I've waited a long time for this week.

The Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy — featuring a stunning replica of myself, I might add — will be presented to the winner of Friday night's Seneca Valley-Butler game.

This is the 13th year of the trophy's existence and each team has gone home with it six times.

Playoff berths have been sealed along with the trophy in years past. That hasn't been the case of late, but better days lie ahead.

I may head south before too long, but winning Quad-A football will return to Butler County.

Rumor has it that I will make an appearance on the field to present my trophy — OK, I'm a possessive bird — after the game.

I won't guarantee that. I'm a proud eagle, but a shy one. I'll mull that decision over while I give you my decisions on this weekend's action.

Seneca Valley at Butler —Winner gets the trophy, loser occupies the cellar of the Quad North. Don't take a pass on this game if you like passing, because these teams will do plenty of it in a wild one.BUTLER, 36-35

Pine-Richland at Knoch —Huge game for the Knights. If they win, they punch their playoff ticket. Pine-Richland has controlled this series in recent years, however, and just have too much firepower.PINE-RICHLAND, 38-16

Mars at Mohawk —The Planets are fighting for at least a share of their section title. The guess here is that they get it.MARS, 19-17.

A-C Valley at Karns City —With consecutive wins over Redbank Valley, Clarion and Moniteau — two of them on the road — the Gremlins have become a major player in the Keystone-Shortway Athletic Conference. They will take another step forward here.KARNS CITY, 34-10

Moniteau at Redbank Valley —The Warriors stubbed their toe last week against Karns City and need a clutch road victory to make up for it. I think they'll find it against the Bulldogs, but they'll have to play four tough quarters to get it.MONITEAU, 22-18

Slippery Rock at Wilmington —The Rockets have learned how to turn narrow defeats into narrow victories. They remind me of me when I first learned to fly … painful at first, but the reward is tremendous. Beating Wilmington on the road is a lot to ask, though.WILMINGTON, 22-14

Summit Academy at Riverside —If the Knights win, they're in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time ever. This should be a barn-burner, but I like the home team.RIVERSIDE, 23-19

Slippery Rock University at Edinboro —The Rock needs to run the ball to control the clock, the game's tempo and to get the win. The Fighting Scots won't let them.EDINBORO, 37-19Here are my other selections: Freeport over Deer Lakes 24-11, Clarion-Limestone over Union 46-6, Grove City over Sharon 19-13 and Waynesburg over Grove City College 28-7.Last week: 9-4Season: 69-27