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Hollidaysburg will attempt to improve to 9-1 for the first time since the 1999 season when it travels to DuBois on Friday to wrap up the high school football regular season.
"You certainly always want to be playing your best football going into the playoffs," Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "It's always good to get a good, solid road win. Being 9-1 is a high goal of ours that we are focused on. We're looking to finish strong and get a home playoff game and be playing our best come postseason."
DuBois is 7-2 but has not played a lot of bigger schools this season. However, the Beavers have a big-time talent at quarterback.
"Trey Wingard is probably one of the best quarterbacks in this area, for sure," DeLattre said. "He's got 2,400 yards, and he's very good at reading coverages and processing pre- and post-snap. He's accurate with his throws and has completed 68 percent of his throws. He's definitely one of the top quarterbacks in 5A in the state. We have to be prepared for that."
Wingard is 164-for-240 for 2,475 yards and has thrown for 31 touchdowns and just five interceptions for DuBois. Danny Dixon leads the Beavers with 625 rushing yards.
"They don't run the ball much, but they are averaging over 7 yards per carry for the year," DeLattre said. "They are averaging 15 yards a completion. We're facing an offense that averages over 400 games and 40 points. We'll have to really buckle down on defense and keep them in front of us."
DuBois will be one of the teams in Hollidaysburg's subregional with District 6, 8, 9 and 10, which will begin next weekend.
"There will probably be four teams, and we'll be seeded one through four," DeLattre said. "Right now, we're the No. 1 seed. Cathedral Prep is the No. 2 seed, DuBois is the No. 3 seed and Allderdice is the No. 4 seed. The top two teams will have a first-round home game. The subregional final will be at a neutral site."
Playoff seeding on line
Central has been in the No. 2 position in the District 6 Class 3A rankings for most of the season, but the winner of the Scarlet Dragons' game at Forest Hills on Friday will claim that spot going into the postseason.
"Our goal was to make the playoffs and have a .500 season," Central coach Jerry Albright said. "If we win this game and get a home playoff game, it would be great. We were questioning ourselves, especially early on, about how good we can be. But we have played well enough to be in a position to earn a home playoff game. Who knows what happens in the playoffs? If the bounces go our way, we could end up back in the championship game."
If Tyrone beats Chestnut Ridge, the loser of this game will end up traveling to Cresson to take on top-seeded Penn Cambria in the semifinals.
If the Scarlet Dragons win, it will have a lot to do with an offensive line that Albright has seen improve since the start of the season.
"They have definitely developed," Albright said. "We had a couple games where they struggled, but overall, they have been doing much better. We're undersized. Our guards are probably both 175 pounds, max, and they are sometimes facing guys who are 300 pounds. Our tackles are both inexperienced juniors with no previous playing time, and they have really developed the past couple games and played better. That's probably the biggest area of improvement we have had this year is our offensive line."
Forest Hills is led by Nate Cornell, who has completed 114 of his 207 passes for 1,473 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
"He loves to throw the ball deep," Albright said. "He's a pretty accurate passer all around when he has time. That's probably going to be our strategy going in, trying to get as much pressure on him as we can. If we can force them to try and run the ball whether it's through pressure or coverage, it's to our advantage. Our defense has been stepping up for us all year."
On to Carlisle
Altoona is attempting to refocus after coming up short on its goal to win its last three games after a 31-20 setback to Cedar Cliff at Mansion Park last week.
The Mountain Lions will now try and close the regular season with a win against winless Carlisle on the road Friday.
"We're obviously pulling for our seniors to go out on a high note at the end of the year," Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr. said. "But we see them on film, and they have some kids that can run around. They haven't had a win all year, but we're going to prepare the same way we do every week. We'll go down there with a good game plan ready to go."
Nedimyer said Friday's game is critical for a senior class that he said has been extremely dedicated to the program despite Altoona's 1-8 record.
"Our kids have definitely continued to come back," Nedimyer said. "We've definitely had some adversity to overcome. Our seniors, especially, have continued to come back every week and have continued to be leaders for us. That's the goal this Friday is to send them out with a victory in their last game."