The Tamaqua and Northwestern football teams will both try to move to 5-0 this week. The Blue Raiders travel to surprise contender Salisbury, while the Tigers host Lehighton, which is coming off a big win over Palmerton.

Lehighton (2-2)

at Northwestern Lehigh (4-0)

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Instant Replay

Northwestern and Lehighton are both coming off wins in Week 4. The Tigers came through with a huge win over unbeaten Blue Mountain, while the Indians looked good in routing rival Palmerton. Northwestern looks to be the class of the Colonial-Schuylkill League once again this season, as it downed the Eagles 30-8 last week. The Tigers held Blue Mountain to just a little over 200 yards of total offense, and rushed for 301 yards against a good Eagles defensive front. Eli Zimmerman continued his fantastic season, rushing for 148 yards. Mason Bollinger also had a big game for NW with 103 total yards, including one rushing touchdown and one receiving score. Lehighton’s passing attack looked explosive last week against the Bombers. Quarterback Jayse Lawrence threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns. His go-to receiver in the game was the big target on the outside in Joe Roth, who hauled in five catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Storyline of the Week

The Tigers’ defense has been stout against any and all competition they have faced this season, and they have also been good at forcing turnovers. Northwestern is already plus-8 in that department this season. Lehighton will once again need to get its passing game going, but it must also play clean football against a Tigers’ team that is elite at taking advantage of their opponents’ mistakes.

Coach’s Corner

“We got our passing game going last week and we had a breakout there, but I thought we were also balanced, which is what we want to be every week. I think we also did a nice job up front as well. That will once again be a big key for us this week. We have to be able to protect. When you look at Northwestern, you don’t see many weaknesses. They’re fast and physical, and they have a lot of explosive pieces. The biggest key for us is that we must play a clean football game. Your margin of error is very small against a team as talented as they are, so you have to limit your mistakes.” - Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll.

“We were excited to play a good opponent last week, and to come away with the win. We went into that game with a ton of emotion, and our guys were prepared and played physical. We were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball right from the start, which was big. We’re up against a Lehighton team this week that is playing some pretty good football. They’re looking for that signature win, so we know they will be coming into this game fired up. They have some nice weapons on the outside that you have to pay close attention to, and they will give you a lot of looks and a lot of formations, and they have a quarterback who looks comfortable running their offense. We’re going to look to once again just play fast and physical, and try to force them to play more in the box this week.” - Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder.

Tamaqua (4-0)

at Salisbury (3-1)

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Instant Replay

The Blue Raiders battered Jim Thorpe in a 48-7 win last Friday, rushing for 353 yards. Luke Kane carried the ball 11 times for 145 yards and two scores, while Bradley Whalen had eight carries for 124 yards and two TDs. Defensively, Tamaqua piled up seven sacks, with Isaiah Davis and Declan Coleman each recording two. The defense also picked off four passes, with Cooper Ansbach grabbing two. Salisbury has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround this season after going 0-10, before winning a contingency game against Shenandoah Valley last year and posting just two wins in the previous two seasons. The Falcons knocked off Catasauqua 42-35 last week to register their third win of the year.

Storyline of the Week

Can Tamaqua keep rolling? The Blue Raiders answered back-to-back wins over perennial powers North Schuylkill and Pottsville with a dominant performance against Jim Thorpe last week. There’s no reason to believe Tamaqua will take its foot off the gas this Friday.

Coach’s Corner

“The Pottsville week was a really emotional week with a big win. And obviously a week before with North Schuylkill, it was two exciting weeks. But we knew with Jim Thorpe, they’re always well coached and we’ve always had real difficulty with them in the past. We wanted to make sure we kind of stayed focused. And I thought our kids did a real good job of that, especially coming out, taking the 21-0 lead. I thought we had a little let down in that second quarter, but I thought they came out and probably played one of their better halves of football in the second half. With Salisbury, I don’t know if they’ve had three wins in the last three, four years. So obviously, you know, they start off the season 3-1, they got a new coach, they’re obviously very excited about how they’re doing to start the year off, and we’re going into their house and you know they’re going to be excited, and they’re going to be looking to continue what they got going on, but we will be looking to do the same. So again, it’s one of those weeks where we’ve got to make sure that we know we’re ready to go in and play a team that has a winning record right now.” - Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner.

Mahanoy Area (0-4)

at Marian (3-1)

When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Instant Replay

Marian sprinted out to a 34-2 lead over Shenandoah Valley, and eventually went on to a 47-23 victory last week. Rory Dixon ran for 131 of the team’s 249 rushing yards and also scored a pair of touchdowns. Dixon leads the area in rushing with 590 yards, and has also scored six touchdowns. Buffalo-bound commit Michael Gelatko (eight catches for 81 yards, two touchdowns) remains a major threat. The Colts’ fast start last week was reflective of their 73 of 109 points scored in the first half this season.

