Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua will look to keep their records perfect on Friday.

The Olympians travel to take on Panther Valley, while the Blue Raiders host Schuylkill Haven.

In other action, Lehighton and Northwestern hope to make it two in a row after posting wins last week. Palmerton looks to get back on the winning track, with the Panthers, Marian and Pleasant Valley still searching for win No. 1.

Jim Thorpe at Panther Valley

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

DOMINATING D

… The Olympians “Red Swarm” defense has once again gotten out to a fast start this season. In two games, Thorpe is giving up just 71 yards per game and 3.5 points per game. The Olympians defense has been particularly strong against the passing game, allowing just 19 yards total through the air.

“Our goal is to try and win the battle on the line of scrimmage every week, and to get better every week and so far, we’re 2-for-2 in doing that. That’s a testament to our kids working hard and staying focused,” said head coach Mark Rosenberger. “Playing physical, being disciplined, fundamental tackling, it’s all things that we work on and preach and so far, our kids have done a great job of executing.”

THROUGH THE AIR

… The Panther Valley offense has struggled this season, but it has shown some ability to throw the ball downfield with veteran quarterback Ethan Reis. Reis has thrown for 198 yards and two touchdowns in two games, with his main target dynamic wide receiver Blake White, hauling in eight passes for 142 yards and two scores at an impressive 17.75 yards per catch. It will be tough for the Panthers to match Thorpe’s size and physicality in the trenches, so PV will almost surely go to the air to stay in this one. “They’ve played a lot of football together, and they’re both competitive,” said Panther head coach Rick Jones of Reis and White. “We try to get the ball in Blake’s hands as much as possible. They’re a nice combination. Obviously, we have our hands full this week. But our objective remains to get better and compete. We just have to go out and play as hard as we can.”

SCORELESS STREAK

… The Olympians will be looking to shut out the Panthers for the third consecutive season. Thorpe has outscored the Panthers 120-0 over the past two seasons, and has won six straight against PV. Panther Valley’s last win against Thorpe came in 2012, which was a 49-48 offensive showcase.

TOUGH RUNNING

… Thorpe has proven early that it can run the football with a strong offensive line and a premier lead back in senior CJ Selby. Selby, who has rushed for 2,533 yards in his career, is averaging 159 yards rushing per game this season (8.37 yards per carry). “They run the same plays often, so you have to defend plays and not formations,” said Jones. “But sooner or later, your kids get caught ... and they have such good athletes that they can break free. They have good size and speed. They’re a difficult team to play, especially in our situation, but we’ll come after them as best we can.”

Central Columbia at Lehighton

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

GOING FOR TWO

... The Indians will be looking for their second straight win after posting a 27-14 triumph over Schuylkill Haven last week. Central Columbia defeated Lehighton 42-7 last season.

BOUNCING BACK

... Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll has been encouraged with what he’s seen from the team since its 58-14 loss to Fleetwood in the season opener. “It wasn’t a whole lot of Xs and Os as far as tweaking. The tweaking came from our kids’ approach. I think, and maybe we’re guilty of it as coaches, but I think the kids maybe looked back and said, ‘Hey, we beat Fleetwood the first week of the season for the last three years.’ And maybe said, ‘We’ll be OK, we’ll get a win, and then we’ll move forward.’ I just don’t know how focused they were going into Week 1 against an opponent they thought maybe they were better than. That reflects on us as coaches. What we did is we just took a different approach with them mentally.

“They need to be way more locked in; they need to maybe overestimate their opponent rather than underestimate. And that’s kind of the card we played. And the nice thing was, we spoke with the team, there wasn’t a lot of screaming and yelling. At this point, it’s a little too early for that. But we asked them for some input. In their eyes and in their minds, what areas did they fall short in?

“They really identified some things, and I think when you can kind of self-reflect, especially as a young kid, and say, ‘OK, here’s where I came up short,’ and take some ownership in that, and all week we kind of focused on what they identified as some of the shortcomings,” said McCarroll.

TURNING IT AROUND

... After being shutout 23-0 by Mount Carmel in Week 1, Central Columbia reversed its fortunes with a 24-3 victory over Shikellamy last Friday. “They have a different type of makeup. They are more similar to a Schuylkill Haven, than they are a Fleetwood, just the style they play. A lot of three-back sets. They do spread it from time-to-time, but I think their bread and butter is going to be running the ball. So I think the fact that we had success against a guy like (Schuylkill Haven’s) Kobe Brish, and certainly nothing against Central Columbia, but they don’t have a player like Kobe Brish. They may be more diverse across the board, but I think when you can limit Kobe Brish to 81 yards, that’s a win for us. That’s a successful night. So if we can have that same mentality, guys running to the ball – we had 11 hats to the ball – and that certainly was a formula for success. No matter what offense you have, if our kids can commit to that every Friday night, we’re going to be better off, and our chances for success go way up,” said McCarroll.

