JOHNSTOWN — Thursday Night Football debuts tonight at Trojan Stadium as Johnstown High hosts Westmont Hilltop at 7 p.m.

The rare Thursday varsity game is a result of a request by Westmont Hilltop District to avoid playing during the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown on Friday.

“This will be the first time we’ve ever played on a Thursday as far as I can remember,” said Trojans coach Tony Penna Jr.

“We played a Monday game one time, but this is kind of strange. It’s tough with the bumps and bruises. You’ve got to get back at it and get focused right away (after the previous game).

“Our kids responded pretty well to this short week,” Penna added. “We’ve yet to have a normal week of practice with Labor Day last week and this short week, but the kids have responded well and they’ve worked hard.”

Johnstown (2-0) has outscored Cambria Heights (32-7) and Bishop Guilfoyle (39-6) by a combined 71-13 count in two victories. Westmont (0-2) has lost tough games to Central Cambria (23-7) and Bishop Carroll (28-7).

“We tried to create a normal week for the kids to have some continuity,” Westmont coach Matt Glennon said. “We gave them Saturday off. For a rare occasion we met on Sunday evening. We practiced on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I think the kids for the most part took it in stride. The coaches tried to plan practice and tried to keep things as normal as possible. Obviously it cut down a day of planning but overall I think it went smooth.”

Johnstown beat Hilltop 33-16 last season, but Westmont has won four of the past six contests against the Class AAA Trojans.

The series has been tight, with Westmont holding a 5-4 overall edge since the teams began playing in the LHAC in 2001.

Most of the games have been close.

Johnstown has won in 2002 (7-6), 2003 (39-8), 2006 (14-8) and last season. Hilltop won in 2001 (35-14), 2004 (30-26), 2005 (27-14), 2007 (14-7) and 2008 (6-0).

“The city rivalry is Richland, Johnstown and McCort to our kids,” Glennon said. “Those are big games and the schools are close in proximity. You throw out the records. Our kids will be ready to play this week. The kids all know each other so well.”

Penna realizes as much and will ignore Westmont’s 0-2 record.

“I’m impressed with Westmont up front,” Penna said.

“They have size. Their front four is impressive. They are real ‘multiple’ on offense and it’s been a lot of work for our defense. We have to be ready for their formations. They run some wing-T, spread, straight-T, wishbone stuff.”

Penna said a junior varsity game against Bishop Guilfoyle was cancelled on Monday. The Trojans used the time to prepare for Hilltop.

“Normally on Monday we’d have a jayvee game but Bishop Guilfoyle is kind of short-handed,” Penna said. “We were going to try to cancel it anyways.We came right back out Monday and did offense. Tuesday we did defense, Wednesday is a walk through and Thursday we play.

“Normally Monday would be to watch some film, put some new wrinkles in and work on what we had to improve from Friday. 

“You adjust.”

Friday’s Games

LHAC

Richland at Bedford

New Bedford coach Kevin Steele got his first victory with the Bisons, but it didn’t come easy.

Bedford (1-1) outlasted Cambria Heights in a wild 37-34 victory on the Bisons field last week. Bisons 6-foot-3 junior quarterback Marcus Shippey has been a versatile contributor while passing for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushing for 148 yards and a pair of scores.

The Bisons defense has allowed 75 points, 37.5 a game.

Richland still is looking for its first win of the season. The Rams fell to visiting Forest Hills 49-6 last week after dropping a tight 27-20 contest to Bishop Carroll in the opener. Big back John Rizzo leads the Rams with 124 rushing yards on 19 carries, a 6.53 average. Quarterback Zach Solarczyk completed 17 of 37 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions, and quarterback Andrew Mihalik is 6 of 9 for 58 yards with a pick.

Forest Hills

at Bishop Carroll

Forest Hills has done nothing to diminish preseason predications that the Rangers would be among the area’s best. In two wins, Hall of Fame coach Don Bailey’s squad has outscored the opposition 90-12.

