Bethlehem Catholic looks to get their season back on track this week when they travel to Northampton for a Friday night showdown between two teams looking to end losing streaks.

Both teams enter with 4-5 records and both have lost three straight games heading into the regular season finale.

For the Hawks, a 12-7 loss to Liberty last week was just another punch in the month of October for a young team that has already qualified for the District 11 4A tournament.

For head coach Tyler Ward, last Saturday’s loss might be another hiccup in their season, but he’s optimistic his team can regroup as they head into postseason play, similar to how they responded last year after losing their last five games of the regular season before winning districts.

“Last year was similar but different,” said Ward. “We went through struggles with a very senior-led team. Those guys just had to get primed and ready for their run. This year we are super young, so even through some tough games and tough experiences we are learning and growing a ton and I believe it will pay dividends down the road. I think there is some correlation to last year’s Easton team - they took some lumps and had to go through some growing pains with a young team, but all those lessons and trials have turned them into the best team in the Valley this year. I think it shows that even when things are not going quite as well as you would like, as long as you stay together and keep growing and learning, good things will come from tough times.”

Liberty (7-2) stole the win last week and ended an eight-game losing streak in the series when Jaxon Barlok took a pass from Antonio Fontanez and raced 70-yards for a score with 2:40 left in the contest.

The Hawks offense has struggled to find the end zone the last three weeks, scoring a combined 16 points, but Ward hopes those struggles can turn around, starting this week.

“Effort, intensity, attitude—I look for the intangible qualities,” said Ward of what he wants to keep seeing from his team. “Luckily, those things have been showing up. The Liberty game had a ton of positives; we were just plagued by too many penalties, a few missed opportunities and lack of execution in situations. I loved the fight we showed and we made plenty of positive strides. We just have to learn to win close games but I was happy with the way our guys battled through the adversity.”

Just as Becahi has been derailed the past three weeks by the likes of Freedom, Nazareth and Liberty, the K-Kids have been in a similar tough stretch. They’ve lost to Easton, Freedom and Nazareth and haven’t been able to get enough stops on defense, giving up 42 points in each game.

Friday might be the perfect opportunity for Becahi’s offense to get back into rhythm.

“I’m excited for our kids, we still have a ton to play for, we can still equal our win total from last year, and we can still make a run to repeat in 4A,” Ward said. “Our kids are resilient and I look forward to watching them get back on the field this week.”