The Redskins will travel to play unbeaten and state ranked Mt. Markham at 7 p.m. Friday night, and Pugliese said he and his team are going there to win.

``We’re not going there to survive, we’re going there to try and win the game,’’ Pugliese said.

Pugliese said he saw reasons for optimism during CCS’s loss on Saturday.

``I really thought we outplayed them other than the turnovers, which just killed us,’’ Pugliese said.

Herkimer, 3-3 overall, scored two defensive touchdowns and two other turnovers led to touchdowns.

``We moved the ball well, and I was very pleased with everything I saw other than the turnovers,’’ Pugliese added.

Junior receiver and defensive back Brad Ashford had what Pugliese described as his best game of the season.

``He made a few good catches and he was tackling well,’’ Pugliese said. ``As a team, we were really hitting hard and getting after them.’’

Ashford suffered a rib injury during the game, however, and is questionable for Friday as are linebacker Andrew Auriemma (knee) and defensive back Chad Parshall (concussion).

Freshman Alec Silvera scored his second touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game on a four-yard run.

Pugliese said Mt. Markham is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and have close to 20 seniors on the roster.

``They’re a very good football team, but we had them beat until the last three seconds last year when they tied us up and won in overtime,’’ Pugliese said. ``I’m very proud of the progress my team has made this year. If all the young players stick with the program, we could be just like Mt. Markham in a couple of years.’’

Cooperstown, 0-6 overall, will play New York Mills in a crossover game next Friday or Saturday. Pugliese said the game may be played at Sauquoit under the lights, but all the details had not yet been finalized.