TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain’s Dalton McDermott (24) and Alex Johnson (15) prepare to high five prior to the team’s football game against Bloomsburg last Friday. The Wildcats fell 35-0.

Between Central Mountain’s first two losses, the team has failed to score, struggled to move the ball and given up 77 combined points. It’s been a rough start to the season for the young, developing squad but despite its hardships, head coach Travis Thompson remained positive following its most recent defeat.

Against Bloomsburg last Friday, the core issue was complacency, an issue which allowed the Panthers to take a lead it’d never relinquish just three plays in. It’s what Thompson harped on in the team’s postgame huddle, a big focus through preparations for its road test against Heartland-I foe Williamsport.

“We can’t take plays off,” said Thompson when detailing his postgame message to the team. “We have to be 100-percent all the time. Everyone’s got a job to do and their job only.”

Despite the haul they parted ways with last season, the Millionaires (2-0) aren’t strangers to big plays. Senior running back Giovanni White has broken off a 70-yard receiving and 74-yard rushing touchdown in his first and second games respectively, building up a stellar early-season resume, and a plethora of other players has logged gains spanning 30 yards or more.

The Hazleton defense did force sophomore quarterback Tevin Williams to make some mistakes last week, but that’s coming off a strong debut from the Millionaire that saw him throw for 234 words. Coupled with some strong receivers, Williamsport has a lot of ways it can break open the game early.

Defensive positives it can build on include junior linebacker Kole Corman’s stellar start to the season and its rush defense, which surrendered 38 yards through last week’s first half. Corman himself had 24 tackles (13 solo) and three sacks, playing a huge role in the team pressuring Bloomsburg well in the first half.

“He was an animal, just flies all over the field,” said Thompson on Corman’s performance.

“(Dalton) McDermott had some great pressure from a defensive line too, so I’m super happy with where our defense is. We’ve got to sort some things out with the pass coverage but we’re playing tough, playing physical.”

Other question marks heading into Friday revolve around the team’s offense. Apart from an opening nine-play, 52-yard drive against Bloomsburg (2-0), it’s been largely stagnant through the first two games, producing 167 combined yards of offense and six first downs.

Dalton McDermott and Kole Corman showed minute promise in the run game, averaging 3.4 yards per attempt on ten rushes. With two receptions for 31 yards, McDermott compiled 52 yards on eight touches, and receiver Ricky Rohrback added two catches for 42 yards. Those were the defining offensive positives from last Friday’s outing.

Nonetheless, despite the teams’ differing starts, Thompson feels the Wildcats can match up well against Williamsport. Central Mountain (0-2) has had strong starts to games. It’s just a matter of carrying that first-quarter success through the game’s entirety.

The game is set for 7 p.m. at Millionaire Stadium.