Friday night lights are back in Pennsylvania.
This Friday, teams across the commonwealth will kickoff their 2026 seasons all with the same goal of lifting a state championship trophy over their heads.
Ultimately, just six teams will be able to call themselves a state champion at the end of the season. But the beauty of Week 1 is that everyone has the same record. Everyone has the same chance.
A new era begins
Friday night also begins a new era of North Schuylkill football as Joe Tomtishen makes his debut as the program’s coach.
If the Spartans are going to start the season 1-0, they’ll have to earn it. They’ll begin their season by making the 90-minute trip to Jersey Shore, one of the top teams in the Heartland Conference every season.
The Bulldogs are coming off an 8-4 season in 2025, including a dominant 5-1 home record. A 52-7 loss to Hollidaysburg was the only blemish in their friendly confines of Thompson Street Stadium.
Jersey Shore is entering its 15th year under head coach Tom Gravish, who has led his program to 123 wins since arriving, including seven District 4 championships and three appearances in the state semifinals. Since 2020, the Bulldogs have compiled four undefeated regular seasons.
Jersey Shore will provide plenty of challenges for North Schuylkill
“It’s a big-time program,” Tomtishen said regarding the Bulldogs. “They’re well known in the state and they’ve been one of the top programs in 4A for a number of years now. We know it’s a big challenge. We know they have really good players returning from last year. So we’ve been really trying to match the intensity of what we’re going to see up there and the tempo in practice to try to best prepare our kids. It will definitely be a challenge, but it’s one that we’re ready to take on.”
The Bulldogs will present plenty of challenges for a North Schuylkill program looking to make an early-season statement.
“They go very fast offensively and they have a lot of playmakers back, including their quarterback, who’s a special player,” Tomtishen noted. “Defensively, they’re aggressive. They get after it. So we have to make sure that we’re focusing on what we can control, not turning the ball over, and being disciplined on both sides of the ball.”
Key contributors to know for Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore will return multiple key contributors from a year ago, including junior quarterback Nolen Pauling, who completed 63.8% of his passes last season for over 1,900 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also rushed for 527 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Junior running back Kash Herritt returns after averaging 7.6 yards per carry as a sophomore.
The Bulldogs will look to junior Carter Rhinehart to lead their wide receiver room after a 21-reception, 369-yard, 4-touchdown campaign a year ago. Jersey Shore said goodbye to each of its top two receivers from last year’s squad.
Usually a strong defensive team, the Bulldogs struggled last year at times, allowing 29.3 points per game. It was the third-straight season in which their points allowed per game rose. They allowed just 12 points per game in 2023 and 18.3 in 2024. Don’t expect that number to rise once again this fall, it’s more likely the Bulldogs cut that number down significantly instead
If they’re going to do so, however, they’ll have to do it without five of their top six tacklers from last season.
Herritt will lead the Bulldogs defensively after a 97 tackle season a year ago at linebacker while also totaling 10.0 tackles for loss.
He’ll be joined on the defense by Zeke Sechrist, a talented defensive end who missed his entire junior season due to an ACL injury. As a sophomore he had five sacks and 15 tackles for loss. Junior Conner Yingling joins him in setting the edge as well after six sacks and 10 tackles for loss last season
Playing alongside Herritt in the middle will be Chase Ellison who totaled 28 tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss as a freshman.
They also return a talented secondary which includes Rhinehart and Pauling who combined for five interceptions a year ago.
New faces leading the way for North Schuylkill
The Spartans not only have a new coach but they’ll have plenty of new faces on offense and defense to go along with it.
North Schuylkill enters this fall with just eight seniors and said goodbye this offseason to their starting quarterback, running back and top three receivers among others.
Leading North Schuylkill will be quarterback Brock Holmes and running back Angel Ortiz.
Holmes takes over following the departure of Caden Mengel who threw for over 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns a season ago. Ortiz’s shoes to fill will be quite a bit larger, he steps into the hole left by all-time great Spartan Luke Miller who rushed for over 2,500 yards and 31 touchdowns a season ago.
Ortiz did have success when given opportunities last season totaling 44 carries for 220 yards and one touchdown.
Who will be Holmes’ top pass catchers this fall remains to be seen. Each of the Spartans’ top three receivers from a year ago are gone in Luke Miller, Julian Nelson, and Landen Smith.
Defensively, they return experience and four of their top nine tacklers return from last season including Seth Hubler who had a team-leading 90 tackles including 12 tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Bryce Kile and Cole Meskunas will join him.
Two-way lineman Nelson Berger will help lock down the trenches after 44 tackles including seven tackles for loss and four sacks a season ago.
Daniel Brake, who impressed as a freshman with 16 tackles, one interception, and two pass deflections, will lead the secondary in part.
Before their week one matchup, North Schuylkill took on the Danville Ironmen last week in a scrimmage. The scrimmage gave the Spartans plenty of positives heading into the regular season while also giving them things to still work on.
“I think we started out with a lot of energy, and there were definitely more positives than negatives,” Tomtishen noted. “But looking at the film, there’s some things we corrected, and I think we have a good plan going into Friday.”
The Spartans are champing at the bit to get on the field to prove what they can do this fall.
“I think once we got the pads on and we started hitting a little bit, it really started feeling like football season,’ he said. “I think after a while, when you’re going through the summer workouts and the 7-on-7s, you’re ready to take that next step. So once we got the pads on, I think our intensity picked up, our focus picked up. The kids are really excited for the game and for the opportunity to play such a good program, so we’re ready to go.”
North Schuylkill and Jersey Shore will kick off at 7:00 p.m. Friday at Thompson Street Stadium.
Leave a Comment