And then there were two.

After a disappointing Friday for many of our local football teams, two were left standing.

North Catholic and Karns City.

North didn't have much trouble dispatching Mount Pleasant and Karns City avenged a lopsided 44-0 loss to Brookville by beating the Raiders 16-14 for the District 9 Class AA title.

Now both teams will face stiff tests Friday night.

After a really bad start to the season, the Ol' Scoopster has rebounded nicely in recent weeks.

I went 6-1 last week and my record is now a fairly respectable 50-18.

Let's see if I can go 2-0.

On to the picks:

North Catholic 23, Elizabeth Forward 17 — Last year these two teams clashed and it was a defensive battle.The Trojans ended up winning 12-7.Both teams have stout defenses.North Catholic's defense is particularly tough.When Mount Pleasant scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game to make it 35-14, it was the first time all season the North Catholic defense had given up multiple touchdowns in a game.Both teams, though, can boast of explosive offenses.North Catholic has piled up the points this season.Still, points will be hard to come by in this one. But the combination of North Catholic's lightning-fast defense and its ability to throw and run will give the Trojans the victory.

Wilmington 24, Karns City 19 — The Gremlins are coming off that impressive win at Brookville last week.Sure, the Raiders were missing some players because of COVID-19, but it was still an impressive turnaround from that first meeting.Word to the wise: if you are going to this game in New Wilmington, make sure to get there on time. This game could be over in an hour.Both teams love to ground and pound. Wilmington has only put the ball up 40 times the entire season.Karns City has thrown the ball more, but the Gremlins also prefer to get things done in the running game.So the question becomes which team will be able to impose its will more on the other?I think that team is Wilmington.Scoop wants to finish the season strong.