During his baseball career, Mike Shutta has normally been in the forefront, and he doesn't mind the comfort level.

This fall during his final high school football season, Shutta doesn't mind being in the backdrop. He'll likely maintain his status here despite becoming a streaking starlight. Through the Roughies first two games, Shutta has rushed for a total of 192 yards in two contests and scored four touchdowns. There is little question that he will be the team's feature back this season.

Among his teammates and coaches, however, Shutta still keeps the stride from the program's District 11 Class 2A championship last winter. He also isn't afraid to express his thoughts and opinions.

"Coach Dorn and the coaching staff treat us like we are the returning district champs and we have to keep that in mind," he said. "We go on the field with that in mind. But everyone picked us to finish last this season, and that's fine.

"We have been comfortable with the underdog role since the beginning of training camp, and we'll just go out there and continue to show everyone who we are. We'll go out and get the job done on the field."

In the team's 28-14 win over Notre Dame, Shutta rushed for a game-high and helped mount an unanswered 16-point, fourth-quarter comeback. There was plenty of fuel for the fire heading into the game after the Roughies dropped a 31-18 decision in their opener.

"We knew we could have won the Bangor game," he said. "We were right there, but we made some mistakes. That really gave us the motivation against Notre Dame. Everyone was talking them up and people weren't giving us a chance against them. We were so pumped up.

"We started a little slow, but we kept battling. We won't quit and it paid off for us."

Patience and determination have been his calling card on the football field. Shutta played very sparingly behind former All-State back Ra'Von Burton the past two seasons, and he knew he had to be ready when his opportunity came this fall.

"I knew what this year could be about and I did more running and lifting than I ever did," he stated. "This is my opportunity and time to play on the field. I really want to do whatever I can to help this team."

Shutta's Catasauqua football roots can be traced back to his days on the CYAA when his family moved from Bethlehem when he was 10. He then had the opportunity – like many before and currently with him – to play for coach Sziy on the 100-pound team.

"I loved playing there and learned a lot from coach Sziy," recalled Shutta. "We were always the team that had the least amount of kids and played all of these bigger schools like Emmaus. But we always worked hard and never quit. It really taught us how to play and react today."

As for his baseball career, Shutta plans to pursue playing the sport in college and would like to stay local at the Division II level with Kutztown and Bloomsburg being some viable options.

"I would love to play college baseball," he said. "That would be great. I still get to the batting cages whenever I can. But I have to finish things here first."

Taking the first steps to finish would be with another win against Palisades Friday night, a game that looms pivotal to both teams in the early juncture of the season.

"We know teams will think of us as an underdog all year," he said. "But we just have to keep executing and working and we'll be fine."