Catasauqua head football coach Travis Brett had a good feeling about his club’s 7-6 advantage at Marian Catholic last Friday night.

Then, like it has for the first two games, the bottom fell out for the Rough Riders.

With a little less than two minutes to play, Marian blocked a Catty punt deep in their zone and eventually scored for a 12-7 victory last Friday.

It was the second consecutive week the Roughies (0-3) were victims of a blocked punt.

“The blocked punt killed us,” said Brett. “We made some mistakes and missed assignments too.

“We managed to shut down their running game, but we had to generate more offensively. It was a bad start of the week for us because we had kids sick. We had six guys out with injuries and just three seniors out there.

“The officiating was awful. When you look at the film, there were plenty of times when we were held. I seriously thought about filing something about the officiating. But we’re not making excuses. We need to clean this up.”

Brett noted that seniors Anthonie Hunsicker, Ian Juica, Ezra Garcia, Mike Monberger, Hunter Reitz, and Dylan Kalynych missed the game. Earlier in the week, Kalynych notified Brett that he left the team for personal reasons.

The head coach also stated that Reitz will be lost for the season with a knee injury, and Hunsicker’s status is in doubt also due to a knee injury. Juica and Monberger should be back this week against Mahanoy, and Garcia is questionable because of concussion protocol.

“We will get some guys back,” added Brett. “We really miss Hunsicker on our defensive line. He is a real presence out there.”

Brett praised the play of sophomore Eli Voorhees, who got the start at center. He and Matt Fotta were the two sophomores starting on the line. Freshman lineman Braeden Smith also made an impact.

“Eli Voorhees did a nice job for us,” said Brett. “He had really come long. Braeden Smith also has been playing well. Down the road, they both are going to be very good football players.”

Defensively, junior linebacker Chad Beller had a solid game, according to Brett.

Running back junior Jyzaiah Bonilla led the Roughies in rushing for the second straight week, as he recorded 100 yards on 18 carries and scored Catty’s lone touchdown. Quarterback Christian Fye, who was sick during the game, was 3-for 11 for nine yards.

“Christian has to throw the ball more,” said Brett. “He had time against them. We’re going to change things up this week. We may keep some people in to block, but we have two good receivers in Juica and Wyatt (Younes).”

Brett expects Mahanoy to run the ball in the Roughies’ home opener Friday.

“They run the ball a lot, but we’re good against the run,” said Brett. “We match up well against them. We’ll work on some things, but we have to come out and play.”

PREDICTION: There wasn’t a meeting between the teams last year in the new Colonial/Schuylkill format ... Mahanoy will come into Alumni Field with a 3-0 record, their latest victory was a 35-13 triumph over Panther Valley last Friday ... Mahanoy running back Colm McGroarty had 171 of the team’s 253 yards rushing, including a 68-yard scamper … Catty will be at home for the first time this season ... Bonilla is the team’s leading rusher with 240 yards through three games ... The Roughies are averaging 11.7 points per game and allowing 28.7. They average 113 yards rushing and 51 passing, while allowing an average of 149 on the ground and 97 through the air ... Brett still believes his team can make a run and be a district qualifier. Getting this one at home will be crucial … Brett needs to clean up the mistakes and discipline on and off the field. The Roughies still have the talent, but unforced turnovers have plagued them. This will be a close one and down to the wire ... Tough one to call, but I believe Rough will rise up and shut down the Bears running game. If they don’t, the season could be lost ... Eric Snyder owes me some Toby’s hot dogs ... ROUGH RIDERS, 14-10.