The Daily Standard
Sports Preview
With the number of Midwest Athletic Conference teams in Division VII Region 28, rematches from earlier games often happen in the state football playoffs.
The first of several potential rematches depending on results takes place Friday at the Wally Post Athletic Complex in St. Henry as the second-seeded Redskins take on 10th-seeded New Bremen in a regional quarterfinal.
The winner of the game will face the winner of the matchup between third-seeded Cincinnati Country Day, which had a Week 10 bye, and 11th-seeded Cedarville, which defeated Portsmouth Notre Dame 41-37. The higher seed will host the contest.
The teams first met on Oct. 17 in St. Henry. The contest was a battle through three quarters with St. Henry leading 7-0 on a two-yard scoring run by Charlie Werling late in the second quarter. Werling ran for his second touchdown then passed for another in the fourth quarter in St. Henry's 20-0 win.
St. Henry's Charlie Werling (12) led the MAC in rushing this season as the Redskins return from an opening round bye to face New Bremen in Week 12 of the Division VII playoffs.
The first meeting was a battle of turnovers as the teams combined for seven interceptions - with Werling throwing four picks. The Cardinals were held to just 22 passing yards and were outgained offensively by a 322-147 margin.
Both teams won their final regular season game - St. Henry 26-20 over Versailles and New Bremen 42-7 over St. John's - before the second season got underway.
The Redskins had last Friday night off with a bye as New Bremen traveled to MAC charter member and seventh-seeded Ansonia. New Bremen led 16-8 at halftime before distancing the Tigers with 20 points in the second half in a 36-8 win.
The Cardinals tallied 413 yards of offense while the Tigers had just 192, 160 of which came via the ground game. Jacob Kelly had 161 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Quarterback Gavin Dicke added 61 yards and a touchdown while passing for 160 yards and a score. Gavin Quellhorst had four catches for 121 yards.
Friday's matchup is a battle of the top two runners in the MAC this season. Werling won the regular season yardage title with 1,313 yards with 24 touchdowns. Kelly had 1,229 yards in the regular season and is up to 1,390 yards.
New Bremen quarterback Gavin Dicke (9) ran for a touchdown and passed for another in the Cardinals' playoff-opening win over Ansonia.
Dicke is up to 1,029 yards passing this season with eight touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Quellhorst has 30 receptions for 586 yards and four touchdowns.
St. Henry enters the game on a seven-game winning streak after a Week Three 21-14 loss to Marion Local. Since the loss, the Redskins have averaged 35.6 points per game, scoring at least 20 during the streak.
Werling, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, has scored 150 total points this season (24 touchdowns and three two-point conversions) and has thrown for 1,083 yards and 10 touchdowns this season with 12 interceptions.
Landon Schwartz (270 receiving yards, two touchdowns), Carter LaGuire (258 yards, three touchdowns) and Brayden Heath (217 yards, three touchdowns) have been the main targets for Werling. Sophomore Will Speck has worked his way into the rotation, rushing for 302 yards and a touchdown and adds 173 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The defense has been potent this season. Jack Huelsman has five interceptions, with two of them resulting in returns for touchdowns. Anderson Kramer, the top defender with 98 tackles, also has a pick-six on the season. Drew Langenkamp and Owen Zimmerman each has four sacks to lead the defense, which has posted three shutouts and allowed 34 points the last six games.
ROUND TWO
For the second straight season, the Cavaliers and Titans face off in the postseason. The teams met in Coldwater on Oct. 15, 2024, with the Cavaliers rolling to a 56-0 win behind three touchdowns from Braxton Taylor and two more from Miles Pottkotter.
TITANS RESTED UP
Being a top four seed gave teams a bye in the opening round, but the Titans have been inactive for two weeks.
The team last played a game on Oct. 17 in a 27-0 win over Miami Valley Christian. The final game of the season was scheduled to be against Lockland, but Lockland forfeited, the second one by the team this season. That gave SBEP a two-week break heading into the quarterfinals.
The Titans' offense flows through quarterback Lucas Cannady, who led the Miami Valley Conference in rushing with 1,378 yards and 17 touchdowns. Cannady has also thrown for 1,009 yards with 12 touchdowns to three interceptions.
Dameko Taylor adds 993 yards rushing with five scores. Amare Hicks leads the team with 367 receiving yards on 20 receptions while Deshawn Hicks has 364 yards and a team-best six touchdown catches.
Senior James Hall has been a force on defense, recording 109 tackles with 25 sacks. Hicks has 8 1/2 sacks. Nathan Schulte has four interceptions.
Coldwater's Derek Dues had two rushing touchdowns in the Cavaliers 48-0 win over Covington in the opening round of the Division VI playoffs.
STRONG START FOR CAVALIERS
After losing a nailbiter to Marion Local in Week 10, Coldwater rebounded by shutting out Covington for the second straight season with a 48-0 decision. Karsyn Homan and Derek Dues each had two touchdowns. Kicker Bryce Couchot had his consecutive point-after streak snapped at 99 with a miss on his second attempt on Friday. The 99 straight ranks eighth in OHSAA history.
WHO'S NEXT?
The winner takes on the winner between top-seeded Tri-Village and ninth-seeded Portsmouth West. Higher seed will host.
OLD FRIENDS
The Cavaliers and Flyers will face off for the 38th time since Lehman formed in 1970 as both teams played in the Tri-County League, with Marion being 3-10-2 against Piqua Catholic before the merger with Sidney Holy Angels. The last meeting came in the 2016 Division VII Region 26 final with the Flyers winning 49-7.
