomore wideout is averaging nearly 20 yards per catch, and has caught 19 passes for four touchdowns. “Give credit to the growth of our players,” said Rosenberger. “They have cleaned up a lot of mistakes that they made in our earlier games. They now understand what we want to do on offense and on defense.” When Thorpe has the ball, big plays have been the feature of its scoring attack by ripping off 30 to 40 yards at a time, both on the ground and through the air. JT’s Red Swarm defense, led by Noah Rosahac and a strong D-line, has locked down both running and passing games, and dominated the line of scrimmage in recent games. They have played particularly well in first quarters all season long, having allowed a total of just seven points. In comes the vaunted North Schuylkill Spartans (4-2) this week, averaging 32 points per game. On defense, they have three shutouts in their four victories. “They’re a big, physical team,” said Rosenberger, “and we’re excited to have the opportunity to play them.” The Spartans have won the last four meetings between the two teams and in this one, Thorpe will have to control North Schuylkill’s fast-paced, no-huddle offense and make adjustments on the fly. Rosenberger expects to see a balanced offense of running and passing plays. “They have big, downhill runners and another slasher who can gain big yards,” said Rosenberger. “Their QB can run and throw and on defense; they shut out Northern Lehigh, so that will be a challenge for us to make plays and move the ball.” As is the case in every game, Rosenberger sees turnovers as a key factor in determining the outcome. Though this matchup appears to be a bigger contest - and quite possibly a turning point for the Olympians - Rosenberger is downplaying its significance. “We look at it as another game to play on the schedule,” he said, “but we’re excited to keep our momentum going and have success against them.”

Players to Watch:

Cole Lazorick, Jim Thorpe

The freshman defensive back, had two interceptions last week, with the second one being a pick-six. Lazorick also handles the punting duties for the Olympians, and is averaging well over 30 yards per kick.

Joshua Louk, Jim Thorpe

Louk is another freshman who has been making contributions on offense in recent weeks. He has nine carries for 117 yards and has caught nine passes for another 65 yards.

Trevor Minalda, North Schuylkill

A 6-1, 205-pound junior quarterback, Minalda has thrown at least one TD pass in every game, and is a key threat any time he tucks the ball and runs.

Shenandoah Vy. at Marian

When: Saturday, Oct. 8, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: Colts looking for rebound.

Marian was in control of last week’s game against Mahanoy Area, scoring twice in the final two minutes of the first half to take an 18-14 lead into the intermission. But Mahanoy responded with two big plays early in the third period en route to a 34-18 victory. The Golden Bears ran the ball 52 times for 255 yards. “I thought we chipped away in the first half, came up with some big plays,” said Marian coach Stan Dakosty. “We only had 27 offensive plays; they had I think 34 minutes of possession. So really, it was hard to generate much because we hardly had the ball. Turnovers hurt us again, and then they just physically took control of the line of scrimmage on offense and defense in the second half to be fair about it. To their credit, they took control of the line of scrimmage, they ate the clock up, and they weren’t getting big gains; but they were getting three, four, five, six yards and they came away with the big win, so I give them credit for their execution, and what we learned is that we still have a long way to go. We just have to be clean when we’re playing, and we weren’t clean again on Friday night. We’ve got to be clean again this Saturday.” The Colts (3-3) have alternated wins and losses through the first six weeks of the season, and now face a Shenandoah Valley team on Homecoming night that is coming off a 48-0 loss to Tri-Valley and is currently 1-5. “I was born and raised in Shenandoah; they’re tough kids, they’re kids that fight hard and play tough football,” said Dakosty. “And we expect to have our hands full Saturday night.” Tri-Valley rushed for 432 yards and five scores last week against Shenandoah. Though he was bottled up last week against Mahanoy (nine carries, 28 yards), Marian’s Matt Martin entered Week 6 as the area’s fourth-leading rusher with 562 yards on 125 carries. Martin has rushed for around 1,800 yards throughout his career. Shenandoah is allowing 38.2 points per game this season. The Blue Devils only win this year came in Week 5 against Hancock (Maryland), a 51-20 victory. Shenandoah Valley won last year’s game, 26-9, one of the Blue Devils’ two victories last season. “We put Mahanoy behind us; hopefully we learned some lessons there,” said Dakosty. “Our kids have given us a good week of practice, so we have to go out there and again keep things clean. We haven’t really put together a complete game since Schuylkill Haven. We want to start this week - that’ is our goal. We want to start playing the type of football I think we’re capable of playing.”

