It’s a big week in the WPIAL as North Hills gears up for the first round of playoffs.

North Hills is set up to face Penn Trafford on Friday night. A few tough injuries to Brandon Manning, Seamus Connolly, Lirion Murtezi, and Jason Biswick could hinder the play of North Hills, but it certainly won’t hinder their spirits. All of those players plan to suit up this week as it has “do or die” implications. The biggest absence on the team is certainly senior fullback/quarterback Joe Ryan. “I think we have a great chance to make a splash in these playoffs,” says Ryan.

Both North Hills and Penn Trafford come into this game with strong conference records (North Hills 5-2, Penn Hills 6-1). It will be extremely tough for North Hills to pull off this upset since they’ll be the away team. However, Senior Linebacker Brandon Manning thinks it’s possible. “We put in some new defensive schemes that should help to improve our back end against a solid team, like Penn Trafford,” said Manning.

The Indians will look to beat the Warriors this week by sticking to a strong run game. Cornerback Jeff Behr says that the “strongest part of the team is running the ball” and stats will back that up. Team Captain and Army West Point commit Tyler Brennan is a large part of that. The senior running back has 17 touchdowns on the season (all rushing) all while missing four games. Commenting on the upcoming game, Tyler has said he “feels confident in the team and thinks they have a good chance to pull of the upset this week.”

Coming off a tough loss to the Penn Hills Indians, North Hills is hoping for a huge bounce back this week as it is an absolute do or die situation.