In terms of styles there may be no bigger clash of opposites tomorrow night like there will be when No. 5 seed Shady Side Academy (8-1) plays host to No. 12 seed Sto-Rox (7-2) in the Class AA first round.

The offensive philosophies differ as much as the neighborhoods of the schools. The Fox Chapel-based Indians implore a run-first and run-second offense. Sto-Rox, which plays its home games in downtown Stowe, take to the air with Penn State recruit quarterback Paul Jones, a 5,000-yard career passer.

"Everyone knows we run the ball. They probably pass the ball as much as we run the ball," Shady Side coach Dave Havern said. "It will be contrasting although they can pound the ball. They have a pretty good blend."

"I tell you it is a very intriguing matchup," Sto-Rox coach Jason Ruscitto said. "Two teams with contrasting styles. They are a very well coached team, they got some nice looking players, they got size up front and they have some athletes, it will be interesting."

Shady Side quarterback Reggie Mitchell has attempted 48 passes all season. Jones has thrown the ball 179 times, and he missed almost a third of the season with an ankle injury. His backup, Jordan Latimer, has thrown for 649 yards. To put that in comparison, Mitchell, the Shady Side starter at quarterback had 422 passing yards through week eight.

The Vikings have four receivers with more than 200 receiving yards this season. Their offense has averaged 31 points per game.

"They are obviously capable of big plays," Havern said. "They are a fast and a formidable opponent. I think the whole bracket is real competitive. There is nobody I wanted to see [us play], any one of the 16 teams is going to give somebody trouble."

The Sto-Rox offense has gotten plenty of attention this season, but the unit that may have the biggest impact in this game is the Shady Side defense. It has allowed only 7.9 points per game, the second-best scoring defense in Class AA behind Center (7.7). Playing in the Century Conference, Sto-Rox has not seen many defenses as stingy as the Indians.

Then again Shady Side has not seen as many playmakers on one side of the ball as they will tomorrow night. Drew Carswell a Pitt recruit, hauled in 40 passes for 605 yards this season.

Another weapon Jones has is senior wide receiver Dontae Gilmore. He is second on the team with 29 catches for 395 yards. Shady Side's top receiver, Geno Thorpe, is a freshman and with seven receptions for 114 yards, he would rank sixth on Sto-Rox.

After missing the first two games while recovering from a broken ankle, Jones had been gaining strength each week until a setback against Keystone Oaks on Oct. 23.

"Paul [Jones] is coming along," Ruscitto said. "He did get hurt against Keystone Oaks and he played sparingly against Northgate. He is maybe a little shy of 100 percent. He is starting to get stronger and stronger, but what people have to remember after surgery his rehab has essentially been the football games."

The Vikings defense will not spend too much time worrying about the Indians' passing attack. Rather, they will try to slow the staple of the Shady Side offense, the power running game. Senior Brian Nickel has gained 1,389 yards this year.

Shady Side Academy earned the top seed out of the Allegheny Conference by tiebreaker over Freeport (8-1) because of the Indians' 20-14 win at Freeport in week two. Of Shady Side Academy's first five games, four were decided by single digits. Since then it has won by an average of 36 points per week.

"We had been so shaky at the beginning of the year with seven new starters on offense," Havern said. "First three or four weeks they were all one-touchdown wins. That just added to my gray hair."

Havern said the worst half of football Shady Side played all year was in the first half of a 17-14 loss to Burrell.

"Since that time I think we have really played good ball," the coach said.

The Vikings two losses this season came against undefeated South Fayette, 35-20, and at playoff-bound Keystone Oaks, 27-20, two weeks ago. A year ago Sto-Rox lost a shootout at home in the first round of the playoffs, 43-36, to Beaver Area.

That was a common trend of Century Conference teams. As a conference it went 0-4 in the playoffs last season, including two losses to Allegheny Conference teams.

• What: Sto-Rox at Shady Side Academy.

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: McKelvey Field at Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel.

• The skinny: Shady Side Academy tied Freeport for the championship in the Class AA Allegheny Conference. Sto-Rox finished as the third-place team in the Century Conference.

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