It's crunch time, boys and girls.

When football teams threaten to practice on Thanksgiving, it's a good season.

Five local teams are playing in playoff games this weekend with the opportunity to stuff the run in practice before they stuff the turkey.

But four of those five teams are facing some stiff competition.

On to the picks:

•

Montour 21, Knoch 19 — It seems like an eon ago when these two teams met in the season opener.Montour won that one 21-14. No one knew who Tim McNerney was.Now, McNerney is most likely out with a foot and ankle injury.Most people are ready to throw their hands up and say Knoch has no shot without McNerney. But, not so fast, my wingless friends.Knoch is more than a one-trick pony. The Knights can throw the football, play defense and have a certain intangible quality.Still, Montour is unbeaten for a reason.•

Karns City 41, Brockway 9 — Rarely do you see a playoff beatdown, but this will be a playoff beatdown.The Gremlins are clearly far superior than the Rovers, who were beaten badly by an average Keystone team 52-12 in their season finale.It could be a similar outcome in Karns City Friday.•

General McLane 36, Slippery Rock 21 — No one is giving the Rockets a chance to beat the defending Class AAA stat champs.But the Lancers are beatable. They are 7-3, were thumped by Titusville by 20 points in the final game of the regular season and were in a tight game with Slippery Rock the last time they played until pulling away.Slippery Rock is on a three-game winning streak and its offense is clicking.But General McLane has playoff experience. Slippery Rock has very little. That will be worth a couple of touchdowns in the end.•

Brookville 25, Moniteau 19 — Only Dr. Gregory House — and maybe Tim McNerney — is limping more these days than the Moniteau football team.The Warriors are redefining the phrase "backing" into the playoffs."Moniteau has lost four straight games, hasn't won since Oct. 6, and has been outscored in the first half during its losing streak 115-25.Still, if coach Jeff Campbell can somehow get David Blaine on the phone to come hypnotize his team into believing it is the third quarter when the game starts Friday, the Warriors have a chance.This will be a close game, but the Brookville balance will be a little too much.•

Harbor Creek 21, Grove City 20 — The Eagles have been playing as well as any District 10 Class AA team in the last month.You could flip a coin on this one. Both teams are so evenly matched that its going to come down to one minor mistake making the difference.