A look at Saturday’s Pa. playoff games

When you break down the numbers, it's clear there are many reason the football teams playing Saturday have made it this far.

Here are a few of them:

District 1 Class AAA championship: Interboro vs. Pottsgrove at Coatesville, 7 p.m.

The most obvious thing that stands out about this game is that it's a battle of two 12-0 teams.

Both teams have scorching offenses. Each of them topped 60 points in a game this season, and both teams are giving up an average of fewer than 10 points per game.

The Pottsgrove Falcons are coming off two playoff games that were their two closest games of the year. Pottsgrove's two 21-14 playoff victories over Upper Moreland and West Chester Rustin were only the third and fourth times this season that the Falcons allowed a team to score more than seven points in a game.

Interboro's playoff games against Academy Park and Owen J. Roberts were more indicative of its season as a whole. The Buccaneers beat Academy Park, 28-0, in the first round. But the 19 points they allowed in a 33-19 semifinal win over Owen J. Roberts was the second-highest number of points they have given up this season.

District 12 Class AAAA championship: La Salle vs. George Washington at Northeast, noon.

If George Washington's 8-2 record is somewhat of an aberration, its 16-0 opening-game loss to Parkland is a complete mystery. Besides two close losses to Parkland and Northeast, the Eagles all but walked over every other opponent this season. And, yes, they have put up some very big offensive numbers.

After that first loss, Washington scored fewer than 30 points only two other times this season - once in a 28-6 win over Frankford and again in the 14-12 loss to Northeast.

The Eagles topped 40 points three times this season, and they average 34 points per game.

Washington's defense recorded shutouts in three of its last four games.

During that span, only Bartram got on the scoreboard, in a 34-6 Washington victory on Nov. 7.

La Salle counters that defense with an offense that is also averaging more than 30 points per game. And the Explorers (10-1) are giving up an average of only 11 points per game.

Two out of the three times that La Salle allowed more than 20 points this season were against St. Joseph's Prep. The Hawks handed the Explorers their only loss, 24-17. But La Salle came back to beat Prep, 35-28, in last week's Catholic AAAA championship game.

State Class A first round: St. Pius X vs. Tri-Valley at Williams Valley, 7 p.m.

This is a battle of two four-loss teams. St. Pius X (8-4) suffered two separate 35-0 losses this year - the first to Perkiomen Valley on Oct. 3 and the second to Owen J. Roberts on Oct. 23. But St. Pius does have several big wins, including, most recently, a 34-0 win over Calvary Christian on Nov. 20. The Winged Lions also beat Jenkintown, 26-0, on Sept. 12 and Methacton 47-7 on Oct. 31. Despite the four losses - two of them big losses - the Winged Lions are still outscoring their opponents by a healthy 8.6 points per game.

Tri-Valley (8-4) is outscoring its opponents by an average of just fewer than 10 points per game.

The Bulldogs have several lopsided wins this season but haven't suffered losses as crushing as St. Pius' two 35-0 defeats.