Northwestern has already faced nine of the 11 other football teams in the Colonial League this year. This week it will face the best of the league's dozen teams as Catasauqua visits Northwestern already having sealed this year's title and one of the top two seeds for the District 11 Class AA playoffs.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge," said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "They have a ton of athletes at all positions. It's a tough match-up, esepcially on a short week."

As of Wednesday morning, the game was still slated for Friday night at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. Some local games have been moved to Saturday after the early-week storm. On Tuesday evening, Snyder said the game would likely be played Friday if power is restored in time.

Whatever day it is played, Northwestern's first priority will be stopping Catty's spread option offense. The Rough Riders (9-0) have talented skill players, starting with running backs Ra'Von Burton and Eric Matz, but also including quarterback Zack Bradley and his two top receivers in Alex Parker and Zach Stopay.

The Tigers (3-6) will have to be disciplined and maybe even disguise coverages to gain an edge on Catty's talented offense.

"The coaches call the plays after the offense gets to the line of scrimmage," Snyder said. "They take what the defense gives them."

Northwestern's main concern isn't anything the Roughies present. The Tigers just want to keep improving. They are a young team that could use a good outing heading into the offseason.

Northwestern started the season with just five seniors. When some injuries set in, many sophomores and freshmen had to fill in on varsity.

"For all intents and purposes we had a JV-age team playing last week," Snyder said. "Bangor lined up 22 seniors for senior night. We had a little over 30 players dressed for varsity."

The Tigers will have nearly their entire roster back for next season. A solid performance agaisnt Catty would be great for the team's confidence.

"It would be huge for next year," said Snyder.