Players to Watch:

Mike Silliman, Marian

The Colts got an 86-yard kickoff return by Silliman last week against Mahanoy Area. Silliman also added four tackles.

Joey Walko, Marian

Marian got a 57-yard screen pass from Bruce Hopeck to Walko for a score in the first half last week. Walko also tied for the team lead with 16 total tackles.

Carsyn Chambers, Marian

Chambers and Hopeck connected for a 20-yard score last week in the first half. Chambers also had four total tackles and came up with an interception.

Pine Grove at Tamaqua

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

Storyline of the Week

: Raiders need bounce-back performance.

Tamaqua is coming off a 42-6 loss to Jim Thorpe last week. The Olympians led 21-0 at halftime, and scored on several long touchdowns throughout the game, with offensive scores of 31, 37, 43 and 18 yards, while also adding two defensive tallies on interception returns. The Tamaqua (2-4) offense struggled to find a rhythm against a strong Thorpe defense, rushing for one yard with one first down and six punts in the first half. Tamaqua scored its only touchdown in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run by Jacob Hehn. The Blue Raiders finished with just three first downs. “I was a little disappointed offensively,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “I thought we would be able to do a little bit more. But we’ve just tried to emphasize fundamentals up front. Defensively, I didn’t think we played a bad game against Thorpe; I thought we played pretty well up front, kind of contained the rush, but gave up some big pass plays. But we know going against Pine Grove, they’re going to throw the ball and try to do some of the things Jim Thorpe had success with against us. So we’ve been going back to fundamentals. There are always things to get better at. I felt like we had a lot of missed assignments up front, but Jim Thorpe had some very good defenders, like Noah Rosahac and Bryson Heydt. But we still have to keep our fundamentals no matter who we play.” Pine Grove (1-5) is coming off a shootout loss to Palmerton, 53-28, and will be traveling to Tamaqua for the Blue Raiders’ homecoming night. Palmerton piled up 564 total yards of offense, including 342 passing and 222 rushing. Pine Grove didn’t quit though, scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Cardinals finished with 359 yards of total offense. The Bombers were torched on Pine Grove’s second offensive play as junior Lane Lehman stunned the Palmerton defense, racing 79 yards for a quick 7-0 lead. Quarterback Mason Kroh completed five-of-13 pass attempts for 132 yards and two interceptions. “We have to get after the quarterback, and make sure we contain,” said Bonner. “We have to make sure we don’t give up the big pass play, which they go for a lot, and which we gave up two or three times last week. We have to make sure we don’t give up those plays. And we gave up two pick-sixes. You can’t have that against any team. This is a big game for us to try to bounce back after a tough loss.”

Players to Watch:

John Klein, Tamaqua

The senior led the team with six total tackles against Jim Thorpe. Klein also had a catch for nine yards.

Michael Styka, Tamaqua

The junior had four tackles, including three for a loss, against the Olympians.

Lane Lehman, Pine Grove

Lehman finished with 174 yards rushing and three touchdowns last week against Palmerton.

Salisbury at Palmerton

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

Storyline of the Week

: Bombers’ offense should continue to roll against Salisbury, but defense is looking to improve.