HOMECOMING

... After playing their first two games on the road at Fleetwood and Schuylkill Haven, the Tribe will play the first of three straight at home starting with Friday’s contest against Central Columbia. Lehighton will host Marian and Panther Valley in Weeks 4 and 5.

Northwestern at Palisades

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

WELCOME TO THE COACHING RANKS

... Palisades is under first-year coach Ramie Moussa, who took over last December after Kevin Ronalds stepped down after seven seasons as the coach of the Pirates. While Ronalds went 55-27 in his tenure, Moussa faces a challenge in helping to restore the Palisades program. Moussa brings with him plenty of experience, having served nine years as an assistant with Whitehall.

After their rough opening to the season in Week 1, Palisades played a hard-fought game at Wilson, but ultimately fell to the Warriors 15-12 after leading 12-0 going into the fourth quarter. Wilson scored the winning touchdown on a fourth-and-goal with 20-seconds left in the game.

IS THIS THE WEEK?

... Northwestern coach Josh Snyder is hoping that his offense starts to flex its muscles a little this week. Even though the Tigers scored 73 points in the first two weeks – they do have a special teams score and an interception return for a score – Snyder is looking for the offense to truly click. Having a healthy Justin Rodda last week helped as he pulled in four TD passes from quarterback Deven Bollinger, so perhaps this is the week that the offense gets to show off a little.

“I’ve been a little surprised that we haven’t had a better offensive attack,” Snyder admitted. “We’ve played well, but I just thought that we would have a little more dominating type of offense than what we’ve seen so far. It’s going to help having Rodda back, but I really want to see us be more explosive.”

NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN

... The defense was torched for 275 yards passing from Salisbury’s backup QB Quintin Stephens last week, and 289 yards in Week 1 against Notre Dame. For his part, Snyder avoided using the word ‘concerned,’ but does admit that there’s room for improvement, and he’s put in some defensive changes to help things along.

“We ask a lot of our guys,” Snyder said. “We have a lot of two-way guys, and we have had a pretty complicated defensive scheme that I don’t think was really working well for our guys. We simplified things a little this week, and we’ll try to give them a bit of a break. I think we have a solid defense and we have the right guys to make it work, but we just needed to make things a little easier and get back to some basic stuff.”

THE LONG AND WINDING ROADS

... The trip to play Palisades in Kintnersville is undoubtedly the toughest road trip of any season for the Tigers. Much of the 45-minute – at best – trip takes place on winding back roads surrounded by trees on both sides and plenty of deer crossing warnings. The breaks in the woods are filled by farms with cows and horses roaming the fields.

Snyder noted that this will probably be the last long bus ride to Kintnersville. The Colonial League and Schuylkill League have come to a cooperative scheduling agreement for football beginning next season. The agreement will allow the bigger schools from the two leagues to play each other and match the smaller schools against each other to provide better competitive levels in football, which will keep Northwestern and Palisades from playing each other for at least the next two seasons.

Marian at Trinity

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

GETTING HEALTHY

… The Colts have gotten off to a rough start this season, with some key players being unavailable in Week 1 and a few injuries plaguing them in Week 2. The Colts dropped game one to Midd-West 39-6 and then last week were held scoreless in a 42-0, loss to Jim Thorpe. Right now, Marian is focused on getting injured players back on the field.

“We just need to get some guys healthy, especially up front,” said Marian head coach Pat Morgan. “With some of the injuries we’re enduring right now, the numbers just aren’t in our favor, so getting healthy will be key, and once we do, we have to make some plays out there.”

STOPPING THE RUN

… Marian will need to do a better job this week against the run than in the previous two weeks on the road against Trinity. Trinity likes to run the football, with standout senior running back Daniel Kosinski, who has rushed for 262 yards on the season (over 10 yards per carry). As a team, Trinity averages 6.3 yards per carry, while Marian’s defense is giving up 8.22 yards per carry.

STRUGGLING O

… The Colts will try to get back on track offensively this week. Marian is averaging just three points per game, and 57.5 yards per game. No doubt injuries on the offensive line have impacted the Colts rushing attack, which is averaging just 0.25 yards per carry.

