Marian, Palmerton and Panther Valley will all look to move to 2-0 and continue their strong starts to the season Friday night.

Minersville (1-0)

at Marian (1-0)

Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the Week

: The Colts are looking to build on a 27-0 win over Schuylkill Haven, where they rushed for 208 yards against the Hurricanes, with running back Jayden Fermin leading the way with 142 yards and a touchdown. Minersville is coming off an impressive opening week 38-34 victory over Tri-Valley.

Quote

: “Our offensive line looked good last week and played really well. Jayden Fermin also did a nice job of reading blocks and picking up yardage for us. He had some very nice runs. The balance was there for us offensively as well. It has been a while since we’ve had a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard passer in the same game, so it was good to see that. Our opponent this week in Minersville likes to throw the football, and they have a good quarterback with a good stable of receivers, but they can also run the ball, so it will certainly be a challenge. We just need to continue to work hard and get better this week, and get ready to compete against a good football team.” - Marian head coach Stan Dakosty.

Palmerton (1-0)

at Catasauqua (1-0)

Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the week

: Catasauqua is coming off a 48-22 victory over Northern Lehigh, it’s first win over the Bulldogs since 2017. Palmerton put together an impressive performance in a 54-30 win over Lehighton. The Blue Bombers put up 482 yards of total offense – rushing for 298 – while allowing just 73 yards on the ground. Matt Machalik ran for 209 yards and five touchdowns, threw for 184 yards and a score, and returned an interception for a TD to earn Times News Football Player of the Week honors.

Quote

: “Catty’s a good football team. They have a lot of skill guys, they have a lot of guys back from last year. They were really one play away from winning a District 11 championship (in a 32-29 loss to Executive Education Academy Charter School). We ran into them before and are very familiar with them, and we know we’re going to be in for a dogfight Friday based on the skill level that they have, the linemen that they have, the schemes that they have. So we need to be focused, and really at the end of the day, like any week, it’s really about focusing on what we do. We have to control all the emotions, control the game and execute, be efficient, eliminate penalties. I think last week was huge for us playing complimentary football where our defense scored, special teams scored and our offense scored. So once you do that, it can really get rolling. Avoiding the big plays, getting turnovers are a key for Friday. So it should be a fun atmosphere.” - Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak.

Tri-Valley (0-1)

at Panther Valley (1-0)

Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the week

: The Panthers are looking to begin the season with two straight victories, something the program hasn’t achieved since 2017.

Quote

: “We have to match Tri-Valley’s physicality, line up on defense, and get stops. They have a really good running back, so we’ll be stressing fundamental tackling at practice, and we hope to control the clock on offense. We’ll certainly have to play a complete game to give us a chance to win against them.” - Panther Valley head coach Mark Lavine.

Pleasant Valley (0-1)

at Dieruff (0-1)

Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the week

: Can the Bears get back on track after a 28-0 loss to Bethlehem Catholic last Friday in the season opener? Pleasant Valley has gotten off to a slow start in the last two years against Dieruff, but the Bears charged back to get the victory. The contest against the Huskies comes early in the season, but both teams are searching for their first win of the season at J. Birney Crum Stadium Friday night.

Quote

: “I am stressed this week about starting fast and getting over the loss. We’re putting all eyes on Dieruff and make sure we respect them. They’re a good football team. This is one of the best Dieruff teams I’ve seen in quite a while, so we’re definitely bringing our A-game this week ... You play at a certain speed in practice, and you try to push them as hard as you can. You get there on Friday and it’s a completely different speed. I don’t think we reacted well enough to the increase in speed. We really try to pick up our practice speed and tempo here this week.” - Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger.

Lehighton (0-1)

at Tamaqua (0-1)

Friday, Sept. 1, 7:10 p.m.

Storyline of the week

: What do both teams have to improve to prepare for each other?

Quote

: “We’re really young up front, and Northwestern took advantage of our inexperience last week. We need to improve on basic blocks so we can have a better chance to score some points. Football is all about the guys up front. Games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.” - Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner.

Quote

: “We have to do a better job controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and match the physicality of our opponent. We have to line up on defense, tackle well and get stops. Like Tamaqua, we’re young up front, but our performance on Friday goes with how we play at the line of scrimmage.” - Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll.

Bangor (1-0)

at Jim Thorpe (0-1)

Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m.

Storyline of the week

: The Olympians were shutout by Blue Mountain last week, something that hasn’t happened to the program since October of 2020.

Quote

: “We need to become a more physical football team this week. Defensively, we need to get off blocks and tackle better. Offensively, we must eliminate turnovers, and we need to create running lanes and pass block better. Our physicality up front has been an emphasis.” - Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger.

By Rich Strack, Kyle Magda, Brad Hurley and Patrick Matsinko.