After a surprising 55-18 loss to Notre Dame Green Pond on the road two weeks ago, Palmerton (4-2) was able to bounce back last week with a 53-28 road win over a struggling Pine Grove team. The Bombers accumulated 569 yards of total offense, and continue to put up big numbers in 2022. The Palmerton offense is averaging 41.5 points per game, to go along with 442.2 yards per game this season. Junior quarterback Matt Machalik continues his stretch of shattering offensive records for Palmerton as well this season, as his 342 yards passing, six passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns against Pine Grove are now single-game Palmerton records. Machalik also registered his 47th- and 48th-career touchdowns scored against the Cardinals (topping the previous record by Mike Stasko of 46 from 2013-16), and his six passing touchdowns last week now give him 21 for the year (topping the previous record of 19 by Garrett Perschy in 2016), and are now both Bomber program records. Palmerton’s opponent this week in Salisbury has struggled on defense so far this season, as the Falcons are giving up 40 points per game. The offense has been consistent for the Bombers in their 4-2 start, but the defense has had some issues at times, which especially has been the case in their losses, as they have given up an average of 51 points per game in the games that they have lost this season. Palmerton had a few defensive breakdowns as well last week, giving up 28 points to a Pine Grove offense that was averaging just 7.2 points per game coming into its contest against the Bombers. Salisbury (0-6) has been shut out by its last two opponents (Tamaqua and Northern Lehigh), so it’s important for Palmerton to fine-tune its defense against the Falcons before a trip to Fountain Springs in two weeks for another big road matchup against North Schuylkill. “No doubt, our offense has been explosive this season, but we can’t just depend on our offense; we need to get better and improve defensively,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “Fundamental-assignment football on defense has been a major priority for us this week in practice, and with us playing against a Wing-t style offense this week, reading our keys, playing physical and finishing tackles will be key for us. We also need to work on cleaning up the penalties. We had 11 last week for 90 yards, and that is inexcusable, and that hurts your momentum on both offense and defense.”

Players to Watch:

Kendall Robinson, Palmerton

Robinson was a big play-making machine last week for the Bombers as he caught five passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, averaging an impressive 29 yards per catch.

Nick Beck, Salisbury

The Falcons feature a run-first offense, and Beck leads the team with 185 rushing yards on the season.

Lehighton at Bangor

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

Storyline of the Week

: Can the Tribe find a way to get their offense more points?

After last week’s loss to Blue Mountain, Lehighton Coach Tom McCarroll has placed his focus on his team’s offensive side of the ball heading into this week’s contest against Bangor. “The score seems lopsided, but we were only down 12-0 at the half, and that was mostly due to giving them great field position from our lack of offense,” he said. “I put that blame upon me. We need to get better at our play calling and be able to move the ball better.” McCarroll mentioned that schemes, formations, and adjustments all come into play for his team’s ability to move the chains. For several weeks in a row, Lehighton has come up against very athletic quarterbacks, and this week will be no different against the 4-2 Slaters. In last week’s loss to Pottsville, Bangor’s Eric Striba ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s definitely their best runner and their offense revolves around his running game,” said McCarroll. “They like to dink and dunk with their passing game, and if you make them throw, you get them out of their comfort zone.” The Tribe’s defensive strategy will be to load up the box. Week after week, the Maroon and White seem to be playing teams with winning records. As a result, McCarrol will try to build confidence in his young squad. “We make no excuses for our schedule,” he said. “There is no quit in our team and at the end of the day, there are no easy wins and we all have to work hard for success.”

Players to Watch:

Reese Balk, Lehighton

The junior defensive lineman made big plays last week and had several tackles for a loss. According to McCarroll, Balk has really stepped up his game.

Blake Roberts, Lehighton

A freshman safety and wide receiver, Robertsv continues to make positive plays. “He has grown into his positions to a point where we can trust him on both sides of the ball,” said McCarroll.

Noah Hills, Bangor

The 6-0 junior running back gained 76 yards last week, and is averaging over five yards per carry with his 313 yards gained so far this season.

Sch. Haven at Panther Vy.

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

Storyline of the Week

: Can the Panthers win the line of scrimmage to beat the Hurricanes?

