All four of District 9’s undefeated teams – Clarion-Limestone, DuBois, Clarion and Coudersport – will take their acts on the road this week to try to extend their perfect season.

Two of those teams – Clarion and Coudersport – will be heavily favored as the Bobcats travel to winless Union Friday night and Coudersport takes a Saturday afternoon trip to play winless Sheffield.

Clarion-Limestone gets reacquainted with a former Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference/Little 12 rival Brookville when the Lions make the trip to the seat of Jefferson County to play a struggling 1-3 Raiders squad.

The 4-0 DuBois Beavers trek to Erie to take on 4-0 McDowell, a team that just slipped into the top 10 rankings at number 10 in the Class AAAA Harrisburg Patriot-News poll.

This is a huge measuring stick for the Beavers, who have won easily over their District 9 foes (Punxsutawney and Brookville) and impressively over D-6 opponents Hollidaysburg and Central Mountain. But McDowell is in another category than those teams having moved into the Top 10 in a very strong Class AAAA Harrisburg Patriot-News poll (No. 10) thanks to an 27-21 overtime win over arch-rival Erie Cathedral Prep last week. A win or close loss again the Trojans could give DuBois something to build on. A lopsided loss doesn’t ruin DuBois season, but it also means the Beavers have their work cut out come playoff team.

Last week DuBois had an impressive 21-6 win at Hollidaysburg, and the Beavers are trying to extend to a 5-0 record for the first time since 1993.

However, history hasn’t been kind to the Beavers on trips to Erie. DuBois has lost 9 of 12 games in Erie since 1989 and hasn’t won in Erie since a 27-18 win against Erie Central in 1999.

Against McDowell, the Beavers haven’t won in Erie since 1991, the season after DuBois head coach Jason Shilala graduated from DuBois. McDowell leads the all-time series with the Beavers 9-4 and has won the last three straight meetings, including a 28-6 win in the playoffs last year in Slippery Rock.

DuBois is led by QB Ryan Liddle (34-of-49, 448 yards, 7 TDs) and RBs Mark Malacarne (411 yards, 4 TDs; 152 yards receiving, 2 TDs) and Rob Hanzely (270 yards, 3 TDs; 127 yards receiving).

McDowell features senior RB Anthony Weaver, who has rushed for 660 yards in four games. Weaver ran for 178 yards and two scores in last week’s win in overtime over Cathedral Prep. In OT, Weaver blocked a Prep field goal attempt and then scored the winning TD on an 8-yard run.

At Brookville, the Lions and Raiders square off for the first time since 1992. The Raiders won that game 21-7 and lead the all-time series 14-6-1.

This is the fifth straight contest against an opponent from a higher classification for the Class A Lions, who have won 38 of their past 39 regular-season games. Head coach Todd Smith’s team has faired well so far in their steps up winning close games against Moniteau (Class AA, 8-7) and Karns City (Class AA, 24-16, OT), routing A-C Valley (Class AA) and downing Bradford (Class AAA) fairly easily last week 27-16.

The Raiders, defending Class AA champions, were routed last week at St. Marys, 33-7, giving up over 200 yards rushing and passing to a resurgent Dutch squad (more on them later). The Lions are led by QB Scott Davis and WR David "Tuffy" Brooks.

Speaking of St. Marys, the Flying Dutchmen will get a closer look at their Class AAA competition when they travel to Bradford.

Halfway through the season, St. Marys is trying to make a statement that they should be included in any talk of the Class AAA title along with Bradford and Clearfield, who have won 7 of the past 8 D9 Class AAA titles.

Earlier this year, Clearfield outlasted Bradford in double OT, so how the Dutch and Owls match up this week will be interesting.

St. Marys QB Lucas Wendel completed 13 of 16 passes for 222 yards against Brookville last week. Tight end Shad Boschert caught 7 passes for 140 yards. The Dutch are trying to beat the Owls for the first time since 1995.

It’ll be worth taking a look at the Allegheny Mountain South Division scoreboard this week as Brockway (2-2) travels to Johnsonburg (3-1) and Curwensville (3-1) visits Kane (2-2). The AML South is far from over as Elk County Catholic, Johnsonburg and Curwensville share first place.

It could get much tighter if Kane and Brockway manage to win. A Rovers win would give them victories over ECC and Johnsonburg, which hasn’t beaten the Rovers since Brockway joined the AML in 1999. Brockway also hasn’t been under .500 after five weeks since 1997.

In the other AML South game, ECC (3-1) heads to winless Ridgway (0-4).

In the AML North, Otto-Eldred (2-2) visits Smethport (1-3) in the only Friday game. The contest could have major Class A playoff implications for both squads. A win by Otto puts the Terrors one game close to their first D9 Playoff appearance ever, while a Smethport loss would all but kill the Hubbers chances.

The other two North games are Saturday, Coudersport’s trip to Sheffield and Port Allegany’s home game with Cameron County (1-3). The 3-1 Gators are coming off a dramatic win at Brockway. QB Willie Bova hit Bobby Nichols with a 13-yard TD pass with 28 seconds left in regulation to win 26-22.

In a key Class AA match-up a pair of 2-2 clubs square off when Karns City visits Redbank Valley. The teams met twice last year including the Class AA semifinals with the Bulldogs taken home wins in both games.

Also in the KSAC, Keystone (1-3) hosts Moniteau (2-2) in what is probably a must-win game for the Panthers if they want to keep their Class A playoff hopes alive. The Warriors two loses have come by a combined seven points (8-7 to C-L; 20-14 to St. Marys).

In the other MAC contest involving a D9 team, Punxsutawney (0-4) looks to give first-year head coach Blake Moilan his first win when it travels to Huntingdon (2-2).

Three additional Class A teams have nice streaks going with C-L having won the 38 of 39, Curwensville 15 of 16 and Coudersport 11 of 12. Coudy’s lone loss in the last two years in the regular season came in the AML Title game, which is a regular-season game (see below), to Curwensville a year ago.

The AML Title game is played in Week 9 and counts toward a team’s AML record and toward a team’s record for seeding in the District 9 playoffs.