By Rich Rhoades

LARION – For the second straight year, it’ll be a rematch of the Allegheny Mountain League Championship game in the District 9 Class A final Saturday at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

Two state-ranked teams will play for the second time in 22 days as top-seeded and unbeaten Kane (12-0) clashes with Cameron County (11-1) at 1 p.m. They’re No. 5 and 9 respectively in the Pennsylvania Football News state rankings.

Back on Nov. 2 in Kane, the Wolves pulled away from Cameron County for a 21-13 victory and their second AML Title. How that game went leads one to believe that it could go either way the second time around. Both of these teams are fully capable of winning the district title.

Kane led 14-13 early in the fourth quarter Nov. 2 when the Wolves’ D.J. Horton returned a punt 66 yards to the Cameron County 9 to set up Dustin Moran’s TD run on the next play with 8:17 remaining in the game. The successful two-point conversion set the final margin.

Cameron County outgained Kane 365-326 yards but also turned the ball over three times compared to Kane’s one.

Coincidently, those yardage numbers from that game are very similar to what both teams averaged during the season. Cameron was the No. 2 offense in D9 with 385.2 yards per game, most of that coming on the ground, although quarterback Jordan Crane has been a very efficient passer.

Kane is the No. 5 offense in the district with 344.8 yards per game.

The playmakers are numerous.

For Cameron County, Cameron Clingan (98 carries, 842 yards, 9 TDs) and Abram Zoschg (90-771, 15 TDs) both average 8.6 yards per carry and Zoschg has been especially effective in the postseason with five touchdowns, three of them rushing, one receiving and one on an interception return on defense. He’s rushed for 288 yards in two postseason games.

Crane has passed for 1,021 yards and 18 TDs in just 115 attempts. Seven different receivers have caught TD passes, led by Zoschg (13 receptions, 282 yards) and Sean McManigle (15-259) who each have five.

Kane quarterback Zach Anderson has had a strong season, completing 60.1 percent of his passes for 1,885 yards and 20 touchdowns while throwing eight interceptions. His completion percentage and passer rating of 180.54 is tops in the district.

Anderson’s top target is probably tight end John Bizzak (17-540, 7 TDs), but two other receivers have more receptions in running back Matt Mix (28-267, 5 TDs) and wide receiver Deryk Smith (23-335, 1 TDs).

Moran is a multiple threat as well, with 1,120 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns and 257 yards receiving and three scores.

Kane has also gotten big contributions from Mike Punk on special teams with returns as well as some key yards and points on offense.

Defensively, these teams don’t give up much. In fact, the scoring differentials are strikingly similar. Kane has outscored teams 464-96 while Cameron County owns a 468-83 advantage.

Saturday’s winner gets the District 10 champion next weekend at a District 10 site and time to be announced. Mercyhurst Prep (12-0), ranked fourth by PFN, plays Mercer (11-1) Friday night at Slippery Rock University starting at 7.

NOTES – Cameron County is looking for its second District 9 Class A title. The Red Raiders beat Clarion 13-6 in 1999 at Brockway in a game that wasn’t decided until Clarion’s Joel Roth fumbled the ball inside the 1-yard line in the final minute. That was the only other time the Red Raiders have been to the D9 title game … Kane is searching for its first District 9 title. This is the Wolves second trip to the championship game as they lost to Clarion-Limestone 27-14 in 2002 … The AML is guaranteed the D9 Class A champion for the third straight year, the conferences longest title run in Class A since winning four in a row from 1998-2001 … This is the 59^th meeting between Cameron County and Kane with the Wolves holding a 33-22-3 edge. Kane has won five in a row over the Red Raiders and six of seven. Cameron County’s last win came 15-10 at Kane in 2001 … Both teams have made dramatic turnaround in the last four years. Cameron County was 0-9 in 2004 and won just nine games between 2004-2006 including six last season. The Red Raiders had just 10 wins between 2003-2006. Kane, meanwhile, was 1-8 in 2004 and 3-7 a year ago when Anderson missed almost the entire season with an injury suffered in the first quarter of the first game … The game is a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium with the Class AA championship contest between Moniteau and Karns City being played at 4:30 p.m. One admission is believed to be good for both games.

D9Sports.com co-editor Chris Rossetti contributed to this story