If North Schuylkill's offense was supposed to have any hiccups this year, no one told the Spartans. And the defense is stout as usual.
In what's become an embarrassingly large margin, the Spartans took care of Shenandoah Valley last Friday to increase the Blue Devils' scoreless streak against the Spartans to three years. You'd have to go back to 2008 to see the last points scored.
Minersville, the Spartans' opponent this week, has had slightly more recent success against them, scoring 21 points in that same span, but that means little because in the last two meetings against the Battlin' Miners, North Schuylkill is averaging 39 points a contest.
But many in the area thought this would be the year of change for the Spartans, when their Anthracite Football League dominance would falter.
Think again.
With their 35-point output against the Blue Devils, the Spartans showed that they had no trouble reloading for another undefeated run in the AFL.
"We can get better yet," North Schuylkill head coach Rick Geist said. "We did good things, but we still have to fix others."
The Miners come into the game, unlike the past several years with a win under their belt already thanks to last week's 27-18 win over Williams Valley.
Billy Powanda, a 5-foot, 10-inch, 185-pound running back, did much of the heavy lifting on offense with 132 yards on 11 carries, a 12-yard-per-carry average, against Williams Valley, but quarterback Cole Weachock is the master of the offense.
Weachock rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries and threw for another 59 yards to lead the Miners back from a 12-0 deficit.
"Minersville runs the same type of offense that we saw last week," Geist said. "They spread you out and put the quarterback in the shotgun. Although Weachock looks to run it a little more."
The Spartans' rushing defense was stellar and held the Blue Devils to just 126 yards on 28 carries, but that defense will be tested tonight by Powanda and Weachock, as well as Chris Murphy, who caught a 36-yard touchdown pass.
What impressed and concerned Geist most was not just the backs, but the offensive line, which returned three starters from last year and averages 6-foot, 1-inch and 256 pounds among the four seniors and a junior.
"The line is gigantic," Geist said. "They're all really good from the center out to the tackles."
Geist feels a little better about his defense going into this game than last week after he was pleasantly surprised by the play of the defensive backs.
The group held its own against the Blue Devils' Chris Palubinsky, who Geist said gets the ball out as quickly as anyone he's seen.
As anyone might expect of a Geist-coached team, the Spartans' running game was the star of last Friday night with 283 yards ground out, but the veteran coach insists he wants to unleash second-year quarterback and Bucknell recruit Ryan Henning, who went 5-for-8 last week.
"I really want to throw the ball more," Geist said, "but we get into a rhythm. Minersville plays all its defenders within five yards of the line of scrimmage."