CHERRY TWP— Moniteau is hoping three's a charm.

For the third time in four years, the Warriors are playing for the District 9 Class AAchampionship.

They lost the first two times. Last year, they lost to Karns City by a 50-14 count.

"We knew we were outclassed in that game last year,"Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell said. "Karns City had a great, great football team. They played great and we didn't.

"Win or lose, we want to come out of this game with a good feeling about it. Last year, we didn't come out of it with a good feeling at all."

The Warriors and Gremlins, each sporting a 10-1 record, will meet for the district title at 7 p.m. Friday at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium.

Tradition is on Karns City's side, as the Gremlins' 35-34 loss to Moniteau in the regular season was just the third to the Warriors in their last 23 meetings.

"Our teams are mirror images of each other, and that's not by accident," Campbell said. "Ever since (former KC defensive coordinator Steve Wilson) came over here as head coach, we've patterned everything we do after what Karns City does.

"This hasn't happened overnight. The weight room work, the strength, the quickness — it's taken us years to get to this point. Our success this season and the magnitude of this game is a tribute to Karns City's tradition, really."

Moniteau's offense averaged 37 points per game during the regular season, trailing Clearfield by a single point for the District 9 lead, before putting up 55 points against Brookville in a first-round playoff game last week.

The 55-7 loss was Brookville's worst since a 54-0 setback to Union in 1959.

Quarterback Tyler Armagost has passed for more than 5,000 yards in his career, James Shope has 1,228 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns, Tony Campbell has 38 catches for 926 yards and 14 TDs.

"When we lost the 2005 district title game to Brockway, we were a pretty good running team,"Campbell recalled. "We didn't have a passing game to complement it and that hurt us.

"We're still a running team first. But guys like Tony Campbell, Clayton Casper, Dakota Campbell, Mitch Czech — now we're a complete offense."

Casper has 23 catches for 459 yards. Shope has 13 catches for 113 yards

"Last year, all Shope had to do was cut back and get outside,"Campbell said. "This year, we're running a more disciplined offense and he's had to adjust to it.

"We had him play some junior varsity games to get him accustomed to running between the tackles. Since he's gotten that down, he's been a force. He's scary even in practice."

Shope ran over a back-up inside linebacker during practice Tuesday.

"That linebacker could start for a lot of teams in our league,"Campbell said. "James ran right through him. He is just possessed right now."

The Warriors' defense ranked second in the KSAC, allowing 11.9 points per game. Outside linebackers Jacob Boy (21) and Armagost (12) combined for 33 sacks while defensive end Justin Sanderson has 10 sacks.

Armagost also leads the team in tackles with 88, including 49 solos.

"Our overall interception total is down from a year ago, but our sacks have a lot to do with that,"Campbell said. "Between those three guys alone, that's 43 times the opponent wanted to throw the ball and couldn't."

Campbell said the outcome of Friday's game will be determined by which team makes the most mistakes.

"We're just so alike,"he said. "We didn't do a good job defending their dive option last time we played and Anthony Stimac and Markus LaVan are very dangerous there.

"Josh Callender is healthy now and he can make plays all over the field. Both defenses will do a better job this time because both will make adjustments now that we've seen each other."

The stands will be filled and the atmosphere certainly will be fitting of a championship game.

"This game is a tribute to two similar communities,"Campbell said. "Neither school is in a rich society. Both communities consist of hard-working, blue-collar people, and that's reflected in their kids and how they play football."