Coming out of week one, only two local football teams picked up victories, while four others suffered defeats. None of the teams faced a division opponent, so a win was just window dressing on a team's record, while the loss is perhaps a temporary blow to a team's confidence.
By no means does an opening victory ensure future success over the next two months of football. On the flip side, a first-game loss is certainly not a harbinger of bad things to come.
Now a few days removed from that season-opener, we asked the six area coaches to assess their team's performances:

* Tim Mattingly, B-G (56-8 losers to Dryden): "I don't think the first game was a true indicator of our capabilities. We have to be more physical on defense, and on offense, we just need to do a better job of blocking."

* Dave Gorton, Greene (21-0 losers to Windsor): "Offensively, we must be more consistent with our line play…we missed crucial assignments last week. It will help that we are suiting up more players for the line this week so we will have depth again."

* Mike Chrystie, Norwich (35-26 losers to Binghamton): "We did a lot of good things, and now our focus is putting together four quarters. We hung with a good Binghamton team for three of four quarters. We talked about not having a second-quarter letdown, and the way we responded in the second half shows a lot about our team."

* Jeff Newton, Oxford (29-12 winners over Elmira Notre Dame: "The Notre Dame coach and the referees came up to us after the game and complimented us on our physical play, and how the kids were class-acts on the field. That was nice to hear to know we are now known as class-acts...it makes you feel like you are doing the right thing for the kids as mentors."

* Mike Jasper, Sherburne-Earlville (34-0 winners over Tully): "It was a dominating win, but if we have any complaints about last week, we had a few little things that would kill us against a team like (General Brown, S-E's opponent this week)."

* Mark Segina, Unadilla Valley (24-18 losers to Moravia): "We have been working all week at cleaning up our inside run defense which has to improve. While we stopped points, we need to get more offensive snaps to win by not giving up first downs. We also have been working with our O-line to clean up our run blocking schemes and adjustments. Our goal this week is to get our ground game on par with our passing game."
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Six games are on tap this weekend, and below is a snapshot of each contest:

Norwich (0-1) at Owego (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Norwich and Owego test the Class B waters this week, albeit a non-division game tonight. While Norwich was competitive with Binghamton, Owego dropped a intersectional contest to Hoosick Falls, 48-21, at the Carrier Dome.
In last year’s matchup between the two clubs, Norwich running back Mike Oralls had 150 yards rushing by halftime, and finished with over 200 in the Tornado’s victory. Chrystie knows that Owego’s coaching staff will have its eye on Oralls in hopes of containing the prolific rusher. “We have to think they’ll try to take Mike out of the offense,” Chrystie said. “We’ve accounted for that and are putting in stuff for other people. In our offense, if you take something away, we have something to counter it. We don’t mind if (a defense) keys on a player because we have an alternate attack.”
What was somewhat lost in the shuffle of Norwich’s loss last week was the outstanding kicking of Norwich senior Zan Stewart. Stewart connected on what is believed a school-record 43-year field goal - one that would’ve been good from 50-plus – and Stewart also launched three touchbacks. “Zan has a strong leg, and we know his touchback percentage could have an impact on a game,” Chrystie said. “It forces teams to drive the field, and even though we gave up 35 points last week, we felt our defense was physical and tough to drive the length of the field. He’s a huge weapon going forward.”
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 General Brown (1-0) at Sherburne-Earlville (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
General Brown has a long established football program in Section III with playoff appearances nearly every year, and section titles to its credit. S-E made the Section III playoffs for just the second time last season, so the Marauders are certainly the new kids on the block.
“We look at a program like General Brown, and that’s where we want to be,” Jasper said.
The way General Brown goes about its business on the field is not that dissimilar to the Marauders. “They’re very physical, and similar to the Section IV teams we scrimmage and play,” Jasper said. “We know they will come in and be disciplined, physical and will execute. We need to be the same way if we have any chance of beating them.”
GB features all-state running back/linebacker Zach Petry, who has a younger brother nearly as talented, Jasper said.

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Dryden (1-0) at Oxford (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Dryden scored in bunches last week against Bainbridge-Guilford, and features an option offense out of the pistol formation that relies on a strong running game and big pass plays. "This will be a great test, especially for our defense," Newton said. "We have to play sound, fundamental defense. If one guy messes up, a play can go a long way."
Oxford has its own offensive wrinkles, and features several big-play threats. "Every team has its strengths and weaknesses, and we think we have a good game plan for (Dryden)," Newton said.
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Greene (0-1) at Unatego (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Unatego features a high-octane offense with big-play ability and a quarterback, Josh Feyerabend, who has put up huge numbers through a season-plus as starting quarterback. “Feyerabend is a nice thrower and a threat to run the ball,” Gorton said. “Their receiver/running back threat, Tanner Winchester, made two great individual plays to score touchdowns last week against Sidney. We must avoid giving up big plays and contain their speed...it is a big test for us, but we are looking forward to the challenge.”
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Bainbridge-Guilford (0-1) at Sidney (0-1) (Saturday, 7 p.m.)
Sidney opens its new home football field Saturday night in a contest that was originally scheduled for Friday.
Both clubs are coming off losses, although the Bobcats were far less competitive in losing to Dryden. Sidney, meanwhile, threw the ball 42 times against Unatego who has its own high-powered attack. The Spartans' defense, though, was able to match the athletes Sidney employs on offense. "Sidney has that high octane offense, and we're hoping we can match up as well with those athletes as Unatego did," Mattingly said. "Our defensive line will need to put pressure on their quarterback, and we'll have to defend their skill players. It'll be a tough game.”
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Unadilla Valley (0-1) at Deposit-Hancock, Friday, 7 p.m.
The Storm’s offense was almost exclusively through the air last week, and it will need more balance (as stated in Segina’s comments above) in order to find the win column against the Eagles. “Deposit-Hancock is a big, physical team that is well coached,” Segina said. “We’ll have our work cut out for us as they have some weapons.”
The Eagles do have a nice run/pass offensive mix, one that helped them scored a 34-14 victory over Edison last week. “We are looking forward to competing and kicking off our divisional play,” Segina said. “We’ll need to keep our collective heads, run our game plan, and execute to win this game.”