The Northwestern Tigers are entering into uncharted territory as they prepare for their first state playoff game since 2002. With that challenge comes facing new teams that they're not familiar with and having to take long bus rides to get to where you need to be. That's the case this week as Northwestern travels to Peckville Friday night to face the Dunmore Bucks (11-1) out of District 2.

The two teams have very different styles and are very different programs. While Northwestern coach Josh Snyder is in his third season as head coach, Dunmore's Jack Henzes, whose 393 wins rank him second all-time among high school coaches in Pennsylvania, is in his 44th season leading the Bucks.

The teams also differ in that the Tigers like to mix up their offense and have varied offensive weapons. The Bucks prefer to simply run the ball and they do it well, with two backs - Sal Marchese and Colin Holmes - who have each crossed the 1,000-yard mark this season.

"We're not a very fancy team," said Henzes. "We prefer to just go right at people and we rely on our offensive line to clear some holes and get our backs some room. We just stress that everybody has a job and we expect them to get that job done; it's an approach that's worked for us."

"Our big guys in the middle, just like they've been doing all year, are going to have to come up big for us again," said Snyder. "It's a little bit of a different team than what we've had to face in the Colonial League, being that they're just going to run right at us, so that's a bit of a challenge,.

"We're looking at a couple different sets of fronts that we'll put in there to get more guys in the box, stuff that we typically use in short yardage and goal line. We'll be prepared, we've done it in the past, and we'll just make adjustments as we go."

One place where the teams are similar is that they both have a strong defense. Dunmore has allowed an average of just 13 points per game this season and in its district championship game against Northwest, held the Rangers to just 17 yards rushing on 24 carries.

"Our guys like to play defense," said Henzes. "They like to hit. They're big and they kind of bottle things up. We stress every part of the game and don't want to be known as either an offensive or defensive team."

Northwestern has allowed just 13 points per game this season, with a defense that is surprisingly young, with just five of the starters being seniors. Underclassmen Joe Colucci, Teagen Golden, Chet Karpyn, Dylan Lobach, Dylan Snyder and Andrew Sorensen, all juniors, have their names all over the list of top tacklers on the team and also dot the lists of interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries.

"We obviously have a very strong senior class, but we also have a mix of the younger guys, in particular, the junior class," said Snyder. "We have six guys that are starting as underclassmen and making big plays and some of them started when they were freshmen and sophomores.

"So, they're seasoned younger guys who are used to being in there and they're used to making plays and they're all close with the seniors. You kind of forget that they're underclassmen, but the luxury of having them for another year is going to be great."