It's taken Joe Henrich three years to get the Bethlehem Catholic football program back on track, but the time has finally come to have the Hawks back in the postseason.

Becahi took care of business last Saturday night in their regular season finale, knocking off Central Catholic 33-13 as their final tuneup before this weekend's District 11 3A tournament.

The Golden Hawks (6-4) earned the second-seed in the four team tournament and will take on third-seeded Lehighton (6-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Frank Banko Field.

Top seeded Southern Lehigh (9-1) hosts Pottsville (5-5) in the other semifinal.

It marks the first time Bethlehem Catholic will compete in the district tournament since 2006, when they entered as the top-seed and lost to fourth-seeded Northwestern 35-33.

The only other postseason berth the Hawks have entertained since then was a spot in the 2008 Eastern Conference 3A playoffs, where they lost to Pottsville 21-14.

Following a 1-9 campaign last year, Henrich knows the appreciation the program has for being in the postseason.

"Obviously, it's very rewarding," he said. "I'm very happy for our kids because they put a lot of trust and faith into what we've been preaching to them. It's a very good feeling for our school and community, but it's only a step in what we hope will bring bigger things for us down the road."

And that first step for Henrich and company involves tackling the Indians Saturday night.

Lehighton defeated Jim Thorpe 28-24 last week to solidify a spot in the district postseason.

The Indians have enjoyed a similar rise as Becahi, as they've parlayed a three win season a year ago into six wins this year and a postseason berth.

And Lehighton has done that by playing solid football all year and utilizing their running game as their primary objective on offense.

Wyatt Clements is the Indians workhorse out of the backfield, as he's rushed for 923 yards and 15 touchdowns this season.

Quarterback Tyler Cann has thrown for 704 yards on the season, along with four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Cann has attempted 113 passes on the year, completing 62 of them, which shows directly what the Indians are all about.

They are a running team and Cann is apart of that arsenal as well, collecting 676 yards rushing and four touchdown runs this year.

"They run a lot of one-back spread offensively," said Henrich of the Indians offense. "They don't throw much, but are a physical, gritty team that will keep grinding. Even when they're down in games, they stick to the running game."

And Becahi will stick to the same philosophies they've maintained throughout the season, as Henrich doesn't plan to change much for his team heading into their district opener.

The Hawks jumped out to a 27-0 lead over Central last week, led by Michael McDaniel's 94 yards rushing and three touchdown performance.

Quarterback Julian Spigner completed 6-of-17 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown and interception.

The Hawks also committed 10 penalties for 105 yards on the night, but Henrich was pleased overall with their play.

"I wasn't really disappointed with what we did against Central," he said. "We forced four turnovers and played well. I feel like we've gotten better as a team over the past three weeks. We're getting stronger as a team and heading in the right direction, which is exactly where you want to be at this point of the season."