Over the past few years, Catasauqua has experienced one kind of game that has managed to plague them.

A flat one.

Last season, the Rough Riders fell victim to Marian, 12-7, in a game in which they were flat and should have won.

Such was the case again against Pen Argyl last Friday night. Catty came out flat and quickly found itself in a 21-0 hole that it couldn’t dig out from in an eventual 36-14 loss.

To their credit, the Green Knights churned out 240 yards, while the Roughies managed just 19.

Catty now finds itself with an overall 3-2 record, and they will travel to Schuylkill Haven Friday night to meet the 4-1 Hurricanes, who sit atop the District 11 Class 2A bracket.

Roughies head coach Travis Brett wasn’t offering any excuses.

“We came out flat, and they jumped on us early and got momentum,” said Brett. “They beat us up front, and they wanted it more. We got a target on our backs every week. They came in and played football. We didn’t.

“We ended the game with 10 rushing yards, and we aren’t going to win games that way. So that will be a point of emphasis going into next week.”

Catty quarterback, junior Aiden Hess, who threw for 188 yards with a touchdown, agreed that his team had an off night.

“We knew that this game was going to be a challenge,” he said. “We always play hard against each other every year. As a team, we were very sloppy all around and couldn’t seem to get anything going for offense at the beginning of the game, and our defense was struggling all game.

“Pen Argyl played a very good game, and they knew our every move. We are banking on seeing them in the playoffs over any other team. We have got a lot to work on, and we know we are a better team. I have no doubt that we will beat them in the playoffs, and we will refuse to lose.”

In the meantime, the Roughies have to deal with a surging Schuylkill Haven team that beat Palisades, 14-7 last week. The Hurricanes have four-straight wins since an opening-game, 27-0 loss to Mount Carmel.

“Schuylkill Haven is no push over. They are sitting in first place in AA, and they are a run-heavy team with two good running backs. We need to stop the run. On defense, they sit in a 5-2, and they have two good linebackers in the middle.

“We will have our work cut out for us.”

PREDICTION (Overall record 3-2): Pen Argyl last defeated Catty, 36-13 in 2020 ... Schuylkill Haven won a combined five games over the last two years ... Catty has only faced them since the Colonial/Schuylkill league merger ... They dropped consecutive games to Catty in the process (35-12 and 35-16) ... The Hurricanes won five games in 2019 when they were 5-6 ... Schuylkill Haven’s Aiden Myers has 688 yards for the year and has averaged 137.6 per game. Nick Carsetia has 479 yards and has averaged 95.8. Both backs have scored five touchdowns apiece. The Hurricanes rush for an average of 272 yards per contest ... Hurricanes’ quarterback Augustus Warke has thrown for 212 yards with two touchdowns and interceptions apiece … Catty running back Hunter Reitz didn’t play due to shoulder and knee injuries, but he is expected to be back in the lineup. Reitz leads the team in rushing with 280 yards ... Hess had thrown for 569 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions ... Ian Juica leads the team with 23 receptions for 365 yards and Jordan Bradshaw has 19 for 143 yards ... Linebacker Chad Bellar has a team-high 84 tackles and is among the league leaders ... Roughies have simple task here: stop the run. However, they have had trouble doing it all season ... Schuylkill Haven has averaged 26 points in its last four games ... Catty dropped from first to third in the district bracket, and another loss could place them near the edge of qualifying. After their loss to Marian last year, Roughies won five-straight ... This will be the toughest road task for Roughies all year. They usually learn from their mistakes and bounce back with a big effort. If Reitz is healthy, he will be a big key, as he had 154 yards against Mahanoy two weeks ago ... Everything for me points to Schuylkill Haven, but something tells me Roughies will come up big ... They have to ... Coach Snyder and I shared hot dogs at Potts’ in Northampton recently, but he still owes me some pierogies ... ROUGHIES 27-25.