'Jackets not hung up on loss
After suffering a heartbreaking 15-14 defeat at the hands of Valley last week, Freeport will try to rebound in another Allegheny Conference matchup Friday when the Yellowjackets play at Northgate at 7:30 p.m.
Last week, the Yellowjackets (1-2, 1-2) were only a few seconds away from knocking off Valley, but a 25-yard scoring pass to Madison Harvey from Jorel Burrell on the final play of the game gave the Vikings the win.
"Last week's game is over and done with. We can't control what happened," said Freeport coach Bill Dillen. "We have to move on to this week."
This week brings an undefeated Northgate team (3-0, 3-0) that defeated Deer Lakes 21-0 last week. Three different running backs scored touchdowns for Northgate.
Curtis Howard, a former player at Knoch, had a 64-yard score, Steve Mayhew had a 60-yarder and Doug Sheerer had a 6-yard scoring run.
"No question, they run the ball effectively," said Dillen. "They're all pretty much the same style runner.
"Their quarterback, Mayhew, throws the ball decently. He's a threat to run," Dillen added.
The Yellowjackets received their scores against Valley on a Kevin Turner run and a 54-yard pass from Brian Zimmerman to Josh Schrecengost with six minutes remaining that at the time gave Freeport a 14-10 lead.
Reynolds (0-3) at Grove City (1-2), Friday, 7 p.m. — A missed block here. A blown assignment there.It doesn't take much to thwart an offensive play. Want proof? Just ask the Grove City High School football team.In two weeks, the Eagles have scored just six points. In that span, the defense has played staunch, but the offensive breakdowns have wasted it.The task now for Eagles' coach Jeff Bell is to iron out the wrinkles before the season becomes a lost one.That effort will begin Friday at home against Reynolds, a team that is also struggling."I think that at this point were have a pretty good defense," said Bell, who's team surrendered just a shade over 100 yards of offense to Wilmington on a sloppy Forker Field last week in a 14-6 loss. "If we can come up with some ways to score some points, we should be able to get on roll here."Getting on a roll sooner rather than later is paramount for a team that can't afford another loss. The Eagles are already in the hole at 1-2 in a difficult region, although their losses have come against the preseason favorites in Region 3 and Region 4.Since scoring on the season's second play, the Eagles have scored just three touchdowns in the last 141 offensive plays.Bell said there isn't one reason for the offensive woes."Just a bunch of little ones," the coach said. "This play someone doesn't block the right guy. The next play he does, but another guy doesn't. It turns a play into a loss that should have been a gain."We need more 11 plays. What I mean is all 11 guys doing what they are supposed to be doing. We've run a lot of seven and eight plays lately."Grove City may need all the 11 plays it can get against Reynolds.The Eagles are facing a Raiders' team that is on the mend after a 0-3 start to the season."I told the kids you have to be ready for this team," Bell said. "This isn't the same team that started the season."Reynolds played Northwestern tough in an 18-13 loss on Sept. 15.
West Shamokin (0-3) at A-C Valley (0-3, 0-3), Friday, 7 p.m. — The former Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference rivals will meet for the first time since 2003, when the Wolves won a 38-34 shootout.The Wolves now compete in the WPIAL Class AA's Allegheny Conference.West Shamokin will have the services of senior quarterback Luke Wilson, who was forced to sit out last week's 42-6 loss to Burrell after getting thrown out of his team's second game of the season versus Northgate."He makes our offense go," said second-year coach Shawn Liotta. "Last year he threw for 1,250 yards and ran for 300."Earlier this year, he ran for 142 yards against Valley."Keys on defense for the Wolves will be to contain A-C Valley quarterback Brad Rembold and tailback Mike Himes.Liotta is attempting to turn a struggling program around.Since West Shamokin's inaugural season of 2000, the Wolves have gone 10-51. Their best season was 2002, when the team managed a 3-7 record.
Mohawk (3-0, 3-0) at Summit Academy (2-1, 2-0), Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — The Knights are coming off their first defeat of the season last Saturday, an 18-14 nonconference loss to Shady Side Academy.Quarterback Steve Grandison had another solid performance, completing 12 of 22 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.Leonard Brown added a 100-yard interception return for Summit Academy.Mohawk, which sits atop the Tri-County North standings ahead of the Knights, is fresh off a 35-0 drubbing over Neshannock with three touchdowns coming from Brandon Van Tassel — two on the ground and another on a 74-yard punt return.
