Who is the king of the City?

We'll all find out at 1 p.m. tomorrow, when defending champion Brashear (9-1) squares off against Perry (9-1) in the City League football title game at Cupples Stadium on the South Side.

The teams met in Week 1, Aug. 30, with Brashear rolling to a 28-3 win. But in the lives of these teams, that was eons ago.

There has been growth and advancement on both sides, but Brashear has hung its hat on its strength -- a stellar offensive line led by the Wetzel twins, John and Dave, who have paved the way for running back Bruce Patterson.

"Usually, the teams that win have the best offensive lines; that's just football, and everyone knew coming into the year that Brashear had four of five guys coming back on that offensive line," Perry coach Bill Gallagher said. "Going out there against them, that is a big concern. They are big and they are strong."

But to look at Brashear is to see a team that is two-pronged, as quarterback Henri Chatman is an explosive player as well, throwing for more than 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He was the leader last week when the Bulls found themselves having to claw back, uncharacteristically, from a halftime deficit before fending off Langley, 16-8, in the semifinals.

"Looking at it now, it was a good experience," said Brashear coach Rick Murphy said of the nail-biter. "Langley is a good football team with tough, tough kids. I give credit to our kids, they got down and responded. We got put into a situation where we needed to make plays and fight back and we did."

Perry has been fighting back all season since losing that opener to the Bulls -- and the Commodores have proven, behind running back Richard Lowry, quarterback Greg McGhee and a tremendous defense, that they can win tight games.

Take the past three weeks, for example. Perry beat Schenley, 14-0, fought off Langley, 28-22, and traveled to DuBois and earned an impressive 27-21 overtime win.

"What I'm proud of is that I can honestly say we've gotten better every week this year," Gallagher said. "That is a goal with all teams, and our kids have bought into working hard and making themselves better. That's why we are here."