By BOB ETTINGER

sports@vindy.com

LEAVITTSBURG

LaBrae football coach John Armeni and his coaching staff took a long hard look at the Vikings after the 2017 season and decided the team needed to be tougher on the defensive side of the field. That decision may have directly led to the Vikings’ 21-0 win over Wickliffe a week ago.

“All offseason, we made defense a priority,” Armeni said. “We wanted to revamp the defense. We wanted to stop the run. We built the defense around our linebacking corps. They’re all three- or four-year starters. We were trying to get more tenacity out there. Riley McCleary, Colton Stoneman and Anthony Harris helped turn the tide for the defense.”

The third-seeded Vikings (10-1) will battle second-seeded Akron Manchester (8-3) in a Division V, Region 17 semifinal at Louisville High School on Saturday night.

“The kids know [about the history of Manchester football],” Armeni said. “The message we gave to the kids was that if they wanted to take the next step as a program, we couldn’t pick a better team to do it against. They have 25 playoff appearances. If you want to be the man, you have to go out and beat the man. We want to play those teams. If we want to be the best team, we have to beat the best teams. [Manchester] is a big, physical, well-coached team with some good athletes. It will be one of those old-fashioned Northeast Ohio slugfests.”

Those linebackers, and the remainder of the front seven, did exactly as Armeni and his staff had hoped in the regional quarterfinal win.

“In northeast Ohio, every good football team has to stop the run,” Armeni said. The game plan is always to stop the run. That’s our first priority. We say we want to chase teams to the air.”

Making teams throw the ball plays into LaBrae’s hands quite well, as it did against Wickliffe. Benton Tennant intercepted four passes for the Vikings.

“Benton is a ballhawk,” Armeni said. “He roams the middle of the field from hash to hash. One [defense position group] feeds the other. We want teams to toss the ball up there and we want our guys to go and get it.”

The Blue Devils played right into the hands of the LaBrae defense.

“Wickliffe is a physical team. They have a 2,000-yard rusher, Isaac Pettway,” Armeni said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us. They like to go straight at you. That plays into our strength. We like teams that come straight at us. It allows us to play our brand of physical football.”

The Vikings’ defensive front rose to the challenge in keeping Pettway in check while forcing Wickliffe to the air, allowing Tennant to shine.

“Benton has really good football instincts,” Armeni said. “He has a high IQ and as we rep through the week, he picks up on things. He remembers. He knows the place to be. Add that level of preparation to his ability, his physical skills — his speed, his ability to go get the football, his ability to catch and nights like that will happen.”