It's playoff weekend and we know the Catasauqua faithful wish their Roughies had a chance to defend theirdistrict crown, but the playoff races in each classification this year should provide plenty of intrigue.

Things get started Friday night at BASD Stadium when fourth-seeded Freedom (8-2) takes on fifth-seeded Whitehall (8-2) in the District 2-4-11 4A subregional playoffs.

The Patriots shocked the Zephyrs in week seven with a 29-28 overtime victory. Freedom was 7-0 at the time, but lost to Parkland and Easton the following consecutive weeks before last Saturday's 29-0 thrashing over Liberty.

Freedom head coach Jason Roeder knows Friday's contest will be a tight one, equipped with plenty of revenge by Whitehall.

"They're going to be chomping at the bit with the way the last game ended," said Roeder in reference to Freedom pulling out the win over the Zephyrs with a converted two-point conversion. "We just need to get better everyday."

The other subregional contests on Friday feature top-seeded Easton (10-0) taking on eighth-seeded Pleasant Valley (6-4). Second-seeded Stroudsburg (10-0) gets a juicy matchup with seventh-seeded Parkland (8-2). Meanwhile, Delaware Valley (9-1) and Wyoming Valley West (8-2) meet in a three-six affair.

Bethlehem Catholic (9-1) is the top-seed in 3A, as they host fourth-seeded Lehighton (8-2) Saturday night at BASD.

Hawks head coach Joe Henrich knows if his team wants to defend their district title from last year, they'll need to protect the football better than the three turnovers they committed in last week's win over Central Catholic.

"We got to secure the ball more and take pride in treating the ball like gold," he said. "We're getting lazy with the football and it's killing me. Defensively, we managed to make some things happen, but we messed up so many things that can kill us. We have to do a better job executing our system on both sides of the ball."

A pair of 9-1 teams square off in the other 3A matchup as Southern Lehigh hosts Saucon Valley.

In 2A, North Schuylkill (10-0) hosts Palmerton (7-3), while second-seeded Northwestern (9-1) hosts Palisades. In class A, Pius X (8-2) takes on Mahanoy Area (5-5), while Marian Catholic (7-3) hosts Williams Valley (6-4).

In Eastern Conference 4A action, Liberty (5-5) hosts East Stroudsburg South (4-6) in one half of the bracket. Scranton (7-3) hosts Emmaus (5-5) in the other side.

As mentioned, the Roughies season ended last week with a 43-7 defeat to Northwestern to finish their season at 3-7. They'll take on the 1-9 Northampton K-Kids on November 27 in their annual Thanksgiving day matchup.

Both teams will have roughly over three weeks to prepare for the game.

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