Nick Dudukovich rushed for 237 yards and has five touchdowns. Quarterback Justin Gdula threw for 244 yards.

After four straight seasons without a winning record, Bishop Carroll is back on track at

2-0. The Huskies have rushed for 409 yards combined in wins over Richland and Westmont Hilltop.

Ryan Woo has 214 rushing yards, and Josh Barzdo, 151.

Quarterback Barzdo also has thrown for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Penn Cambria at Central Cambria

Red Devils coach Ken Bussard made a gutsy call in the second overtime at Point Stadium last week. When McCort coach Ken Salem called time out after a Central Cambria touchdown in an attempt to ice the place-kicker, Bussard opted to go for two points and the win. His son, quarterback Blake Bussard, used extra effort to strech across the goal line after he was met nearly 2 yards out by a Crushers defender.

The Devils won 39-38 over the Crushers, last year’s state runner-up in Class A.

A week earlier, Central Cambria’s physical line simply dominated Westmont up front in another Devils win.

Penn Cambria displayed some muscle of its own in a 16-14 season-opening win over McCort.

Coach Ernie Fetzer’s Panthers notched another two-point win at Somerset last week, 14-12.

Andrew Buck (30 carries, 142 yards) and Jordan Fuller

(26-143) have combined for

285 rushing yards. Buck also has 22 tackles on defense, and A.J. St. clair has 20 stops.

Bishop McCort

at Somerset

McCort will try to avoid starting 0-3 for the first time since Ken Salem’s initial season as head coach in 1996.

The Crushers lost the dramatic heartbreaker to Central Cambria in two overtimes last week and fell by two points to Penn Cambria in Week 1.

Despite the 0-2 mark, McCort has been close to being on the winning side. Overall the Crushers have been outpointed by a mere 55-52 count. The Crushers and their opponents each have 31 first downs in two games.

McCort has rushed for

365 yards, while opponents have  combined for 482, and the Crushers passed for 198 yards to the opposition’s 115.

Somerset also has been close. Last week Penn Cambria edged the Golden Eagles by two points.

During Week 1, Somerset led Bishop Guilfoyle 2-0 on a safety until the Marauders scored with about seven minutes left in the game to beat the Eagles 8-2 at Mansion Park.

Philip Ickes leads Somerset with 223 rushing yards on

31 carries, and Justin Schrock has 169 yards on 26 attempts.

WestPAC

North Star at Berlin

Berlin has lived up to the preseason hype so far, outscoring Ferndale (47-14) and Conemaugh Valley (56-0) by a combined 103-14. But the schedule stiffens a bit as rival North Star visits.

The Mountaineers have rushed for 629 yards (10.7 per carry) and passed for 229 in two victories. The balanced rushing attack includes quarterback Ian Sayler (15-255), Drew Glotfelty (14-209) and Tyrel Stockwll

(6-132). Sayler has completed

11 of 18 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns.

North Star is coming off a close 28-26 setback to Chestnut Ridge. The Cougars blanked Conemaugh Valley 49-0 in their opener.

Dylan Friedline gained

294 yards on 33 carries, an average of 147 a game and 8.9 a carry. Max Strasiser has passed for 250 yards, with 6-5 receiver Tony Straiser hauling in

12 catches for 173 yards, or 14.4 a reception.

Ferndale at Meyersdale

The Yellow Jackets nearly cracked the win column last week in a 28-21 loss to visiting Shade.

The Panthers used 22 second-half points in the comeback win.

Ferndale (0-2) will head to Meyersdale, another team looking for its first victory after last week’s 26-12 setback to Portage.

In two games, Ferndale back Dave Horvath has rushed for 247 yards on 29 carries, an

8.5 average. Sophomore quarterback Chad Eisenhuth has completed 13 of 31 passes for 125 yards. Defensively, Greg Walters and Dustin Urban each have 17 stops.

Meyersdale has been outscored 67-25 in losses to Portage (26-12) and Conemaugh Township (41-13).

Conemaugh Valley

at Shade

Shade looks to build on its win at Ferndale.

