Clearfield (6-3)
at St. Marys (6-3)
ST. MARYS - It all comes down to this for the Bisons - win and go to the District 9 playoffs. Lose and it's unlikely (although not impossible) that Clearfield will make a 14th-straight trip to the postseason.
But the Flying Dutch are in the same boat. In fact, even if St. Marys wins this game, it still needs help to make a playoff appearance.
For both teams, the last few weeks have been like playoff games.
"We've both been in that mode for quite a few games," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "Both teams want to get into the playoffs, and every game is key. We're accustomed to playing big games at the end of the season."
The squads are also accustomed to playing big games against each other - at least in recent history.
The Bisons and Flying Dutch are meeting for the eighth time in five seasons. They met twice last year, with the Bisons winning both, including a 42-20 win in the District 9 Class AAA Championship game.
In 2007, the Clearfield beat St. Marys in the regular season only to lose in the D-9 semifinals. In 2005, the Bisons beat the Dutch in the championship game after losing to them during the regular season.
"We're used to playing each other," Janocko said. "This time we both need a win to get into the playoffs. Our kids realize how big of a game this is."
The Bisons have been on a bit of a roll since a stunning loss to Bald Eagle Area in Week 6. Clearfield hammered Penns Valley in Week 7, took down previously unbeaten Central in Week 8 and notched an overtime win over Huntingdon a week ago with both teams sorely needing wins.
"It's a testament to these kids," Janocko said. "They've been fighting all year. I couldn't be happier with the way they've played and the way they've fought. I'm glad they're in the position to win and go to the playoffs."
On offense, St. Marys is led by running back Kevin Hoy, who has 1,274 yards and 11 touchdowns on 191 carries. Kyle Schneider (60-356) and Brian Samick (48-255) will also see the ball, but Hoy is the focal point of the Dutch's run-heavy offense.
"He is a large part of their offense, and we must be aware of him at all times," Janocko said. "He's a good back. They have a good trapping game and run a good sweep off of that. They are a classic Wing-T offense."
Dutch quarterback Greg Simchick also chips in with a few passes every week. He has connected on 40 of his 72 attempts for 440 yards and four touchdowns, while only tossing one pick.
Defensively, the Flying Dutch look to Sean Sadosky and a very active core of linebackers.
"They have a real good defense," Janocko said. "It centers around Sadosky. Their linebackers make a lot of plays. They just play good, solid defense."
The Dutch have two shutouts on the season, beating Lewistown, 25-0 and Penns Valley, 34-0. St. Marys also has wins over Bellefonte (51-12), BEA (20-14), Indian Valley (25-7) and Philipsburg-Osceola (19-6). Its losses have come to Huntingdon (17-6), Tyrone (27-14) and Central (14-0).
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dutch Country Stadium.

AML Championship
Cameron County (9-0)
at Curwensville (7-2)
CURWENSVILLE - In a Week 4 loss to Cameron County, the Curwensville football team found its identity.
Five dominant wins later, the Golden Tide have the chance to avenge that loss, take home their first Allegheny Mountain League title since 2004 and claim the number one seed in the District 9 Class A playoffs.
Pretty impressive for a team that stood at 2-2 and was struggling in the early part of the season.
"For whatever reason - and I wish we could figure out what it was and bottle it for upcoming seasons - everybody just came together and played a whale of a football game against Cameron County," Curwensville head coach Andy Evanko said. "The kids found themselves that night and found what they needed to do to be a good football team. It's been a heck of a ride since."
The Tide has defeated their five opponents since the Cameron County game by a combined score of 157-41. And 19 of those points surrendered came in a 32-19 win over Brockway.
"The kids just got confident," Evanko said. "Their confidence level went up in the Cameron County game and it carried over. They believe in the system, and they believe in each other. And we even went through some injuries and had other kids step up and do a fantastic job. They believe they can do what they need to do."
What Curwensville needs to do against the Red Raiders is eliminate big plays. Cameron County scored on an 85-yard pass play and a 54-yard run in the first half of the first meeting - a 19-18 Red Raider win.
"Obviously we got hurt with big plays," Evanko said. "We can't give them up Friday night.
Both plays were made by running back Andy Lippert, who had rushed for 1,223 yards and 16 touchdowns.
