Tomorrow night's high school football game between North Allegheny and North Hills will have little bearing on the playoff picture in the Northern Six Conference. Both teams have qualified for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

But the showdown, which will take place at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium, has special meaning for both teams. It's one of the biggest rivalries in the WPIAL.

"Every year this game means a lot, regardless of the section records and playoff implications," North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. "North Hills is our biggest rival every year."

North Allegheny enters the game with a 4-0 record in the conference and has already clinched a share of the title, the first-place seeding and home-field advantage in next week's first round of the WPIAL playoffs. North Hills has a 2-2 record and no chance of playing at home in the first round.

"North Allegheny is clearly our biggest rival," North Hills coach Jack McCurry said. "It doesn't matter which sport or what's at stake. Everbody at both schools looks forward to this matchup."

Tomorrow's game will mark the 50th time the two teams have met, and North Hills holds a narrow 25-24 advantage in the series.

"When we get into conference play, every week I'll hear references to the rivalry we have with certain teams," Walker said. "None of those games comes close to the rivalry we have with North Hills.

"The key to a great rivalry is that both teams have a chance to win each year. Just look at how even the series has been over the years and it's easy to see why this game means so much. You can throw all the records out the window when North Allegheny and North Hills play."

North Allegheny owns a 7-1 overall record and is No. 5 in the Post-Gazette's WPIAL Class AAAA rankings. North Hills has a 4-4 mark.

"It's a chance for us to salvage our season," McCurry said. "North Allegheny has already won the conference title. We've qualified, but we're still an unknown. A victory would certainly help us in the seeding process."

North Hills has lost two of its last three games. The Indians dropped a 21-14 decision to Seneca Valley in week six, and lost to Shaler, 27-17, last week.

"We were in both games and had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, but came up short in both," McCurry said. "We have to play four quarters of flawless ball to beat a quality team such as North Allegheny. It will be a big challenge for our kids."

Both teams have been affected by the flu bug that's racing through Western Pennsylvania, but North Hills has been hit harder.

"We had at least 10 kids miss every practice last week," McCurry said. "We also had five starters, three on offense and two on defense, who missed last week's game against Shaler."

"We've had three or four kids miss practice every day last week," Walker said. "One sat out during last week's game against Butler."

North Allegheny also suffered a key injury early in the season. Lineman Tom Ricketts, a Penn State recruit, missed four games, but returned for week six.

"I've been very pleased with our play on both sides of the ball, but we have to maintain our focus," Walker said.

North Allegheny leads the conference in both scoring categories. The Tigers are averaging 33.5 points per game and allowing only 7.6 points per game.

"Our biggest concern during the offseason was to improve our defense," Walker said. "Defensive coordinator Doug Brinkley has done a great job. It's bailed us out on several occasions.

"The defense has allowed us to be more aggressive on offense, because we have faith in our defense."

North Allegheny has two running backs who have rushed for 650 or more yards. Alex Papson leads the Tigers with 772 yards and 12 touchdowns on 102 rushing attempts. Grant Huckestein has 683 yards and eight touchdowns on 88 carries.

"North Allegheny's running backs are outstanding," McCurry said. "You can't concentrate on one, because both can go the distance. It's a great one-two punch."

North Allegheny quarterback Justin Brozick has completed 48 of 91 passes for 712 yards and eight touchdowns. His favorite targets are Matt Steinbeck (12 catches, 225 yards) and Huckestein (11 catches, 148 yards).

"We've been throwing the ball a little more than we normally do," Walker said. "It's given us a balanced attack."

North Hills has a three-headed running attack with tailback Elajah David (499 yards and five touchdowns), quarterback Taylor Schmidt (473 yards and five touchdowns) and flanker Max Creighan (344 yards and five touchdowns).

"We haven't been consistent on offense," said McCurry, referring to North Hills' scoring average of 20.5 points per game. "We need more production from our passing game."

Schmidt has completed 57 of 123 for 605 yards and only one touchdown. His favorite targets are wide receiver Scott Zubik (26 catches, 371 yards) and Creighan (14 catches, 65 yards).

• What: North Hills at North Allegheny.

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: Newman Stadium, North Allegheny High School.

• The skinny: North Allegheny will win the Class AAAA Northern Six Conference outright with a victory.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.