Playoff football: Mansfield Senior, Crestview, Lucas all set for regional semifinals
Lucas is on a surprising playoff run.
Surprising to many, but not those that know the tradition of the Lucas football program. To those, this is just another year of the Cubs doing what the Cubs do. They make deep playoff runs, prove doubters wrong, and live up to their expectations.
The Cubs, who are set to take on a familiar rival in Danville in the Division VII Region 25 semifinals, will be one of three Richland County football teams still alive in this week's Ohio High School Athletic Association State Football Playoffs. Let's take a deeper look at the matchups for the Cubs, Mansfield Senior and Crestview.
No. 3 seed Danville (10-2) vs. No. 10 seed Lucas (6-6) at Clear Fork High School; Saturday
The Cubs won't have to travel far for their regional semifinal matchup with Danville as Clear Fork High School will be the site this week. Lucas has already played at the Colt Corral this year when the Cubs hosted Hillsdale in Week 2 after Bob Wine Field was vandalized, making it unplayable. They came away with a hard-fought 14-13 win and they hope to continue their success on Clear Fork's turf.
The Cubs and Blue Devils have a recent rivalry that should make this thing interesting. Since 2010, Lucas and Danville have squared off eight times with Danville winning the first five meetings before Lucas went on a three-game winning streak. Lucas won 22-0 in 2018, 32-12 in 2019 and 34-20 last season. This will be the first postseason matchup in the series.
Danville owned the rivalry early on, winning in 2010 and from 2013-2016 by a total score of 144-28, but the Cubs have turned the tide recently with those last three wins. The Cubs went into their first two playoff games underestimated by their opponents, Toronto and Lowellville, but Danville knows better and won't be overlooking the Cubs.
If Lucas can come away with a win Saturday night, the Cubs would punch their ticket to the regional finals for the fourth time in five seasons and the fifth time in eight seasons. Apparently, Toronto and Lowellville didn't do their research.
No. 1 seed Parma Heights Holy Name (9-2) vs. No. 5 seed Mansfield Senior (10-2) at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium; Friday
The Tygers are hoping for some déjà vu in more ways than one.
They take on No. 1 seed Holy Name in the Division III Region 10 semifinals, which is exactly where the Tygers met Holy Name in 2019 when they picked up a 45-30 win to propel them into the Division III state championship game a few weeks later. Many of the current Tygers weren't key contributors in that title game run, but a win in this matchup will go a long way in determining just how far this team can go.
They also want to experience some déjà vu this week when they look at the scoreboard and see a zero under the opponent's score. The Tygers have yet to allow a single point in the playoffs, pitching shutouts against Ontario and Defiance with some amazing performances on that side of the ball. They have yet to allow more than 200 yards of offense in a postseason game and 50 yards rushing. In their two postseason matchups, the Tygers have forced seven turnovers, including six interceptions. So they are stopping the run and the secondary is having a lot of fun picking off passes.
They will need the performance of the year from the defense this week.
No. 2 seed Ashland Crestview (12-0) vs. No. 3 seed Columbia Station Columbia (12-0) at Medina Ken Dukes Stadium; Saturday
There may not be a bigger game than this one right here in all of Division VI. Two undefeated teams and the winner will have the upper hand in the regional title game with No. 1 seed Carey going down last week against No. 8 Colonel Crawford.
The Cougars are riding high after pulling away from Patrick Henry late last week for a 31-22 win. The 22 points are the most the Cougars have allowed in a single game all season, so there is still some work to do on the defensive side to shore things up moving forward. But, still, if 22 points are the most given up all season, that is pretty special. And at this point, every team left is really, really good so there won't be many blowouts.
The regional semifinal level ties for the longest playoff run by a Crestview team in the last 23 years. Last season, the Cougars made it here and lost 42-14 to Carey. In 2011, it was a 42-12 loss to Valley in the semifinal that ended the season, and in 2000 it was Smithville beating the Cougars 21-13 in the semifinals to prevent a regional final appearance.
The Cougars have a chance to do something special this week.
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OHSAA Football Regional Semifinal Pairings
Pairings shown with regional seed and record. Designated home team listed first (higher seed).
