So, 2-5 doesn’t look too bad compared to three straight winless seasons for Seneca.

Class 4A Warren can’t worry about any of that when it tries to snap its one-game losing streak at 7 p.m. today at Class 2A Seneca.

“On paper, this is somewhat of a mismatch,” said Warren coach Mark Morelli. “This is a Double-A school struggling to keep their program going. These games are the hardest to coach; you want to be respectful and professional about things, yet we have to be fair to our own kids. They have a QB who is athletic and had a good game last week in their win over Union City. We’ll go up there and play the game the way it is supposed to be played. There is a good chance a lot of our younger kids will get some playing time.”

It’s probably taken the whole week of practice to figure out what went wrong in a 22-7 loss to Northwestern, also Class 2A but undefeated.

Warren’s Kody Vega (25) makes a tackle against Oil City. Times Observer photos

“It is not easy, the swing of emotions each week is a lot,” said Morelli, whose Dragons are 4-4 overall. “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. We have a resilient group, but playing sports can sometimes rip a competitor’s heart out, yet there is no quit. That inner drive is what keeps things going. Our kids still have a goal or two to reach.

“Last week is very hard to put into words or context,” said Morelli. “It was just one of those days where the ‘perfect storm’ came together for Northwestern. We evaluated the film, our kids know what they did and what they did not do. There were some positives in that game, so it is not like we need to make wholesale changes.

“There are some younger kids who have been catching our eye over the past several weeks, (including) Sam Harvey, Talon Mesel and Carson Farr,” added Morelli. “They have stepped up with their play. Two others who have shown steady progress and improvement are Isaac Werth and Pat Heffern. Isaac has stepped in to fill in when needed on the line and Pat has never played football, but his kicking has been coming along to give us a boost.”