The confines of NexTier Stadium have been very kind to Seneca Valley's football team this season.

The Raiders (6-3, 4-3) are undefeated at home, outscoring five opponents there by a combined score of 120-27.

SV has the opportunity to play there one final time in 2018 and the Raiders don't want to let it slip away.

Currently in fourth place in the Quad County Conference standings, SV can lock up that spot — and the home playoff game that comes with it — with a victory Friday at Norwin (3-6, 2-5).

“We can also clinch the fourth spot if Central Catholic beats Mt. Lebanon,” said Raiders' coach Ron Butschle, “but we are focused on what we can control. If we take care of our business, we'll get a home game.”

The biggest obstacle standing in SV's way of doing that is Norwin quarterback Jack Salopek. The junior has thrown for 1,658 yards, 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season.

Salopek, who has received a scholarship offer from the University of Pittsburgh, threw for 329 yards in a 34-28 loss to Mt. Lebanon last Friday.

Norwin still has a chance to make the playoffs, but needs two upsets to do so. Not only do the Knights need to defeat SV, but they also need a winless Butler team to defeat Canon-McMillan.

“Jack has been able to put up some numbers in the passing game and can make every throw we ask him to,” said Norwin coach Dave Brozeski. “We'd like to have more wins, but we moved to a spread offense this season and have tried to put our guys in the best position to make plays.”

Tight end Tanner Krevokuch leads the Knights in catches with 24 this season for 300 yards. Wideout Gianni Rizzo paces the team with 518 yards on just 18 receptions.

Norwin is averaging less than 100 yards per game on the ground. The Knights' offense will be facing a Seneca Valley defense looking to get back to its dominating ways after allowing nearly 400 yards, including 369 rushing, in last week's 21-7 loss at Pine-Richland. Even with that result, SV has allowed just 78 points in nine games.

“If you can make a team one-dimensional, you're usually in good shape,” said Butschle. “It was just the wrong dimension with Pine-Richland. The passing game is definitely Norwin's strength.”

SV junior Gabe Lawson is not just a dual-threat on offense, he contributes on special teams as a punter. Last Friday, he pinned the Rams inside their own five-yard line on two occasions.

“He has now done that six times this season, pinning a team deep,” said Butschle, who sometimes has Lawson line up in a regular formation on fourth down, only to have him quick-kick the ball out of the shotgun. That keeps opposing teams from sending a player back to field the punt.

“When you're punting, you want to flip the field,” said Butschle. “Gabe has done a really good job with it this year.”