District 9 Class AA Playoff Home

BROOKVILLE – Familiar postseason football opponents meet again after a one-year hiatus Saturday night.

The Brookville Raiders (6-3) host the Brockway Rovers (5-4) in the District 9 Class AA semifinals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

It’s the fourth time in five years that the former Little 12/Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference rivals have met in the playoffs.

In 1998, the Raiders dumped the Rovers, 33-6, in the District 9 Class AA Championship game. The last two meetings came in the semifinals where Brookville beat Brockway, 21-10, in 1999 and Brockway beat Brookville, 30-12, in 2000.

In the semifinal meetings, the winner advanced to the finals only to lose to Karns City. Last year, Brockway made it to the finals where it fell to the Gremlins, 46-0.

Again this year, the Brockway-Brookville winner will likely get Karns City in the finals next week. Karns City, which hosts Moniteau tonight in the other semifinal game, beat the Warriors, 33-6, earlier this year.

Karns City has won the last three and four of the last five Class AA titles.

The Raiders and Rovers come at their matchup from different directions. And Route 28 has nothing to do with it.

It’s been a turnaround year for the Raiders, who won their first District 9 League title since bolting from the KSAC after the 1992 season. The championship comes after the Raiders struggled through a 1-8 campaign a year ago.

The confidence built dramatically after the Raiders beat Clearfield, 26-18, in their second game. The win proved to be the difference in the D-9 League standings as each team finished 4-1.

Conversely, it’s been an up-and-down if not disappointing season for the Rovers. Brockway came into the season with high hopes of winning the Allegheny Mountain League South Division title.

Instead, the Rovers have lost four of their last six games after starting the season 3-0 and had to regroup for a 41-0 rout at Youngsville last week to secure a winning regular season record.

For the Rovers, despite a concerted effort to bolster their passing game, the running game will play the biggest role into how far the team goes in the postseason. Reckner points first, though, to his offensive line.

Senior tackles Ryan Benson and Matt Marchiori, senior center Garth Magee and senior guard Matt Grieneisen, and junior guard Kyle Smith will try to pave the way for the backfield. Grieneisen was an AML South All-Star pick.

Junior wingback Jeremy Sickeri (698 yards, 5 TDs) and senior wingback Jon Cantafio (345 yards, 3 TDs) lead the rushing attack, but Seth Rhed and Andy Martino have contributed as well. Martino has rushed for six touchdowns.

Brockway has shown the ability to pass as junior quarterback John Himes ranks fourth in the Tri-County Area with 772 yards passing with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Himes threw for 201 yards against Curwensville and even when he’s not asked to throw much he’s done well. Last week, Himes completed 2 of 4 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

Both of Himes’ completions went to Tom Bussard (22 receptions, 478 yards, 4 TDs), who has accounted for over half of the team’s passing yards.

Passing has been a useful word in the Raiders’ vocabulary for awhile as senior Cole Cook survived last year’s beating to become one of the top QBs in District 9. He leads the area with 1,235 yards to go with 10 TDs and 6 interceptions.

Junior tailback Matt Gilbert (578 yards, 5 TDs) and senior fullback Bill Morrison (395 yards, 7 TDs) have been consistent running the ball.

The Raiders have a deep receiving crew led by senior playmaker Corey Santoriello (37 receptions, 518 yards, 7 TDs), who ranks second in the area in receiving yardage. Santoriello, the D9Sports.Com Player of the Week in the Raiders’ win over Clearfield, has also rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns.

Juniors Brent Puller (193 yards) and Cliff Park (175) and senior Kerry Swineford (165, 2 TDs) are other receiving targets for Cook.

With their postseason matchups, the Raiders and Rovers know each other pretty well.

How each team executes and adjusts to each other certainly will determine who wins the game. But there are a few wrinkles.

Brockway’s traditional double-wing, backs in motion offense was not used most of the season, until last week’s season-high 305-yard rushing effort against Youngsville.

At least two of the Raiders’ three losses — Bradford and Oil City — came to teams that run a similar offense to the traditional Brockway approach. Bradford gained a season-high 300 yards rushing while Oil City rushed for a second-best 172 a week later.