BALANCED

… Trinity has rushed for 354 yards on the ground this season, but its also been good in the passing game with quarterback Danny Scott who has passed for 351 yards and four scores.

“I liked our effort last week, and I thought our tackling was pretty solid,” said Morgans. “Sometimes, it’s just about making plays, and we need to find some guys to do that for us, we missed some opportunities last week.”

Schuylkill Haven at Tamaqua

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

TOUR OF LOCALS

... Tamaqua squares off against Schuylkill Haven (0-2) this week and will have opened the 2019 season playing three locals in Jim Thorpe, Lehighton and the Blue Raiders. Head Coach Sam Bonner is hoping his team fares as well as the other two Times News area teams with a victory.

RAIDERS OF THE HOT START?

... Following wins in the opening two weeks of the year, Tamaqua stands at 2-0, with impressive wins over Line Mountain (40-0), and Mahanoy Area (50-0).

BETTER BALANCE

... Bonner aims to maintain a healthy amount of both runs and passing attacks. “In Week 1, we kind of got away from the run,” he said. “In Week 2, we had a much better amount of both, and we want to stay around that 50-50 range. We have played well so far, but we need to try and keep improving.”

BAIT AND TACKLE

... Despite the defensive strength of the Blue Raiders to date, Bonner sees it as a focal point for improvement. “We gave up a lot of yards against Mahanoy, and against Haven, we’ll need to be much better with our tackling,” he said. “We need to fly to the football and be more aggressive, or else they’ll make us pay.”

KOBE OR NOT KOBE

... Haven touts one of the most decorated running backs in the league, in senior Kobe Brish. Having rushed for over 1,000 yards in two seasons, he is off to a rough start, carrying 15 times for 94 yards and a score in Week 1, and 20-79 in the second game. “Brish is a great runner, capable of making big plays,” Bonner said.

Saucon Valley at Palmerton

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

COMPETITIVE

... The past two seasons, these teams have played each other close. The Panthers came away with 34-26 win last season, and in 2017 the Bombers came through with a 29-28 victory.

STAYING PHYSICAL

... Palmerton, with a lack of numbers (24 players) matched up well with a very physical Southern Lehigh squad last week for three quarters (down 14-12 after three), however the Spartans were able to wear the Bombers down in the fourth to come away with a 27-12 win. But Palmerton proved it can hang with a bigger squad.

“Saucon Valley is physical, heavy run, they’re going to come right at you. Last week, our kids played hard, they played physical and they need to continue to do that this week,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “We just can’t make the sane mistakes this week. Missed red zone opportunities, penalties, turnovers, those are all things we need to clean up.”

RUN FIRST

... The Panthers are well-known for their ability to run the football, and this season is no exception. As a team, Saucon Valley has rushed for 541 yards (7.4 yards per carry). Damian Garcia and Chris Mann have been the big-play running backs for the Panthers. Mann is averaging 16 yards per carry, while Garcia is averaging 15.7 yards per carry.

QB VERSATILITY

... Palmerton mixed it up at quarterback once again last week, playing three different signal callers in senior Jordan Nelson, sophomore Lucas Heydt and freshman Cole Serfass. Nelson leads the way with 96 yards passing, followed by Serfass with 63 and Heydt with 62. All three are capable signal callers and have kept teams off balance.

Northampton at Pleasant Valley

Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know:

BOUNCE BACK

... Following losses in the opening two weeks for Pleasant Valley, head coach Blaec Saeger hopes his team’s resilience shines through. “Just like in life, there are times when bad things happen, and you need to be able to bounce back,” he said. “I’m so proud of the kids’ improvement, and we had another strong week of practice.”

ALL ABOUT THE RUN

... Coach Saeger is aware of Northampton (1-1), and its running abilities. But he is also aware of his own team’s strength, that being the ground game. “If we can establish the run on offense and stop the run on defense, we should be alright,” he said. “We just need to focus on ourselves and do what we need to do.”

SOME GOOD K-KIDS

... After an opening week loss to Parkland (49-14), the K-Kids bounced back with a strong display over Dieruff (W 49-6). Behind junior quarterback Joe Kerbacher, and tailback Tyrese Brandon, the Northampton offense can produce.

JUST GET BETTER

... After a disappointing Week 1 loss to Liberty (70-0), the Bear faithful had a lot more to be happy about in Week 2’s showing against Allen (a 40-14 loss). “The focus this week has just been about us getting better. Opponents don’t matter, we just need to look at ourselves and if we can do that, the wins will come,” Saeger said.