JACKSON TWP — So far, so good.

For the second straight year, the Seneca Valley football team has opened the season with two impressive victories.

The Raiders have outscored their first two opponents — Norwin and Fox Chapel — by a combined score of 89-7. It's the most points scored by an SV team in the first two games of a season in the 48-year history of the school.

But SV has yet to play a game that will affect whether or not the team makes the WPIAL Quad A playoffs in 2011.

That will change Friday when the Raiders travel north on I-79 to meet Northern Seven foe McDowell (2-0). Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

McDowell defeated Cathedral Prep (25-20) and Baldwin (28-0) in the first two weeks of play.

Any discussion about the Trojans must begin with all-state senior running back Greg Garmon, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a junior. He added a yards-per-carry average of 8.7 in 2010.

In limited action so far this season, Garmon (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) has totaled 127 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown.

Schools that have already made Garmon offers include Penn State, Ohio State and North Carolina.

SV coach Don Holl is well aware of Garmon's abilities. In the last two years, the latter has rushed for 326 yards and five touchdowns on just 13 carries against the Raiders' defense.

“He's got that rare combination, a kid who is fast, but also big and tough,” Holl said. “He's tough to defend. We've got our work cut out for us.”

Making Garmon even more difficult to defend is the flexbone offense the Trojans employ and its principle play, the triple option.

The scheme relies heavily on the ground game.

“Playing against this offense, you have to be able to attack all three phases (quarterback, fullback, halfback),” said Holl. “You can't have everybody running toward the pitch because that guy may not be getting the ball.

“And when you're running this type of offense with great athletes like McDowell has, it makes it even tougher to defend.”

The Trojans did have to replace two key components of their offense with the graduation of quarterback Collin Kimball and fullback Jeremy Baronner.

The team is now using a rotation at signal caller between senior Anthony Lecce and junior Jarrett Koper. Not surprisingly, the two have combined for just 11 pass attempts in two games, but have also put up 116 rushing yards and two touchdowns between them.

Several players have filled Baronner's role, led by junior Khyre Drayer, who has 171 yards rushing and three touchdowns so far in 2011.

Though their upcoming opponent may be formidable, the Raiders have themselves attracted attention in the early going.

In last week's 42-7 drubbing of Fox Chapel, SV's Jonathan Dorogy was all over the field.

The junior running back/safety caught a touchdown pass, returned a kickoff 97 yards for another score, blocked a field goal and made a number of tackles on defense.

“What hasn't he done,” Holl asked with a laugh. “He's an explosive athlete.”

Through two games, seven different players have scored at least one touchdown for the Raiders — Forrest Barnes (3), Dorogy (3), Ryan Conn (2), Jordan Brown (2), David Hall, Mike Jones and Joe Duggan.

McDowell coach Mark Soboleski could not be reached for comment.