NORTH ROBINSON — It’s only about 80 miles from North Robinson to West Jefferson.
Yet the Colonel Crawford Eagles and the West Jefferson Roughriders — two programs with storied histories — have never met on a high school football field.
That changes Friday night at Covrette Stadium in Marengo, the home of Sparta Highland High School with a seating capacity of 2,206, when the two squads meet in the Division VI, Region 23 championship game with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Colonel Crawford (12-1) advanced on Friday with a 42-13 win on the road at Centerburg, who was the No. 1-seeded team in the region.
West Jefferson (11-1), a two-time state champion (1976, 1982), survived a battle against second-seeded Beverly Fort Frye, 34-32, on Friday.
The Eagles face a program with a winning tradition in a community about 20 minutes west of Columbus, a village of about 4,100 people known for its willingness to battle back.
According to the book “History of West Jefferson, Ohio,” by Ashley Murray:
“West Jefferson rose out of the dust of a failed town and once was the most important business in Madison County, Ohio. Samuel Jones and Samuel Sexton moved to the area from New Jersey and platted New Hampton on July 5, 1822, along Little Darby Creek and Ludlow Road, the first state road in Ohio. The town was laid out with ninety-three lots on eight streets on the south side of Hampton Cemetery on Frey Avenue in West Jefferson. It had two general stores, a post office, three taverns, a hotel, and a brick Baptist church in the cemetery. West Jefferson was flourishing with a grist mill and the pork packing industry. It had five hotels at its peak, with passenger and goods stagecoaches lining the streets.”
A post office called West Jefferson has been in operation since 1833. In the same year, the town of “Jefferson” (later changed to avoid confusion with Jefferson, Ohio) was first documented and established. The village was established on April 24, 1834.
The first West Jefferson football team was established in 1905, and its first game was played on Oct. 14, 1905, against Plain City High School.
From a rugged community, West Jefferson High School holds the Ohio high school football record for the most consecutive winning seasons, spanning 42 years from 1960 through 2001.
Shawn Buescher has coached the team for more than two decades. He became West Jefferson’s fifth coach in six years when he took over in 2002 and has rejuvenated the program,
The Roughriders have made the playoffs more than two dozen times. Recently, West Jefferson advanced to the state semifinals in 2019 and 2021.
West Jefferson, whose only loss came in Week Eight against Mechanicsburg, 21-14, has survived several close games in 2025, including a 21-20 win against Toronto in its first playoff game. The Roughriders had three one-score wins during the regular season, including a 42-36 overtime decision against Northeastern.
In the victory over Fort Frye, West Jefferson stopped a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game at 34.
The two teams have one common opponent in 2025. Colonel Crawford opened the season with a 42-7 win over Fairbanks. West Jefferson defeated the same team, 49-6, in Week 10.
After the victory at Centerburg, Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner spoke about how his players have sacrificed to reach this point in the season.
“I could go on for an hour about all the kids who have sacrificed for the team. It shows our team effort and I’m really proud of our kids,” Bruner said.
Star junior receiver Parker Weithman stuck out in Bruner’s mind as well, not necessarily for his performance in the game, but for his character.
“Parker is going to break every record in receiving in our school’s history, and he’s yelling at our offensive coordinators, ‘Run the freaking ball, they can’t stop it,’” Bruner said.
“So that says a lot about our team with a guy that’s got 50 whatever catches this year, and I think he had one tonight … can’t say enough about our kids and how unselfish they are.”
OHSAA Football Regional Final Playoff Pairings
Pairings shown with regional seed. All games on Friday, November 21, at 7 p.m.
