It will be 20 days since the time Northampton defeated Owen J. Roberts and until they take on Catasauqua for their annual Thanksgiving day clash.

Time is always precious, but it can also be monotonous for a football team that essentially has three weeks in between their last game.

So, Northampton head coach Mark Scisly did the logical and gave his team some rest.

"It's a long layoff between the Owen J. Roberts game and Thanksgiving," Scisly said. "We decided to give the guys some time off and plan 10 practices to get ready for the game."

And 10 practices should be ample to prepare for an arch rival and recharge the batteries heading into this week's contest. With so much time in between, Scisly and his staff are focused on the Rough Riders at this point, rather than putting much of the onus on themselves, as the element of surprise may play into tomorrow's game.

"You have to keep your team focused and you don't want to overdue how much you practice either," Scisly said. "Catty has a month to prepare for us, so we also need to be ready for anything. Will they have a new defense or offense? New trick plays? Who knows?"

One thing that won't surprise Scisly as he gears up for the game is the tradition of turkey day football, as he was apart of annual contests between Boyertown and Upper Perk.

But taking part of this contest, obviously has it's differences.

"This is a little different," he said of the Catty rivalry. "This game means a lot more and the kids are more focused right now then I have seen them all year."