Contrasting styles will be on display Friday in the first round of the Class A playoffs as Harlan and its power ground game plays host to the speedy Paintsville Tigers.

Paintsville features a run-oriented attack led by a pair of senior halfbacks. Nehamiah Doderer has rushed for 1,701 yards on 200 carries with 17 touchdowns, and Dyllon Brown has added 955 yards rushing on 102 carries with eight touchdowns.

“They are extremely dangerous,” Harlan coach J.B. Donahue said. “They have two real good running backs. They are explosive on offense. They run the ball quite a bit, and they have a lot of speed. We have to contain their speed.

“Offensively, we have to execute and win at the line of scrimmage again.”

Harlan has struggled at times against passing teams, but that isn’t a strength for the Tigers with Brown and freshman Matt Daniels teaming for only 26 completions.

“They run a lot of option football, and you have to play good assignments and execute on defense and take the proper angles,” Donahue said.

Harlan (5-5) also features a solid ground game led by senior tailback Andrew Link, who has rushed for 1,664 yards, but Paintsville coach Jason Kinner is even more worried about Harlan’s physical and experienced offensive line.

“They are big and strong up front. They are probably as good up front as we’ve seen, even compared to teams like Prestonsburg and Lawrence County,” Kinner said.

“We feel like we have to use our speed to our advantage. We have to do a better job of securing the football. We’ve been turnover-prone all year long. I’d say we’ve put the ball on the ground 20-plus times. We start a freshman quarterback, and we’ve got to take care of the football and control the clock. They’re style of offense is cramming it down our throat, and we struggle with that style of offense.”

Paintsville (4-6) finished s