CHERRY TWP — So what if this is Moniteau's first-ever District 9 championship football game.

Coach Steve Wilson says his team plays the perfect style for it.

"We don't do anything fancy," he said. "We're a running team and everybody knows that. We rely on a physical defense and special teams, and everyone knows that, too.

"You worry about mistakes in the playoffs due to nerves, but we play basic football. Finesse teams are more prone to mistakes because their execution of plays is more critical."

The Warriors (6-5) face Brockway (7-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the District 9, Class AA championship game.

Moniteau enters the game among the district leaders with 2,077 yards rushing. Matt Schandelmeier has 1,296 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. Adam Cousins has 558 yards rushing and four scores.

But the Warriors have passed for only 489 yards — dead last among the 26 teams in District 9.

Garth Kohlmeyer has completed only 39 of 104 passes for three touchdowns. Two of the scores are to tight end Ryan Protzman, who has eight catches for 104 yard.

Cousins has 12 catches for 179 yards and a TD. No Warriors receiver has caught a touchdown pass this season.

"It's not that we can't throw it — we don't want to throw it," Wilson said. "There have been times this year when we've needed to complete a critical pass and we've done it."

Case in point: Kohlmeyer connected with Josh Loos for an 8-yard pass on a fourth-and-6 play at the Brookville 25-yard line in the first round of the playoffs.

The Warriors held a scant 21-19 lead at the time and went on to complete a 13-play, 51-yard touchdown drive en route to a 35-25 victory.

But Moniteau's offense failed to score a touchdown in last week's 10-7 win at Karns City.

"That's a concern because we have to mount some drives and finish them off with points," Wilson said. "We've been getting pretty good field position.

"Brockway's defense thrives off turnovers. We have to be smart with the football."

The Rovers are plus 11 in the turnover-takeaway category this year. Moniteau is plus 6, having produced 17 takeaways while turning the ball over 11 times.

Wilson said Brockway's skilled players have plenty of speed — and speed has hurt the Warriors defense at times.

Deep passes downfield by opponents have hurt them as well.

"I think we solved that in the second half of the Karns City game by giving up some of the underneath stuff in the passing game," Wilson said. "We can't afford to get burned by the big play.

"We have to force teams to drive the field on us. Ryan Protzman has done a great job punting the ball, and if we can establish field position, our defense is good enough to keep it for an entire half."

As for Brockway's speed, Wilson wants to keep it inside.

"The key is to guard the flanks well enough that we force them to run inside, which is where our strength is," he said.

Wilson's theory is if you force a team into running a lot of plays to move the ball, it will eventually make a mistake.

"They'll turn it over, take a penalty, we'll get a stop — anything," he said. "Give up a big play, you give up an easy score."

A game without big plays is a game Moniteau likes to play.

"We're not a big-play team ourselves, so we can't allow them to do it," Wilson said. "Mistake-free, straight-ahead, grind-it-out football is what we need to play to win."

This will be Moniteau's first Saturday game — and day game — of the season.

"I'm not concerned about that," Wilson said. "It's not like the kids are going to be lounging around all day.

"We'll get up early and get ready to play some football."