Last Friday, the Bucks put together a promising performance against Cameron County, carrying a strong end to the first half into one of its best halves of the season while knocking three scores off the previous matchup’s gap. Now, they’ll look to build on their late success there in another rematch, this time away from their home crowd.

In Week 9, Bucktail football faces Coudersport (1-7) for the second time this season, with the game set for 7 p.m. Their previous matchup was a rough one for the Bucks, who fell by a score of 45-8 at home.

Nonetheless, Bucktail expects the progress displayed through Week 8 to carry forward through the end of its season. Like its previous rematch against the Raiders, the young squad hopes to show improvements in its second matchup against the Falcons and possibly use those improvements to produce its first competitive win since 2023.

“We improved, and next week, we hope to improve again. And in the final week, I hope we’re better yet. And that’s what we want to do,” said Bucktail football head coach Kevin Ransom following the team’s Week 8 matchup against Cameron County.

“Are we going to find a win this year? My plan is yes, of course it is. But the reality is, we’re looking for improvements, and improvements are what we found tonight.”

In their last matchup, Coudersport compiled just under 300 yards on the ground, with Dustin Bailey breaking off multiple long touchdown runs and four runners finishing over 50 yards. That’ll be Bucktail’s primary focus defensively on Friday, correlating with its own focus on the other side of the ball.

Freshman full back Levi Stevenson is coming off a breakout game that saw him turn 20 touches into 103 yards. Sophomore Teagan Stone finished with 69 yards on nine touches, surpassing 600 offensive yards on the season, and Corbin Pentz was impactful in both the run and the pass.

Defensively, the Bucks are coming off their best 32-minute stretch of the season, where they allowed just six points and forced back-to-back stops. Continued success there and keeping turnovers from erasing promising drives on offense would be huge in elevating Bucktail’s chances on Friday.