The Mathews High School football team won one game in Mike Palumbo’s first year as head coach.

Last year, the Mustangs went .500, but struggled down the stretch, losing three of their last four games.

Now, in his third season, Palumbo has Mathews football a threat again in the Northeastern Athletic Conference. The Mustangs are 6-3 overall and a perfect 5-0 in the conference with a matchup against also-unbeaten Pymatuning Valley tonight.

They’re also sitting in ninth place in Division VII, Region 23, needing a win to reach the playoffs.

Palumbo spoke with The Vindicator before his team’s winner-take-all Week 10 game.

Q. What were the expectations coming into the season and what did you guys think you were capable of?

A. Our first goal was to win the league and then our second goal was to make the playoffs. We preach to the kids, even in July and August, that if we can get better each day — if we’re better from day one to day two to day three — then we’re going to be in a good situation at the end of the year.

Q. What is it about your team’s triple option rushing attack that allows you to have so much success?

A. In order to run the triple option, you gotta have a smart quarterback. He doesn’t have to be the most athletic, but Cobie [Pratt] is a pretty athletic kid so we’re lucky with that point. Cobie’s just a smart kid and he’s not afraid to make decisions. What we do offensively, it all kind of runs through him and his decision-making determines if we’re successful or not. Then we have a running back in Brian Leipply in the backfield and he’s a hell of a runner, so we can also run some of our power stuff out of our wishbone sets. If we can get those guys to kind of split the carries evenly every game — and we have a couple other backs that complement it — we’re successful.

Q. When did you realize the triple option would be a successful offense and how long did it take to get the players to buy into the system?

A. My first year here we went 1-9. It’s tough when you’re the new guy coming in, having them buy into the system that you want to create for them. But even in those games we were losing the first year, and even the second year when we were 5-5, they were starting to see progress in what we were doing. With anything that you do, if the kids are buying into it, you can be successful.

Q. Your team is 6-3 and a couple of percentage points out of a playoff spot. Is that something you talk to your team a lot about going into the final week of the season?

A. Oh, absolutely. This game is the biggest game of their football careers. This game is going to decide if we’re the league champs and if we make the playoffs and I think the kids are up for it. A lot of teams wish Week 10 meant something for them. A lot of teams out there are just playing Week 10 and know they’re done. It’s the last week of the season and we’re playing for something. We’re one of the few lucky ones that can say that this week.

Q. How do you get your kids to prepare like it’s any other week, knowing that they haven’t really played in a meaningful game quite like this?

A. It’s difficult, but it is an important game and we’re treating it like a championship game. A lot of coaches go into it thinking we’re going to treat it like every week. We’re treating it as if it’s not every week. It’s an important game for them. It’s probably been our best week of practice so far, with the kids taking it serious. Some of these kids are three- and four-year starters for us, so it’s their time to just take it and go with it.

- Kevin Connelly, The Vindicator