Scoring just seven points last week against Palisades has been indicative of the Panthers’ scoring woes this season. They’ve put up only 94 points so far, averaging two touchdowns per game. Coach Mark Lavine said his young team was overmatched against the senior-laden Pirates. “We couldn’t get anything going against them on offense,” he said. “We had no push and no scheme that worked, even when we tried to get outside.” With a win tonight, the Panthers will get their third victory of the season, something the school has not accomplished in the past five years. To do so, they will have to beat the 1-5 Hurricanes. “They run the wing-t offense with a lot of deception,” said Lavine. “They have physical backs, and they show speed on their sweeps. They are young like us, playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores.” Lavine stressed that his defense has focused on the fundamentals, and that it must tackle better to be successful. “Both teams like to run the ball, so whoever can control the line of scrimmage should win the game,” said Lavine. “The objective for both defenses will be to make each other throw the ball in third and long situations.”

Players to Watch:

Brody Breiner, Panther Valley

The junior linebacker registered 15 tackles last week, and is always around the ball, according to Lavine.

Brad Jones, Panther Valley

In his freshman and first varsity season, Jones has been a two-way starter at safety and wide receiver, and even sees a few plays at quarterback for the Panthers. “Brad plays older than his age would suggest,” said Lavine. “He’s solid in the secondary and catches passes on offense. He’s been very reliable for us.”

Aiden Myers, Schuylkill Haven

The junior running back has rushed for 731 yards, averaging eight yards a carry and 122 yards per game.

Pleasant Vy. at Northampton

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

Storyline of the Week

: After suffering their first loss to Parkland, the Bears face EPC North’s top team Northampton next.

Parkland (3-3) handed Pleasant Valley (5-1) its first loss of the season, 38-7, last Friday night. The Bears move on to another tough opponent this week in undefeated Northampton (6-0), followed by Freedom. “I don’t think too much of it,” Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger said about the Lehigh Valley swing. Pleasant Valley was tied with Parkland 7-7 before the Trojans scored 31 straight points in the contest. “Overall, considering who we were playing, I was very pleased with a lot of things our kids did,” Saeger said. “Their toughness, aggressiveness and willingness to fight to stand up to a team of that size showed me a lot about who they are. I didn’t really question that. We knew in order to beat them, we were going to have to play a darn near flawless game. For a while there, the system was working. It was 7-7 near the end of the half and then, Parkland did what Parkland does. They returned the kickoff and then, put another one on us at the end of the half and that really kind of deflated us.” All of Pleasant Valley’s attention now turns to Northampton after the Bears played the Konkrete Kids in a District 11 playoff game last fall. PV played Northampton twice in 2021. “Another big, strong and powerful 6A school and they’re in the (EPC) North, but they’re still a Valley school with a lot of history,” Saeger said. “A lot of kids, size, athletes, resources, coaches and everything. It’s going to be another monster test. This one matters a lot more because it is a North game. If we have any hopes of competing for a championship, it runs through Northampton. They haven’t gotten any smaller. They’re very similar and have a lot back.” Pleasant Valley already took care of EPC North rival East Stroudsburg South in a 7-6 game in Brodheadsville in Week 3. Northampton easily took care of South in a 35-0 win at East Stroudsburg Memorial Stadium in Week 5.

Players to Watch:

Valentino Byers-Robinson, Pleasant Valley

Byers-Robinson was able to punch a score in with a two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of the Parkland game for the lone Pleasant Valley score. It will be interesting to see how the option goes up against Northampton’s defense. Byers-Robinson can have a big game against Northampton, and just like the Parkland game, Pleasant Valley will have to play a near-perfect game to take down the Konkrete Kids.

Antonino Russo, Northampton

The senior quarterback threw a touchdown pass in Northampton’s last game against Bethlehem Catholic in a 31-21 win. The 21 points allowed by the Northampton defense were the most in a single game during their 6-0 season. Russo can find the trio of wide receivers of Jaelen Richardson, Tristen Pinnock and Tymir Williams. The Northampton wide receivers could give the Pleasant Valley secondary fits during Friday night’s game.

Caden Henritzy, Northampton

The junior running back had a big game against Pleasant Valley in the first matchup last fall and his running game cemented a victory for the Konkrete Kids. Henritzy has 577 rushing yards so far this season and 11 touchdowns for Northampton.