The varsity football team took part in the first round of Districts at Mansion Park on Friday, Nov. 4 against Mifflin County.   The team will continue their season playoffs tonight in an away game that was moved up one day due to weather concerns.

Head coach Vince Nedimyer believes they already had a place locked in to be playing at Districts.  

“We kind of already knew we were good. The more exciting thing was finding out we were going to be playing at home. We found that out last week,” Nedimyer said. 

According to Nedimyer, playing at home had multiple advantages. 

“It’s always nice to play at home. You can keep your routines the same. That would be the thing, just being able to play,” Nedimyer said. 

Being at home means being able to get right into things for the football team. 

“We can get right into the game from the start,” junior Thomas Cron said. 

According to senior Manuel Miller, it’s a great feeling to make it into Districts.

“It was great [making it into Districts]. All the hard work up until this moment has paid off, but the job’s not finished yet. We have to keep pushing and going,” Miller said. 

The athletes look at the team they are going up against more than anything else. 

“I look past the fact that we made it and tend to look at the team we have to play,” Miller said. 

The second playoff game will be against State College at Bald Eagle. 

“We have been watching films and trying to find out things that will work,” junior Brennen Freiwald said. 

The team continues to practice.

“It has been more mentally focused and challenging rather than physically,” Cron said. 

Nedimyer believes that unlike a lot of other sports, players need their teammates to be able to play the game well. 

“It’s 11 kids in the huddle that have to be in sync and doing their job. There can’t just be one player that can make or break it. You need the full team to be successful. I think that’s something that sets aside football from other sports,” Nedimyer said. 

The team has been taking things slowly going into the game. 

“Not a lot of teams are playing right now. We have just got to take it one step at a time and keep moving forward,” Freiwald said. 

Nedimyer plans on having the team do the same things defensively and offensively they have done all year. 

“Offensively, we can’t turn the ball over. Defensively, we’ve got to tackle. A lot of the same things we’ve done all year long,” Nedimyer said.