SURVIVAL
Lehman had its hands full in the opening round before bringing home a 50-48 win over Minster. The teams combined for over 1,100 yards of total offense.
Cavalier quarterback Turner Lachey was 30-of-48 for 465 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 75 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Evan O'Leary and John Verrill each had two touchdowns.
Lachey has passed for 4,724 yards and 52 touchdowns this season. O'Leary has 136 receptions for 2,422 yards and 26 touchdowns. CJ Olding is 89 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards on the season.
BACK TO WORK
After 74 straight weeks of games during the season, Marion Local had the week off as the top seed in the region.
Brennen Hess is nine yards away from 1,500 passing yards. The Flyers have a solid 1-2 punch in both the rushing and receiving games. Kamden Eifert (683 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns) and Ben Meier (533 yards, 10 touchdowns) have buoyed the running game while Brayden Mescher (590 receiving yards, seven touchdowns) and Cale Nagel (542 yards, eight touchdowns) are Hess' go-to receivers.
WHO'S NEXT?
The winner faces the winner of the Fort Recovery-Beaver Eastern game. Higher seed will host, which means a Marion win keeps the game in Maria Stein.
ROAD TRIP II
After a two-hour trip to Finneytown High School last Friday, Fort Recovery will travel over three hours to Pike County to Beaver, located roughly between Chillicothe and Portsmouth.
EAGLES SOARING
The Eagles are in the playoffs for the fourth straight season and fifth time with the first-ever trip coming in 2020. The team is 4-4 in eight playoff games. Last season Eastern was in Region 27, losing in the second round 40-6 to Danville, which lost to Jeromesville Hillsdale in the state semifinals.
Quarterback Eric Manley Jr. has thrown for 2,443 yards and 30 touchdowns this season with just two interceptions. Favorite receiver Boston Webb has 48 receptions for 1,218 yards and 20 touchdowns with Trey Kelly adding 415 yards on 21 catches and five touchdowns.
When the Eagles run, Jack Montgomery gets the majority of the handoffs, getting the ball 134 out of the team's 220 carries this season for 1,038 yards and 15 touchdowns. Manley Jr. adds 229 yards with six touchdowns.
Kelly leads the team with 47 tackles with Montgomery adding 41 tackles and a team-high five sacks. Isaiah Stidham leads the team with four interceptions.
TRIBE TALK
Fort Recovery opened the postseason in beating fifth-seeded Cincinnati College Prep 34-8 at Finneytown last week, continuing the Indians perfect record against non-MAC opponents in the playoffs. The Fort defense recorded four interceptions against the Lions, helping put Fort Recovery in good field position. The offensive output was balanced with Alex Gaerke rushing for 65 yards and a score and passing for 103 yards and two scores.
WHO'S NEXT?
The winner faces the winner of Marion Local and Lehman. Site to be determined based on seeding.
HOW DO YOU DO?
The Roughriders and Bucks face off for the first time in the programs' histories.
BUCKS BULLETIN
Buckeye has been dominating this season in going 10-0 in the regular season. The Bucks beat Lakewood 42-14 in the regular season finale before resting last week on the bye.
The Bucks love the run, recording 2,445 yards this season with a balanced running attack. Ryan Wilhelm leads the team with 627 yards and 10 touchdowns. Liam Phillips adds 561 yards and nine touchdowns with Brayden Sopko chipping in with 470 yards and seven scores.
Quarterback Turner Dolata is 59-of-106 for 955 yards and 12 touchdowns to four interceptions. Derek Snyderburn has 11 catches for 266 yards and six touchdowns. Nick Prouza adds 13 catches for 218 yards and three scores.
The Bucks defense gave up 14.8 points per game this season and held teams to just 267.7 yards of total offense per game. Denis Shevchenko leads the team with 76 tackles. Wilhelm adds 70 tackles and 10 1/2 tackles for loss.
RIDERS ROLL
St. Marys rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Copley 36-34 at Grand Lake Health Field, scoring 19 straight points to take a lead, then after the Indians scored to get within two points, ran off the final 3:27 of the game to persevere. Caleb Schmidt rushed for 176 yards and two scores and quarterback Aiden Meinerding threw for three touchdowns, two going to Luke Rammel.
WHO'S NEXT?
The winner takes on the winner of Richfield Revere and Rocky River.
Caleb Schmidt, RB, St. Marys
Breaker Jutte, LB, Fort RecoveryNo. 8 Lehman (10-1) at No. 1 Marion Local (10-0)
No. 10 New Bremen (7-4) at No. 2 St. Henry (9-1)
No. 11 Cedarville (6-5) at No. 3 Cincinnati Country Day (9-1)
No. 12 Fort Recovery (6-5) at No. 4 Beaver Eastern (10-0)
No. 9 Portsmouth West (6-5) at No. 1 Tri-Village (10-0)
No. 7 Rock Hill (7-4) at No. 2 Springfield Northeastern (9-1)
No. 6 Anna (8-3) at No. 3 Mechanicsburg (8-2)
No. 5 Coldwater (7-4) at No. 4 St. Bernard Elmwood Place (9-1)
No. 8 St. Marys (8-3) at No. 1 Medina Buckeye (10-0)
No. 7 Shawnee (8-3) at No. 2 Wapakoneta (10-0)
No. 6 Toledo Central Catholic (7-4) at No. 3 Lexington (9-1)
No. 5 Rocky River (9-2) at No. 4 Richfield Revere (8-2)
All games 7 p.m. starts.
