Russellville hopes to continue its dominance of district foes Friday when it hosts Edmonson County in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.

The Panthers have yet to lose to a district opponent since joining Class 3A last season and have beaten the Wildcats three times the past two seasons - including a 40-23 victory earlier this year.

While Russellville (9-2) has had success against Edmonson County, coach John Myers said he expects a stern test from the Wildcats.

“They are a good football team,” Myers said. “They’ve won seven games. They played the heck out of (Allen County-Scottsville). They are very well-coached. They are going to come in here with a good game plan. I’m sure they are going to make adjustments from the first time. Thankfully we get to play this game at home.”

Edmonson County (7-4) picked up a playoff road win last week at McLean County, but coach Kyle Pierce said the Wildcats must put forth their best effort to pull off another upset.

“We know who we are up against,” Pierce said. “Russellville is one of the best teams in our area - especially in our class. ... They have a lot of speed. They put a lot of pressure on you. If we can limit their big plays, we feel like we have a shot.”

Russellville dominated on the ground in the first meeting in September, finishing with 386 rushing yards.

“Their offense is tough to stop,” Pierce said. “They have a lot of speed and a lot of weapons. We know they ran the ball quite well and our kids are focused on that. We think we’ve gotten better.”

Pierce said the key for Edmonson County will be to control the tempo and rely on its running game, which had success in the earlier loss. The Wildcats finished with 199 yards on the ground. Running back Zach Vincent accounting for 117 of them.

“You’re not going to out-athlete Russellville,” Pierce said. “They’ve just got too much speed. Obviously, we’re going to have to run the ball well and throw it some to be able to get them off of us.”

Pierce said another key will be having his team prevent the big play.

Myers said Russellville must limit turnovers and play good defense. He also said he hopes playoff experience will be a factor. The Panthers reached the third round of the postseason in 2007.

“I know we have a lot of sophomores, but this isn’t anything new for us,” Myers said. “Of course last week’s win was huge, but we are taking it in stride. We’ve won several playoffs games the last few years and we are planning on going out and winning a few more. We have to execute. We have to take care of the little things and do what we have to do to come out on top.”

While Russellville is hopeful about advancing, the Wildcats also are optimistic.

“We have a chance to practice on Thanksgiving,” Pierce said. “If you win this game, you get to practice on Thanksgiving. That is something that hasn’t been done here since I was a sophomore in 1996.

“I think our kids are eager to try to have some of that turkey on Thanksgiving after practice.”