Still searching for its first win of the season, the road gets immeasurably step as Central Mountain football heads into its final two contests of 2025. In Week 9, it faces defending PIAA Class AA champion Troy (7-1) before wrapping up the tough campaign with a road matchup against rival Jersey Shore (6-2).

For now, its focus is on its Week 9 road contest against the Trojans, who don’t seem to have lost a step despite an early loss in Week 2. They’ve seen won six straight games by a combined score of 297-79.

Friday’s contest at Troy is set to kick off at 7 p.m.

For the Trojans, their main source of dominance has been their surefire run game. Their leading rushers – seniors running back Brendan Gilliland and quarterback Mason Smith – have combined for over 1,450 rushing yards on just 123 carries and are each averaging over 11.5 yards per rush.

Behind them, four other Troy runners have surpassed 100 yards on the season. It’s averaging 300 rushing yards per game, and when needed, the pass game can be effective as well, with Smith completing over 71 percent of his passes with ten touchdowns to just one interception.

It’s a statistical buzz saw, one which has averaged over 45 points per game. The Trojans have surpassed 40 points in all but one game and 50 points four times.

For Central Mountain (0-8), it’s looking to build off one of its strongest halves of the campaign, having outscored Mount Carmel 13-0 through the final two quarters of last Friday’s contest.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Everett is coming off his most complete performances, passing for 127 yards and rushing for an additional 89 against the Red Tornadoes. Senior running back Dalton McDermott showed similar growth, surpassing 100 rushing yards and finding the endzone for the first time this season while averaging over five yards per carry.

And senior receivers Ricky Rohrbach and Mario Serafini have been impactful in recent weeks, with Rohrbach having 71 yards against Montoursville and Serafini 98 against Mount Carmel. Defensively, linebacker Kole Corman is on pace to breach 150 tackles before the season wraps up, and McDermott is five away from 100.

The Wildcats face a tough hill to climb as they look to avoid back-to-back winless seasons but for now, they’ll look to carry that continued progress forward.