MAN - It's been three years.

But the Man High School football team has made it back.

Back to the playoffs.

No. 9-ranked Man all but wrapped up a berth in the upcoming Class A playoffs with Friday night's hard fought 14-6 victory at home over Buffalo at Man's George A. Queen Memorial Field.

The Hillbillies last made it to the post-season in 2005 when Man beat Hamlin 14-0 in the first round before falling to Williamstown in the quarterfinals.

Man went 5-5 in 2006 and 2-8 last year.

But with a 6-3 mark so far this season with one game left to play the Billies are all but in.

Man still has a shot at finishing in the top eight and earning a first-round home playoff game but will need a win this coming Friday night at home in the regular season finale against Iaeger.

Man coach Harvey Arms was pleased with the win over the Bison, a Class A playoff team from a year ago.

"We played well overall, especially well in the second half," Arms said. "We controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, plus we ran the ball well."

Leading 7-6 after three quarters of play, the Billies put it away with Khris Tolliver's 8-yard touchdown run with 4:55 left in the game. Derrick Earnest tacked on the extra point kick to make it 14-6 and ice the victory.

Tolliver led Man with 148 yards rushing on 23 carries for the game.

Buffalo took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards for what would be its only touchdown of the night. Quarterback Corey Good ran in from 2 yards out to put the Bison ahead 6-0 with 7:01 left in the first quarter.

The Billies had to punt on their first possession, giving Buffalo the ball at its own 24-yard line.

Man's defense then held the Bison to a three-and-out punt.

The Billies got the ball back in good field position at the Buffalo 30-yard line after the punt.

Man drove down for a score as quarterback Cory Spence sneaked in for a 1-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. Earnest's PAT was good and Man led 7-6. The touchdown was set up by a 14-yard run by Michael Lomax and runs of 9, 6 and 4 by Tolliver.

The Bison then looked to come right back as Lomax later mishandled a punt, giving Buffalo the ball at the Man 25.

Buffalo drove the ball deep into Man territory but the Billies' Cory Kinningham came up big, intercepting a pass at the 3.

Man, though, was later forced to punt out of the end zone. Man punter Ryan Crawford gave the Billies some space as he boomed a 53-yard punt to get Man out of the hole.

"Those two plays were big for us - the interception and the punt," Arms said.

The game stayed 7-6 in favor of Man as the two teams went into the locker rooms at halftime.

Both defenses held firm as the third quarter went scoreless.

Man later took over on its own 13-yard line with nine seconds left to play in the third.

The Billies then marched down field as the fourth quarter began.

The Tolliver touchdown then put Man ahead for good. The score was set up by a nice run of 16 yards by Lomax.

Man's defense then held Buffalo in check the rest of the way as Man held on for the victory.

Lomax had 51 yards rushing on 11 carries for the game.

Derek Lomax had four carries for 45 yards.

Brandon Plymale rushed twice for 12 yards.

Spence had six carries for seven yards. Spence was 0-for-2 passing for no yards and one interception.

Crawford punted four times for an average of 39.5 yards per boot.

Cody Harvey led Man's defense with nine tackles. Plymale, Zach Underwood and Earnest all had seven stops each. Andrew Hale had six tackles, while Derek Lomax, Cody Owens and Tolliver had three tackles each. Kinningham had two stops and David Johnson and Manuel Gibson had one apiece.

Tolliver also intercepted a pass.

Buffalo dropped to 4-5 on the season with the loss.

Man hopes to close out the regular season with a win this Friday night at home over the Iaeger Cubs.

The playoffs begin Nov. 14 across the state.