Fourteen Valley teams qualify for Week 11

November 3, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

high school football

For 30 area high school football teams, the 2014 season is officially in the books.

For 14 others, the journey has just begun.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday released its pairings for the first round of the playoffs, which begin Friday. Among the 224 qualifiers in seven divisions are six teams from Mahoning County. They include Austintown Fitch, Poland, Cardinal Mooney, Ursuline, Springfield and Western Reserve.

Trumbull County will be represented by Hubbard, Liberty, Girard, McDonald and Mathews.

Crestview, United and Wellsville will represent Columbiana County — at least as of Sunday.

On Saturday, the OHSAA acknowledged that the Wellsville football program is being investigated for possible use of an ineligible player. While the OHSAA released the playoff pairings which included Wellsville, it also stated in a release that the matter will not be completely resolved until today.

“The situation involving Wellsville is still ongoing,” said OHSAA director of information services Tim Stried.

“The final computer ratings will be run (Saturday night) without assessing any forfeitures from Wellsville. The matter will continue to be under investigation on Monday.”

Should a ruling occur against Wellsville, it could not only knock the Tigers out of the playoffs, but alter several other matchups.

Eight of the area qualifiers had secured their postseason bids prior to the final week of the regular season. Six others (Poland, United, Crestview, Girard, Springfield, Mathews) punched their tickets on Friday. Springfield advanced despite a Week 10 loss.

For the second consecutive year, Fitch (7-2) is the area’s lone representative in Division I. The Falcons’ sixth-place finish in Region 1 gives them the opportunity to host Wadsworth (7-3). Fitch is making its eighth playoff appearance, and fourth under coach Phil Annarella.

Hubbard just wrapped up its second-straight 10-0 season and will advance to the playoffs for the 13th time. The Eagles earned the top spot in Division III, Region 7 and will host Tallmage (6-4). The Blue Devils opened the season with five straight wins, but lost four of their last five games.

“The senior leadership we have on this team allowed us to 10-0 without any added pressure of continuing our winning streak,” said Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman. “We’ve been very focused all year long. Our seniors don’t allow anyone to look beyond each week.

“We know there are high expectations, but we’ll approach the playoffs just like we did the regular season — one game at a time.”

Also in Region 7, Poland (9-1) will travel to Louisville (9-1) The Bulldogs, who won a state title in 1999, are making their eighth straight playoff appearance and 14th overall.

Cardinal Mooney (5-4) is the area’s lone representative in Division IV. The eight-time state champions finished fifth in Region 11, and will play at Woordridge (9-1)

Mooney has won 60 playoff games, third-best in state history. Its eight titles are third behind Cleveland St. Ignatius (11) and Cincinnati Moeller (9).

Division V, Region 15 saw five local schools finish in the top eight. As a result, area teams will square off against one another in a pair of games.

Crestview (6-4) will host Girard (8-2) after the Rebels and Indians finished fourth and fifth respectively in Region 15. Crestview is making its seventh straight post-season appearance, and 13th overall. Girard is in for the seventh time, but it will be the first-ever playoff trip for rookie coach Pat Pearson.

“It’s special, because you don’t get to the playoffs every year,” Pearson said. “Back in August, I believed we could make it (to Week 11) because this is a special group of seniors, and the program was left in very good shape when I took over.

“We ended last year really strong. This is just a carryover from 2013.”

United (7-3) is set to play just its second postseason game in school history. It will have to go up against an Ursuline program which has played in 50 playoff games, winning four state titles. The Irish finished third in Region 15 despite losing their final two games of the regular season by a combined score of 69-13.

Liberty opened the season with a loss at Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. The Leopards (9-1) then reeled off nine straight wins to finish second in Region 15. They will host Gilmour Academy (8-2) in what will be their eighth playoff appearance, all since 2000.

McDonald is one of just two teams to finish 10-0 and have to start the playoffs on the road. The Blue Devils finished fifth in Division VI, Region 19 and will travel to Mogadore (10-0).

Mogadore (28th playoff appearance) owns a 12-1 post-season record against area schools. It is 9-0 in the playoffs against teams currently in the Inter Tri-County League, including a 4-0 mark against McDonald.

Springfield (7-3) hung on to the eighth spot in Region 19 and will travel to top-ranked Loudonville. The Redbirds — one of five teams in Region 19 to go 10-0 — have outscored opponents 526-61.

Western Reserve (9-1) returns to the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year (ninth overall) and will host Toronto (8-2) in a Division VII, Region 23 quarterfinal. Blue Devils coach Andy Hake owns a 62-10 record at the school and is looking to guide his team to its third regional title in four years.

“We’re excited to make another run,” Hake said. “We have a good mix of experienced seniors and younger players who stepped forward as the year moved on.

“Our expectations and goals remain the same. Winning a playoff game is never easy, but our goal is to always go make a run at a title.”

Wellsville (7-3) finished fifth in Region 23 and is slated to play at Ashland Mapleton (7-3). The Mounties opened the season with back-to-back shutout losses. They have since won seven of eight, averaging 39 points per game.

Mathews (7-3) returns to the playoffs for just the third time in school history after finishing eighth in Region 23. The Mustangs are scheduled to travel 117 miles for a first-round game against Norwalk St. Paul (9-1). That could change depending on the decision by the OHSAA regarding Wellsville.

“We’re just excited to be in, and we plan to line up and give it our best shot regardless of the opponent,” said Mathews coach Mike Palumbo.

“We’ve already exchanged film with St. Paul, but we also know things could change. But regardless, we’ll prepare as always and be ready to go.”

Divisions II, III, IV and VI will play on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Divisions I, V and VII will play on Saturdays at 7 p.m. through the first four rounds of the tournament.

The tournament will conclude Dec. 4-6 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.