DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Chase Shrawder and Hughesville hope to close the season with a second straight win, but face a tough opponent this week against Muncy on the road.

Hughesville PPG–12.2, PPA–23.9; YPG–186.9, YPA–244.3

Hughesville notes: Hughesville (3-6) has an outside shot at making the District 4 Class AA playoffs but needs a win tonight, coupled by losses from Cowanesque Valley and North Penn-Mansfield, as well as power ranking help to do so. Either way, the Spartans simply will be motivated because this is a rivalry game and it has been quite an exciting one in recent years. In the past two seasons, each team has won after trailing by eight or more points in the final six minutes. Two years ago, it was Muncy turning an eight-point deficit into a 28-22 win and last year it was Hughesville erasing a 13-point deficit to beat the eventual Class A state semifinalists, 28-27. The Spartans won their home finale a week ago, downing Wyalusing, 28-6. Nick Stubbs threw for 154 yards and Connor Anstadt caught six passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Chase Shrawder ran for 81 yards and Jed Abernatha 70 as Hughesville put together its best offensive performance this season. The defense has allowed just six points in three wins and limited Wyalusing to 140 yards. Anstadt made 16 tackles and Abernatha, Cameron Walker and Jerry Barton all had eight sacks. Barton also produced his eighth sack, while Anstadt and Josiah Abernatha intercepted passes. Jakob Charles has had a strong season up front and has 15 tackles for loss, while linebacker Maliki Emmil has 11 and is averaging 8.7 tackles per game.

Hughesville Player to watch–Connor Anstadt: Yes, I know he was mentioned above for his offense and defense, but something pretty remarkable is that Anstadt leads the country among teams which list their stats on maxpreps in punting average. Anstadt averages a whopping 50.7 yards on 36 punts with a long of 75 and 16 landing inside the 20.

Muncy PPG–24.1, PPA–16.9; YPG–277.7, YPA–233.1

Muncy notes: Muncy (5-4) is hoping to snap a two-game losing streak and take momentum into next week’s District 4 Class A semifinal showdown against Montgomery. The Indians also are a win from clinching a ninth straight winning season. Muncy has put together a quality campaign despite losing the majority of its starters from last year’s district champion and quarterback Andrew Walters is second among area players in passing yards. He also has totaled 1,756 yards and 20 touchdowns. Nate Rogers, Carter Feigles, Dominic Guardini and Gavin Barrows all have caught at least 21 passes and Rogers has six touchdowns. Wes Somits is a hard-nosed inside runner and Jaxson Thomas ripped off a 44-yard touchdown run last week at Athens. Feigles returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown in that game as well and is part of an experienced secondary. Nixon Lamper and Nick Delany both started on last year’s team and anchor both lines, each having good seasons. Lamper has a team-high 10 tackles for loss and Delany had four tackles for loss, along with a sack, in a 35-0 win at Northwest. Thomas leads the team in tackles and Muncy held three straight teams to six combined points in three straight games earlier this season. Muncy is playoff-bound for an 11th straight season, the longest streak among current District 4 Class A teams.

Muncy Player to watch–Wes Somits: His offense was mentioned earlier, but Somits also is a strong linebacker who is second on the team in tackles, averaging 6.6 per game. He was a force in a 21-9 win at North Penn-Mansfield in Week 7, making 11 solo tackles and adding a sack. Somits also made nine tackles at Athens, including two for loss.

Outlook: The records truly haven’t meant a thing in this series the past two years. One gets the feeling that will be the case again. These teams feel pretty evenly matched despite Muncy having a two-game advantage in wins. Get the popcorn ready.