HOMETOWN — It’s tough to say a Week 1 game has postseason implications.
Tonight’s inter-league matchup between Williams Valley and Marian falls into that category, however.
The Vikings and Colts will meet for just the third time ever and first time since 2008 when the two perennial powerhouses collide tonight at Men of Marian Stadium.
On paper, the Vikes and Colts figure to be among five schools battling for the four District 11 Class A playoff berths — defending champion Schuylkill Haven, Pius X and Tri-Valley are the others.
And while there may be a team or two that could surprise this season (Mahanoy Area?), tonight’s clash could go a long way toward deciding if the Vikings or Colts get to attend the district’s postseason party or have to settle for the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Vikings were the 2012 district champs and lost to Schuylkill Haven in last year’s title game. The Colts missed the District 11 playoffs last season and ended up winning the Eastern Conference Class A title.
“There’s five quality teams there, and someone simply isn’t going to make it,” Williams Valley coach Tim Savage said of the District 11 Class A race. “We have a nice winning percentage at home and a great home crowd, so we have to win this game to stay on track to play these games at home in the postseason.
“If we drop Week 1, we’re behind the 8-ball right off the bat and have to root for some Anthracite Football League teams to knock them off along the way.”
The Vikings have never played at Men of Marian Stadium, as both of the previous meetings between the teams were held at Viking Stadium in Williamstown.
The teams have split the two previous meetings, with Marian downing Williams Valley in a regular-season game in the mid-1990s and the Vikings beating the Colts 20-7 in the first round of the 2008 District 11 Class A semifinals.
Both coaches are looking forward to the matchup.
“I have a ton of respect for the entire Williams Valley program,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said. “We interact with them in other sports.
“They’ve made the playoffs seven straight years, and they’ve only lost three games over the past two years. When we picked up this game, we knew we were going to be facing a top-flight opponent who plays quality football and has a great following.
“I’ve been excited from Day 1. It’s a great challenge.”
Added Savage: “I’m excited to play there, because they’ve been such a solid program for years. Coach Dakosty is the mainstay of Schuylkill County football coaches. They’re a well-coached team with a lot of pride and history.
“This is a good barometer game for us Week 1 to see where we’re going to end up here. It’s a tell-tale sign of what kind of season we’re going to have.”
Both teams enter with talented rosters and playoff pedigrees.
Expected to contend for top honors in the Tri-Valley League, Williams Valley returns five starters on offense and six on defense, including All-Area wide receiver Cody Miller and standout linebacker Albert Wolfgang.
Miller hauled in 26 passes for 761 yards and 12 touchdowns last season despite missing basically four games due to injury. Wolfgang racked up 140 tackles.
Junior Nick Rodichok takes over at quarterback after starting two games last season and throwing for 515 yards and six touchdowns. He’ll be joined in the backfield by senior Matt Miller and sophomore Ryan Harris.
Up front, the Vikings return six players who started at least one game last year, with sophomore Daymian Shoop earning Pennsylvania Football News preseason Class A All-State recognition.
In Savage’s two years at the helm, Williams Valley is 22-3, with two of the losses coming in the postseason.
“They’re athletic and they know how to win. They have athletes that can make plays,” Dakosty said of the Vikings. “That’s what impresses me. They’re always in the right position and they run to the football.
“They’re an athletic team and a very dangerous team. They’re very confident, too, from what I saw in their scrimmages.”
Marian is expected to contend for an Anthracite Football League title with eight starters returning on offense and six on defense.
Sophomore Ethan Kuczynski will start at QB after guiding the Colts to Eastern Conference Class A playoff wins over Muncy and Mahanoy Area. That allows Dakosty to slide junior K.J. Snerr, who started several games at quarterback before being injured, over to halfback.
Kuczynski will have a deep arsenal of targets to throw to, with senior Nico Agosti (18-415, 5 TDs) and Shenandoah Valley transfer Angelo Maskornick (20-328, 2 TDs) creating matchup problems on the outside with Agosti’s speed and Maskornick’s height.
Defensively, the Colts have to replace All-Area Defensive Player of the Year Lukas Damian, but linebacker Nick Sully returns after compiling 123 tackles last season.
“We’ve had a real good camp, real positive,” Dakosty said. “We had two very solid scrimmages.
“Kuczynski will be our QB and Snerr will be at running back. We’ve gone that way through the preseason. Athletically, it puts two playmakers out on the field at the same time.”
Williams Valley has traditionally played an AFL team in its season opener, taking on Minersville for the past several years. Tonight’s matchup came about when the AFL added Lehighton and Blue Mountain and changed its schedule.
That forced Minersville to drop the Vikings, but gave Marian an opening in Week 1. The two schools got together from there.
It’s an intriguing pairing, considering the Vikings and Colts have both been very good for very long, but rarely played each other along the way.
It’s also a matchup of Tri-Valley League vs. Anthracite Football League, two of the best small-school leagues in Eastern Pennsylvania.
“I love it,” Savage said. “It’s not so much about bragging rights, but you get to see if your league is on par with what the other league has to offer.
“It’s two very good small-school leagues. Crossover games like that are exciting. When you’re playing in your league all the time, you know what you’ve got to do. When you step outside, you really see what you’ve got.”