Sportsbeat Game of the Week: Somerset at Greater Johnstown preview

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) – Week three is around the time that teams feel a sense of urgency to get their seasons back on the right track. Arguably, no teams may feel more pressure to get their first wins of the year in Greater Johnstown and Somerset, who will be facing off on Friday.

For a Trojans program that’s within the top 40 of wins all-time in Pennsylvania, victories have been hard to come by lately as Greater Johnstown has lost 42 games in a row.

When the Golden Eagles come to Trojan Stadium on Friday, it offers maybe the best chance for Greater Johnstown to win its first game since October 2019.

“They can feel it, they want it, they’re fighting for it,” Trojans Head Coach Antwuan Reed said. “They could feel it coming. (They need to) tighten up those last few things and just getting it in their mind (that they can) get over that hump.”

Nobody may know about the pride and tradition of Greater Johnstown football more than Reed. In the mid-2000s, he was a part of two All-State teams and helped the Trojans win their first district championship in school history.

“You go in the barbershops, you go in the restaurants, you go around town, everybody talks about Johnstown football,” the former Cleveland Brown said. “As a kid, (you just have) that pride. You can’t wait to wear your jersey around with the Trojan on the front.”

Since taking the helm a few seasons ago, Reed has seen a massive improvement in the team’s leadership, mentality and fight. This year, Reed’s kids Julius and Zymir have provided an electric combination through the passing game, which also gives a lot of optimism to the Johnstown faithful that the program may be turning the corner.

“That’s just that brotherly connection,” Reed laughed. “Other guys have been stepping up too and guiding other guys along.”

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles are trying to salvage their season for a big senior class that has only won five games. Despite having a team filled with plenty of playing experience, mental mistakes and penalties have plagued Somerset.

“We’re showing them what happens whenever you let the mental aspect of the game get away from it,” Somerset head coach Jeff Urban said. “It’s hard for us as a coaching staff to teach them how to win, they’ve been on losing teams their whole high school career. So, we fight actually the education part of your good football team (so) just go out and prove it.”

Last week, there were signs that Somerset could be a good football team in its one-score loss to reigning LHAC Champion Central. However, the Golden Eagles were penalized for more than 100 yards, which heavily contributed to the loss.

Somerset is hoping to play mistake-free football this week and let its veteran defensive line, which is led by Rowan Holmes , pressure Julius.

“The one thing we’re going to be hanging our hat on again this week is pressure,” Urban said. “We have we feel we have one of the best defensive lines in the league, now it’s on these guys (to prove it).”

Last year, a win over Greater Johnstown sparked a three-game winning streak for Somerset, and they are hoping this year’s game can also do the same.

“The way our schedule set up last year and this year of course we feel we have several winnable football games coming up, but it all starts with Johnstown,” Urban said. “I think this game is going to set the tone for the rest of the season with this football team.”

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The last team that Johnstown defeated was Somerset at Trojan Stadium. Will they be able to break the drought?

“That would be big for the school, the town, the program, just everything,” Reed said.

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