Penn Cambria has spent this season proving last year’s run to the PIAA semifinals was no fluke and trying to recapture the magic of that season.

Both did so through a tough road.

“After last year, we spent about 10 months trying to put together a plan on how we could win another district championship and try to extend further into the postseason,” Brockway coach Jacob Heigel said. “That became a lot more difficult when the schedules were released, but that turned out to be a bright spot for us. I think this was the first difficult schedule Brockway has ever had. It prepared us. It challenged us in every possible way with games going down to the last play almost every single week. Some of our losses were to top-tier teams in the state like Port Allegany, Punxsutawney and Karns City. We didn’t just play the best teams in our district. We played some of the better teams in the state.”

The Panthers and Rovers meet Friday at 7 p.m. at Brockway in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.

“Last year, we learned this mindset — win the game, find out who is next and start working on that game,” Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. “It was nice over the weekend to take a step back and celebrate a district championship and winning it two years in a row, but it’s always more about who is the next game? Let’s make sure we’re ready for that.”

Brockway sophomore quarterback Aiden Patton has thrown for 3,277 yards and 38 touchdown passes this season. Senior wideout Blake Pisarcik has 66 catches for 1,249 yards, and sophomore Caleb Daugherty needs just 7 yards to join him in the 1,000-yard club and leads the Rovers with 71 catches.

“They throw the ball a ton,” Grassi said. “That’s something that we haven’t really seen a lot with our opponents this year. We have to do a good job getting to the quarterback with our guys up front and create some pressure to get him uncomfortable and out of the pocket. Their quarterback is athletic, and they have four pretty good receivers they spread the ball around to at times. We have to make sure we have our coverages set and that we know what we’re doing and execute our coverages.”

Though Grassi is focused on Brockway’s passing attack, Heigel said his team has become more balanced as the season has progressed.

“I love how far we’ve come offensively,” Heigel said. “We’re very balanced as of late in the run and the pass. In years past, we have been mostly passing. I’m very happy with some of the development of the underclassmen. The sophomores that are playing had huge growth throughout the year.”

Penn Cambria has leaned on the run more than the pass but also feels confident in both aspects.

“We feel comfortable if we have to throw the football to win that we can do that,” Grassi said. “Obviously, we like to run the football a good bit with both the running back and quarterback. Being diverse, especially this time of the year is huge. That was something we focused on this year, making sure we could do both.”

Penn Cambria has plenty of playmakers on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and that caught Heigel’s attention.

“As a program and as a team, they are difficult to prepare for in general,” Heigel said. “You take a look at what they have done the last couple years, and it’s not just one or two guys. They have versatility and can spread it around. It’s that time of the year. Every team you play is a true collective team where there’s not just one player you are looking to shut down. The teams playing this time of the year are there for a reason. They are balanced and make few to little mistakes, and Penn Cambria is that type of team.”

Brockway is 7-4 and coming off a bye last week.

“There’s no flipping the switch,” Heigel said. “They have seen it. They have done it. They have been in every situation you can be in. They have been down and come back. They have been up and fought to make sure nobody comes back.”

Last season, Penn Cambria defeated Somerset, 40-0, in this round and topped Hickory the week after to make the PIAA semifinals.

With a chance to match the longest run in school history just two wins away, the Panthers are focused only on Friday’s game.

“It sounds cliche, but it has been our mentality this year to just take one game at a time,” Grassi said. “We’re playing the game in front of us. Brockway is a good team, and it’s an opportunity for us to play another football game and keep working and being the best that we can be. We want to win this game, go 1-0 this week, and worry about what happens next week when we play next week.”