GAME OF THE WEEK: Williams Valley, Tri-Valley set for Week 10 rivalry rumble

The Republican Herald’s game of the week for Week 10 of the high school football season will take place in Tower City on Friday night at 7 p.m.

The Tri-Valley Bulldogs (6-3, 4-2) will travel to rival Tower City to take on the Vikings (8-1, 5-0), in what is one of the chippier and more intense rivalries within the Schuylkill League.

With both teams locked into their District 11 Class A playoff spots, this Friday’s matchup will count merely for bragging rights. No matter the result, both Williams Valley and Tri-Valley are locked into the top two spots of the District 11 power rankings, and will be the only teams that finish above .500 this regular season in Class A.

How they got here

Williams Valley enters Week 10 as winners of seven straight games since a Sept. 5 loss to District 4 and defending Class AA state champion, Southern Columbia. In that seven-game winning streak, the Vikings’ offense has been phenomenal, averaging 32.1 points per game while the defense is allowing just 15.4 points per game.

After leaning on their defense through the early parts of the season, the Vikings’ offense has been leading the way over the last three weeks, totaling 120 points in the process with scoring outputs of 36 against Minersville, 42 against Marian Catholic, and 42 against Shenandoah Valley. The defense has notably struggled a bit over these last three weeks, allowing 27.3 points per game, a big difference from the 8.6 points per game they allowed over their first six contests.

On the other sideline will be a Tri-Valley team that has performed well on the road this season with wins at Halifax, Shenandoah Valley, and Minersville, the lone defeat away from Hegins coming at the hands of Schuylkill Haven two weeks ago, 39-24. The Bulldogs’ offense is the story in their wins; across their six wins, they’ve averaged 36.3 points per game this season, including posting 40 or more points in three of those wins. When they lose? They’re averaging just 15.0 points per game.

The defense has also been strong throughout the season, allowing 16 points or fewer in five of six wins. They’re 5-0 this season when keeping opponents to under 20 points and 1-3 when opponents go over the mark.

One trend Tri-Valley will aim to break Friday night is a four-week stretch of alternating results, having traded wins and losses across each of its last four games.

Players to watch

This is going to be an exciting battle of rushing attacks on Friday night.

For Williams Valley, Fletcher Thompson leads the way as one of the state’s most prolific ballcarriers. With a strong regular-season finale and strong district playoff performance, 2,000 rushing yards is within reach for Thompson. He enters this weekend with 202 carries for 1,668 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also has seven receptions for 81 yards. When you tack on 150 kickoff return yards, Thompson is just 101 all-purpose yards short of 2,000 as well.

The Vikings’ offense has plenty of other playmakers, however, including sophomore Cole Hubler with 28 carries for 294 yards and three touchdowns this season. Senior Trevon Bair will also get his fair share of carries, with 58 for 292 yards and six scores this season.

Quarterback Cayden Witmer will attempt around 10 to 12 passes per game and has had decent success this season with 668 passing yards and five touchdowns. His top receiving threat this season is junior Mason Bowser with eight receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns. Colin Crisswell has also been active in the passing game with seven receptions for 152 yards, while the running back trio of Thompson, Hubler, and Bair can all be productive coming out of the backfield as well.

Defensively, Bair and Hubler lead the way with 94 tackles and 73 tackles this season. Bair also leads the Vikings in tackles for loss with 19, while Magnus Monger, Fletcher Thompson, Koen Zilinski, Gavin Trawitz, Mason Bowser, and Chevy Green all have made significant contributions as well.

For Tri-Valley, the Bulldogs’ rushing attack when at its best has been led by junior Parker Hatter. However, Hatter has played just twice since the start of the month. When healthy, Hatter has been very productive with 118 carries for 857 yards and 12 touchdowns.

If the junior is unable to go for the Bulldogs, they’ll give the keys to the rushing attack to sophomore Landon Horoschak, who has 61 carries for 365 yards and a pair of scores this season. Quarterback Trey Porter will utilize his legs as well, with 58 carries for 291 yards and five touchdowns, while fullback Donovan Keeth has 34 carries for 199 yards and a half-dozen scores.

Horoschak notably had 13 carries for 100 yards earlier this season against Minersville when Hatter was only able to play a quarter of the game before an injury forced him out. He also had 14 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown last Friday against Nativity BVM.

The Bulldogs, like the Vikings, won’t sling the ball around too much through the air. Porter is averaging just about 10 attempts per game this season, totaling 830 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. His top playmakers in the passing attack are senior Doyle Flory with 15 receptions for 239 yards and three touchdowns, senior Lucas Schwartz with 11 receptions for 217 yards and two scores, as well as Hatter with seven receptions for 180 yards and a touchdown coming out of the backfield. Junior Carter Troutman is the fourth and final Bulldog with over 100 receiving yards, totaling 113 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.

Defensively, a pair of underclassmen have led the Bulldogs, as Robert Schwartz has 109 tackles this season and Landon Horoschak is right behind him with 93 tackles. Ty Troutman, Cayne Schadel, and Brody Lesher all have 50 tackles this season as well. Other players who have consistently found themselves around the ball defensively include Doyle Flory, Parker Hatter, Lucas Schwartz, Carter Troutman, and Trey Porter.

One more thing

Since a 2021 District 11 championship game win against Tri-Valley, the Vikings have dominated the rivalry against the Bulldogs, winning each of the last five contests. In those five games, the Vikings have outscored the Bulldogs 154-55, averaging 30.8 points per game while allowing just 11.0 points per contest. Last year’s 14-7 win for Williams Valley was the lowest-scoring game in the rivalry matchup since Tri-Valley’s last win over the Vikings, a 14-0 final on Oct. 29, 2021, in the regular-season finale.