BROOKVILLE — Rarely does a team get a third shot at beating a team that defeated it earlier in the season. Then again, the way this year’s been going for the Brookville Raiders, it’s not that surprising.

Brookville (6-6) squares off against Grove City (9-2) in the first round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs at Slippery Rock’s N. Kerr Stadium Friday night at 7 p.m.

Grove City is the last team to beat the Raiders, shutting them out 28-0 in the final week of the season. After that game, head coach Chris Dworek decided to take his team to the playoffs and that decision paid off big-time.

Brookville avenged a earlier loss to Moniteau (20-13), then held off two-time defending champion Brockway (21-20) before blasting past Redbank Valley last week in the District 9 Championship game, 42-15.

The Raiders lost a 34-7 decision to the Bulldogs at the end of September, but this game had no resemblance whatsoever of the first encounter as Brookville rushed for 433 yards.

Senior quarterback Nick Heschke and sophomore running back Max Kutz had career games for the Raiders. Heschke rushed for 193 yards on only 14 carries and scored three touchdowns. Kutz added 145 yards on 13 attempts with two touchdowns.

Behind that unit, Brookville has put its best running game statistically since Dworek took over the head coaching job before the 1996 season. The Raiders average nearly 200 yards a game on the ground at 197 yards per game. Six Raiders have at least 200 yards rushing, led by Heschke (663), Silas Wonderling (424), Kutz (418), Matt Berfield (331), Travis Diener (237) and Levi Singleton (227).

It wasn’t as easy running the ball the first time around against Grove City, which limited the Raiders to 117 yards rushing and 155 yards of offense overall in the shutout victory. Since that game, Brookville has averaged 310 yards rushing per game.

Grove City got some revenge of its own in last week’s District 10 final, beating Harborcreek, 33-7. Grove City had lost to Harborcreek, 34-21, in its season opener. The Eagles have not only shut out the Raiders but other opponents this year, including four in a row in a streak that ended with Brookville. In the playoffs, Grove City got by North East in its opener, 30-27, before last week’s win over Harborcreek.

The Eagles are balanced, with a 1,000-yard quarterback and three backs over 400 yards rushing. Quarterback Jim Jaskowak has passed for 1,397 yards and 11 TDs. Fullback Jack Vallely leads the backs with 694 yards and 10 TDs. Wingback Jesse Alfreno is the team’s big speed threat at 510 yards rushing and 584 yards receiving on 28 receptions.

The Raiders are playing Grove City for the ninth time. The all-time series is tied at 4-4. This is the sixth PIAA playoff game in Brookville history. The Raiders are 1-4 with its only win coming in 1994 against Wilmington (23-14). This year and 1994 are the only years where the Raiders find themselves in the final eight teams in the Class AA bracket.

It’s the first state playoff game for Brookville since its loss to Sharon in 1998 at E.J. Mansell Stadium in DuBois.