For the second consecutive season the Jim Thorpe Olympians football team is 6-0, and for the second consecutive season there is absolutely no room for error.

The District 11 AAA postseason picture is starting to take shape and although the Olympians are undefeated, they still sit outside the top four, meaning all four of their remaining games are must wins.Coming to Olympian Stadium on Friday is the very talented and dangerous Mahanoy Area Golden Bears (4-2).Not only does the match-up between the Olympians and Bears have major playoff implications, but also Anthracite Football League implications as well.Due to everything on the line for both teams, the week seven match-up between Jim Thorpe and Mahanoy has been named this week's Times News Game of the Week.Another reason this match-up is an intriguing one is because both teams are similar in many ways.Offensively, they both like to run the football and do so by utilizing a lot of misdirection. For the Bears it's an option run game scheme, while the Olympians use a shotgun spread type of offense with a lot of speed sweep action.Before last week's clash with the stubborn Blue Mountain defense, the Bears were putting up huge rushing numbers. Power back Lenny Dulsky rushed for 329 yards in week four, while quarterback Mason Ryan rushed for 296 yards in week five. Add the option running attack to the mix and suddenly the Bears offense doesn't look all that much fun to prepare for."There is no doubt that Mahanoy's offense is a very tough offense to prepare for," said Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger. "It's very hard to duplicate the speed of the option offense in practice. Therefore, it's key for us to play assignment football come Friday night and make sound fundamental tackles. It will be a battle in the trenches for sure, so we have to make sure we win that battle."So far, the Olympians have been winning that battle. Thorpe is giving up just 81 yards per game on the ground, which is well below the Bears season average. The "Red Swarm" has also been stingy in the touchdown department as well, surrendering just 9.8 points per game.Offensively, Jim Thorpe had a bit of a letdown last week against Panther Valley. The Olympians scored just seven points in the first half and were held to one of their lowest yardage totals (257) on the season. That offensive effort certainly needs to improve this week against Mahanoy."We need to do a better job offensively this week, and that starts up front," said Rosenberger. "Panther Valley did a good job of creating penetration and getting into our backfield, and that's something that we need to correct against Mahanoy. They have a tough and physical bunch of kids on their defensive unit that can make game-changing plays. As a whole, our offense needs to be more consistent this week, and we also need to give our passing game an opportunity to thrive as well."An added question mark to this week's game is whether Mahanoy quarterback Mason Ryan will play or not. The Bears dynamic signal caller did not play in the second half against Blue Mountain last week and it was obvious that the Mahanoy offense looks much different without him. If Ryan can't go it will be interesting to see if the Bears can still run their option attack successfully.District 11 playoff berths, an Anthracite League championship, and the all important season momentum are all on the line this week for the Bears and Olympians.For fans of coal region football, it's hard not to look ahead at all of the fantastic possibilities that await both of these ball clubs. But for coaches and players it's just business as usual on a Friday night."The way things are setup right now everyone out there knows that there isn't any room for error for anyone in the AFL," said the Olympians' head coach. "But we can't worry about that. We have to worry about a tough Mahanoy team that is in front of this week. I'm confident our kids will be prepared and ready to play come Friday night."