The Wilson Warriors have won seven games over the past two seasons, finishing 5-5 two years ago and 2-3 last season. At the midway point of the 2021 season, they find themselves undefeated and ready for a matchup against Northwestern Lehigh Saturday afternoon. Last season’s expanded format for districts had the Warriors ready to meet the Tigers in the second round, but a wave of COVID issues at Wilson caused it to forfeit the game, so Saturday is also an opportunity to think about what might have been last season.

So, why are the Warriors an improved team this season?

“They were starting to play better late last season and it would have been an interesting game had we played them last postseason,” said Tigers head coach Josh Snyder. “They have some returning guys who are very good and give them experience and they’ve show that they can beat some tough teams, so we have to be ready to go Saturday, especially on their home field.”

The biggest weapon in Wilson’s arsenal is Cayden Stem, who has thrown for over 1,000 yards and has 16 passing touchdowns on the season. Twice this season the senior quarterback has flirted with the 300-yard mark in passing, throwing for 293 and four touchdowns against Palisades early in the season and then torching Southern Lehigh for 298 yards and three TDs last week.

On the ground, Wilson relies on running back Damian Simpson, who has three 100-yard rushing games to his credit this year and has rushed for six touchdowns. Simpson has also caught five touchdown passes and has 346 receiving yards on the season.

“They’ve got a lot of experience at skill positions and a quarterback who is very accurate and doesn’t turn the ball over a lot,” said Snyder. “They do a lot of things well and they don’t hurt themselves with a lot of turnovers and mistakes, so you have to be ready to make them earn everything that they get.”

The combination of a strong offense and a tough defense has led Wilson to outscore their opponents 201-71 through five games this season, similar to the 212-96 advantage that Northwestern Lehigh has amassed.

For Snyder, an extra day of practice this week is allowing his coaching staff to apply some wrinkles to the Northwestern game plan.

“When we have that extra day, we like to use it,” Snyder said. “ It’s given us time to work on some new things and touch up on some things that we were a little concerned about. Of course, the turnaround is that next week, you have a shorter week, so it’s a give and take.”

This week’s game won’t only provide a look at what might have been in last season’s district playoffs, but it could be a preview of the first round of districts this season. While they’re undefeated, Wilson’s strength of schedule puts them fourth in the District 11 Class 4A power rankings with Northwestern Lehigh, Central Catholic and Pottsville ahead of them, meaning that the Tigers and Warriors could be seeing each other again in a few weeks.

Of course, those rankings could change with Wilson’s schedule getting much tougher from here on out. In the coming weeks, they face Pottsville (4-1), Bangor (3-2) and Notre Dame (5-0). Counting their game against Northwestern Lehigh this week, the remaining opponents on the Warriors’ schedule are a combined 19-6.

“They’ve beaten a couple of pretty good teams and I think they’re looking at this game as an opportunity to knock off a good team that’s ahead of them and give themselves a chance to make a statement,” Snyder said. “It’s especially going to be a challenge for us offensively, but we can rack up some yards and put points on the board, so as long as we play like we’re capable of doing, we should come out of this in good shape.”