As a football program, Woodland Hills High School is no stranger to the North Shore of Pittsburgh.

The Wolverines have played for WPIAL championships at old Three Rivers Stadium three times and at Heinz Field three times. The coaching staff has been through it, the fans know the game day routine for WPIAL title games but there's one small catch -- no player on the Woodland Hills roster has been to a WPIAL title game.

Anticipating a return to the WPIAL's biggest stage, coach George Novak did more than just prepare his team in the offseason and in practices. He scheduled games at Texas Stadium, the former home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Wheeling Island Stadium in Wheeling, W.Va., in the past two years.

"One of the reasons we went down was so they can experience [bigger] stadiums like that," Novak said.

"We wanted to get the players the same type of feeling to play in a big football game. They have experienced the big games, the big fields, the different locker rooms, getting on a bus, going through security, the traffic, the uncertainty of the game time, only having a half hour on the field before the game ... not your normal game preparation."

Across the field from Woodland Hills Friday night will be a team with as much experience at Heinz Field as any Class AAAA school. Top-seeded Gateway will be making its third consecutive trip to Heinz Field. The past two seasons, Woodland Hills has fallen in the first round of the playoffs and the year before that the quarterfinals were the stumbling block.

The early playoff exits are unusual for the proud Woody High football program. Novak is the only coach the school has ever known. He took over at the newly formed high school in 1987 after coaching at Steel Valley. In their 23-year history the Wolverines have reached the semifinals 12 times.

"We had things rolling pretty well in the '90s and early 2000s up until the last time we went to Heinz Field [in 2005]," Novak said.

"Due to a lot of reasons, mainly injuries during the year, we didn't achieve as much as we expected every year. We expect to make it to the top eight and top four that is our goal. The last two years we didn't make it and this was kind of the year we felt like we could make it."

It was easy to see why Novak felt this could be the year. He has a defense led by Division I college prospects Richard Gray and Khaynin Mosley-Smith. The offense is sparked by running back Dom Timbers and an experienced offensive line.

With the offense and defense hitting on all cylinders many thought it would be a big offensive play or a defensive stop that would be the difference in the semifinal showdown with Bethel Park. But last Friday it was kicker Sam Scifo's right foot that sent the Wolverines to the Class AAAA title game.

"No, not at all," Woodland Hills coach George Novak said when asked if he thought there was any chance the 38-35 back-and-forth overtime game would ever come down to a kick.

"It was two good football teams going at it. They are a very good football team and we are a very good football team," Novak said.

Timbers, a Syracuse recruit, receives a lot of the attention on offense but the Wolverines have a number of different weapons including senior tight ends Mike Lee and Joe Lofton, senior wide receiver Jayron Polk, junior running back Lafayette Pitts and senior fullback Cameron Thompkins.

"Dom will get the most carries and exposures," Novak said. "But we have to two tight ends [Lee and Lofton] who make plays when we need them and our offensive line is important."

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