By Pete Mollica

In his 43rd year, he has LaBrae in the playoffs for only the second time.

LEAVITTSBURG — The one thing you never want to do is ask LaBrae head football coach Bill Bohren to briefly run down his high school head coaching experience.

It can’t be done briefly.

Bohren, who has guided the Vikings to a 9-1 season and the No. 7 seed in Region 13 of the Division IV football playoffs, is in his 43rd year as a high school head football coach.

He isn’t certain if the Vikings are his 10th or 11th team that he’s guided, but he knows that he’s had a lot of fun over the years.

“When I stop having fun coaching, that’s when I’ll get out,” Bohren said.

The Vikings are in the playoffs for only the second time in their history and Friday night they will take on Massillon Tuslaw, the No. 2 seed in Region 13 in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Tuslaw.

Bohren has won almost 270 games over those 43 years, an average of nearly seven wins per season.

“I’ve had fun with teams that weren’t winning many games, but I’m having a whole lot of fun with this team,” he added.

LaBrae dropped its season opener to Gilmour Academy back in August 28-21 and then posted nine straight victories to get into the postseason.

“We’ve been in a playoff mode since the last two games of the season,” he said.

Two weeks ago the Vikings squared off against unbeaten Girard and posted a 22-14 victory.

“That was a game that both teams needed to stay alive and when we won we knew that it we could win the season final we would be in the playoffs,” Bohren said.

The Vikings rolled over Steubenville Central Catholic in the final 46-0.

Bohren is no stranger to the playoffs. LaBrae is the fourth team he’s taken into the postseason. In 1987 he took Boardman to the state championship game before losing in the final to Cincinnati Princeton 14-7. He twice led Niles to the playoffs twice and also coached Butler, Pa., to the postseason.

LaBrae’s last playoff experience came in 1983 when it defeated Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 19-13 in the opening round before losing to Elyria Catholic 12-0 in the second round.

Bohren felt going into this season that the Vikings had the talent and ability to make a run at both the All-American Conference Blue Tier title and the playoffs. They won the AAC Blue Tier title with a 5-0 record.

“We knew we had a lot of starters returning and we knew we had a pretty good defense,” Bohren said.

The Vikings allowed just 51 yards per game on the ground this year and just over 100 yards passing.

“We also scored almost 40 points a game and that certainly helps,” he added.

The key for the Vikings has been senior running back Cameron Truss. The 6-0, 175 pounder has rushed for 1,400 yards on 122 carries and scored 23 touchdowns and eight two-point conversions for 172 total points. He has also caught 10 passes for another 172 yards and four TDs.

“He’s been our workhorse, but we’ve also had great balance in our offense,” Bohren said. “We’ve got great effort out of our fullbacks and quarterback.”

Junior quarterback Jordan Miller has completed 33 of 61 passes for 450 yards and eight touchdowns and been intercepted just three times.

“Truss actually missed a game and a half this season. He came back against Girard and ran for one touchdown and passed for another in that big win,” Bohren said.

“I’ve always believed that to be successful that you have to surround yourself with good people and I feel that I have one of the best coaching staffs around anywhere,” he added.

Bohren said Tuslaw will be a great test.

“They’re an outstanding football team and come out of a league that has seven teams and four of them were in playoff contention going into the final week of the season,” he said.

Region 13 is one of the toughest in the state regardless of division, showcasing teams like Steubenville and Mooney, which is looking to make its fifth consecutive trip to the state finals. It’s so tough that Girard (9-1), which came in 12th, wouldn’t have finished worse than seventh in the state’s other three regions.

So while Tuslaw poses a big challenge to Bill Bohren’s Vikings, things seem to have played out ideally for LaBrae.

“Being the seventh seed playing the two seed is sort of a good scenario for us,” Bohren said. “Big Red [Steubenville] and Mooney will be on the same side of the bracket, so one of those teams would knock each other off and we wouldn’t see them until the third round.

“But Tuslaw is tough — they’re a big, physical football team and played a very difficult schedule.”

mollica@vindy.com