Wheeling Central football fans may be wondering which Steubenville Catholic team their Maroon Knights will face when the inter-state parochial rivals clash Saturday night at Harding Stadium in Steubenville.

Will it be the Crusaders squad that surprisingly dropped the first four games of the 2009 season or the one that has put two victories together including a 47-0 thumping of Toronto this past weekend?

''We're improving,'' Steubenville Catholic coach Gregg Bahen said. ''But I would say that we are going to have to continue to improve this week. The rivalry with Wheeling Central has become a rout the last few years although the overall series had been fairly close until that point.''

The Maroon Knights thumped Steubenville Catholic 33-0 last fall when the familiar rivals opened the season by squaring off in the Rally In the Valley football classic. Wheeling Central also won handily the previous two years and has not lost to the Crusaders since the 2005 season.

Still, Maroon Knights coach Mike Young looks at this week's clash and the Crusaders' season a little differently.

''Steubenville Catholic lost some close games early in the year but they seem to have things going right now,'' he said. ''They are well-coached, always play aggressive football and have good athletes.''

Three of the Crusaders losses were against teams with a combined record of 15-3. Columbiana, which outscored Bahen's club 41-40 in the season opener, is 4-2 while Catholic Central also lost 34-7 to undefeated Ridgewood (6-0) and 30-6 to East Palestine (5-1). The other setback was by 14-13 to Edison (2-4).

After winning a 34-27 thriller against Bellaire, the Crusaders jumped all over Toronto as stellar running back Mickey Bednar returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to spark a 21-0 first-quarter blitz.

''It was a heckuva good start for us and something we needed,'' Bahen pointed out. ''The kids and the coaches have been working hard to turn this thing around. There are no magic wands that help you win football games. You have to keep your nose to the grindstone and try to get better every day.''

Bednar gives the Steubenville Catholic coaching staff an explosive threat to build an offense around. Along with his success on special teams, the 6-foot. 185-pound senior rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns against Toronto, giving him 671 yards and seven touchdowns for the season.

At quarterback, the Crusaders have been using a multi-headed threat in seniors Jordan Teramana and Cody Cernansky. Combined, they've thrown for more than 660 yards and eight touchdowns.

Even with the increased offensive production, Bahen stressed it is the Catholic Central defense that must step up against the potent Maroon Knights.

''Central as a lot of weapons,'' Bahen said. ''The quarterback (Zach Hood) is a very good one. He can hurt you throwing or running with the football. The (Jordan) Sorge kid is very fast. He can break a long one from any place on the field.

''Our primary job will be to control the football and keep it away from that offense. Also, we are going to have to play a very physical on both sides of the ball. The Central-JFK game was very physical and we are going to have to win that battle to have a chance to win the game.''

While Crusader fans were celebrating a victory last week, the Maroon Knights were disappointed about the 21-14 loss to Warren Kennedy, a setback that dropped the visitors to a 3-2 record.

''It was tough to take,'' Young said. ''Obviously Warren JFK has a very strong football team but we had a few plays where we did not block or execute the way we should have. Our defense had them for losses a couple of times but they got away from us.''

Summing things up, Young pointed out that JFK made very few mistakes, while Central could not overcome its errors.

''We had a fumble that cut us short on one drive and an interception that stopped us another time,'' Young said. ''Our test is to go out and execute every week. The game is about blocking, tackling and execution. If we do those things well, we are going to be successful.''

The Maroon Knights weren't without some bright spots during their visit to Mollenkopf Stadium in Warren, Ohio.

''We have some kids that can catch the football and they did a nice job,'' Young said.

Hood, while passing for 155 yards, had scoring completions covering 82 yards to the fleet Sorge and 36 yards to another senior classmate Johnny Belancic.

The receiving quartet of Sorge, Alex Gompers, Belancic and Joe Neidhardt, overall, may be the deepest in the Ohio Valley. They have combined for 39 catches for 739 yards and seven touchdowns.

While Gompers has the most catches with 14, Sorge leads in receiving yards (230) and touchdowns (four). Belancic has snagged eight passes for 162 yards and two scores. Neidhardt, a two-way standout, has nine catches for 119 yards and one score.

The trio of Marcus Clifford, Hood and Sorge key a potent running game. Clifford leads the way with 52 rushes for 292 yards and five touchdowns, while Sorge is averaging more than 8 yards per rush with 205 on 24 carries. Hood has accounted for 210 yards on 45 rushes and completed 39 of 62 passes for 697 yards, six touchdowns with just three interceptions.

Sophomore backup Lee Peluchette has thrown for 119 yards and one six-pointer.

The trip to historic Harding Stadium, home of the Steubenville Big Red and Catholic Central Crusaders, begins a demanding second-half schedule that also will see the Maroon Knights lining up against once-beaten Martins Ferry, perennial Pittsburgh City League champion Brashear, Mountain Ridge (Md.) and city rival The Linsly School.

''We will have our work cut out every week, but right now we are focusing on one game at a time,'' Young said. ''The schedule is what it is. Coming into the season I knew we would be challenged and I still believe we play the toughest schedule of any Class A team in the state.

''As coaches we have to get our players ready for each game. Our goal is make it to the big dance and have another chance to win back the state championship.''