Photo by Joe Lovell Weir’s Jamari Hubbard-Bass hits the hole against Martins Ferry last week.

WEIRTON — Two programs that are in the midst of a resurgence are on a collision course Friday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium when Union Local visits Weir High, and each expects the other to be their toughest challenge yet.

The Jets, who come in 5-0, have made an impressive turnaround the past couple of seasons under Bernie Thompson, while the Red Riders have taken a big step forward so far this season, entering the match up 3-1 in Frank Sisinni’s third fall at the helm.

“They’re off to a very good start,” Sisinni said of the Jets. “Coach Thompson has his kids playing very hard. You’ve seen a progression happen with his program from year to year, from 0-10, to 2-8, to 5-5 and now 5-0. You can see his staff and his players headed in the right direction and it’s evident when you see them play on film that they are definitely going to be a team that is going to give us a lot of challenges on Friday night.

“I haven’t seen (that quick of a turnaround) before, it’s rare to see this happen, but he’s got a bunch of kids that really bought into his program and what he’s doing and he has a nice thing going on this year averaging well over 40 points a game.”

Indeed, the Jets are averaging a lot of points, scoring 40-plus in four of five games with their lowest output being 38 all the way back in Week 1, and have topped 60 once.

That high powered offense will collide with a Red Rider defense that has allowed just 55 points and held two of four opponents to single digits.

“It’s going to be two forces colliding,” Sisinni said. “We play a physical brand of football, we’re all about getting after the football when the ball is in play and we have been seeing that throughout our first four games. That’s the consistency that I’m looking for and it’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out this week against an excellent Union Local offense.”

Thompson, for his part, is not overlooking the ability of the Weir offense, which sports a ground attack led by Jamari Bass-Hubbard, Corey Lyons and quarterback Malachi Stromile, but also has weapons to be one through the air, too.

“It’s tough, we have to disciplined in all units,” Thompson said of preparing for the Red Rider offense. “Our strength on the defensive side has been up front with our defensive line and linebackers, so we have to continue to do a good job there and just not give up the big plays. Weir is the type of team that they can hurt you running and passing and they’re going to get their yards. There’s going to be times that they’re going to drive up and down the field, we just can’t give up touchdowns. We’re going to be a bend-not-break defense. Weir is a team that can strike at any time, they have athletes, they like to run the ball outside and their quarterback is experienced.

“They don’t compare to anyone, they’re their own animal. I think up front they’re going to be our toughest challenge yet, and outside they’re going to be our toughest challenge yet.

“If we can eliminate the big plays and keep our offense on the field, we’ll be OK.”

He also knows his team is in for a physical battle.

“I expect that when we go up to Weirton on Friday that it’s going to be a tough, physical game,” Thompson said. “Weir is very athletic and tough. They’re big and it’s going to be an in the trenches type of game. We’re going to have to be physically and mentally ready for it, it’s going to be our toughest battle to date.”

On the Weir side, trying to figure out how to slow the Jets offense has been a challenge.

“The way they run the ball is impressive with Jaksan Price, who is a special player,” Sisinni said. “He’s got a lot of touchdowns in his career. I think it their last game he had 230 yards rushing and four touchdowns himself, but that only happens because he has a big, experienced offensive line in front of him. We’ve had our eye on them. You saw it last year that they had a formidable line and a good rushing attack that is complimented by Carter Blake who is just as capable with his feet as he is with his arm. It’s a true balance that they have going on at Union Local that really could give us fits.

“You always want to force teams to do things that they don’t like to do, that’s something we’re looking for as a staff to find ways to force them into situations they’re uncomfortable with, but that’s what’s worrisome about them as an opponent is they can run or throw the ball. Keeping their ground game in check is something that every team prior to us has been unable to do, so that’s the priority on our end is to keep their offensive weapons from exploding.”

As for where his team is at prepping for the midway point, sitting in playoff position at No. 12 in the latest Class AA rankings, Sisinni is pleased but knows there’s still work to be done.

“We’re definitely very pleased with where we’re at right now,” he said. “We didn’t have the result we wanted against John Marshall (in Week 2) but we were very pleased with the effort and how our kids played against a big AAA school. A couple plays here or there in that game and we could be going into a battle of unbeatens. I’m very happy with our kids and our coaching staff. We’re playing the Weir High brand of football.

“We’ve got something to build off of and we’re coming up to the halfway point. Weeks 2 and 3 is when you make the jump, Weeks 4 and 5 you continue it and that’s what we’re looking at. You always want to be gauged and judged off of tough opponents, and our schedule doesn’t get any easier.”

Thompson and the Jets, who are ranked No. 3 in Division V, Region 19 and received votes in the most recent AP Poll, were also off to a good start a season ago, and learned a lot from the tough second half they hope pays dividends the rest of the way.

“We just focus on what we can daily,” Thompson said. “I know it’s cliche, but it’s the truth. We were 4-0 last year and just ran into a gauntlet on our back half of the schedule. We learned a lot from that and I took a lot from that into this year about how to approach the second half of the year. It’s a day-by-day process of getting better, focusing on us and how we can improve, and game-to-game.

“We have Weir this week and we’re not thinking about St. Clairsville or any of our rivals down the road, we’ve got to be focused on going to Weirton and handling business because historically when we’ve gone there, we’ve lost. We’ve never won in Weirton.

“It’s a tough challenge, but we’ve got guys that are ready for this challenge and I’m excited to see how we respond on Friday.”