Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger and Marian head coach Pat Morgans each have a similar game plan for their big-time match-up on Friday night.

It's rare for each coach to say verbatim the same strategy, but both Rosenberger and Morgans mentioned three words to describe their team's top priority."Match their physicality."That means only one thing - there's going to be a battle in the trenches in Hometown. The physicality, paired with the rivalry between these two squads, presents a very intriguing early-season matchup, earning it Times News Game of the Week honors.Both the Olympians and the Colts were able to get out to 1-0 starts last week. The Olympians defeated highly-touted Schuylkill Haven 19-7, while the Colts took care of business against Fairfield by a score of 19-13.Thorpe showed the Schuylkill League Football landscape exactly what they plan to do in 2017. The Olympians pushed around the Hurricanes' defensive line on offense and defense, and penetrated the backfield consistently against a Haven line that returned all five starters from a season ago.Justin St. Hill rushed for 98 yards and two scores, while C.J. Selby ran for 93 yards and a touchdown. The play of the offensive and defensive lines, paired with the Olympians new one-two punch in the backfield, will be a tough test for any team this season."We can't let those guys get going," said Morgans. "It will be key for us to match their physicality up front. They have a lot of guys that, when in space, they're tough to get to, so we have to be focused on containing their athletes."We can't let anybody get to the outside, and if they do, we must fly to the football. It will definitely be a challenge, but we're welcome to the challenge and looking forward to Friday night."The Olympians will have their work cut out for them as well up front. The Colts were able to grind down Fairfield, rushing for 245 yards. Junior Seth Paluck banged and slashed his way to 173 yards and two scores. Paluck was also effective in the passing game, catching three balls for 52 yards."This week we have to continue to be physical up front," said Rosenberger. "Last week was last week, this is a new opponent and a tough, well-coached team. Paluck is tough, we need to set the tone early on defense and (Zack) Falls, their offensive lineman, is as good as you're going to see this season. Again, we have to read our keys this week defensively and continue to take care of the football on offense. I think you could see a big crowd and a great atmosphere for this one."An X-factor in this game could be the passing game for each team. Both the Colts and Olympians had their struggles defending the pass a week ago, with Marian giving 210 yards through the air, and Jim Thorpe surrendering 175 passing yards in its contest.In fact, the Olympians, which shut down Haven defensively for most of the evening, gave up their lone points of the game on a Schuylkill Haven play-action pass in the second quarter, which resulted in an 81-yard touchdown score. It's something that Marian could explore if they can get Paluck and the running game going early."Our goal, of course, is to first establish our running game," said Morgans. "That sets everything else up. They have a strong defensive line and their linebackers are fantastic, so it certainly won't be easy. But our guys will be ready to go."For Jim Thorpe, it's all about building off the confidence they gained from last week, especially with the big boys up front who will be clearing the way for St. Hill and Selby."I think it was great for our guys to gain confidence last week, but at the same time we need to stay hungry and focused," said Rosenberger. "Our goal is to always stand toe-to-toe in there and battle. We're obviously going to try and get St. Hill and Selby the ball in the early going, but we have a lot of other skill guys that if we get the ball to them in the right spots, they're playmakers."We're going to look to spread the ball around; that's when we're at our best."