MANSFIELD — The Tygers are playing championship defense again.
Mansfield Senior is in the Division III, Region 10 quarterfinals thanks largely to a miserly defense that allows just 13.8 points and 200.6 yards a game.
The Tygers allowed 274 yards a game through the first four weeks of the regular season, but have turned the screws during their current seven-game winning streak. Senior High has allowed only 158.7 yards a game, including just 72 total yards in last week’s 38-0 win over Ontario in the opening round of the playoffs.
“All our guys watch film like it’s honors chemistry,” said safety Keontez Bradley, who returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown on Ontario’s second play from scrimmage last week. “We love football and do everything we can to better ourselves.”
Senior High forced five turnovers last week. Amarr Davis had a pair of interceptions and Ricky Mills recovered a fumble and registered his first career interception.
“We knew we could put a lot of pressure on their quarterback and force them to throw into some coverages,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “We’ve got some of the best defensive backs in the state of Ohio. They know how to attack the football and they know what to do with it once they get their hands on it.”
The Tygers will host Defiance on Friday. Senior High is one of seven area teams to advance to the regional quarterfinals.
Division III, Region 10
No. 13 Defiance (7-4) at No. 5 Mansfield Senior (9-2): The Bulldogs stunned No. 4 seed Cloverleaf 63-28 in the opening round. The 63 points were the most scored by Defiance since 2007. Junior running back Brogan Castillo rushed for a career-high 251 yards and five touchdowns on 22 carries. Defiance rushed for 360 yards as a team. Castillo has rushed for 1,247 yards and 13 touchdowns on 204 carries, while Craig Nichols has 529 yards and seven TDs on 85 carries. Quarterback Brez Zipfel has completed 144-of-244 passes for 1,579 yards and 13 touchdowns. Brian Phillips has 48 receptions for 516 yards and two touchdowns, while Anthony Wilder has 41 catches for 473 yards and five TDs. Defensively, Garret Rodenberger leads the way with 86.5 tackles, while Christian Commisso has 60.5 stops. Gavin Miller has a team-high eight sacks and Phillips has three interceptions.
Senior High’s run defense will be tested Friday. Linebacker Mekhi Bradley had 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks last week. The Toledo recruit has a team-leading 93 tackles and 8.5 sacks on the season. Aaron Thornton has 83 stops and Ricky Mills has 23 tackles for loss. Cornerback Amarr Davis has seven interceptions, while safety Keontez Bradley and hybrid linebacker LaLa Owens each have two picks. Offensively, quarterback Duke Reese has completed 110-of-218 passes for 1,701 yards and 15 touchdowns. The running back-by-committee is led by Zyion Brown, who has 634 yards and a touchdown on 134 carries. Mills is the short-yardage and goal line back and has 435 yards and 13 TDs on 81 carries. Reese has gotten more involved in the run game recently and has 276 yards and six TDs. Davis has a team-high 39 catches for 752 yards and eight touchdowns. Nate Dismuke has 21 catches for 317 yards, while Owens and Keontez Bradley each have 17 grabs.
Division VI, Region 22
No. 10 Patrick Henry (7-4) at No. 2 Crestview (11-0): The Patriots upset No. 7 seed Ottawa Hills 18-10 last week. Patrick Henry is a member of the Northwest Ohio Athletic League and was one of six NWOAL teams to qualify for the playoffs. Patrick Henry turned the ball over three times and still found a way to win last week. The Patriots sealed the win when defensive back Brock Behrman recovered an Ottawa Hills fumble with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. PH quarterback Nash Meyer ran for a pair of touchdowns and tossed a 29-yard scoring strike to Aiden Behrman. The Patriots have allowed 14 or fewer points in eight of 11 games.
Crestview’s defense took center stage in last week’s 38-0 win over Wayne Trace. Hayden Kuhn picked off a pair of passes and Caden Cunningham had an interception, his sixth on the season, as the Cougars limited the Raiders to 99 yards of total offense. Offensively, Kuhn completed 6-of-11 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Cunningham, Adison Reymer and Tyson Ringler each had a TD reception. Kuhn has completed 83-of-145 passes on the year for 1,311 yards. Reymer has rushed for 1,316 yards and 19 touchdowns on 185 carries, while Michael Mays has 580 yards and nine TDs on 77 carries. Owen Barker has a team-best 20 receptions for 303 yards. Cunningham has 19 grabs for 352 yards. Defensively, Reymer has 103 tackles. Barker has 11 sacks.
