Pottsville hosts Wilson Area on Senior Night

Fog envelopes the field during the second half of last Friday's Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division clash between Northwestern Lehigh and Pottsville. The Tigers beat the Tide 35-0. Pottsville hosts Wilson Area tonight. (Photo by Leroy Boyer)

Pottsville did what everybody in the Schuylkill/Colonial Cooperative has done when facing Northwestern Lehigh this season — take a lopsided loss.

The questions now: What do the Crimson Tide take from that 35-0 defeat and how do they respond tonight when Wilson Area visits Veterans Memorial Stadium for a Red-White Division crossover contest on Senior Night.

(The game will air live on WPPA 1360 AM and A-106/105.9 FM, beginning with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m.)

Pottsville (3-4, 3-3 Red) has been in this situation seemingly all season. Each time the Tide took a loss this fall, they’ve rebounded with a win the next week to get back to the .500 mark. That’s what they’ll try to do tonight before turning their attention to games at Blue Mountain in Week 9 and at North Schuylkill in Week 10. Pottsville will make the eight-team District 11 Class 4A playoff field and has an outside chance at the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game.

“We’ve been resilient,’’ Pottsville coach Mike Brennan said. “They understand the big prize, what we’re working toward. We’re heading into the stretch run. We have Senior Night here at home, an opportunity to bounce back, get ourselves the only place we can put ourselves at this point, and then get ready to become a better football team here as we move forward. … They’ve responded and continue to work hard in all aspects of what we’re trying to accomplish. We’ve got to get ourselves healthy and take the next step.’’

Wilson Area (0-7, 0-6 White) has struggled mightily all season. The Warriors have scored just 56 points all season and have been shut out three times.

Last week, Northern Lehigh cruised to a 42-7 win over Wilson.

Leading the Warriors’ offense is quarterback Jeramy Cressman. A senior, Cressman has completed 25-of-65 passes for 326 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. As a runner, Cressman has 165 yards on 161 carries.

Wilson’s other top rushers are sophomore J’son Johnson (49-198, 2 TDs) and senior Markhi Fields (36-120, 1 TD).

Junior Nickenson Louis Jeune (8-70) is the team’s leading receiver.

While Wilson’s offense isn’t doing much damage, the defense has given up 40.1 points per game.

“The biggest challenge is the time of the year we’re all in now,’’ Brennan said. “Fatigue sets in; we’ve been at this for 10 weeks in pads. Everybody’s banged up. Everybody’s in the academic grind. You’re at that time of the year when it gets colder and kids get sick. You’re fighting all those little battles — you always do in Week 7, Week 8, Week 9 — and then you get your second wind.

“So we’re fighting to get through, find a way to win a game this week and get our second wind,’’ Brennan added. “I think everybody’s going through that right now. When you have a young team, in particular, all those things become more magnified.’’

Pottsville counters on offense with sophomore quarterback Andrew Allen behind center. Allen has completed 77-of-134 passes this season for 1,224 yards with 10 TDs and five interceptions.

His targets are many and varied, including seniors Tsirell Curry (28-265, 4 TDs) and Letrel Montone (18-269, 4 TDs), junior Christian Alvarez (12-206) and sophomore Max Clews (9-66, 1 TD).

Pottsville will have a change at running back tonight as junior JuJu Bainbridge (98-667, 9 TDs) has been ruled out with an injury. Brennan said the Tide hope to have him back at some point this season.

Senior Evan Galavage (23-169) is the next man up in the Pottsville backfield.

Senior Brayden Evans (70 tackles, 3 sacks), Shay Strencosky (4 interceptions) and Curry (3 interceptions) lead the Pottsville defense (19.6 points allowed per game).

This will be Brennan’s first Senior Night at Pottsville and perhaps the final time the Tide play under the lights this season at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Events like Senior Night, games against your rivals, all that kind of stuff helps to create energy late in the season, and we have all of that ahead of us,’’ Brennan said. “So we sort of built toward this. I definitely see our kids excited about coming home this week again.

“There’s been an energy in our stadium every Friday night,’’ Brennan added. “They’re excited to be playing at home in front of their family and friends. It’s the last time we’re guaranteed to be playing here this year. …It’s an opportunity for them to create a positive experience here again, thank everyone for coming out and supporting us like they did for us at home and continue to get our team better for what lies ahead in the weeks to come.’’