Olympians ready for NS

When looking at the 2019 Times News area football schedule, there’s no denying that fans had Week 6 circled on their calendars, especially the Schuylkill League faithful.

The week serves as the opening night of the full official slate of Division 1 and Division 2 games in the Schuylkill League. For many, the highlight figures to be the highly-anticipated rematch between Jim Thorpe and North Schuylkill.

Their games in the regular season and playoffs a year ago produced two thrilling, down-to-the-wire finishes.

This time around, the undefeated Olympians (5-0, ranked fifth in the state) will take on a battle-tested Spartans (4-1, ranked seventh in the state) squad in Fountain Springs on Friday night. The matchup between the two perennial Schuylkill League title contenders is to no one’s surprise the Times News Game of the Week.

Strength up front has fueled these two programs for years, and this season is no different. The Olympians and Spartans possess strong offensive line units, and each showcase an explosive and grinding rushing attack, while also providing that same amount of strength up front on the defensive side of the ball.

On offense, Thorpe will look to continue to pile up the rushing yards, having averaged 291 per game, with vaunted senior running back CJ Selby. Selby has been efficient when he’s carried the ball this season, compiling 871 rushing yards on just 75 carries, for an impressive 11.61 yards per carry.

The Spartans will also look to pound the ball, and have a trio of players who can get the job done on any given Friday night. Power backs Zack Chowanksy and Tyler Elsdon will be counted on between the tackles, and have done a good job of wearing down defenses. Chowansky rushed for 169 yards against Mount Carmel last week, while Elsdon rushed for 109 yards against the Red Tornados. The key, however, to the Spartans offense is quarterback Jaden Leiby. It all starts with the senior, who has rushed for 696 yards and thrown for 407 yards on the season.

“They have a lot of offensive weapons, and they like to keep you off-balance, reading the defensive ends and attacking with the read-option,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. “That’s where our discipline defensively will be key. Last year, we lost two games to them because of two big plays; we must absolutely not give up the big play. We have to make them play methodically and work to move the football. Sticking to our assignments, and sound tackling, is all a part of that as well.”

Like last season, defense is going to play a major role in this one. There was just a combined 37 points scored between the two games in 2018, and the Olympians once again enter this matchup with dominating defensive statistics. Thorpe has allowed just one touchdown all season – which came in the first quarter of its first game of the year – and is giving up just 45.6 total yards per game.

North Schuylkill — which has faced a much more formidable schedule in the first half of the season — is giving up just 16.2 points per game. The North Schuylkill defense is spearheaded by two all-state players and Division 1 football commits in defensive tackle Jake Green (Towson) and linebacker Elsdon (Penn State), and have faced five teams with a combined record of 14-11, including high-powered teams such as Wyomissing and Mount Carmel.

The Olympians five opponents have a combined record of 3-22.

“I know our kids are looking forward to the big challenge we have in front of us. Every day at practice, they’re excited, fired up, just looking forward to the game,” said Rosenberger. “We know that this is probably going to be the most physical team we play all season long, so we need to match that physicality every play and every second of the game. Smart, fundamental and disciplined football is what we’ll be looking to play against a very good opponent on Friday.”