A crucial Quad County Conference game for Seneca Valley's football team quickly turned ugly against Central Catholic.

The teams met Oct. 1 at Carnegie Mellon University's Gesling Stadium and the Raiders discovered just how unforgiving Murphy's Law can be, falling behind 28-0 in the first quarter.

“We had two early fumbles, one on our first play from scrimmage,” said SV coach Ron Butschle. “We had a 9-yard punt and an 11-yard punt.”

The Raiders ended up turning the ball over five times that night as Central scored a 35-0 rout.

Now Seneca Valley (7-3) is preparing for a rematch with the Vikings (8-2) and this time, the season is at stake for both squads.

The teams will square off at 7 p.m. Friday at Baldwin Stadium in a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal playoff.

The third-seeded Raiders and second-seeded Vikings both received a bye into the semifinal round and haven't played since their respective regular-season finales Oct. 29.

Butschle knows beating the Vikings is a tall task, but not something out of his team's reach.

“They're as athletic of a team as we've seen,” he said. “Offensively, we need to take advantage of opportunities and not give them extra possessions with turnovers.”

Central coach Terry Totten said the prior meeting has had no impact on how his team is preparing for the rematch.

“Seneca Valley did not play their best football and we took advantage of some opportunities,” he said. “That score was not indicative of how good they are. They've done some good things in recent games and we have to focus on that.”

SV junior quarterback Graham Hancox, who sustained a foot injury in a win over Canon-McMillan Oct. 8, has officially been ruled out. Sophomore Sean O'Shea, who has started the last three games, will again be the signal caller Friday.

O'Shea has completed 27 of 51 passes for 412 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions since taking the reins of the offense. He threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Luke Lawson in a 17-12 win over North Allegheny Oct. 29, which earned for the Raiders a bye in the first week of the playoffs.

“The risk vs. reward for a kid who is going to be as valuable to our program over the next 12 months as Graham, it's just not worth it (to play him),” Butschle said. “Plus, Sean has done a good job. He's getting better and is doing all the things he's being coached to do.”

Central closed the regular season with three straight victories against Hempfield (35-0), Baldwin (49-21) and Canon-McMillan (54-14).

“We think we played well late in the season,” said Totten. “We're still inconsistent in part of our game, but we've gotten a lot of work in during practice over the last two weeks.”

The Vikings rely heavily on senior running back Gannon Carothers, who has rushed for 897 yards and scored 13 touchdowns this season. He put up 81 yards and a score on 16 carries against SV in October.

But Central's passing game should not be overlooked. Sophomore quarterback Payton Wehner has thrown for 1,246 yards and 14 scores.

Receiver Brandon Jackson has pulled in a team-leading 39 passes for 376 yards. That's less than 10 yards per catch, but it also proves that the 5-foot-7, 150-pound Jackson isn't afraid to take a hit and has moved the chains consistently for the Vikings.

Wideout Pete Gonzalez has more size (6-2, 185) and has been the team's best down-field target with 15 catches for 284 yards,

“Brandon's a guy who we love to get the ball to, especially in space, but we feel we're spreading the ball around well in the passing game,” said Totten.

SV's starting linebackers include Chris D'Appalonia, Will Craver and TJ Border.

“All three are first-year starters,” said Butschle. “The key for us is that they're all very athletic and they've gotten better all year long.”

The other semifinal will be played Friday between top-seeded Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny. The WPIAL Class 6A championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at Norwin High School.