The Daily Standard
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While fans might be anticipating the rematch between Minster and Marion Local in the Division VII Region 28 football final that would happen next week should both teams win this Friday, the Flyers and Wildcats will have to face challenges this week in the regional semifinals.
Marion travels to Lima Senior's Spartan Stadium to face one-loss Ansonia in one semifinal, while Minster makes the trek to Sidney Memorial Stadium to take on Cincinnati College Prep Academy.
In the other local matchups, Coldwater travels to Trotwood-Madison to take on St. Bernard-Elmwood Place and St. Marys, fresh off a late-game comeback win over Tippecanoe, heads to Piqua to take on London.
Marion Local quarterback Justin Knouff will look to keep the Flyers on a championship path as they face Ansonia in the Division VII regional semifinals on Friday in Lima.
The matchup betwen the Flyers and Tigers features charter members of the Midwest Athletic Conference in 1973. Ansonia left the MAC after the 1977-78 season to form the Cross County Conference, which later transformed into the current West Ohio Athletic Conference.
Ansonia lost its opening game of the season to Riverside before running the table in its nine WOAC contests to capture the outright title. Last week the Tigers cruised to a 60-20 victory over Lehman in the second round of the playoffs.
Where last week Marion Local had to contend with the spread offense of WOAC member Tri-Village, the Tigers will bring a heavy-duty run game via the Wing-T to Lima.
Zane Henderson is the big-game runner for Ansonia. The WOAC Offensive Player of the Year rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Lehman, raising his season total to 1,921 yards on 282 carries (6.8 yards per carry) with 31 touchdowns. Henderson has tallied 214 points this season, recording 14 two-point conversions as the Tigers have not attempted a point-after or field goal this season.
Jacob Schmitmeyer is the other workhorse of the backfield, rushing for 902 yards and eight touchdowns. Schmitmeyer rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass against Lehman. Lander Shives adds 385 yards and six scores.
Quarterback Layne Bohman doesn't throw a lot - going 16-of-42 for 279 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions - but is a threat to run in tallying 375 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Henderson, who plays linebacker on defense, leads the team with 72 tackles with 10 tackles for loss and three sacks. Shives leads the team with eight sacks with lineman Peyton Kelch recording seven sacks. Schmitmeyer has four interceptions.
Marion kept rolling last Friday with a 56-14 win over Tri-Village in Maria Stein. The Patriots did accomplish a first this season as the Flyers, which had given up just 22 points and posted eight shutouts coming into last week, gave up double digits for the first time this season, albeit the second T-V score came in the fourth quarter against the Flyer reserves.
The Flyers seem to have a different player step up with the big game on offense each game. Last week it was Parker Hess, to rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns. Hess leads the Flyers in rushing with 748 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Justin Knouff is 91 yards away from having his second 2,000-passing yard season, joining Nathan Bruns and Adam Bertke with having two 2,000-yard seasons in their careers, and the fifth Marion quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in his career.
Minster quarterback Brogan Stephey will look to help the Wildcats defeat Cincinnati College Prep for a chance for a rematch against Marion Local next Friday in the regional final.
It will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and Lions, who lost to New Bremen 35-0 last season in the Division VII opening round.
College Prep, playing in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference, beat Fort Loramie 18-7 to improve to 9-2 on the season (the Lions' Week Nine game with division foe Gamble Montessori was canceled). CCPA won the CMAC Blue Division with a 2-0 record.
Freshman Kemmarion McCray has thrown for 1,174 yards and 17 touchdowns before last week's contest. Jaelen Griffin leads the team with 443 yards on 18 receptions and seven touchdowns. Kendall Anthony adds 397 yards on 19 catches. Marlan Robertson is the top rusher with 495 yards with four touchdowns with Makik Simpson adding 398 yards with a team-high six rushing touchdowns.
Defensive tackle Petey Jones has 111 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks. Sir Michael Miller leads the team with 24 1/2 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Griffin has three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
The Wildcats won the sequel to their conference tilt with St. Henry. Rather than the last-minute 12-7 win in the regular season, Minster won 42-14 thanks to a 21-7 halftime lead. Dylan Heitkamp, the team's leading receiver, rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown with James Niemeyer fully back after his injuries earlier this season. Brogan Stephey passed for 197 yards and two scores and added 77 yards on the ground with another score.
