‘Coal Bowl’ means a lot to Cambria Heights, Northern Cambria
High school football
Shutty
Lewis
Shutty
Lewis
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Cambria Heights and Northern Cambria will meet for the 52nd time overall and 50th time in the regular season Friday night in the once-again-annual "Coal Bowl" in Patton at 7 p.m.
"If you are playing Northern Cambria, I don't care if it's the first game or the last game, you can throw out the records. These kids are going to be excited to play," Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. "It's a true rivalry and a rivalry that these kids compete against each other from when they first start playing sports all the way up to high school in multiple sports. It's a rivalry I think is built on respect, because the last few times we have played, they have been great football games that have been decided by a score. It's a game that you know your kids are going to be excited to play on both sides."
The series began in 1960, and Cambria Heights leads it 26-24-1. The teams have split a pair of District 6 playoff meetings.
"It's one of those games you circle on your calendar," Northern Cambria coach Sam Shutty said. "Last year, the juniors were talking about this game already saying 'next year,' and it's one of those games that make or break your season so to speak. It's the one that everyone talks about. It's such a rivalry, and there's such a history with the communities being so close. It's the one you want to win. You can already feel the pressure and the anxiety and all the tension that comes from the game. Coming out of church (Sunday), everyone was asking me what our chances were. If I am hearing about it, I know the kids are. It's a special time."
Cambria Heights enters this week coming off its first loss in the Heritage Conference after winning the previous 13 including going undefeated in conference play last season.
"I want to see how we bounce back," Lewis said. "I want to see how resilient we are. It was a game we played well for three quarters, but they need to learn that it takes four quarters to beat good teams, and the fourth quarter Marion Center outplayed us and had more of a sense of urgency."
Northern Cambria is coming off perhaps its best performance of the year, a 41-0 shellacking of Conemaugh Valley.
"We played four quarters of football," Shutty said. "Everyone contributed and got an opportunity to show what they can do. We spread the ball around and defensively, we played like we usually do. It was a good showing for us, and I think that was a game we needed to get our confidence back for this game."
The Colts have replaced several starters over the last few seasons but continue to find success on the field despite a pair of close losses this season to Homer-Center and United Valley.
"They have athletes everywhere," Lewis said. "Malik Fox, Danny Farrell, Zak Kirsch, Reese Wagner, Levi Czar, Gage Shonsky -- they have a number of players who are athletic. You can see a team that is improving. They lost a lot of good players last year, but they had players who logged significant minutes much like we did. You have to be wary of their athletes, keep them in check and limit the big plays."
Heights sophomore Nolan Clawson already has rushed for 588 yards and Clawson and Kaiden Ivory have combined to pass for 554 yards -- a more balanced Highlanders attack than in past seasons.
"They are who they are," Shutty said. "They have a solid run game, and I think their quarterback is definitely capable this year. But at the end of the day, they are a physical team that loves to bring the blitz and swarms to the ball. Offensively, they can ground and pound but can now also go to the air, which makes them more difficult to defend. We're going to have to play our best game to keep it close and give us an opportunity to win."
Though Cambria Heights enters the game at 3-1 and Northern Cambria at 2-2, a loss to the Colts would put the Highlanders behind the Colts in the race for another Heritage Conference title, currently led by 4-0 Marion Center.
"You want to see how your team responds to adversity," Lewis said. "Any season, you are going to face adversity, and how this team responds to that adversity is going to tell the tale of what this team is made of."
SUBHED: 4-0 vs. 4-0
Hollidaysburg made a long trip to Mifflinburg last season and quickly got hit in the mouth before snapping out of it and bouncing back to win.
This season, the Wildcats have the Golden Tigers full attention as they travel to Tiger Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
"They threw for a lot of yards against us," Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "They scored a good amount of points, and they return 20 starters from last year's team. They won their last four after they played us last year before they lost their Week 10 game and a playoff game and now have won four straight, so eight of 10 overall. I think they have really turned a corner as a program."
Leading that turn has been Mifflinburg's all-time leading passer, Chad Martin, who has thrown for 925 yards and 12 touchdowns already this season.
"They are averaging over 500 yards and 43 points a game," DeLattre said. "They are definitely the best opponent we have seen so far, and it's going to be a great challenge. It's a difficult challenge for us, and we're going to have to have our 'A' game to win this one."
Hollidaysburg beat previously unbeaten Butler last week without starting running back Carter Muth. Vincent Consiglio and Tim Snyder filled in for the Golden Tigers and helped them win, 33-6.
"Carter will be playing on Friday," DeLattre said. "But those guys did an awesome job. Both Vince and Timmy were excellent and showed they are very capable of being great running backs. When one guy goes down, we hope our depth is quality enough to keep us rolling, and they were both certainly impressive."
Stats sometimes lie
Altoona's 38-21 loss to Central Dauphin didn't look good on the scoreboard, but the Mountain Lions found several positives beyond the final score.
"Defensively, our kids played as good as they have for all the way through into the middle of the third quarter," Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr. said. "The turnovers offensively put the defense back on the field sooner than they would have been back out there. There were some positives. If you look at the stat line and the yardage, number of first downs and all of that, it looks like we played really well. Then you see the turnovers, and if we could eliminate that, I think the outcome could have been a little different."
Altoona returns to the road Friday against Central Dauphin East at 7 p.m.
"They always have skill and kids that can run around," Nedimyer said. "They normally have pretty decent kids up front with good size, but we're a little more dynamic than we have been in past years. After the first couple series, we'll see how they are lining up and see how we can try and expose them a little bit and go attack them and get lined up defensively and in a position where we'll be OK."
One major bright spot of that defense for the Mountain Lions has been Logan Wuckovich, who has 58 tackles, including nine for loss, an interception and two sacks already this year.
"He's been that guy for us for two years now," Nedimyer said. "He and MJ (Harrington) last year, and now he's picked up where he left off last year. Week in and week out he's all over the field. He's in double digit tackles pretty much every week and has tackles for loss. We're fortunate to have him. He's a leave-it-on-the-field kid who plays hard every single play, and he's definitely a leader by example."