JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley football coach Dave Vestal doesn't need to remind his players of the challenge awaiting them Friday night.

The Raiders (2-1, 1-1) will host a Central Catholic team that has outscored its last three opponents 158-27.

The Northern Seven Conference game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at NexTier Stadium.

The Vikings are defending WPIAL and PIAA champions.

“Our kids understand. They know what we're up against,” Vestal said. “They know what Central has done to their opponents. We just need to work on us because even after this game, there will still be a lot of football to play.”

The Vikings (3-1, 2-0) dropped their opener, a 35-14 setback to St. John's College, a prep team from Washington, D.C.

“Even though they were superior to us in size, I thought we started to control the ball in the second half,” said Vikings' coach Terry Totten. “But their defense really started putting some shots on our running backs.”

Central hasn't lost since, dismantling Shaler (48-7), North Allegheny (55-14) and, most recently, Hempfield (55-6). In the victory over NA, the Vikings led 42-7 at halftime.

The Vikings are averaging 320 yards of offense per game and that is with backups playing large portions of the second half because of the lopsided scores.

It all starts up front where all five starting linemen are headed to Division I colleges, including tackles C.J. Thorpe (6-foot-5, 310 pounds to Penn State) and Kurt Hinish (6-3, 290 pounds to Notre Dame).

Though Central is a run-heavy team, it does not have a running back with impressive stats. Rather, the Vikings split most of their carries between a pair of seniors — J.J. Younger and David Marshall, Jr. The duo has combined for 456 yards and five touchdowns. Both are gaining more than six yards per carry.

But arguably the team's most dangerous weapon is junior quarterback Troy Fisher. Despite not playing in the win over Shaler, Fisher has passed for 386 yards, rushed for 177 and accounted for nine total touchdowns in just three games.

Fisher passed for 1,443 yards and 14 touchdowns last year.

“He's definitely making progress,” Totten said. “He's making the right reads and still making plays with his legs.”

While his team has been dominating its opponents, Totten said attention to detail is still the foundation the Vikings must build upon if they want to win the WPIAL's first Class 6-A title in November.

“We're looking to improve every week,” he said. “If you are not getting better, then someone is gaining ground on you..”

A lot of pressure will be on SV's defense, but the unit is coming off a superb effort in last week's 42-6 victory at Butler. The Golden Tornado were held to 35 rushing yards on 27 carries.

“We knew stopping the run was going to be key,” Vestal said. “We were flying to the ball.

“Central has so much team speed and they're big up front. They try to push you around and we can't wear down.”