BACK TO PASS — Madonna QB Maddox Bowen and the Blue Dons look to get back on track Friday night when they host Cameron in a key Class A match up at Jimmy Carey Stadium. - Andrew Grimm

WEIRTON — For a young team, how it responds from a tough loss can be a big determining factor for how the rest of the season may go.

John McCune, the first-year Madonna coach, is hoping his youthful Blue Dons use their first loss of the season Saturday night at Catholic Central to learn and get better.

They’ll need to do so in a hurry as they face another tough test Friday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium when Class A opponent and fellow 4-1 squad Cameron comes to Weirton.

“That process was Sunday, we wanted to get it out of our mind and get back to work,” McCune said. “There wasn’t much to say other than we got beat all over the field. We don’t think that score was indicative of how good our football team is so we want to have a good week and have a bounce back performance, that’s our mentality this week to show that we still have a good football team here at Madonna.”

The Dons 48-0 loss to the Crusaders was simply one of those nights where nothing went right, and McCune pointed out a lot of that was a credit to Central’s big, strong defense.

While Cameron is also a big challenge, it’s a different challenge than the Crusaders.

“It doesn’t get any easier for us, we talked before about how the schedule really ramped up,” McCune said. “They’re a very good, aggressive football team and their only loss is to a very good football team in Edison and they just beat a very good team, we know they’re going to be a challenge.

“They’re running back, (Klypsan) Wallace is a big, strong physical back that’s been around for a while. We have to keep eyes on him, and they can spread you out and they have a quarterback who has a very strong arm (Kason Angel) that can push the ball downfield. We have to be sound defensively.

“Their size is more comparable to us. Central was a big, strong team, our guys are excited to go against a team that’s more comparable in size to us.”

It’s a big game for both teams in the Class A rankings, as Madonna slipped to No. 7 and will look to stay in the top-8 to stay in position to potentially host a playoff game, while the Dragons, despite being 4-1, are No. 15 in the standings, inside the playoff picture by just one spot.

“We’re ahead of them in the rankings and I’m sure they’re coming to Jimmy Carey Stadium looking to get some bonus points by beating us,” McCune said. “We expect to get the very best from Cameron on Friday night. There’s no doubt about it, it’s a big game in the rankings.”

After dropping their first game of the season to now 5-1 Edison, Cameron has won four-straight games. They knocked off Hundred, St. Marys, Magnolia and Tyler Consolidated in consecutive weeks.

Brown knows Madonna provides some challenges of its own for his squad with their plethora of weapons and freshmen QB Maddox Bowen, who will be looking to have a bounce-back game.

“They shot themselves in the foot a few times (against Catholic Central) but let me tell you, they have some good athletes,” Brown said. “They have a have a nice mix of pass and run, they have a big, strong kid at linebacker and running back (Wesley Molish) and their quarterback may not be very big, but he is tough.

“They’re a formidable opponent and their record shows it. They have athletes that can score on you quickly and they can make a big defensive play. All aspects of the game are going to be important.

“We have to know who their big athletes are, we don’t want to kick the ball to their fastest guys and things like that. We have to be smart about how we play and we have to be ready for any kind of trick play or anything they might throw at us.

“A big play or a surprise might get a score and in a game like this, one score might decide the winner.”

The Dragons averages over 200 yards per game on the ground, while Madonna had been throwing for over 200 per outing before being held under 100 yards of offense by the Crudaders.

The key matchup is set for a 7 p.m. opening kick on Friday night.

“We’ve been going against each other in all sports for years,” Brown said. “We’ve developed kind of a rivalry and respect each other a lot and play hard against each other. It’s not a game you go into lightly.”