Lou Cerro has seen it before.

The Montour football coach has more experience winning WPIAL championship games than most. He won titles in 2002 and 2004 at Seton-LaSalle and another Saturday with the Spartans in a 42-14 win over Knoch.

That puts Cerro in rarified air: coaches who have won WPIAL titles with two different teams.

He also has seen the so-called “WPIAL hangover” up close.

“The kids realize they did a great thing this past Saturday,” Cerro said. “After (Monday), they also realize they have another game this week.”

That game is against Grove City at 7 p.m. Friday in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs at North Allegheny.

Montour (11-2) may not be the only team on the field at NA fighting a championship hangover.

The Eagles (11-0) are facing a similar situation as the Spartans after knocking off Cathedral Prep 33-0 in the District 10 Class AAA title game.

Grove City coach Jeff Bell, though, doesn’t think his team will have a letdown following a win over Prep, a team that had eliminated the Eagles in the last two district finals.

“Winning the district title was just an obstacle to our ultimate goal,” Bell said. “We can’t be satisfied with a D-10 title. It’s nice. It doesn’t come around often. But it’s not the only thing we’re after.”

Grove City won its first district title since 2004 when it was in Class AA.

The Eagles reached the state championship game that season.

To continue on its path to Hershey this year, Grove City, which is the only remaining unbeaten team left in the state in Class AAA, will have to deal with a very hot Montour team.

The Spartans manhandled an undefeated Knoch team at Heinz Field Saturday afternoon and has a balanced offense behind quarterback Dillon Buechel and running back Julian Durden.

Buechel has completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,313 yards and 36 touchdowns. He’s only thrown seven interceptions.

Meanwhile Durden has rumbled for 1,876 yards and scored 25 touchdown.

“They are a scary team, that’s for sure,” Bell said. “Boy, they have a lot of talent on the offensive and defensive lines. They have a lot of talent everywhere.”

Bell said he is hoping his team can play like it did against the Ramblers Friday.

“I never expected the kids to play that well,” Bell said. “That was one of the best games I’ve ever had a group of kids play since I started coaching. All three phases. It was as near a perfect game as you could play.”

Bell said he’s going to need to see another one against Montour.

“They are more physical than (Cathedral Prep),” Bell said. “That Durden kid makes so much of a difference. And the quarterback can be a problem. It’s definitely going to be a challenge.”

Grove City, though, has been able to force quarterbacks into mistakes. The Eagles have 24 interceptions this season.

That isn’t lost on Cerro.

“They are very opportunistic on defense and they fly to the ball,” Cerro said. “Grove City does a lot of really good things. They’re 11-0 for a reason.”

While Montour’s offense is balanced between the pass and run, Grove City’s offense is balanced in a much different way.

The Eagles have run the ball 85 percent of the time this season, but have eight players with 10 or more carries and seven players with 200 or more yards.

One of those players, Senior Erik Record, suffered a season-ending injury in October.

The Eagles have barely missed him. Wes Phipps leads the ground attack with 121 attempts for 1,269 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Cerro was particularly impressed with Phipps, who will wrestle at Penn State.

“You can see he’s a wrestler,” Cerro said. “He has tremendous balance and is great at breaking tackles.”

And he is fresh.

Bell fretted about a two-week gap in his schedule between the regular season and the District 10 playoffs. Now, the coach said he believes it is the best thing for his team and could be a huge advantage this week.

“This is only our third game after the layoff,” Bell said. “Montour has played 13 straight games with no time off through difficult playoff games. We have some spring. We’re still fresh and we’re excited. I’m just glad we are still playing.”