Postseason, please: Lexington likely clinches playoff berth with 51-12 win over River Valley

LEXINGTON — Don’t hold your breath waiting for coach Taylor Gerhardt to apologize for his Lexington football team earning a playoff spot with a 4-6 record.

Cause it ain’t happening.

The Minutemen won’t know for certain until the OHSAA announces postseason participants on Sunday afternoon.

But a 51-12 win at home Friday night against River Valley likely clinched a Week 11 for Lexington in the expanded playoff system that invites the top 16 teams in each region.

Just seven teams in the region will likely finish above .500, including Ohio Cardinal Conference foes West Holmes (10-0) and Mansfield Senior (8-2). Playoff guru Joe Eitel at www.joeeitel.com had Lexington ranked 12th late Friday night. 

Senior running back Karson Berry, a 1,000-plus yard rusher operating behind an offensive line that carved holes in the Vikings’ defense, ran for 198 yards on 23 carries and scored five touchdowns, giving him 10 in just the last two weeks.

In the first half alone, Berry rushed for 140 yards and scored on runs of 2, 1, 4 and 12 yards in the first half as Lexington built a 37-12 halftime edge over River Valley (5-5), which likely also earned a playoff spot at .500.

“Karson Berry is a stud … period,” Gerhardt said. “I mean, really, there is nothing else to say. He’s one of the strongest kids in the weight room. He is one of the fastest kids, but he is one of the hardest working kids.

“He leads not only by example, but by service. He is an amazing kid. I can’t say enough about him.”

After a regular season for a team that was wracked with injuries, suffered two crushing last-second defeats when big leads evaporated and lost its head coach for two games due to COVID-19 quarantine — the Minutemen did what they needed to do.

“I am confident (about the playoff spot),” Gerhardt said. “But I have been around long enough to know we have to wait until Sunday afternoon for the official nod from the OHSAA.

“We told our kids the only thing you can do is go out here tonight and win. If we do, I am pretty doggone sure we will have a week 11, but now we have to wait and see,” said Gerhardt, who returned to the Lexington sidelines this season after two years away from the game.

The win Friday night was Lexington’s second straight win, eight quarters that saw the Minutemen outscore the opposition, 94-12. After a 2-8 season in 2020, it will be Gerhardt’s third playoff team in six years as the team’s coach.

It was also the wildest season the veteran coach can recall.

“It has been a very wild season,” Gerhardt said. “The last time we were healthy was Ontario (week one). We were bit by the injury bug, the COVID bug. Heck, I had call my (assistant) coaches at 11 a.m. on a Friday and tell them I am out for two weeks (losses in weeks seven and eight).

“We had a couple of kids banged up tonight. So we’ve really had to fight through a lot of adversity this year. My favorite thing about this team is they don’t flinch away from a challenge. I thought that was evident tonight,” he said.

Lexington, which double-digit second-half leads in narrow losses to Clear Fork and Ashland, could easily have finished 6-4. It’s part of the process, according to Gerhardt, even for a team that returned 19 lettermen this season.

“We had a lot of learning to do this year. We had to learn how to be successful. We had to learn how to finish games. We had to learn how to come back from poor performances.

“So there was a lot of learning that had to go into a short 10-week season. These kids have put together two wins in a row. They’re still working just as hard as they have been. I can’t be more proud to be their coach,” Gerhardt said.

Lexington, if it qualifies in Division III/Region 10, will likely be on the road against one of the highest seeds in the region. Gerhardt said he isn’t worried about that fact.

“My message to the team will be the same message I have always given then. I don’t care who is front of us. We’re going to play our game and go after them.”