TIM WEIGHT/For the Express The Central Mountain football team huddles up during a game against Shamokin on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, at Malinak Stadium.

Though the road technically gets easier following its Week 5 matchup against District 4 powerhouse Shamokin (5-0), that doesn’t mean Central Mountain (0-5) shakes its underdog status heading into Friday’s Heartland-I bout against Shikellamy (3-2).

On the Braves’ current catalog of wins, the most concerning one for Wildcat fans should be a 35-14 victory over Williamsport, who previously dismantled Central Mountain by a score of 42-0 three weeks ago. Not to mention Shikellamy heads into its return home motivated to bounce back, having dropped two of its last three to the top two teams in the league (Shamokin and Jersey Shore).

Nonetheless, the Wildcats head into the matchup feeling confident.

While the team fell by four touchdowns last week, it came against a team that previously defeated it by 76 points in 2024. That performance saw Central Mountain score its first touchdown of the season and play three strong quarters of defense, holding the Indians to 14 points through the final three quarters.

“The things that had kind of been plaguing us all year crept up and in the second half, we were able to really limit those, refocus and at the end of the game, we broke through. So, I’m proud of the guys for being able to do that,” said Central Mountain head coach Travis Thompson on the loss.

“And at the end of the game, we broke through. We were able to get a touchdown, and the kids felt great about that. To be able to feel competitive and see that we made those gains, it’s definitely huge for us going into Shik.”

Heading into the matchup, the team’s biggest focuses defensively will be hindering senior quarterback Brody Rebuck while also preventing big plays from wide receiver Thomas Pollock. Through five games, Rebuck has surpassed 800 yards through the air and 200 on the ground while Pollock has 492 receiving yards and seven TDs on 27 receptions.

“Rebuck is the real deal, definitely somebody we have to respect,” said Thompson. “(Shikellamy) has another solid team. They’ve played a bunch of tough teams this year.”

Outside of that, Central Mountain’s focuses remain largely the same.

Eliminate the big plays defensively, limit the negative plays offensively, cut out the penalties on both sides of the ball and establish more consistency and confidence on the offensive side of the field. As it stands, the Wildcats still haven’t surpassed double figures scoring-wise, and they’ll likely need to do that to generate wins.

“We’re really trying to focus on what we do well,” said Thompson. “Now in Week 5 of the season, you can see where we have success running the ball, what we’re able to do throwing the ball and what routes are working. So, getting those reps in practice has been a really big focus and getting confidence that this is what we’re going to be able to do.”

Above all else, the goal is to keep building on the positives from their latest stretch. With more positives comes more confidence, confidence which Central Mountain hopes can lead to wins.