CLARION – At 3-6, the Brookville Raiders decided to take their somewhat young squad into the District 9 Class AA playoffs. As the fifth and lowest seed, the Raiders have almost turned the entire bracket upside down.

To get the job completely done, the Raiders (5-6) will have to avenge a 34-7 loss to Redbank Valley (7-3) from earlier in the season in Saturday night’s District 9 Class AA Championship game at Clarion University’s Memorial Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The second-seeded Bulldogs moved into the finals with a 35-14 win over Karns City last week and will try to win their first title since 1996.

It’s the 61^st meeting between the former Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference/Little 12 rivals and fourth time they’ve met in the District 9 Class AA Championship game. Redbank Valley leads the all-time series, 29-24-6, but the Raiders have won two of the three D-9 title games -- 14-0 in 1994 and 7-6 in 1995. Redbank Valley beat Brookville, 34-8, in 1992.

Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski’s team notched a decisive win over Brookville in New Bethlehem on Sept. 30 and will be favored in the rematch. The Bulldogs ran for 272 yards and outgained the Raiders, 360-247. Skyler Smith and Brandon Johnston each ran for two touchdowns.

Smith, Johnston and Bryce Miller key a Redbank Valley running attack that averages 256 yards per game. Smith and Johnston, with good games, could both go over 1,000 yards for the season. Smith has 899 yards and 15 TDs while Johnston has gained 892 yards and 12 TDs. Johnston is also averaging a whopping 13.3 yards per carry.

Miller has a respectable 530 yards and 9 TDs. He rushed for a game-high 151 yards and Smith added 138 yards and three TDs in the win over Karns City.

Obviously, the Raiders will have to contain the Bulldogs’ running game. If they do, it’ll put pressure on QB Jason Smith, who’s passed for 459 yards, three TDs and 14 interceptions this year.

Brookville guns for its first crown since 1998 when the Raiders entered the playoffs as the fourth and lowest seed and promptly eliminated top-seeded and unbeaten Karns City in overtime in the semifinals. The Raiders went on to beat another former Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference rival Brockway in the finals. In 1999, Karns City beat the Raiders for the D-9 title.

This year, the Raiders upset fourth-seeded Moniteau, 20-13, in the preliminary round for their first playoff win since 1999. The Raiders avenged a 52-20 season-opening loss to the Warriors. Last week, head coach Chris Dworek’s team ended a two-game playoff losing streak to top-seeded Brockway with a 21-20 upset in Brockway.

The Cinderella Raiders have a chance to win a district title after starting the season 0-3 and 1-5. They’ve won four of their last five games with their only loss coming to Grove City, which plays in the D-10 Class AA final this weekend.

You can also call them the Road Raiders as they’ve played only three games at home this year. Of their eight road games, long trips were made to Wellsboro, Bradford and two trips to Moniteau. And how about Young Raiders as Dworek’s squad has just 10 seniors on the roster? He’s getting key contributions from his freshmen and sophomores.

Leading the way is senior QB Nick Heschke. He’s passed for 832 yards and rushed for 470 yards. He leads a running by committee that also includes juniors Silas Wonderling (366) and Matt Berfield (331), and sophomore Max Kutz (270). The Raiders are averaging 175.6 yards rushing per game, the best per-game average they’ve sported in recent memory.