Northampton suffered its sixth straight defeat last Friday night against Nazareth, falling to the Blue Eagles 35-13 in a mercy-rule defeat on the road.

Travis Stefanik had three touchdowns for Nazareth, throwing for 124 yards and two scores, as well as rushing for 64 yards and a TD. AJ Vlasaty added 110 yards on the ground and two scores to pace the Blue Eagles (3-3) offense on the night.

Next up for the Kids (0-6) is a Friday night home clash against Liberty (4-2), who struggled initially against Dieruff, but pulled away with a 37-10 victory last week.

The Hurricanes fell behind by a 10-0 margin after the first quarter of play, but responded with 37 unanswered points to finish the game with a decisive victory to snap their two-game losing streak

“We walked into the Dieruff game a little banged up from a very tough four-game stretch,” said Liberty head coach John Truby. “Our starting center and wide receiver were both out for the game and both are questionable for this week. The slow start was a combination of Dieruff playing very well and us not executing. It was good that the kids responded in the second half and did a nice job of not panicking and coming out and playing football.”

Gunner Anglovich rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s win, to push the Hurricanes past a 10-8 halftime deficit, as he broke loose on a pair of 58 and 32 yard TD runs in the third quarter to open the game up.

Kids’ head coach Mark Scisly hopes some of the mistakes they saw on film from the Dieruff contest can pay divdends, but also knows he needs his injured starters back for this week’s tilt.

“There are definitely some things we can take advantage of,” Scisly said. “Our key is getting better each week. With 8-10 starters out last week with injuries, we have been playing a lot of new faces. We need to do a better job tackling at the linebacker and defensive back positions and continue to play well on the defensive line.”

Playing the winless Kids might give Liberty a false sense of hope this week, but Truby knows better than to underestimate any opponent, especially after how last week’s affair with Dieruff started.

“My guys are aware of how important every game is now for playoff implications,” he said. “The win [over Dieruff] allows us to get some confidence back from a tough stretch of two losses, but Northampton might have the best defensive tackle in the league and we have to handle our business there.

“We have to win in the trenches, execute assignments and play mistake-free football.”