Schuylkill Haven throttled Mahanoy Area, 59-8, last week, as the Hurricanes rolled up 671 rushing yards with two running backs gaining at least 250 yards apiece. Golden Bears’ running backs Brian Gallagher and Levi Terry each ran for 37 yards to highlight their offense. Through their last three games, the Golden Bears have scored a total of just 33 points after they posted 34 in their season opener.

Storyline of the Week

After a tough 24-0 loss to Tri-Valley in Week 2, Marian has won back-to-back games. The Colts are outscoring opponents 109-47 this season.

Coach’s Corner

“I was happy with our approach to start the Shenandoah game; we jumped out to a big 34-2 lead, then we let up and committed a couple of key mistakes that Shenandoah capitalized on. But I was encouraged that we settled down after halftime and took control of the game. We have athletes who can make plays for us, five different players scored touchdowns, but we need to take advantage of opportunities to get them the ball, especially this week against Mahanoy. They are better than their record indicates, having played three 3-1 teams and one 4-0 team. Assignment football will be key against their option offense, and we need to continue to develop our passing game on offense.” - Marian head coach Billy O’Gurek.

Nativity (3-1)

at Panther Valley (1-2)

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Instant Replay

Panther Valley picked up its first win of the season over winless Pine Grove, 21-13, last week. Panthers’ quarterback Brody Breiner set the pace with 140 yards rushing, and also threw a touchdown pass, lifting an offense that produced six previous points. Marcus Rodriquez added 45 yards on the ground, as the Panthers accumulated 203 yards rushing. Benny Baneravage recorded 13 tackles.

Nativity went into Tri-Valley last week and handed the previously undefeated Dawgs their first setback in a 34-13 win. The Green Wave accounted for 341 yards rushing behind Sam Welborn’s total of 182 – one a 71-yard touchdown scamper – and Sam Sploski’s 136. Noah Dolbin has been their prime passing target, and he caught four passes for 66 yards with a touchdown.

Storyline of the Week

The Panthers will need to keep their momentum and slow the rising Green Wave ground game. They will also need to control the tempo.

Coach’s Corner

“I was happy the way we responded (against Pine Grove). We moved the ball well all day, but gave up a long run, setting up their first touchdown, then gave them good field position. Getting a touchdown late in the half gave us momentum going into the second half. We did a nice job on both sides of the ball in the second half controlling the line of scrimmage, and our secondary made some big plays when we needed them. Nativity is a very good football team that runs the ball extremely well and has a big-play threat with Noah Dolbin. They have a physical line, and have several running backs who run hard and have breakaway ability. We will need to play great team defense, and control the ball on offense to be successful.” - Panther Valley head coach Mark Lavine.

East Stroudsburg South (3-1)

at Pleasant Valley (0-4)

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Instant Replay

Pleasant Valley was up against Lehigh Valley powerhouse Parkland last week and fell to the Trojans 52-0. PV has EPC foe East Stroudsburg South coming up this week, and the Cavaliers are off to a 3-1 start. South beat Allen 54-20, and earned an impressive 38-7 victory over Whitehall the week before.

Storyline of the Week

The Bears have beaten East Stroudsburg South by a combined three points in the last two wins, so how will they fare against the red-hot Cavaliers at home this week?

Coach’s Corner

“We definitely saw some improvements early in that game. Parkland is Parkland, they’re a state-ranked team. They’re everything they’re cracked up to be. We took some positives out of it. We had 76 rushing yards in the first quarter and had two really good drives. East Stroudsburg South is one of the better teams Coach (Matt) Walters has had there. He always does a great job. Offense is always difficult to prepare for, and defense always gets after it.” - Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger.

North Schuylkill (2-2)

at Jim Thorpe (1-3)

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Instant Replay

It was a rough Week 4 for both Jim Thorpe and North Schuylkill. The Olympians dropped a contest to Tamaqua 48-7, while North Schuylkill was handled by Southern Lehigh 36-14. Even in the loss, the Spartans were good through the air, with Caden Mengel throwing for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Miller had a big game at wide receiver for North Schuylkill with 170 yards and two touchdowns. Southern Lehigh did hold North Schuylkill’s run game in check last week, which hasn’t been easy to do. The Spartans rushed for 355 yards in Week 3 against a good Notre Dame squad. Olympians’ quarterback Cole Lazorick returned from injury last week, but the Thorpe offense just couldn’t get much going. JT will need to be better against the run this week after it gave up 327 yards rushing to the Raiders last week.

Storyline of the Week

Thorpe needs to be better in the trenches in what is the biggest offensive line in the league with the Spartans’ offensive front. The Olympians offense also has to get back to generating explosive plays in the passing game.

Coach’s Corner

“We have to be better up front. Right now, we’re not giving our quarterback enough time to see the field. And we also need to do a better job of opening up rushing lanes for our running backs. We also need to do a better job up front on the defensive side of the ball against the run. North Schuylkill is a physical football team, with a very big offensive line. They have talented backs and a very dangerous quarterback. We have to be able to match their physicality, and then again it all starts up front for us. We have to be better there.” - Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger.

Capsules compiled by Brad Hurley, Jeff Moeller, Kyle Magda and Patrick Matsinko.