CURWENSVILLE -- Four years ago, Sharpsville turned out to be a roadblock for the Curwensville Golden Tide in their first-ever PIAA playoff game, beating them 7-0 in Sharon.

The 11-0 Tide get a shot at revenge, this time on a District 9 field at Clarion University Friday night in the first round of the Class A state playoffs at 7 p.m. The winner lands in the Western Region final next week.

Sharpsville also owns a perfect 11-0 record and will be a big test for Curwensville, which hasn’t had many this season.

Coming off their 41-8 rout of Clarion-Limestone in last week’s District 9 Class A Championship game, the Tide still lead the state in scoring (48.5) points per game and point differential (41.9). Curwensville also ranks third in the state in points allowed per game at 6.5.

But Sharpsville is not far behind in those categories, ranking 29^th in scoring (34.8), 11^th in point differential (28.0) and fifth in points allowed (6.8). Only one team has scored more than one touchdown in a game against Sharpsville. Linesville lost twice to its D-10 rival, 21-18 and 21-14 last week in the D-10 finals. Sharpsville owns a win over District 9’s Redbank Valley, a 20-7 win during Week 2.

The Blue Devils have a balanced offense, led by quarterback Shayne Stiger and running back Jordan Cataldi. Stiger has passed for 1,086 yards and 15 TDs while Cataldi has rushed for 877 yards and 14 TDs. He’s the second leading receiver with nine receptions, four of them for TDs, for 241 yards.

Stiger and Cataldi have help. Running backs Shawn Valenly (670 yards, 11 TDs) and R.J. Golub (485 yards, 10 TDs) have posted solid numbers. Jarryd Summers (19 receptions, 377 yards, 4 TDs) is the leading receiver.

Can anyone stop the Tide running game? So far, nobody has as Curwensville improved its average to 412.5 yards per game. Of course, the Sipes brothers account for about 81 percent of that total. Senior Nate Sipes went over the 2,000-yard milestone with last week’s 207-yard effort against C-L and stands at 2,132 yards with 32 TDs overall, both District 9-leading totals.

Nick Sipes added 190 yards and two TDs to his season totals, pushing them to an impressive 1,545 yards and 21 TDs.

Both Sipes are approaching milestone rushing numbers. Nate has 2,848 career rushing yards while Nick already has 1,892.

Quarterback Shawn Sopic, who passed just twice against C-L and averages less than five attempts per game, has rushed for 277 yards and five TDs. He scored on a 63-yard run last week.