SLIPPERY ROCK — Seneca football coach Dave Frank is not short on praise for his playoff opponent this week.

The fourth-year Bobcats' coach emptied his bag of superlatives for Slippery Rock.

“They look like the General McLane team that won the state championship (in 2006),” Frank said. “They run the triple option and they have all the bells and whistles. Their coaching staff does a tremendous job and it's almost unfair they dropped down to Class AA this season.”

Frank will have the task of trying to upend the Rockets when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Slippery Rock University in the first round of the District 10 Class AA playoffs.

Slippery Rock (10-0) is 29-1 the last three years in the regular season. But the Rockets are also 0-3 in their last three playoff games.

Slippery Rock's last playoff win was a 27-10 triumph over Sharon in November of 2008.

Seneca (7-3) has never won a playoff game.

How will Frank go about trying to add to the Rockets' playoff drought?

“We have a big challenge in front of us,” Frank said. “We played against a few option offenses this year, so we have some sets that we have already run. Guys just have to be disciplined and have to tackle. A missed tackle is a touchdown against them.”

Frank is used to challenges. He took over a program in 2011 that was coming off a 1-9 season. The Bobcats went 1-9 again and then 3-7 the last two seasons before the breakout campaign this year.

Senior quarterback Jarrett Pound is 65-of-130 passing for 1,534 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. His favorite target has been Jaime Sommers, who has 20 receptions for 372 yards and six TDs.

Adam Fish leads the Seneca ground game with 1,007 yards and eight scores.

The Bobcats lost a one-point and three-point game early in the season, then broke through with four wins by less than a touchdown to carry them into the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

“We finally got one of those close games to go our way,” Frank said. “Once we got one to go our way, things kind of fell into place.”

Slippery Rock survived a strange game at Wilmington in its season finale. With a running clock from the opening kickoff, the Rockets fell behind 7-0, but rallied for an abbreviated 27-7 win.

To Slippery Rock coach Brendan Hathaway, what has happened the first 10 weeks is moot now.

“It's the old cliche: It's a new season and everyone is 0-0,” Hathaway said.

While Seneca's offense is balanced, Slippery Rock's is most definitely run-heavy.

Rockets' senior quarterback Jake Whitmer has attempted just 33 passes this season, completing 10 for 236 yards without a touchdown.

Whitmer, though, is a dangerous runner with 716 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Travis Lauster leads the team with 741 yards on just 88 carries and his brother, Ryan Lauster, has 462 yards rushing.

Trenton Porter has another 453 yards on the ground on a mere 53 carries.

Hathaway said there is no specter of the playoff failings hanging over the team.

“This is a different situation and I think this team is different,” Hathaway said. “We haven't talked about it much other than what our goals are and Seneca stands in the way of one of our goals that we set for ourselves before game one.”