Playoff madness: Top-seeded Lucas survives battle from Mapleton to advance

LUCAS — Coach Scott Spitler doesn’t figure his top-seeded Lucas football team will have any troubles staying focused in practice next week.

All it took was an unexpectedly tough 35-16 win against 16th-seed Mapleton in the first round of the Division VII playoffs on Saturday night at Bob Wine Field.

“We got our guys attention now,” Spitler said after the Cubs (9-1) battled back from 8-6 and 16-14 deficits to finally put the Mounties (3-7) away in the second half on a sloppy surface with a misting rain.

“You can’t look at seeds. It’s like March Madness. Everyone is 0-0. That’s why it happens in the NCAA, too,” said Spitler, whose teams have posted a 10-3 postseason record since 2018.

“You have all of these upsets because people start looking at seeds and reading press clippings and stuff instead of coming out and doing what got them there,” said Spitler, who has guided Lucas to 13 postseason games since 2018, including a state runner-up finish in 2019.

The Cubs advance to the second round of the Region 25 postseason and will host No. 8-seed Malvern (9-2), which pounded No. 9-seed Lowellville, 34-0, on Saturday night.

All eight top seeds in the region won on Saturday night by an average score of 38-10, including defending regional champion Warren John F. Kennedy.

Ground and pound

Trailing 8-6 at halftime, Lucas turned to an old friend — its relentless running game in a double-wing offense that consistently puts more blockers than there are defenders at the point of attack.

The refocused ground game came after two interceptions, one in each half, led directly to Mapleton scores.

The first gave the Mounties the ball at the Lucas 31-yard line with 43 seconds left in the second quarter, a turnover Mapleton converted into a score with a 31-yard TD pass from Kollin Cline to Beau Galbraith, leading to an 8-6 lead at the intermission.

The second was a pick-six when Collin Grundy intercepted a screen pass near midfield and returned it for a TD with 4:39 left in the third quarter, putting Mapleton back ahead, 16-14.

That was the last pass Lucas attempted.

The Cubs had 32 offensive plays in the second half — and ran it 30 times, featuring the speed of junior Andrew Fanello (two TDs on the night) and the power of senior Grant Barrett (three touchdowns).

Spitler credited better execution in the game’s final 24 minutes.

“It was about getting off the football and blocking to the whistle better,” he said. “I don’t think we did a good job of that in the first half. We did it in spurts and it wasn’t good enough to extend drives and finish drives in the endzone.

“Our defense should have a shutout tonight. We put our defense in a bad position late in the first first half and then threw the pick-six,” he said.

The improved performance came after Lucas was stopped on four straight runs from the Mapleton 1-yard run in the second quarter.

“That (was) ridiculous down there. Four tries at the 6-inch line.  We expect more from ourselves than that. We have got to do a better job But with all that … 35-16,” Spitler said.

Bright future for the Mounties

Mapleon coach Matt Stafford’s team had just seven seniors and was playing its best football at the end of the season.

That included included wins over South Central and Monroeville in weeks eight and nine and a respectable showing against unbeaten Firelands Conference champion Crestview (11-0) in the regular season finale.

“Our run defense has gotten better every week,” Stafford said. “I am super proud of our guys. They never quit. They don’t look at the scoreboard. It’s always the next play. They scratch and claw and fight.

“We just came up short. We had the lead at halftime and were pretty excited about that. 

“(Lucas) just executed (better) in the second half. I think we kind of got worn down. Look, those guys come off the ball hard with flat backs. They roll their hips on the offense. That’s their M.O.. They are gonna ground and pound no matter what. You can stop it, but they are going to keep coming back to it,” Stafford said.

“Our seniors gave us some great leadership (this season) on how to play, how to compete, how to stay in games and how to always fight for that next play,” he said.

Scoring plays

2nd quarter

Lucas — Andrew Fanello 11-yard run (PAT kick failed) 

Mapleton — Beau Galbraith 31-yard pass from Kollin Cline (PAT Hunter Sanders run) 

3rd quarter

Lucas — Grant Barrett 12-yard run (PAT Fanello run) 14-8

Mapleton — Collin Grundy 50-yard interception return (PAT Galbraith run) 14-16

Lucas — Fanello 20-yard run (PAT Fanello run) 22-16

4th quarter

Lucas — Barrett 2-yard run (PAT run failed) 28-16

Lucas — Barrett 3-yard rin (PAT Aiden Culler kick) 35-16