Jim Thorpe and North Schuylkill can do it all on the football field.

But defense is the bread and butter of both programs."The Red Swarm" led the Times News area in about every statistical category imaginable this season.Jim Thorpe yielded just 199.3 total yards par game and allowed both the least amount of passing and rushing yards per contest. In doing so, the Olympians have held opponents to an average of just 15.5 points per game."I think we've made many strides throughout the course of the year," said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. "Defensively, we've gotten better. We have to play assignment football."On the other hand, North Schuylkill has pitched three shutouts, with only Schuylkill Haven scoring more than 15 points against them in a single game this year. The Spartans have held opponents to just over 10 points per game."Obviously, Major Jordan is the best linebacker in the league," Rosenberger noted. "We have to focus on him, he is the team leader. They are an outstanding team, I have a lot of respect for their players and coaches."North Schuylkill dropped its only two games of the year within the last three weeks against Pottsville and Blue Mountain. Jim Thorpe, however, picked up a bit of momentum after they brought the Route 209 trophy back home after defeating Lehighton, 19-7.The Olympians have solidified their backfield, which has led to efficient offense. Brandon Carroll has thrown for 10 scores and four interceptions after taking over the starting gig in Week 2."Reads are something that every quarterback needs to work on," said Rosenberger. But he's leaps and bounds ahead of where he was 10 weeks ago. He does a great job controlling our offense. He's one of those kids that doesn't get too high or too low emotionally."His job has been a little bit easier with the emergence of tailback Justin St. Hill. The junior ranks second in the Times News area with 1,038 yards after he scorched the Tribe for 246 last week."He's a very explosive kid and made a lot of big plays for us," Rosenberger said. "He's fast and has great vision with his cuts and he's not easy to bring down."The Spartans topped the Olympians earlier in the season by a 28-7 tally. However, Thorpe had plenty of trips to the red zone but couldn't cash in. Rosenberger said his team will have to change that this week."We had opportunities , but didn't take advantage of them," said the JT coach. "If you are going to be successful come playoff time, you have to take advantage of them. We definitely finished our season on a high note, hopefully our excitement and enthusiasm carries over to the postseason."