Division I – all games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 1
1 Lakewood St. Edward (11-1) vs. 5 Cleveland St. Ignatius (8-3) at Euclid Community Stadium
2 Medina (11-1) vs. 3 Mentor (8-3) at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium
Region 2
4 Perrysburg (11-1) vs. 8 Powell Olentangy Liberty (7-5) at Fostoria Memorial Stadium
2 Springfield (10-1) vs. 3 Centerville (10-2) at Northmont Premier Health Stadium
Region 3
1 Gahanna-Lincoln (11-1) vs. 4 Pickerington Central (9-3) at St. Francis DeSales Alumni Stadium
2 Upper Arlington (10-2) vs. 3 New Albany (9-3) at Westerville Central High School
Region 4
1 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (11-1) vs. 5 Mason (10-2) at Middletown Barnitz Stadium
2 Cincinnati Elder (10-2) vs. 3 West Chester Lakota West (12-0) at Princeton Jake Sweeney Automotive Stadium
Division II – all games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 5
1 Akron Archbishop Hoban (11-1) vs. 5 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (8-3) at University of Akron InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field
2 Painesville Riverside (11-1) vs. 3 Hudson (12-0) at Maple Heights High School
Region 6
1 Avon (11-1) vs. 5 Olmsted Falls (10-2) at TBA
2 Medina Highland (12-0) vs. 3 Toledo Central Catholic (11-1) at Perkins Firelands Health Stadium
Region 7
1 Massillon Washington (10-1) vs. 5 Sunbury Big Walnut (10-2) at Mansfield Senior Arlin Field
2 Uniontown Lake (11-1) vs. 3 Westerville South (11-1) at Dover Crater Stadium
Region 8
1 Cincinnati Winton Woods (12-0) vs. 4 Kings Mills Kings (11-1) at Mason Atrium Stadium
3 Trenton Edgewood (11-1) vs. 10 Cincinnati Anderson (7-5) at Little Miami Panther Stadium
Division III – all games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 9
1 Chardon (10-1) vs. 13 Chagrin Falls Kenston (9-3) at Boardman Stadium
2 Canfield (10-1) vs. 3 Youngstown Ursuline (10-2) at Niles McKinley Bo Rein Stadium
Region 10
1 Parma Heights Holy Name (9-2) vs. 5 Mansfield Senior (10-2) at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium
6 Norton (10-2) vs. 10 Parma Padua Franciscan (7-5) at North Royalton Serpentini Stadium
Region 11
1 Thornville Sheridan (11-1) vs. 5 Carroll Bloom-Carroll (11-1) at Lancaster Fulton Field
2 Jackson (10-2) vs. 3 Columbus Bishop Watterson (11-1) at Chillicothe Herrnstein Field
Region 12
1 Hamilton Badin (12-0) vs. 4 Wapakoneta (11-1) at Trotwood-Madison Miami Valley Hospital SportsPlex
2 Mount Orab Western Brown (11-1) vs. 3 Tipp City Tippecanoe (11-1) at Bellbrook Stadium – DL Holmes Field
Division IV – all games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 13
1 Beloit West Branch (11-1) vs. 13 Akron Buchtel (7-4) at Ravenna Portage Community Bank Stadium, Harry Gilchrist Field
6 Jefferson Area (9-3) vs. 7 Canton South (9-3) at South Range Reminder Athletic Complex
Region 14
1 Cleveland Glenville (11-0) vs. 4 Elyria Catholic (10-2) at North Ridgeville Ranger Stadium
2 Millersburg West Holmes (12-0) vs. 6 Van Wert (11-1) at Marion Harding Ohio Health Field at Harding Stadium
Region 15
4 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (9-3) vs. 9 Columbus Bishop Ready (8-3) at Newark White Field
2 Steubenville (10-2) vs. 3 Columbus East (10-1) at Zanesville Sulsberger Stadium
Region 16
1 Cincinnati Wyoming (12-0) vs. 13 Clarksville Clinton-Massie (7-5) at Lakota West Firebird Field
2 Cincinnati Taft (10-2) vs. 6 Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas (7-5) at Princeton Jake Sweeney Automotive Stadium
Division V – all games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 17
1 Canfield South Range (12-0) vs. 13 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (6-6) at Girard Arrowhead Stadium
2 Sugarcreek Garaway (12-0) vs. 3 Perry (10-2) at Solon Stewart Field
Region 18
1 Liberty Center (12-0) vs. 4 Coldwater (11-1) at Lima Senior Spartan Stadium
2 Bloomdale Elmwood (11-1) vs. 3 Pemberville Eastwood (12-0) at Napoleon Buckenmeyer Stadium
Region 19
1 Ironton (12-0) vs. 5 Portsmouth West (11-1) at Portsmouth Clark Athletic Complex
2 Canal Winchester Harvest Preparatory (12-0) vs. 6 Wheelersburg (9-3) at Nelsonville-York Boston Field
Region 20
1 Germantown Valley View (11-1) vs. 5 Cincinnati Madeira (11-1) at Fairfield Alumni Stadium
2 West Milton Milton-Union (11-0) vs. 6 Brookville (11-1) at Xenia Doug Adams Stadium
Division VI – all games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 21
1 Kirtland (12-0) vs. 4 Dalton (10-2) at Nordonia Boliantz Stadium
2 Mogadore (10-0) vs. 6 Cuyahoga Heights (9-2) at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium
Region 22
5 Columbus Grove (10-2) vs. 8 North Robinson Colonel Crawford (10-2) at Findlay Donnell Stadium
2 Ashland Crestview (12-0) vs. 3 Columbia Station Columbia (12-0) at Medina Ken Dukes Stadium
Region 23
1 Beverly Fort Frye (11-1) vs. 5 Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant (8-4) Lancaster Fulton Field
2 Nelsonville-York (11-1) vs. 3 Bellaire (8-4) Philo Sam Hatfield Stadium
Region 24
1 Maria Stein Marion Local (12-0) vs. 4 Versailles (9-3) at Wapakoneta Mercy Health Wapak Ford Field
2 Harrod Allen East (11-1) vs. 3 New Madison Tri-Village (11-1) at Bellefontaine AcuSport Stadium
Division VII – all games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 25
1 Warren John F. Kennedy (10-1) vs. 4 Salineville Southern (11-1) at Canfield High School
3 Danville (10-2) vs. 10 Lucas (6-6) at Clear Fork High School
Region 26
1 McComb (11-1) vs. 4 Lima Central Catholic (8-4) at Ottawa-Glandorf Titan Stadium
2 Antwerp (12-0) vs. 6 Gibsonburg (10-2) at Liberty Center Kip Kern Field at Rex Lingruen Stadium
Region 27
1 Newark Catholic (9-1) vs. 5 Waterford (9-3) at Logan Chieftain Stadium
2 Hannibal River (11-1) vs. 3 Caldwell (11-1) at St. Clairsville Red Devils Stadium
Region 28
1 Ansonia (11-1) vs. 5 New Bremen (9-3) at Greenville Harmon Field
2 Fort Loramie (10-2) vs. 6 Minster (8-4) at Sidney Memorial Stadium
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield Senior, Crestview, Lucas learn football playoff matchups
