Five things to know about the third weekend of football playoffs involving District 10 teams

District 10 will crown its final three champions of the fall season this weekend with the Class 1A, 2A and 3A football champions. The three D-10 championship games feature regular-season rematches and one game featuring two teams that have been on a collision course all season.

Meadville (Class 4A) and McDowell (Class 6A) will compete in the PIAA first round looking for a spot in the quarterfinals after Cathedral Prep won a first-round game last week. The Ramblers have this week off before hosting the WPIAL champion in Class 5A.

Here are five things to know this weekend:

Can Cambridge Springs or Mercyhurst Prep stop the Mercer County streak?

Cambridge Springs and Mercyhurst Prep have put together big seasons and are worthy contenders to reach the District 10 championship game. Cambridge Springs will take on Lakeview in Class 1A at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Meadville's Bender Field, after Mercyhurst Prep plays Farrell at noon Saturday at Bender Field.

There have been worthy non-Mercer County contenders in recent years, but they keep coming up short. In 2022, Eisenhower pushed Reynolds early on in the 1A final, but the Raiders won 28-14. The Class 2A and 3A finals were all-Mercer County.

In 2021, Cochranton was undefeated but lost to Reynolds 23-0 in the 1A final and the 2A and 3A finals were all-Mercer County.

In 2020, Reynolds shut out Eisenhower 27-0 in the 1A final and of course, the 2A and 3A finals were all-Mercer County.

In 2019, 2A and 3A were all-Mercer County finals while Farrell outlasted Maplewood 35-20, and in 2018, all three small-school championships were between Mercer County teams.

Mercyhurst Prep has been close

Mercyhurst Prep is the last non-Mercer County team to win a D-10 small-school title as the Lakers won the Class 1A title in 2007. Mercyhurst Prep had a charmed run as they edged Linesville 21-20, Farrell 21-20 and Mercer 21-19 to win the title.

The Lakers returned to the D-10 final in 2010 and lost to Farrell 39-0 in the 1A final before not getting out of the quarterfinal round for seven years. The 2017 team, led by current Arizona Cardinal Jesse Luketa, started the playoffs by ending Hickory's 18-game winning streak in the D-10 playoffs with a 28-10 win in the 3A semifinals at McDowell High School. One week later, Mercyhurst Prep was hanging in with Sharon in the D-10 final but fell 21-14 at Meadville High School.

Before the 2017 Lakers, the closest a non-Mercer County team came to winning D-10 was Girard in 2013, which lost to Hickory 21-10 in the D-10 final at Edinboro.

Regular-season rematches

There won't be any surprises in the Class 1A and 3A championship games this weekend as they are rematches from the regular season. Cambridge Springs and Lakeview met in an emotional game on Oct. 6 just one day after the Lakeview community lost three young adults to a car crash. The Sailors played the game in their honor and won 28-22.

Mitchell Tingley ran for 222 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, while Leyton Zacherl threw for a 65-yard touchdown to Danick Hinkson on Lakeview's first play of the game. Preston Gorton and Tristen Mazzadra each ran for one touchdown and Morgan Applebeee threw for one for Cambridge Springs. Brandon Hoover led the Blue Devil defense with 11 tackles and Josh Gorton and Zeek Carson had 10 apiece, while Tingley had 13 tackles for Lakeview and Luke Klonowski, Garet Guthrie and Gavin Krupa had nine apiece.

The win clinched at least a share of the Region 1 title for Lakeview.

Hickory and Sharon will play Friday at Farrell for the Class 3A title. The two rivals met on Sept. 8 with Sharon winning 12-0.

Mister Ham threw for 73 yards and one touchdown and ran for 110 yards and one touchdown in the win for the Tigers, while Cortez Nixon ran for 80 yards on 15 carries. Hickory was held to 91 yards of offense by the tenacious Sharon defense. Bryson Roberson had 13 tackles and Brodie Miller had nine for Sharon, while Timmy Krivosh led Hickory with 22 tackles and Matt Myers had 13.

Will he or won't he play?

A big storyline in the State College-McDowell game is star running back D'Antae Sheffey. The 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore already has offers from Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Toledo, Kent State, Cincinnati, Temple and Akron. Sheffey hasn't played since Oct. 20 and was on crutches last week during State College's latest game, but he was also spotted at the Penn State game the next day without the crutches.

Sheffey has battled injuries all year as he has just 104 carries for 468 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a freshman, Sheffey ran for 1,725 yards and 22 touchdowns on 223 carries last season, including 148 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries last fall in the 57-50 triple-overtime win by the Lions over the Trojans.

What's next?

The three D-10 champions have a variety of opponents waiting in the PIAA quarterfinals. The Cambridge Springs-Lakeview winner will take on the District 9 champion in Class 1A at a District 10 site. Redbank Valley and Port Allegany meet for the D-9 Class 1A title on Friday at Brockway High School. Redbank Valley is currently ranked No. 10 in the state and Cambridge Springs is No. 9, while Lakeview and Port Allegany are teams to watch.

The Mercyhurst Prep-Farrell winner will take on the winner of District 9 champion Central Clarion and District 8 representative Westinghouse at a D-10 site. The two teams meet in the PIAA Class 2A first round at Clarion University on Friday. Westinghouse is the No. 2 team in the state, while Central Clarion is No. 3, Farrell is No. 1 and Mercyhurst Prep is No. 8.

In Class 3A, the Hickory-Sharon winner will travel to a D-9 site to take on the winner of District 9 representative Clearfield and District 6 representative Martinsburg Central. The two teams meet Friday at DuBois High School. Clearfield, Hickory and Sharon are teams to watch in the state rankings, while Martinsburg Central is No. 8.

Meadville and McDowell are involved in PIAA first-round games against District 6 champions. Meadville takes on Juniata in Class 4A with the winner taking on either Bethlehem Catholic out of D-11 or Selinsgrove out of D-4. The two teams meet at Catasauqua Middle School on Friday. If Meadville wins, it'll likely travel to a neutral site next week as both possible opponents are from across the state. Bethlehem Catholic, Juniata and Meadville are teams to watch and Selinsgrove is No. 4.

McDowell battles State College in Class 6A and the winner heads to Pittsburgh next week to take on the WPIAL champion. The WPIAL Class 5A champion will be decided Saturday night at Norwin High School between North Allegheny and Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Central Catholic is No. 6, while North Allegheny is No. 8 and State College is a team to watch.

Prep is waiting on its opponent in Class 5A. The Ramblers will host the WPIAL champion, which will be decided Saturday at noon at Norwin High School between Peters Township and Pine-Richland. Peters Township is No. 2 in the state, while Pine-Richland is No. 9 and Prep is No. 10.

Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @ETNreisenweber.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Five things to know about the third weekend of football playoffs