No. 8 Colonel Crawford (9-2) at No. 1 Carey (11-0): The Eagles cruised to a 49-14 win over Margaretta to set up a rematch against Northern 10 Athletic Conference champ Carey, won 7-3 by the Blue Devils in Week 6. Matt Clinard rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries, while Micah Thomas ran for 51 yards and four TDs on 12 carries. Quarterback Kam Lohr completed 9-of-14 passes for 118 yards. Trevor Vogt caught two passes for 33 yards.
Defending Division VI state champ Carey tuned up for its rematch with a 49-6 win over Riverdale. Quarterback Lance Rickle ran for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns and threw for 83 yards, including a 70 yard TD to Austin Niederkohr. Niederkohr also rushed for a pair of TDs. Freshman running back Eli Steen rumbled for 73 yards and a pair of TDs.
Division VI, Region 23
No. 7 Loudonville (7-4) at No. 2 Nelsonville-York (10-1): The Redbirds piled up 396 yards of total offense in a 40-7 win over Rock Hill. Quarterback Matt Sprang rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and completed 9-of-16 passes for 172 yards. Rugged running back Peyton Regan bulled his way for 89 yards and four touchdowns, while Zach Frankford caught four passes for 84 yards and added a 9 yard TD run.
Nelsonville-York beat Grove City Christian 55-7 in the opening round as Landen Inman had a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown. Quarterback Makhi Williams added 54 yard TD run and tossed a 23 yard touchdown pass to James Koska.
Division VII, Region 25
No. 6 Hillsdale (7-4) at No. 3 Danville (9-2): The Falcons rolled to a 62-24 win over Conotton Valley in the opening round, building a 41-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Jake Hoverstock rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns and tossed a 25 yard TD pass to Max Vesper. Hoverstock has completed 85-of-154 passes for 1,199 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 818 yards and 13 TDs on 109 carries. Braylen Jarvis has rushed for 441 yards and six TDs on 68 carries, while freshman Owen Sloan has run for 403 yards and three TDs on 64 carries. Vesper has rushed for 380 yards and four scores and caught 20 passes for 201 yards and two TDs. Jack Fickes has a team-high 29 receptions for 419 yards and two touchdowns, while David Parker has 15 grabs for 225 yards and four scores. Defensively, Jax Rogers leads the way with 70 tackles. Jarvis has 68 stops and has returned an interception and a fumble for a touchdown. Vesper has 61 tackles, while Sloan has 58 stops.
Like the Falcons, the Blue Devils encountered little resistance in their playoff opener. Danville led Windham 41-0 at the half and coasted to a 41-18 win. Quarterback Walker Weckesser threw four touchdown passes to Kaiden Colopy and hooked up with Ryan Lucas on a 38 yard scoring strike. Lucas rushed for 65 yards and a score, while Max Payne rushed for 71 yards on four first-half carries.
No. 10 Lucas (5-6) at No. 2 Lowellville (11-0): The Cubs made the long road trip to Toronto and came away with a 35-26 win. Logan Toms rushed for 260 yards and five touchdowns. Lucas was without Andrew Fanello, who suffered an injury late in the regular season. Toronto cut Lucas’ lead to 28-26 late in the fourth but a two-point conversion attempt was no good. The Cubs recovered the ensuing onside kick and iced it when Toms scored on a 37 yard runs with 1:33 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lucas quarterback Andrew Smollen attempted just two passes. One was complete for 11 yards to Toms. The other resulted in a defensive pass interference call.
Lowellville rumbled to a 54-14 win over Steubenville Catholic Central. The Rockets led 48-0 at the half. Quarterback Vinny Ballone threw seven first-half touchdown passes. Ballone has thrown a jaw-dropping 53 TD passes on the season with just four interceptions. Ballone completed 12-of-15 for 319 yards against SCC. Alex Modelski had touchdown receptions of 20 and 55 yards and Santino Rivera-Ocasio had scoring grabs of 13 and 49 yards The defense got into the act as well as Nathan Minnie recovered a fumble in the end zone in the third quarter. The Rockets average 44.9 points a game.
