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A year ago, Bedford did not have many highlights on the high school football gridiron but one was a 14-13 win over Central Cambria.
Those teams meet again at Bedford tonight at 7 p.m. and both squads have their eyes set on much better campaigns in 2026.
"Games like this are big, because we know the type of team we want to be," Central Cambria coach Wade Klezek said. "Going against another team that wants those things and that is trying to climb the ladder -- you can make a statement if you go out and compete the way you want to. We think we can be a really good team. We have a ton of senior leadership and a group that is hungry with high expectations. We want to be playing big games competitively. This is what the kids want."
Central Cambria is 1-1 after giving Richland a bit of a scare in the first week and beating Penns Valley.
"We're definitely thrilled with the type of team that we are," Klezek said. "But we're still hungry to keep moving forward and accomplish more. We started off really well against Richland and executed the plan well. The kids put themselves in a position to win the game. We just needed to make a couple more plays in crucial moments that led to it slipping away. We wanted to come back and make sure we were finishing drives (against Penns Valley)."
Bedford is also 1-1 with a win over Bishop McCort and a 7-2 loss to Clearfield. The Bisons have allowed just 13 points in two games this season.
"Our defense is off to a good start," Bedford coach Kevin Steele said. "They did a really good job against a good quarterback on McCort (Bentley Bainey). We played well on defense against Clearfield. We gave up one big play unfortunately but had some turnovers and sacks. Our defense is playing much better than our offense right now. We need to find a way to be more consistent on offense to take some pressure off the defense."
Bedford's defense will have to be better against Ryan Chappell than it was last season when it allowed him to run for 246 yards on 29 carries.
"They have several threats running the ball," Steele said. "We had a hard time containing (Ryan) Chappell last year. He's a tough runner with good vision and good speed. We'll have our hands full controlling their running game. Their offensive and defensive lines are very much improved. They present some challenges, but we'll work hard and hopefully play better Friday than we did last Friday."
Despite its strong defense, Bedford has just 192 combined yards passing and rushing through three games, but Klezek is still wary of his opponent.
"Coach Steele always does a great job, and they are always a tough team," Klezek said. "They are always well coached and don't make a ton of mistakes. You have to be on point with presnap penalties and turnovers that can kill drives or give the other team momentum. They are always a tough, physical team that plays hard. They have been in a lot of close games. They know how to play in those games and can grind them out at the end to get wins."