SHELBY — Brayden DeVito and his Shelby teammates will have to be at their best Friday night.
The Whippets haven’t seen a defense like the one awaiting them at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
Shelby and Indian Hill meet in the Division IV state semifinals at 7 p.m. The Braves ranked among the best defensive units in the state.
Indian Hill (13-0) allowed 41 points during the regular season. The Braves authored five shutouts in the final six weeks, outscoring opponents 266-6.
Indian Hill allowed a season-high 19 points in a 25-19 win over Taft in the regional semifinals. Taft came in averaging 47.3 points a game.
Linebacker Evan Riggs made 84 tackles during the regular season, including 11.5 tackles for loss. Riggs was an All-Southwest District first-teamer.
Riggs was joined on the Southwest District first-team defense by teammates Jaxon Frye and Dylan Hartman. Frye is a defensive end who sealed the win over Taft with a fumble recovery in the end zone. Hartman returned an interception for a touchdown against the Senators.
The Whippets counter with DeVito, a QB announced as one of eight Ohio Mr. Football candidates Wednesday.
“They got a real dynamic quarterback,” Indian Hill coach John Rodenberg said. “They’re really good.”
Whippets spread out offensive firepower
As good as he has been this season and throughout his career, DeVito is hardly a one-man band.
Brady Bowman caught 56 passes for 1,136 yards and 15 touchdowns during the regular season. He was one of six receives with at least 10 receptions.
Three running backs, Gavin Baker, Luke Blevins and Travis Slone, combined for 902 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons,” DeVito said during the regular season.
Shelby averages 45.8 points a game. The Whippets have outscored three playoff opponents 132-14.
Shelby piled up 462 yards of total offense in last week’s 41-7 win over Galion. DeVito ran for a touchdown and threw for four.
“We can enjoy this, but this is not the end of the road,” DeVito said afterward. “Our end goal was never to just win a regional championship. We want more and we want to keep playing with a special group of guys.”
