Here are five things to know heading into the regional semifinal round of the high school football playoffs:
Welcome back
There are several regional semifinal streaks continuing for some teams and potential new ones beginning for others.
Marion Local (11-0) is seeking its 21st consecutive regional final berth. Fellow Midwest Athletic Conference mate Coldwater (8-4) is next at five straight, followed by Anna (9-3) at three in a row.
Badin (10-1), Springfield (8-4), Tippecanoe (11-0) and Tri-Village (11-0) all are back after having three-plus year streaks snapped last season.
Northeastern (10-1) is the newcomer of the group. Friday will be the first time since 1992 the Jets have advanced this far into the postseason, and that year they qualified straight into regional semifinal round.
Cedarville (7-5) is back for the first time since 2001, as is Carlisle (10-2) since 2009. Middletown (9-2) had the next longest drought end in making it this far for the first time since 2011.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Regular season success translates to postseason
The top-two finishers from many leagues make up the teams still alive in the postseason: GCL Co-ed (Badin), GMC (Middletown), GWOC (Springfield, Wayne), MAC (Marion Local, St. Henry), MVL (Tippecanoe, Troy), OHC North (Northeastern), SWBL Buckeye (Valley View), and WOAC (Tri-Village).
Carlisle was third in the SWBL Buckeye, Cedarville was fourth in the OHC South, and Anna and Coldwater tied for third in the MAC with Fort Recovery (7-5) tying for sixth.
Statistical leaders
Six local quarterbacks taking snaps Friday have eclipsed 2,000 yards passing.
Cedarville senior Will Mossing leads all Miami Valley players with 2,953 yards, completing 211 of 349 attempts with 32 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Also reaching the milestone have been Wayne sophomore Kye Graham (2,377), Springfield junior CJ Wallace (2,282), Tri-Village senior Trey Sagester (2,234), and Carlisle junior Kolby Morgerson (2,150).
Northeastern senior Cody Houseman has the most rushing yards of all active players taking the field this week. He is followed by Carlisle sophomore Alex Collins (1,383), Cedarville senior Isaiah Christian (1,167), Wayne senior Isaiah Thompson (1,152), and Tippecanoe senior Xavier Melton (1,151).
There are three receivers who have caught at least 1,000 yards suiting up. Tri-Village junior Griffin Richard leads the way with 1,239 yards on 53 receptions and 22 touchdowns. Tippecanoe senior Will Strong (1,103) and Northeastern senior Jake Newman (1,097) also reached the mark.
Both Newman and Richards lead the way with 27 touchdowns. Newman is the overall scoring leader at 184 points with 11 two-point conversions. Valley View senior Anthony Valenti, Badin senior Lem Grayson, and Melton all have scored at least 20 touchdowns this season.
Another Marion Local milestone
The Flyers are in its element with 75 consecutive wins and counting after a 30-point victory against Lehman Catholic. The streak is now the seventh longest in history, three behind Celina (Texas) which is sixth on the list.
44 of those wins have come against MAC opponents and its next challenger takes them back into league play hosting Fort Recovery on Friday.
Marion Local has never lost to the Indians in 34 meetings. Fort Recovery had been shutout the last five times the two played until a 41-7 loss in Week 7.
Another potential league opponent awaits the Flyers in the regional final. St. Henry hosts Cedarville on the other Region 28 semifinal game.
Ticket information, streaming options
Playoff ticket prices are $12 for adults and $5 for students. All children 5-and-under are free. All tickets are available at ohsaa.org/tickets.
Several local games will be available to stream on the Spectrum News 1 or OHSAA websites.
Two area games will be televised live on Spectrum News 1, including Wayne at Troy in the Dayton market and St. Xavier at Moeller in the Cincinnati market.
Four area games — Springfield at Middletown, Princeton at Elder, Harrison at Trotwood, Badin at Tippecanoe — will be available to stream at spectrumnews1.com and OHSAA.tv. Spectrum customers can stream on the Spectrum News App or SpectrumNews1.com or games can be purchased for $10 at OHSAA.tv.
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