The Panthers’ Brock Medva 211 rushing yards on 34 carries, 6.21 a carry.

Dylan Glessner has 126 yards on 23 rushes, 5.5 a carry, and Brett Edwards has 104 rushing yards on 18 attempts, 5.8. Senior linebacker Davin Winfield has

26 tackles, and junior linebacker Josh Bulger has 20 stops.

Conemaugh Valley has been outscored 105-0 in setbacks to North Star (49-0) and Berlin (56-0).

Heritage

Northern Cambria at Marion Center

Marion Center is 0-2 after a 38-14 loss to Wyomissing in Chambersburg and a 22-21 setback to United in a season-opening thriller on the road.

Northern Cambria evened its record at 1-1 after beating Saltsburg 19-6 last week. In the opener, Ligonier Valley beat the Colts 39-6.

Andy Hancharik leads the Colts with 191 rushing yards on 35 attempts.

Quarterback Jeff Hogan has thrown for 100 yards. On defense, sophomore linebacker Alex Atkins has 28 tackles, including 21 solo stops. Hancharik has two interceptions.

Marion Center has rushed for 296 yards, including 105 from Brodey Thompson, 89 from Jed Peterson and 87 from Nick LaMantia.

Ligonier Valley

at Penns Manor

This conference battle of unbeatens features two powerhouse rushing squads.

Ligonier Valley has taken care of business in outscoring Northern Cambria (39-6) and Homer-Center (35-0) by a combined

74-6. The Rams have rushed for 515 yards on 71 carries, a

257.5 average per game.

The deep ground game is fronted by Ryan Knupp

(15-147), Russell Markosky

(24-101) and Bryan Saxton

(9-85). Quarterback John Jones completed 11 of 19 passes for

185 yards and a pair of scores.

Penns Manor has outscored Homer-Center (38-6) and Purchase Line (49-12) by a combined 87-18. The Comets have rushed for 665 yards on

62 attempts, a game average of 332.5. Travis Trimble (17-241) and Joey Vodopevic (8-224) have put up big yardage. Quarterback Danny Ferens has passed for 158 yards, completing 7 of 15 attempts.

Purchase Line

at United

United has been battle-tested early with close victories over Blairsville (20-14) and Marion Center (22-21).

The Lions benefited from the debuts of quarterback Tyler Dipofi and receiver Joey Reed, two transfers who played on the former Laurel Valley team last year. Dipofi threw two touchdowns, including the game-winner in the closing minute, and Reed had a pair of scores in the win at Blairsville. Dom Chero caught a 21-yard touchdown pass with 28.8 seconds left to break a 14-all tie.

Purchase Line fell 49-12 to Penns Manor in Week 2 after losing by a pair to Saltsburg

(20-18) in the opener. John Huey (23-148) and Michael Jarvie (30-138) front the Red Dragons ground game.

Independent

Chestnut Ridge

at Windber

This battle of undefeated teams matches two schools located some 15 minutes apart on Route 56.

Ridge won a close 28-26 contest over visiting North Star last week as Jude Donatelli rushed for 171 yards and scored three touchdowns. The Lions pounded Philipsburg-Osceola 49-12 in the opener.

Donatelli has 234 rushing yards on 37 carries. Junior quarterback Brad Hengst has run for 277 yards and three scores on

13 attempts while also completing 7 of 13 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Luke Wiley leads the Lions with 23 tackles, and sophomore safety Adam Wiley has 21 stops.

In two wins, Windber has scored 97 points and allowed 28.

The Ramblers single wing offense has produced a number of weapons. On the ground, Jarid Cover (47-296), Jake Wissinger (6-102) and Colin Bryan (16-94) have gained significant yardage.

Quarterback Joe Pipon has completed 8 of 19 passes for

91 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Windber has 741 rushing yards on 101 attempts (370.5 a game/7.3 a carry) while the Ramblers defense has held opponents to a combined

137 rushing yards on 52 carries (2.6 average).