Henry Huber on football: The grueling schedule has prepared the Bulldogs for the postseason | News, sports, jobs

MARK NANCE/For The Express Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish speaks with his team during Friday’s game against state-ranked Scranton Prep.

While suffering losses during the regular season can be stressful and certainly not fun, it’s arguably more disheartening to go into the postseason without having effectively tested your strengths and weaknesses.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to compete against the region’s best, you’ll probably meet them in November without knowing what to expect from them or your own team. If you don’t have tests on your schedule, your motivation to go to these encounters could be dampened by intimidation.

Luckily for Jersey Shore (6-3), that problem doesn’t exist. To be battle-tested heading into the playoffs, the program didn’t hold back when it came to scheduling tough opponents with rich football traditions.

From 2023 Class AAAA runner-up Dallas to open the season to three-time defending District 3 Class AAA champion Scranton Prep rounding out its non-conference opponents, the 2024-25 schedule was filled with teams from top to bottom , which were able to keep up with Shore’s recent success.

Some feared the schedule would do more harm than good and put them in a bad spot heading into the postseason. But instead of reciprocating this intimidation, head coach Tom Gravish and the team used the implied doubt as motivation.

“The schedule we adopted was not going to be easy. We knew there were some tough people there who weren’t going to be easy to beat,” Gravish said. “A lot of people, even some sportswriters, said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be a much better team at the end of the year if you make the playoffs with your schedule.’ We saw it as a challenge in a way.”

With challenges around every corner, the Bulldogs have experienced many ups and downs.

At the start, they mastered probably the toughest three games in their program, one with three defending champions, perfectly and started the season 3-0. In that span, they defeated state finalist Dallas 28-21 on the road, fell to Class 5A quarterfinalist Delaware Valley in a tough, defensive matchup and defeated Selinsgrove, the team that previously ended its 2023 run at the district title , with a lead of 34 points.

These victories proved that the team had effectively recovered after losing key pieces from last year’s squad. Elijah Jordan, previously a running back, filled in well at quarterback and his defense proved as reliable as ever, especially against Delaware Valley.

But the shortcomings would soon follow, which the team hopes will provide enough learning points to be successful in the postseason.

Those deficits began against an unknown hurdle, as HAC-I opponent Shamokin (9-0) proved in its Week 4 game at Thompson Street Stadium that its strong start to the season was no fluke. After defeating the Indians 63-6 last season, Shore suffered his first regular season loss since 2019 in the rematch, falling to Shamokin by a score of 30-28.

Losses to Hollidaysburg – a team that has won three District 6 championships in the last four years – and three-time defending district champion Scranton would follow in the coming weeks. When the Bulldogs suffered their third regular season loss, their worst loss in a season since 2019, the mood around the team was disappointing but optimistic.

“There were three of us there. We lost to three of the better teams in our state,” Gravish said after Friday’s loss to Scranton. “We don’t get to play two of them again, but hopefully we get a chance to play whoever beat us in the first place.”

As Gravish mentioned, none of these losses were one-sided.

In fact, in every game Shore had the ball late and had a chance to either take the lead or equalize. Against Scranton last Friday, a first down from the redzone, 21 yards and a two-point conversion came to erase a deficit that had previously grown to 14 points. Against Hollidaysburg, they were one yard short of a walk-off touchdown.

There were issues like interceptions against Shamokin, blown snaps against Scranton, inconsistency on offense and continued struggles against the run. But experiencing these losses makes the team more aware of its problems before entering the period where it really matters.

“When you lose, you learn something about the team. When you win and win by a lot, the question becomes, ‘What do you learn about your team?'” Shore running back/linebacker Bo Sechrist said. “You get into the playoffs and you’re not battle-tested. We’re battle-tested this year and hopefully we can get to the playoffs, do well and get a win.”

“This prepares us for the bigger prep schools that we will eventually have to play if we continue to play with her,” emphasized receiver/defensive back Paul Hale. “It’s a good job right now.”

With five games scheduled this year, many of them against programs with rich traditions and passionate fan bases, the description “playoff atmosphere” has come up multiple times when Shore players and coaches have discussed these games.

However, it remains to be seen whether that much experience could make much difference in such scenarios in November. For now, Jersey Shore is focused on the rivalry matchup against Central Mountain.

Then it’s time for the playoffs.

Henry Huber can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @HenryHuber_.