Boardman coach D.J. Ogilvie hopes his team is a big underdog again.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

Boardman High head football coach D.J. Ogilvie is certainly hoping The Plain Dealer sports department will be picking his Spartans as huge underdogs again the week.

Last week the Cleveland paper picked the Spartans to lose by 45 points against Euclid in their Division I playoff game, which the Spartans won 14-7. That prediction inspired the Spartans, who controlled the game against Euclid.

“I hope they pick us to lose 45-0 again,” Ogilvie said.

This Saturday the Spartans (8-3) will take on Cleveland Glenville (9-2) in a Region 1 semifinal contest at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m. Glenville, seeded No. 7, knocked off No. 2 seed Cleveland St. Ignatius, 26-23, Saturday.

“We just exchanged films and we watched their last two games,” Ogilvie said. “They are huge up front and extremely skilled. They have six senior players listed by Rivals.com in top 50 players in the state of Ohio.”

Ogilvie said his team must play the same type of game that it played against Euclid.

“We have to be physical like we were Saturday,” he said. “We have to take possession and keep it because time of possession will be very critical in this game. We have to keep the football out of their hands.”

Ogilvie said senior leadership has been a big key to the Spartans’ success.

“This group has been with us for three years now and they’ve been tremendous workers on the field and in the weight room during the season and especially during the off-season,” he said.

“There are 26 of them and they take their leadership roles seriously,” Ogilvie said. “They are a great bunch that has worked very well together all three years they’ve been with us.

“We’re looking forward to this matchup and it will be just another great challenge for this football team.

Eight other area teams will also be in action this weekend. Six of them play Friday night and two others on Saturday.

Friday, top-seeded Howland (11-0) in Div. II, Region 5, will take on No. 5 seeded Mayfield (8-3) at Solon Stewart Field, while No. 4-seeded Canfield (10-1) will take on Columbus DeSales in Region 7 at Canton Fawcett Stadium.

Also on Friday in Div. III, Region 9, Lakeview (9-2) meets Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (9-1) at Ravenna Stadium, while in Region 11, No. 3-seed West Branch (9-2) plays No. 2 Newark Licking Valley (10-1) at Wooster Follis Field.

The final two games Friday will be in Div. V, Region 17, where top seeded South Range (11-0) plays Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (9-1) at Warren Harding’s Mollenkopf Stadium, and No. 2 seed Ursuline plays Apple Creek Waynesdale (9-2) at Canton Central Catholic’s Klinefelter Stadium.

Saturday the top seeded team in Div. IV, Region 13, Cardinal Mooney (11-0) plays No. 4 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (9-2) at West Branch Heacock Stadium, while in Div. VI, Region 21, Warren JFK (9-2), seeded No. 3, takes on Norwalk St. Paul (10-0) at Medina Dukes Stadium.