COAL TOWNSHIP - There are still some kinks to work out. ... Too many costly penalties and a little more diversity on offense come to mind.
But, heading into a matchup with Central Mountain, Shamokin Area is in a pretty good place.
The Indians, for the first time in a long time, opened their season with a victory. A Tucker Yost 57-yard touchdown run and a defense that allowed, well, practically nothing, added up to a 7-0 victory in a first-ever meeting with neighboring Line Mountain.
"That was big, really big, for the entire program," first-year coach Pat DiRienzo said earlier this week. "For the confidence of the kids it was really big. Their overall demeanor; now, they go out there expecting to win."
The defense allowed the Eagles only 60 yards on the ground, 94 through the air and six first downs. That kind of effort will be needed again against a Wildcats team that opened the season last week with a 34-33 road victory over rival Williamsport.
"We do a lot of pursuit drills," DiRienzo said in explaning his team's defensive success against Line Mountain. "We just run to the ball. We have kids that really want to make plays."
Central Mountain is a team of ground pounders. In the victory over the Millionaires, they rushed for 280 yards on 66 carries, scoring three times. The main threat is Hunter Weaver, a 6-foot-1, 200 pounder who combines size and speed in a dangerous package. Against Williamsport, he rushed for 169 yards and a score on 35 carries. He had a long run of 33 yards.
Central Mountain only went to the air six times in that contest, completing four, but those four connections accounted for 134 yards and a touchdown.
"We've watched them (on film) a bit," DiRienzo said. "They're basically a run team, Wing-T. They have a big back who is quick.
"They don't throw much. They pick their spots, but when they do pass, they usually go deep."
DiRienzo said the Indians, in addition to installing a game plan for Friday night, spent this week ironing out some of the issues that plagued them in the opener.
"We were disappointed in the number of penalties," DiRienzo said. "We had a lot of alignment problems on offense, two personal fouls, a hold. ... And they always seemed to happen on big plays.
"Without some of that, I think we would have been able to score more points. We're going to address all that this week."