"He's explosive. He's very fast, and he's physical," Evanko said of Lippert. "Cameron County is a lot like us. They like to run the Iso's. Their defense is similar. And their offensive and defensive lines are big."
This is the Red Raiders' third-straight trip to the AML title game. They came up empty in both previous years, losing to Kane both times. This is Curwensville's sixth trip to the title contest since 2000, and their first trip since 2006.
"There is a multitude of things riding on this game," Evanko said. "But our main focus is Cameron County and taking care of our business. If we do all the things we need to do in the game, everything else will take care of itself."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Riverside Stadium.

District 6 Class A
First Round
Mount Union (6-3)
at Moshannon Valley (7-2)
AMESVILLE - In last season's District 6 Class A playoffs, Moshannon Valley earned its first postseason win since 1996 with a defeat of Bishop Carroll.
This year the Black Knights will have the opportunity to get postseason wins in back-to-back seasons for the second time in school history - after doing so in 1995-1996.
Standing in the way, though, is a physical Mount Union team.
"Last week's loss (to Southern Huntingdon) was a wake-up call to the boys," said Knight coach Murray Fetzer. "This is it - winner goes on, loser goes home. Everyone knew in the locker room last week that we were going to the playoffs. Now it's different.
"The intensity is going to increase. They know if they don't execute on Friday that this will be the last time some of them get to put a uniform on. We have to get better from it, improve and see if we can execute better this week."
The Trojans don't do anything fancy on offense, but the three-headed running attack has been effective this season. Mount Union, which has gained nearly 1,500 yards, is led by Mydell Loner. Loner has ran 124 times for 657 yards, and is complemented by Malakia Jackson (55-301) and Kai House (66-285).
Quarterback Trevor Dixon has completed just 18 of 56 attempts this season, and no Trojan player has more than 90 yards receiving.
"They're not going to throw 40 times, but they'll line up with two tight ends 40 times," Fetzer said of the Trojan offense. "We have to be in position to defend it, and that's what our goal is this week. ... It's very, very tough to say we're going to stop you guys, but we have to contain them."
As physical as the Trojans are on offense, they are equally as imposing defensively.
Mount Union has held opponents in single digits in six games this season - all wins - and has yielded double digit points in three contests - all losses.
"Mount Union is a big, very physical football team," said Fetzer. "We've hit a lot this week because the kids know it's going to be an aggressive game. They're going to try to push you around. Some of the teams that have had success ... they were physical back, and I think you have to match their physicality and the intensity they bring to the table.
"We're going to work hard to not let them overpower us in any way."
The Knights are 4-1 against the Trojans this decade with Mount Union's only triumph coming in Fetzer's first season in 2006.
The Trojans captured the other two meetings in the teams' history with wins in 1979-80.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Huntingdon (6-3)
at Philipsburg-Osceola (3-6)
PHILIPSBURG - The Philipsburg-Osceola football team has one game left in the 2009 season, and it hopes to go out on a winning note when Huntingdon comes to town on Friday.
The Mounties lost a heartbreaker to Chestnut Ridge last week, falling to the Lions, 14-13.
Zack Czap kicked two field goals in the loss, while Mike Marcinko scored the team's only touchdown.
Huntingdon suffered the same fate last week, losing in overtime to Clearfield, 21-14.
P-O is going to have to get some more points on the board this week if they want to finish off the season with a win.
The Mounties scored just 13 points last week and had just 213 yards of total offense, including 153 yards on the ground.
Huntingdon has allowed just 92 points this season, along with 2020 yards of total offense.
On offense, the Bearcats are led by quarterback Nathan Betts, who is 39-of-45 for 497 yards this season with six touchdowns.
One of Betts' key targets is Nathan Mykut, who has caught three touchdowns in the last three weeks. On the season, he has six receptions for 193 yards.
On the ground, Scott Minor leads the team in rushing with 497 yards on 122 carries. He has also scored five touchdowns.
Houston Riley is also a threat on the ground, picking up 290 yards and two touchdowns in three of the last four games.
The Bearcats biggest threat, however, is their special teams. Mykut has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season, while Riley has returned one.
Punter Andy Cerett is headed to Temple to play football, while kicker Andrew Hallihan has booted six field goals this season.
Last year, Huntingdon toppled Philipsburg-Osceola, 42-28.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
P-O head football coach Jeff Vroman could not be reached for comment.

