How does a team respond to adversity?

Marian and Tamaqua provided their answers last week.

Now they get to answer each other.

After stumbling in their season openers, the Colts (1-1) and Blue Raiders (1-1) each responded with crucial bounce-back victories in Week 2.

Now the two teams meet in a rivalry game that hasn’t been played since 2018 — and the outcome could put the winner on a promising postseason trajectory.

That’s why it’s no surprise that this big-time backyard brawl is the Times News Game of the Week.

The Blue Raiders needed to get back on track in the trenches after Lehighton beat them handily in that department in Week 1, and that’s exactly what they were able to do against Schuylkill Haven.

Tamaqua got back to what it does best — running the football.

“Scary Terry” Terrence McDowell Jr. put together a monster night, rushing for 337 yards and six touchdowns on 41 carries. The offensive line, combined with McDowell’s performance, helped Tamaqua defeat the Hurricanes 40-27.

The Blue Raiders’ defense was just as impressive at the line of scrimmage against an always-explosive Schuylkill Haven rushing attack. Tamaqua held the Hurricanes to just 49 yards on 14 carries.

“No doubt. It was really big to bounce back and get that win against a physical team,” said Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner. “We didn’t think we performed up to our capabilities the week before. We knew we had to clean up the mental mistakes, and I thought we did a great job of that. We had a great week of practice leading up to the game.

“We got Terrence going early, which is always what we’re looking to do. Up front, we looked way better. Our guys were staying on blocks and finishing blocks, and overall we were just better in playing assignment football.

“And then on defense, our guys played really well up front. They got good penetration and made plays. We also made some personnel changes on defense, and we did a better job of getting guys in spots to make plays.”

The Colts ran out of gas in a Week 1 loss to Palmerton, but Marian left Panther Valley Football Stadium last week with an impressive 26-6 win.

The Colts’ play in the trenches was also the key to their victory.

“The Showcase” Tyler Price put together another big night, rushing for 250 yards and three scores. Price is averaging 10.4 yards per carry, and leads the Times News area with 484 total yards — 365 rushing and 119 receiving.

On defense, the Colts were able to get a good push up front against a big, strong Panther Valley group. Marian dominated on that side of the ball, holding the Panthers to just five rushing yards on 16 carries.

“I’m very proud of the way our guys played along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” said Marian head coach Billy O’Gurek. “To hold them to single-digit rushing yards was really impressive. I thought coming into the season our defensive line was the best unit of our team, and with Ashfield back in the lineup last week, that group showed what they can do.

“And then on offense, we were able to establish the run game and end the game with a 250-yard rusher. And we didn’t run it bad in Week 1, but we were having more success with the pass that night. But then last week, the run was what was working for us. Week by week, we’re going to ride the hot hand.”

Holding its own at the line of scrimmage and relentlessly pursuing McDowell will be critical if Marian is going to come away with a win Friday night.

“McDowell is a great player. For him to run the ball 41 times and still have all that juice late in the game, that shows you how impressive of a back he really is,” O’Gurek said. “Tackling is going to be huge for us. You have to get one or two guys to him to hold him up until the cavalry can get there.

“And then the other big key for us is going to be holding our own in the trenches. Tamaqua was able to swarm the line of scrimmage last week, so we have to be able to handle that. Because it doesn’t matter what matchups you like or what you think you have, if you can’t give your quarterback time to throw or your running back some room to operate.”

The Blue Raiders took plenty of positives from last week’s win, but one area that needs fixing is their tendency to surrender explosive plays.

Schuylkill Haven managed to hit on several big downfield passes, including three touchdowns of 50 yards or more. With Price emerging as one of the region’s premier big-play threats this season, Tamaqua will be looking to force Marian to grind out every yard Friday night.

“We’re going to have to correct that this week. If we didn’t give up some of those big plays last week, we could’ve pulled away a lot earlier,” Bonner said. “And then on offense, we have to continue to be physical and aggressive. Price is a really good defensive player for them, too, and their defensive line has some nice players up front led by Rodino. We have to get hats on those guys on every play and finish blocks like we did last week.”