Win and get in. Lose and, well, better not lose by much.

Knoch takes its shot Friday night at returning to the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs by hosting rival Pine-Richland.

"Our backs are against the wall," Knights coach Mike King said. "We won't be afraid to take chances and take risks defensively.

"If we win, we're in the playoffs. That's what we're going for."

Knoch (3-5, 2-3) loses a tiebreaker for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Greater Allegheny Conference if it loses to the Rams (7-1, 4-1), unless it loses by two points or fewer.

Pine-Richland already has clinched a playoff berth and has defeated Knoch in each of the past seven years, including by scores of 42-14 and 41-3 the past two seasons.

"Anyone who doesn't think this is going to be a tough game for us is way off base," Pine-Richland coach Clair Altemus said. "We have to go to their place and they're fighting for their lives.

"We focus things around our veteran quarterback, and he's a good one. They focus things around their veteran quarterback, and he's a good one, too."

Jake Long, a third-year starter for the Rams, has thrown for 1,312 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. Matt Klimczyk has caught 24 passes for 425 yards and three TDs while Matt Gray has 17 catches for 573 yards and eight scores.

Long has thrown for 4,864 yards in the WPIAL. He saw some varsity playing time at Bradford before coming to Pine-Richland and has more than 5,000 yards passing in his prep career, ranking among the top 20 all-time in Pennsylvania high school football.

"They've been more pass oriented this year," King said. "Long does a nice job. He has a lot of experience with all the playoff games they've had, and he knows how to make things happen.

"We have to find ways to pressure him. We can't afford to play conservatively against this team."

Brendan O'Mahoney leads the Rams' ground attack with 61 carries for 371 yards and five touchdowns.

"We've run the ball by committee this year," Altemus said. "This is the first time in eight years we haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher. … It's just how our personnel shapes up."

While Long hurts opponents through the air, Knoch quarterback Jordan Shoop hurts them on the ground. He's rushed for 441 yards and seven touchdowns this season, including 120 yards and three scores in last week's critical 27-7 win at Indiana.

Dan Pickard and Eric Farmer, Knoch's leaders in receiving yardage this year, didn't catch a pass in that game.

"We needed Jordan to come up big for us in that game, and did he ever," King said.

"He scares you because he can do so many things," Altemus said. "He's tough to contain."

The Rams have had a tough time containing kick returners this season — a major reason why they've been involved in so many close games.

Pine-Richland has won two of three one-point decisions, with all three going into overtime, and the Rams won their first two games by the combined margin of nine points.

"We score a lot of points, and when you're scoring, you're kicking off a lot," Altemus said. "We've allowed a lot of long returns that have kept teams in games."

King described this game as a rivalry that's been lopsided the past couple of years.

"Our seniors would like to rectify that," he said. "I believe in our kids. We can win this game.

"If it wasn't for a couple of plays, we could be sitting at 5-3 right now. Our record doesn't indicate how good a team we have."

Linebacker Bill Elliott returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown to seal the win over Indiana last week.

"That was his third interception of the year," King said. "Bill knows how to be in the right place at the right time. We need a lot of that this Friday."