ON TAP TODAY: FOOTBALL FRIDAY — SAYRE, ATHENS RETURN TO ACTION (2020-09-25)
Valley Sports ReportTHE VALLEY "” Week 3 of the high school football season kicks off tonight with Sayre at home, and Athens on the road at Wyalusing.
It's the first action for both teams since they squared off in Week 1. Sayre had a scheduled bye week in Week 2, while Athens found out its game against Canton was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns when it got off the bus.
Athens (1-0) at Wyalusing (2-0), 7 p.m. @ Ray Raffin Field: The Wildcats have been off since a Week 1 win over Sayre, while the Rams improved to 2-0 with a 46-21 win over Cowanesque Valley (0-2).
Wyalusing beat Towanda (0-2), 25-0 in Week 1.
"(Wyalusing) has played two games in which their opponents kind of fell apart at times, so they've been given a lot of turnovers," said Athens coach Jack Young. "They've proven they can capitalize on turnovers.
"We're definitely going to have our hands full," he added.
WHEN WYALUSING HAS THE BALLThe Rams piled up 500-plus yards in total offense in its win over CV. Quarterback Mitchell Burke has thrown for 205 yards, and run for 179 more in the first two games.
Speedy Kashawn Cameron has seven receptions for 100 yards, and Isaiah Way has seven grabs for 82 yards. Alex Mosier has run for 154 yards and three TDs.
"Wyalusing has a bunch of athletes around a good quarterback, and they have good size up front," said Young.
"They're trying to spread the field, and use their athletes," he noted. "Normally, they don't have a tight end on the field, and have four guys wide on nearly every down.
"They're still going to run the ball. Their back (Mosier) is a bit of a bruiser, they like to pound him inside a little bit," continued Young. "Then, they'll try to get the ball into (Kashawn) Cameron's hands in a few different ways, and they do a pretty good job of it.
"Their QB (Mitchell Burke) will take off and run on you, and he'll throw the ball down the field," he said. "We have to contain the quarterback, and do a good job of tackling.
"They have a game plan, and their executing it pretty well in everything they're trying to do," Young added.
Young said his defense will be challenged.
"We're going to have to manage the field, and continue to do a good job of covering the field defensively," he said.
"We've done a really good job of tackling, and we have to keep that up this week," added Young. "When you go a week without playing, sometimes that goes down hill."
WHEN ATHENS HAS THE BALLWyalusing's first-team defense has allowed just one TD on the season.
"They're a little multiple, basically a 4-4 team," said Young. "They'll play a lot of man-to-man defense, and they're pretty aggressive in the middle. They're not quite "˜in your face,' like Canton would have been, but they will pressure us.
"We have to handle the pressure, and we'll have to establish a run game," noted Young. "We did not run-block well against Sayre, so one of our goals is to run the ball better, and we need to.
"When we do run the ball a little bit better, it's going to make our passing game and the athletes we have even more dangerous," added Young.
Cowanesque Valley at Sayre (0-1), 7 p.m. @ Lockhart Street Bowl: The Redskins have been off since a Week 1 loss at Athens, while the Indians dropped a 46-21 decision at Wyalusing in Week 2.
Gorman said the bye week had its positives and negatives.
"I think it's good and bad," he said.
"I think the kids are sick of practicing, and are ready to play a game," Gorman noted. "Even the coaching staff is getting a little bored of doing the same thing every day.
"It's great in the sense that we've been able to let our kids who were banged get healthy, especially after a game like we had two Fridays ago at Athens," added Gorman. "It also allowed us to review what we've been doing, and add a few new things."
WHEN CV HAS THE BALLThe Indians have an athletic QB in Tucker St. Peter and an experienced running back in Elliott Good.
"They run a spread," said Gorman. "We'll see everything from the option to throwing the ball all over the field - they do a little bit of everything. We'e preparing the guys to see a lot of different things.
"It's not too far off of what we do, so we've gotten some decent looks with us running our own stuff against our defense this week; that's been a good thing," added Gorman.
Gorman believes, like it does in most games, line play will decide the outcome.
"Every game starts up front, if you can control the line-of-scrimmage, I think you control the football game, but we need to contain their quarterback and running back," he said.
"They are their two best athletes. They're very quick," noted Gorman. "The QB does some nice things when he gets outside the pocket.
"The trenches is where we'e going to win this game," added Gorman. "If our offensive and defensive lines continues doing what they've been doing, I think we'll be OK."
WHEN SAYRE HAS THE BALLThe Indians have allowed an average of 47 points per game, and nearly 450 yards per game.
"The past two weeks, they've run a three-down front, but they do like to blitz a lot. They'll play some man, and some cover-3," said Gorman. "We expect to see pressure.
"They'll send five or six every play, so our offensive line will need to be in synch and handle the pressure when we're passing," added Gorman. "And, our backs will need to see the holes, even if they're sending five or six guys."
GIRLS SOCCER
Wyalusing (3-1) at Athens (3-0-1), 5 p.m. @ Alumni Stadium: The Lady Wildcats are coming off a 10-4 win over Northeast Bradford Thursday, while the Lady Rams blanked North Penn-Mansfield, 7-0, Wednesday.
The lone blemish on Athens is a 1-1 tie at Wellsboro, while Wyalusing's lone loss was a 6-1 setback against the Lady Hornets.
