When Catasauqua lines up against Lake-Lehman Friday night in the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs, head coach Tom Falzone doesn't expect to see anything majorly different from what his coaching staff have witnessed this season.

In fact, it has been a blueprint that has steadily surfaced from more than a majority of opponents throughout their season and the Roughies have managed to overcome.

"They (Lake-Lehman) are a big, physical team that likes to run the football," said Falzone. "They will be another team that will be bigger than us on paper, and we expect them to get physical with us.

"(Lake-Lehman) likes to play smash-mouth football and they have scored a ton of points this season. We know we'll have our hands full."

The district two champion, Lake-Lehman (11-1) will enter the contest with the same record as the Roughies, but that's one of the few lone links between the two clubs. They began their season with the only defeat on the season, a 13-7 loss to Old Forge on Aug. 30.

Since then, the Black Knights have won 11-straight games, the latter being a 37-21 victory over Lakeland in the District 2 championship. Over the span, they have averaged nearly 45 points per game and have allowed an average of 13 points per contest. Their closest contest was a 48-41 victory over Dallas on Nov. 2.

Lake-Lehman has been paced by a two-back attack that has easily accounted for more than 85-percent of their offense. Fullback, 240-pound Dustin Jones, who has scored 52 touchdowns in his career, has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards this season and he had 311 yards rushing in their district championship game. Tailback Joey Virgil has been the perfect compliment and has topped the 1,300-yard mark this season.

Together, the duo has helped their team average 8.2 yards per carry rushing the football and have accumulated over 4,000 yards and averaged more than 360 yards on the ground in each game this season.

The Black Knights also have had an effective offensive line that generated more than their share of holes all season.

"They (Lake-Lehman) are huge up front and they will tend to run a power formation and some Wing-T," said Falzone after he initially watched some game film on the Black Knights. "(Jones) is a big back who tends to run straight ahead. So, we'll have to be braced up front for them coming right at us.

"But this is something we have seen from other teams this year. We have played against teams with big backs, but these guys are probably the biggest we've seen."

Still, Falzone is confident his team may still have the overall advantage with their two-pronged offensive attack behind Zack Bradley and Ra'Von Burton.

Heading into the playoff game, Bradley has thrown for 2,347 yards with 36 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Burton has complimented him well with 1,481 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. Paryss Marshall has been the Roughies' leading receiver with 62 catches for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns (18 total) and Jacob Stopay has 27 receptions for 528 yards with eight touchdowns.

Burton left the game against Palisades hobbling off the field early in the fourth quarter and was scheduled to have an MRI earlier in the week. However, Falzone was confident his senior, who has battled an appendicitis and knee injuries the past three weeks, would be ready to take the field.

With his own potent offense, Falzone will look to see how the Black Knights will look to stop the Roughies, who averaged 44 points per game while allowing 15 per contest. Lake-Lehman also allowed more than 200 yards of total offense in each contest.

"We know we have to worry about slowing them down, but they have to worry about us," stated Falzone. "We have some strengths, too. We feel we'll have an advantage through the air, but we'll look to attack them like we attack any other team.

"I've watched them (Lake-Lehman) on film and I know we can beat them," added Bradley. "Hey, they have to worry about stopping us. Right now, this is a bonus for us. It's a state playoff game and we're going to go out, play loose, and have fun."

Falzone also acknowledged that his team will be playing with house money entering the postseason. They achieved their goals of a league and district title and have Northampton waiting in the wings for their annual Thanksgiving Day matchup.

Interestingly, the winner of the game will meet Philadelphia-based Imhotep Charter, the District 12 champion who won their title game last weekend. Imhotep Charter, who lost in the state semifinals to eventual champion Wyomissing last season, will have a week to rest before they take the field against either the Roughies or the Black Knights Nov. 30.

"Right now, this is all extra for us," said Falzone of the state postseason. "We know we have Northampton next. But it is still an exciting time for everyone. We'll prepare like we always do and we have a long bus ride there.

"I'm just so happy for our players and our coaches. We'll go out and do what we need to do."