Division I
Region 1
No. 1 Lakewood St. Edward (10-2) vs. No. 2 Mentor (12-0) at Parma Byers Field at Robert Boulton Stadium
Region 2
No. 1 Middletown (10-2) vs. No. 6 Huber Heights Wayne (9-4) at Trotwood-Madison High School Attorney Michael L. Wright SportsPlex
Region 3
No. 1 Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (12-0) vs. No. 2 Pickerington Central (11-1) at Columbus Historic Crew Stadium
Region 4
No. 1 Cincinnati Elder (12-0) vs. No. 3 Cincinnati St. Xavier (9-2) at Mason High School Tri-Health/Beacon Stadium
Division II
Region 5
No. 1 Akron Archbishop Hoban (10-1) vs. No. 2 Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (10-1) at Bedford High School Bearcat Stadium
Region 6
No. 1 Medina Highland (12-0) vs. No. 3 Avon (11-1) at Brunswick High School Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium
Region 7
No. 1 Sunbury Big Walnut (11-1) vs. No. 3 Massillon Washington (9-3) at Zanesville High School Sulsberger Stadium
Region 8
No. 1 Cincinnati Anderson (12-0) vs. No. 3 Trotwood-Madison (8-3) at West Chester Lakota West High School Firebird Stadium
Division III
Region 9
No. 2 Cuyahoga Falls CVCA (11-0) vs. No. 4 Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (10-1) at Twinsburg High School Tiger Stadium
Region 10
No. 5 Rocky River (11-2) vs. No. 6 Toledo Central Catholic (9-4) at Clyde High School Robert J. Bishop Jr. Stadium
Region 11
No. 1 Columbus Bishop Watterson (11-0) vs. No. 3 Steubenville (9-2) at Newark High School White Field
Region 12
No. 1 London (12-0) vs. No. 2 Tipp City Tippecanoe (12-0) at Fairborn High School Skyhawk Stadium
Division IV
Region 13
No. 1 Perry (10-2) vs. No. 2 Cleveland Glenville (9-3) at Ravenna High School Portage Community Bank Stadium/Harry Gilchrist Field
Region 14
No. 1 Shelby (12-0) vs. No. 2 Galion (11-1) at Mansfield Arlin Field
Region 15
No. 1 New Lexington (11-1) vs. No. 2 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (11-0) at Coshocton High School Stewart Field
Region 16
No. 1 Cincinnati Indian Hill (12-0) vs. No. 2 Germantown Valley View (11-1) at Fairfield High School Alumni Stadium
Division V
Region 17
No. 1 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (9-2) vs. No. 2 Girard (12-0) at Canfield South Range High School Rominger Athletic Complex
Region 18
No. 1 Liberty Center (12-0) vs. No. 3 Genoa Area (11-1) at Fostoria High School Memorial Stadium
Region 19
No. 1 Wheelersburg (12-0) vs. No. 3 Nelsonville-York (12-0) at Hamilton Township High School Alumni Stadium
Region 20
No. 2 Lewistown Indian Lake (10-2) vs. No. 8 Richwood North Union (9-4) at Marysville High School IMPACT Stadium
Division VI
Region 21
No. 1 Kirtland (12-0) vs. No. 7 Sugarcreek Garaway (10-2) at Louisville High School Leopard Stadium
Region 22
No. 2 Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (11-1) vs. No. 9 Carey (9-4) at Findlay Donnell Stadium
Region 23
No. 3 West Jefferson (11-1) vs. No. 5 North Robinson Colonel Crawford (12-1) at Marengo Highland High School Covrett Stadium Fishburn Family Field
Region 24
No. 5 Coldwater (9-4) vs. No. 6 Anna (10-3) at Piqua High School Alexander Stadium
Division VII
Region 25
No. 1 McDonald (12-0) vs. No. 3 Mogadore (11-1) at Macedonia Nordonia High School Boliantz Stadium
Region 26
No. 3 Leipsic (11-1) vs. No. 4 Columbus Grove (9-3) at Lima Shawnee High School Shawnee Stadium
Region 27
No. 1 Jeromesville Hillsdale (11-1) vs. No. 11 Danville (8-5) at West Lafayette Ridgewood High School Generals Stadium
Region 28
No. 1 Maria Stein Marion Local (12-0) vs. No. 2 St. Henry (11-1) at Wapakoneta High School Mercy Health VFW Post 8445 Field
