The comparison is almost eerie.

The Penn Hills High School football team is heading down the very same path as it did last year.

And for Indians' fans, that's a big relief.

After opening last season with a 1-3 record, with non-conference losses to Gateway, Bethel Park and North Allegheny, the Indians opened Big East Conference play with a 28-7 victory against Plum before riding a five-game winning streak into the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

So far this year, the Indians went 1-3 with losses to the very same non-conference opponents. Then they beat Plum ... by the very same score as last season.

Penn Hills (2-3, 1-0), which entered the season at No. 3 in the Post-Gazette's Class AAAA rankings, secured its second win and first in conference action with a 28-7 road decision against the Mustangs.

"That's because of the play by our special teams and secondary," second-year coach Ron Graham said. "That's what helped us get that win."

Penn Hills trailed, 7-0, at the half before scoring 14 unanswered points in both final quarters. And it was the Indians' effort on special teams and defense that guided their scoring.

Star senior wide receiver Brandon Ifill returned a punt for 46 yards before fellow senior star receiver and cornerback Cullen Christian took back another for 37 yards to set up Toreek Hester's 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Hester lead all rushers with 51 yards on 14 carries.

Defensively, senior Mike Jackson returned an interception for an 85-yard score in the fourth quarter and then junior tailback Lamon Kyser punched in a 1-yard run for Penn Hills' final touchdown.

Graham was pleased with the win, but he also knows this year's group has a long way to go before matching last season's run that took Penn Hills to the WPIAL semifinals.

"We're not playing up to the levels of potential," he said. "We're struggling offensively and not moving the ball like we should.

"We're looking to solve that problem."

Penn Hills is averaging just 14.6 points against opponents while allowing 19.2.

"The difference between last year and this is year is last year we had a senior quarterback [three-year starter Tom Fulton], who continued to progress from his junior year," Graham said. "This year is different with a sophomore quarterback [Chaz Whittaker], who was just a freshman right out of the youth league last year.

"We're still going through the growing pains with that. The difference will be to see how the young guy will progress this year."

Through five games, Whittaker has completed 42 of 81 passes for 371 yards with just one touchdown. Ifill has been on the receiving end of 13 of those completions for 126 yards.

"We have playmakers at the receiver positions, but we're having difficulty getting the ball to them," Graham said.

While Whittaker continues his development, the Indians are loaded with Division I prospects. Ifill and Christian, who have multiple offers from big-time programs, have yet to commit, but defensive lineman Aaron Donald has selected Pitt and linebacker Myles Davis is headed to Syracuse.

"We have to move the ball," Graham said. "Field position and time of possession also are important. We have to keep our defense off the field to balance things out.

"We're not moving the ball like we need to be doing."

Graham also knows this week will be another big challenge. The Indians play host to Central Catholic at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night.

The Vikings (3-2, 0-1) are coming off a 27-3 loss -- the fewest points scored by Central in the past five seasons -- to No. 3 Woodland Hills.

"Central is going to be tough," said Graham, whose Indians posted a 30-7 victory against the Vikings last year. "They're a well-coached team. They're coming off a tough loss to Woodland Hills, so I'm sure they're going to be ready to put together a win against us. They want to recover.

"We have to play a sound football game. They have a very good defensive line, so we have to move the ball better than we have been."

• What: Central Catholic at Penn Hills.

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: Yuhas-McGinley Stadium, Penn Hills.

• The skinny: After starting the season 0-2 Penn Hills has come on recently and is 2-3 after being Plum last week. Central Catholic (3-2) has lost two of its past three games and is coming off a 27-3 loss to Woodland Hills.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.