North Catholic and Elizabeth Forward will meet on the gridiron for the third consecutive season — with a lot more at stake this time.

The team that survives Friday's encounter of unbeaten teams at the Mars Athletic Complex will play in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Nov. 13.

The Trojans and Warriors were Big East Conference foes in 2018 and 2019, with North claiming both meetings in the regular season by scores of 27-0 and 12-7, respectively.

“They are extremely well-coached and play fundamental football,” North coach Patrick O'Shea said of the Warriors. “I think this is going to be a defensive football game and the team that tackles better on initial contact is probably going to win.”

The Warriors (7-0) feature a powerful ground attack. In last week's 34-20 quarterfinal win over Freeport, they rushed for 318 yards and five touchdowns.

Kyle Flournoy gained 163 yards to lead the way.

“We don't have an overly-big offensive line,” said Warriors' coach Mike Collodi. “Nick Murphy is a guard and he's 250 (pounds). Our center, Grant Robinson, is 240. Jared Prah plays right tackle and all three of them were returning starters from last year.”

North's defensive line will be a focal point and the Trojans (8-0) have been strong there all season.

Tyler Primrose and Daniel Long man the end spots while Rocky Kopac and Tyler Musto both play tackle.

“We use either three or four guys on the defensive line,” said O'Shea. “Tyler has had an incredible season, has matured each week.

“Elizabeth Forward has a really good running game, but when they need to pass, they've been very efficient.”

The Warriors lost their starting quarterback, Evan Lewis, to injury in the fourth game of the season. Since then, sophomore Zion White has proven more than capable of running the team's multiple spread attack, throwing for 300 yards and two touchdowns.

“We couldn't ask him to do any more,” Collodi said. “He's a physical specimen with a great arm. He's not your typical second-string quarterback coming off the bench.”

North's offense has received a spark from junior running back Kyle Tipinski, who has rushed for 565 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.

“This is only his second year of football and it's nice to see him get comfortable,” O'Shea said. “He's done a really good job for us.”

Collodi said his defense has an impressive track record, which gives him confidence in the unit.

“We always have a tough defense,” he said. “Last year, we were second in total defense in (WPIAL) Triple-A behind Aliquippa and returned seven or eight starters.”

The other semifinal features top-seeded Central Valley against Keystone Oaks.