CLARION — St. Marys High School football has seen plenty of purple in recent years.

The Flying Dutch aren't too crazy about that color.

Karns City owns five wins over St. Marys in the past three seasons — including 42-0 regular season triumphs this year and last, playoff wins of 55-6 and 35-14 in 2013 and 2012.

“They are one of the top ranked teams in the state for a reason,” St. Marys coach Tony DeFilippo said. “They play good football. They're very solid in all three phases: Offense, defense and special teams.”

St. Marys (8-3) will take on Karns City (9-1) in the playoffs again Friday. This time the District 9 Class AA championship will be at stake when the teams kick off at 7 p.m. in Clarion University's Memorial Stadium.

The Flying Dutch tied their school record for most wins in a season — set in 1969 — with their 7-6 playoff victory over Moniteau last week.

“That was also our first-ever playoff game in our stadium,” DeFilippo said. “That win meant a lot to these kids. Now we're in the championship game for the first time. We'll line up and see how we do.”

By contrast, the Gremlins are seeking their third straight District 9 crown and fifth in seven years.

“We're hoping experience rules the day,” KC coach Ed Conto said.

Karns City enters the game somewhat banged up. Quarterback-linebacker Cody Deal and slotback-cornerback Tyler Dunn are out for the year with injuries. Ethan Conto is questionable this weekend and a few other players will be game-time decisions.

“(Running back) Tristan Rhodes pulled a hamstring late in our last game and we're hoping he'll be OK to play Friday,” Conto said. “Two weeks isn't a lot of time for that sort of thing.”

The Gremlins had a bye last week after suffering their only loss of the season, 35-31 at Class AAAA DuBois, two weeks ago. Rhodes has 559 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, seven catches for 238 yards and four TDs. He averages a whopping 34 yards per reception.

Collin Dunmyre has rushed for 486 yards and 10 touchdowns, Christian Turner 343 yards and a score. Logan Moroney leads the receiving corps with 22 catches for 277 yards while Evan Stitt has 10 catches for 132 yards.

“We play a lot of kids. Whoever's healthy and ready to go, we know we can count on them,” Conto said.

They can also count on a steady diet of runs and blitzes from St. Marys.

The Flying Dutch run the Wing-T and have a pair of stellar backs in Kyle Glatt and TJ Hogan. Glatt has 834 yards rushing and 14 TDs, Hogan 957 yards and 10 TDs.

“We're definitely a heavy running team,” DeFilippo said. “TJ gets the tough yardage inside and Kyle runs well on the perimeter. They're an effective tandem that way.”

Quarterback Pat Schlimm has thrown only 69 passes all year, completing 27 for 356 yards.

“They started a different quarterback when we played them (in Week 3), so I'm sure they're doing some things differently,” Conto said. “Schlimm seems to be accurate with the short passes.”

DeFilippo said that “we feel like we're a better team than we were in Week 3 ... but Karns City's probably better, too.”

The Flying Dutch have accumulated 53 sacks on the year. Glatt has 18 from his linebacker position while middle linebacker Dalton Bauer has 12.5. Nose guard DJ Salinas and strong safety Willie Mcgonnell have eight sacks each.

“Our defenders do a good job of reading formations and schemes,” DeFilippo said. “They make the calls. They decide before the snap who goes and who doesn't. It's been working for us.”

With Deal hurt, Karns City has one healthy quarterback in Caleb King. He's thrown for 903 yards and seven touchdowns. King has thrown only one interception. St. Marys has 10 interceptions, Brad Bauer and Dalton Bauer with three each.

“They bring a lot of people and tend to get their hits in on the quarterback. We need to keep ours clean,” Conto said.

The Gremlins have an effective defense in their own right. Reese Barger has seven sacks and Dalton Callihan has five. Stitt and Rhodes have three interceptions each.

Karns City has generated 13 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries on the year. And St. Marys has scored just six points in its last three games against the Gremlins.

“They have athletes all over the field,” DeFilippo said. “They've burned us in the return game, too. Obviously, this game is a huge challenge for us.”