Baylen Blockberger will look to keep Coldwater going as the Cavaliers travel to Trotwood to face St. Bernard-Elmwood Place in the Division VI regional semifinals.
Coldwater will have two introductions this Friday, playing at Trotwood-Madison's Attorney Michael L. Wright Sportsplex to play St. Bernard-Elmwood Place for the first time.
The Titans play in the Miami Valley Conference, which features Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, whom Colwater has played three times in the postseason, and Lockland, one of the three teams that opted out of playing Marion Local in the first round of the Division VII playoffs.
SB-EP went 4-1 in MVC Gray Division play this season, losing only to Cincinnati Country Day in a conference matchup in Week 10. The Titans bounced back with big wins over Dayton Christian (54-0) and Portsmouth West (49-21) in the opening two rounds.
The Titans bring a potent, balanced offense to the table. Quarterback Lucas Cannady has thrown for 1,818 yards and 19 touchdowns - with 12 interceptions - this season. Damien Dawson has 44 receptions for 1,061 yards and 16 touchdowns with Jah Neal adding 434 yards on 24 catches. The running game is dominated by Demico Harris, who has 1,863 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. Harris has three 200-yard games this season and rushed for 183 yards and three scores against Portsmouth West.
Coldwater had another dominating game last Friday in playoff round two with a 56-7 win over Springfield Northeastern. After scoring 44 points in the first quarter in Week 11 against Covington, the Cavaliers scored 35 points in the second quarter to take a 49-0 halftime lead and never turned off the clock in the second half. Braxton Taylor had two of the five second-half scores as part of a 124-yard performance. The Coldwater defense held the Jets to just 31 yards rushing and 144 yards of offense.
The lookahead for the Cavaliers would be a possible rematch with Anna as the Rockets face Cincinnati Country Day in the other regional semifinal down in Monroe. Coldwater beat Anna 34-18 in Week Four.
After a big win last Friday, Dominik Osborne and St. Marys face London in the Division III playoffs on Friday at Piqua.
St. Marys fans might be familiar with London as the two schools played a home-and-home series in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Roughriders collected wins in the two meetings, winning 10-7 at London in 2021 before taking a 42-31 decision at Grand Lake Health System Field.
The Red Raiders won the Central Buckeye Conference's Kenton Trail Division title with a 5-0 record and are 12-0 after beating Chaminade Julienne 24-12 last week at Bowlus Field in London.
Noah Sollars is the main runner for London, rushing for 1,035 yards and 19 touchdowns. Daquanne Parks adds 818 yards and 13 touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Mason has thrown for 480 yards and nine touchdowns with 10 interceptions while rushing for 253 yards and five scores. Eight different Red Raiders have 250 or more yards rushing this season.
The defense is also balanced with five players with 40 or more tackles and five more with 31 to 39 tackles. Braxton Brown leads London with 54 tackles with three players adding 47 tackles. Steven Gravely, the CBC Kenton Trail Defensive Player of the year, has an interception to go with 13 tackles.
St. Marys is coming off a big 16-14 win over Division III Region 12 top seed Tippecanoe on a Bradey Triplett 25-yard field goal with nine seconds to play in regulation. The contest was a tight one as the Roughriders held a 242-234 advantage in total yards over the Red Devils.
A Roughrider win could set up a rematch with WBL and Auglaize County rival Wapakoneta in Division III Region 12. The Redskins, who defeated Wilmington 48-12 at Mercy Health/Wapak VFW Field faces Bellbrook at Troy Memorial Stadium.
Delphos St. John's, which entered the playoffs as the 15th seed in Division VII Region 26, will face 11th seed Leipsic at Titan Stadium in Ottawa. The Blue Jays defeated seventh-seeded Tiffin Calvert 27-0 last Friday while the Vikings defeated third-seeded Gibsonburg 18-16.
Braxton Taylor, RB, Coldwater
Taylor Compton, lB, St. Marys
