WEST MIFFLIN — Neither team is happy. Both teams are realists.

When Knoch (7-2) visits West Mifflin (8-1) for a WPIAL Class AAA first round playoff game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, the teams will sport the best combined winning percentage of any opening-round postseason game in the district.

“Both of us can’t be very happy about drawing each other,” West Mifflin coach Ray Braszo said. “They (WPIAL) didn’t do either one of us a favor.

“But if you look at the bracket ... We were going to draw a tough team.”

The host Titans are the No. 7 seed while the Knights are the No. 10 seed.

“It doesn’t make much difference to us,” Knoch coach Mike King said. “We were undefeated last year and drew West Allegheny.

“Even if you get a sub-par team in the first round, a high quality opponent will be waiting in the next round. You have to get through them all at some point.”

Both teams are led by stellar running backs. Knoch’s Ben Tackett has 1,101 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing.

West Mifflin’s James Wheeler, a junior, has 1,543 yards and 19 touchdowns rushing. He is averaging a whopping 9.5 yards per carry.

“He has great speed, one of the top runners in WPIAL track, but he runs with power, too,” Braszo said. “He’s a tough back to contain.”

The Titans don’t throw the ball all that much, though quarterback Derrick Fulmore is averaging 26 yards on 25 completions. Fulmore has six touchdown passes and has been intercepted only once.

Fulmore has also rushed for 500 yards and 11 TDs, averaging 9.3 yards per carry.

“We prefer to run the ball, but we like to catch defenses ganging up on the run and hit them with the big play,” Braszo said of West Mifflin’s passing game.

Tight end Marcus Martin has 10 catches for 356 yards and four touchdowns. Martin and Fulmore, the latter as a defensive back, are being recruited by Mid-American Conference schools.

“They’re capable of methodically moving the ball down the field, too,” King said. “Wheeler will be the quickest back we’ve seen and that’s a tough group to stop, but we feel like we can throw some things at them they haven’t seen as well.”

Knoch quarterback Dakota Bruggeman is coming off his best game throwing the football with 265 yards and three touchdowns in the Knights’ 41-7 win at Highlands last week. Bruggeman has thrown for 1,059 yards on the year.

Luke Kroneberg has 20 catches for 321 yards and three TDs, Mike Cunningham 20 catches for 387 yards and five scores.

“We want to be balanced offensively going into the playoffs and I feel like we’re at that point,” King said. “If they want to focus on stopping Ben, we have some other weapons we can use.”

Kroneberg and Cunningham are also among the Knights’ leading tacklers as linebackers. Bruggeman has five interceptions.

Jeff Foreman leads West Mifflin with three interceptions. The Titans are allowing 12 points per game and have limited five of nine opponents to a touchdown or less.

The Titans were unbeaten before dropping a 28-14 decision to section champion Thomas Jefferson last week.

“Knoch is a poised team on both sides of the ball,” Braszo said. “They play with discipline and they do a lot of things well.

“Whoever gets out of this game will have earned it.”