West Branch (1-8)
at Williamsburg (1-8)
WILLIAMSBURG - Week 10 watches the season run down on the second year of a new regime at West Branch, and while the losses have still piled up, there's little doubt the Warriors are an improved team.
Friday night they'll try to show that improvement on paper as well, with a win giving them as many victories in 2009 as they've had in the previous three seasons combined.
"I don't think the kids feel any pressure," West Branch head coach Rob Lazauskas said. "I think the kids have an extra bounce in their step that's been missing for the last couple weeks. They want to finish strong. They've had so many close calls, and they know they're a better football team than a year ago."
Battling West Branch to get in the win column this week is a Williamsburg team in a similar situation. The Blue Pirates have struggled in recent years, with this season's lone victory coming against Southern Huntingdon.
Williamsburg has had trouble getting its running game going, and Lazauskas expects them to try to offset that by going to the air more often, with junior quarterback Trent Lee leading the way.
"I expect them to throw the ball a lot," Lazauskas said. "We've done a really good job of stopping the run for the most part, so I expect them to open things up a little bit. But our kids are aware of that. We worked really hard working on the passing (defense).
"We're prepared for anything. It's the last game of the season - you have to expect anything and everything."
On the flip side, the Blue Pirates have allowed teams to run the ball at times, and the Warriors will try to exploit that, even with the status of starting running back and 1,000-yard rusher Brandon Speigle in question due to injury.
"All I'll say on Brandon's status is he's getting better day to day," Lazauskas said. "He will be there and be in uniform. How we utilize him remains to be seen. Brandon's been a huge part of our offense but we definitely have some kids capable of carrying the load."
Both teams will begin their quest for win No. 2 when things kick off at 7 p.m.
"In today's society everybody wants a quick fix, but sometimes it doesn't happen like that," Lazauskas said. "The program is moving in the right direction and we've closed the gap on just about everyone we've played.
"The kids don't feel any pressure. They just want to go out and play well. I look for our kids to come out and play good football. We're going to open up the playbook Friday night and see where it takes us."

Saturday
District 6 Class A
First Round
Glendale (6-3)
at Blacklick Valley (7-2)
NANTY GLO - Opposing rushing attacks have proved too much for Glendale to handle at times this season, and the Vikings will see how they fare against another predominantly run-oriented team Saturday at Blacklick Valley for their first-round D-6 contest.
Glendale yielded 444 rushing yards in last week's wild 47-42 win over Tussey Mountain, while having allowed over 200 in three other contests - two of which were losses.
"In high school, a big part of anyone's game is running," said Glendale coach Rick Kozak. "I think we've worked this week to correct some mistakes and clean up some issues we had last week. Hopefully we did and we'll see what happens this weekend."
The Blacklick Valley Vikings have a two-headed attack, including senior Brenden Julock, who rushed for over 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons for Bishop Carroll before transferring this season.
Leading the way for Blacklick is Ted Worthington and he has shouldered a majority of the carries for the Vikings. Worthington has 1,109 yards and 18 TDs, while Julock has added 559 yards in limited action.
Blacklick quarterback Victor Manda has been efficient when called upon, completing 26-of-55 attempts for 467 yards and four scores. Manda has been intercepted just once.
"They're pretty tough," Kozak said of the duo. "They're good, hard runners. They have a pretty physical offensive line. Traditionally, Blacklick is a strong, physical team. We're going to have to play good, sound defense and limit big plays and big runs the best we can.
"They're going to do whatever they need to do offensively to win. We have to do our best to stop both (the run and the pass)."
After being handled by state-ranked Portage and honorable mention Conemaugh Township in the first two weeks of the season, the Blacklick defense has been stout in the Vikings' seven-game winning streak.
Blacklick has allowed more than 20 points twice since Week 2, and have a pair of shutouts to its credit.
"It's going to come down to who wants to win the game more ... who wants to advance to the next round," said Kozak.
"You can forget about anything you've accomplished up until this point because it doesn't matter. All that matters is winning on Saturday."
The Vikings' squared off last in 2005 with Blacklick coming out on top, 17-6. The meeting was the teams' first since Glendale picked up a 12-0 win in 1975.
The teams met each year from 1966-1975. Glendale leads the all-time series 7-4.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.