MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hollidaysburg's Carter Muth (42) runs the ball against Williamsport in the first quarter.

Hollidaysburg and its opponent Friday night in Danville in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs are both happy to still be playing after scares a week ago.

The Golden Tigers had to rally for a 25-24 win in the District 6-8-9-10 subregional championship against DuBois — a team they had beaten 49-0 just two weeks earlier — and Delaware Valley battled back from a big deficit to beat Abington Heights, the defending champion, in a District 2 title game.

“When you have a group of kids that come back from a 17-point deficit in a football game to win it, they are going to be pretty pumped up,” Delaware Valley coach Keith Olsommer said. “You throw the magnitude of a district championship into that, and for us, Abington Heights is a pretty big rivalry game. It was pretty exciting.”

A year ago, Heights was the District 2 champion and lost to Hollidaysburg, thanks to a blocked extra point in this round.

Delaware Valley has plenty of state playoff experience against teams from District 6 when it was at the Class 6A level, losing four times to State College since 2017 and beating Altoona in 2020.

“Our kids have been able to persevere,” Olsommer said. “We started off slow at 0-4, but our kids never quit on the season or on one another and continued to play. Now we’re a 7-5 team playing in the first round of states. Perseverance is the best word to describe this team.”

Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre was quick to point out the difficulty of Delaware Valley’s schedule during that opening stretch.

“They definitely have improved as they went throughout the year,” DeLattre said. “Those teams they lost to at the beginning of the year were McKeesport, Central York — who is the No. 1 seed in 6A in District 3 — Scranton Prep, who is a perennial power, and Jersey Shore. They came into the season with high expectations and ran into some roadblocks early by playing some really good football teams. Nine of their 12 games were against playoff teams, including two one-loss teams and an undefeated team. They stayed the course and showed championship mentality as they progressed through the year.”

The common opponent between the teams is Jersey Shore, which Delaware Valley lost to 49-42 and Hollidaysburg defeated 52-7, but if last week proved anything — the playoffs can be unpredictable.

“It does help a lot (playing down to the wire), being able to face adversity and having to come back from it,” DeLattre said. “We made mistakes, but we focused on the next play. It’s something we talk about often. Whether it’s practice or games, eventually you are going to run into roadblocks, and you have to find ways to navigate them.”

Delaware Valley’s running back, senior Michael Iuzzolino — not the former Saint Francis star’s son who played Division I basketball at Bryant before finishing his career at Saint Vincent — has rushed for 1,378 yards and averages 6.8 yards per carry.

“Offensively, we have to mix the pass and the run,” DeLattre said. “We have to keep them off balance. Offensively, they are very balanced. They have rushed for 2,600 yards and have thrown for 1,800 yards. Defensively, we have to be disciplined and read our keys while doing the little things right. … As we always tell the guys, every football game moving forward is going to come down to a handful of plays. We have to stay focused on every play and make sure we’re winning those plays.”

Olsommer, who started at tight end for Penn State and was first-team all Big Ten in 1996 before taking a teaching job at Delaware Valley in 1997, has had his teams in this position before.

“When you start to get to this level of play,” Olsommer said. “The teams that come out with the quick start are the teams that a lot of times are more successful. We can’t turn the ball over, can’t make penalties — all the cliches — but I think quick starts are imperative at this point.”

Hollidaysburg has gone down to the wire with Allderdice (in Week 2), Fort Hill and DuBois this season while starting 12-0, and DeLattre expects Friday to be the same.

“They are a big team,” DeLattre said. “They are very well coached and very fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball and have a great kicking game. It’s definitely one of — if not the best — opponents we have played this year.”

Olsommer also has plenty of respect for his opponent.

“They are very efficient offensively,” Olsommer said. “They are big up front on both sides of the ball and have an exceptional quarterback. They are really well coached. There’s a reason why they are undefeated, and those reasons jump off the tape at you right away.”