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ZANESVILLE -- For the first time this week, things feel like they're in a routine for Catholic Central.
Opening week is always chaotic, especially with a new head coach, then last week school started and the Crusaders were on a short week.
This week, they have a full week between games and have had time to get in a rhythm, something head coach Greg Bahen hopes will help the Crusaders put together their first win of the season.
"We'll have more of a routine down this week," Central head coach Greg Bahen said. "The bus is leaving at a similar time Friday; we'll have the gist of it. The big thing is it's a lot hotter this week. So, we're making sure we're hydrating and avoiding cramps and all that good stuff. But I think we're in a pretty good routine."
They'll look to do that against Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans, another team off to a 0-2 start and looking to get into the win column.
"Rosecrans was a playoff team from the year before," Bahen said "We know it'll be a big challenge. We gotta regroup and get ready to go."
The game is the second of four-straight away from home for the Crusaders, who also visit Toronto and Buckeye Local before returning home on Sept. 26 against St. Thomas Aquinas.
Last week Central went to Strasburg to start the trip and suffered a 28-0 set back to the Tigers, who are 2-0 and ranked in the top-20 in Ohio Division VII by MaxPreps.
" Strasburg was just a really good team," Bahen said. "They played better than us. They coached better than us. And they kind of took it to us. We have watched the film and hopefully learned from it and can show it Friday against Rosecrans."
Coming off a shutout loss, a fast start and getting some confidence back early on in the game on the offensive side of the ball could be key, Bahen believes.
"Give Strasburg's defense a lot of credit, they were really good, but we made some silly mistakes on offense with some silly turnovers," We've got to clean that stuff up, block better up front. We're kind of shuffling some things around and hopefully it helps.
"If we can move the ball early and get some confidence and some momentum going early, that would be big for us.".
Rosecrans has done most of its damage this season on the ground, rushing for 327 and passing for just 85. That ground game is led by Frankie Palandrani, a sophomore that has ran for 284 yards and both of the Bishops' touchdowns this season.
"They're a little different from last year; they lost their quarterback who graduated," Bahen said. "They really spread it out last year and threw the ball a lot. This year they're getting in the I-formation and running it a lot more, so we've got to be ready to line up and stop their power-I and make sure we're stopping the run."
The opening kick on Friday night is set for 7 p.m.