Tom Falzone admittedly was glad his team got a tap on the shoulder last week .It was an impromptu manner to help them continue their quest for the season, one that apparently continues to gain momentum and strength with each passing week.

In the first half last week, the Roughies were seemingly out of sync against an upstart Palisades that was hungry for an upset in front of nearly 2,000 fans in their home stadium. Missed passes, dropped passes, and missed assignments were among a litany of mistakes that littered their first 24 minutes of the team that entered the game scoring 102 points in the their first two games with 15 touchdowns in their pocket.

When the horn sounded to end third quarter, however, Catty was back in control after they posted 20 of their 33 second-half points and Ra'Von Burton (142 yards rushing ) and Paryss Marshall (10 catches, 202 yards) were on the bench after posting another set of big nights.

"I'm glad we woke up," noted Falzone. "We didn't scream or yell and halftime, but we just told them what they are capable of doing out there and pointed out things that they did. We knew Palisades would be a physical team and they proved it." In the second half, Catty totally turned the tide on the host Pirates as they shut them out and allowed 43 total yards without issuing a first down. Over their first three games, the Roughies have allowed a stingy 49 points in three games (16.3), having allowed 35 points in a shootout game against Southern Lehigh.

Falzone cited the play of senior Jared Stephen and junior Mike Gilmartin, who helped fill a temporarily void in the game left due to Jared Nosal's eye injury as well as other games this year.

"I'm really proud of what our defense has done this year," said Falzone. "They kept us in the game against Palisades and have worked hard to shut down teams this year. Against Southern Lehigh, they had to step up and take charge and they did.

"Gilmartin has been in and out of the lineup for us and he continues to get reps. (Stephen) has done a nice job filing in and has helped make a difference." Falzone does admit his team seemingly appears to be sounder in each passing week, but he wants to broach the situation with cautious optimism, even though they have played mercy rule in two of their first three games.

"All of our players have been getting better starting with our quarterback," said Falzone. "Zack (Bradley) is more comfortable out there and he is more aware of possible situations. We have been fortunate to have some of our younger players get playing time.

"But we still have to take this one game at a time. We had a bad half against Palisades and we know we can't afford to have that happen again. We have to keep working and can't get comfortable and stay focused. We have the ability, but we have to execute." Catty to look to avoid another bad start this week when they return home to host Salisbury (1-2) Friday night. After they surprised Bangor in their opener with a 41-27 victory, Salisbury since has dropped games to Northwestern (43-8) and Palmerton (16-8). Quarterback Troy Parton has been the bulk of the offense as he also is his team's leading rusher (95 yards).

However, Falzone does expect Salisbury to give them a different look. The Falcons likely will open with a 3-4 defensive front, a different look than Catty has seen in the past three weeks.

"With their 3-4, they (Salisbury) can come at us with a number of different looks," said Falzone. "So, we'll have to look at a number of things there. On offense, they look like us with a spread offense and their quarterback will be back after he missed the game last week with a discipline issue." Falzone is also well aware that his squad needs to have all hands on deck and not look ahead.

"We know this is a classic trap game," he said. "We have to focus on what we have to do against them (Salisbury).