Despite having his team being ravaged by injuries and inexperience, Catasauqua head football coach Phil Dorn can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Dorn, who will be completing his first season at the helm, confirmed that his team will have nine players returning from injuries in time for the annual Thanksgiving Day tilt against Northampton Nov. 27.

Playing the majority of the season with untested underclassmen due to an injury rash - three freshmen recently became starters in the team's recent loss against Northwestern - Dorn will be glad to have the majority of his lineup back that he expected to have earlier in the season. It should be a perfect time as the Roughies will face a Northampton squad that has dropped nine straight games.

"That's pretty exciting for us," said Dorn. "It is always refreshing to see. We have a lot of kids coming back. But the injuries gave other kids a chance to play and prove themselves, and they have worked really hard in the process."

Dorn confirmed the team has played with a completely revamped offensive line, and lost two outside linebackers, three tailbacks, two tight ends, two defensive ends, and two wide receivers to the disabled list this fall.

"It's part of the game," assessed Dorn, who previously coached at Pocono Mountain East. "I have had to deal with injuries in the past, but there hasn't been anything of this magnitude. It is something that you really can't imagine dealing with."

Against Northwestern, the Roughies, who finished their league season with a 3-7 record, couldn't get anything going in the beginning of the game and they eventually succumbed to a 43-7 defeat, marking their fourth straight defeat after a modest two-game winning streak.

"We had a lot of young kids out there," said Dorn. "But we couldn't sustain drives and we couldn't make enough key stops. Northwestern is a very good football team and a senior-ladened team. They will certainly be a team to deal with in the district playoffs."

Through it all, Dorn and his staff saw the rapid development of several underclassmen who will figure in the mix next season.

"We discovered that we have some younger kids who will be pretty good football players," stated Dorn. "We had a lot of kids who were learning on the varsity when they should have been on JV level. To their credit, they worked hard and gave us a great effort."

Dorn noted that junior quarterback Cristian Burker is 127 passing yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He and the core of upperclassmen have plodded through a difficult season.

"He (Burker) has done a great job for us," said Dorn. "Our upperclassmen have stepped up all season and have been leaders. We want to finish the season strong for them as well for everyone involved with the program."

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