It’s rare we get exactly what we wish for.

If you’re a skier, you wish that winter comes early and stays late.

If you’re a beach lover, you wish the opposite. ... Or just say the heck with it, and head south for a few months.

Some people make big, unattainable wishes - world peace being the first on my mind.

Others make tiny wishes, knowing they have a good chance of coming true - “I just wish traffic isn’t bad on Blakeslee Boulevard this morning.” ... Maybe that’s not a good example.

But there’s one wish I think every area football fan has had since the leaves started to turn, and it has come true.

Unbeatens Palmerton and Northwestern Lehigh will play for the District 11 Class AAA football title tonight - kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Lehighton’s stadium.

There are nine teams in the Times News coverage area for football ... and two of them have perfect records heading into the 13th week of the season, and one will head into the state playoffs 13-0.

Take a second to digest that.

Safe to say we probably won’t see this type of excellence for years, if not decades.

It’s almost impossible.

Public high schools, which both are, rely on a supply of athletes in a defined geographic boundary - no recruiting like non-public high schools or charter schools.

The coaches get a fixed pool of students to work with and go from there.

No signing of players to fill in for injured starters. No transfer portal to grab a new quarterback after your star has graduated.

It’s like when you were a kid and your mom plopped down mystery meat, some type of potato thingie and mushy green beans. That’s what you got and that’s what you ate. Make the best of it or go hungry.

There is no doubt that coaches Chris Walkowiak, Palmerton, and Josh Snyder, Northwestern, have some filet mignons on their roster - think Matt Machalik and Dalton Clymer - but they also have taken some mushy green beans and turned them into edible compliments to the fine cuts of meat.

That’s the amazing thing about this matchup. Two coaching staffs that molded players of all shapes and sizes into cohesive units that stayed healthy, didn’t buckle to the pressure of being unbeaten as the season wore on and figured out ways during games to overcome obstacles.

It’s hard to imagine a bigger game ever being played in Carbon County. Here’s to wishing the teams play at their best and they serve up a contest that will be talked about for generations in our area.

No. 1: Palmerton. Been in this spot all season.

No. 2: Northwestern. We all know how the Tigers can end up No. 1.

No. 3: Marian.

No. 4: Pleasant Valley.

No. 5: Tamaqua.

No. 6: Jim Thorpe.

No. 7: Lehighton.

No. 8: Northern Lehigh.

No. 9: Panther Valley.

Post-season notes: The District 11 and District 1 Class 6A brackets also fulfilled a lot of football fans’ wishes.

In District 11, it’s a rematch of Parkland-Nazareth. The Trojans (12-0) won 31-24 on Sept. 15 - the Blue Eagles only loss this season.

In District 1, the semifinals pit Central Bucks West against Central Bucks South, and Downingtown West against Downingtown East. Curious to see what each district’s respective superintendent wears to those games.

Season ender: This is the last rankings column of the year. No sense in me writing something that says so-and-so is No. 1 after tonight.

For once, it will be settled on the field and we can all sit back and enjoy it. Have a great holiday season.