South Park's strength on offense is its running game, but the Eagles will have to work overtime to keep it going in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal round Friday against North Catholic.

Running backs Rudy Mihoces (916 yards) and Nathan May (511) have combined for 1,427 yards and have scored a total of 15 touchdowns.

“They run old-school football plays right at you,” said Trojans' coach Patrick O'Shea. “There's going to be a lot of pressure on our defensive tackles (Carson Primrose and Dom Prentice), but those two have played at a high level all year. I believe how well we play on the defensive line will go a long way in determining how successful we are.”

The No. 6 Eagles (4-5) and No. 3 Trojans (8-1) will meet for a 7 p.m. kickoff at North Park's J.C. Stone Field.

South Park quarterback Stephen Kmonk has tallied just 672 passing yards all season with six touchdowns and seven interceptions.

On the other hand, the Trojans, champions of the Big East Conference, will bring a balanced attack into the game.

Senior quarterback Zack Rocco has 1,765 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

The backfield features Anthony Serventi, who has rushed for 693 yards. Eamon Straub, who rushed for 303 yards in the first five games, could make his return to the starting lineup after sustaining an injury in September.

“He looked really good in practice this week,” O'Shea said of Straub. “He also plays linebacker for us, but if he's able to go, we'll use him more on offense.”

Nick Maher provides North with a big-play threat with his 39 receptions worth 729 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“He's been awesome for us on defense,” O'Shea added of his top receiver. “He started the season at safety, but moved to defensive end because of an injury and we now have him at outside linebacker. He's amazing and is a great kid.

“If Nick doesn't make that move to defensive end for us in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, I don't know if we win all of those games,” said O'Shea, who added, “The conference title says a lot about the work ethic of our kids and our coaches. But it's just one of our goals. We're now focused on the next one.”