After getting their second win of the season over New Bremen to open the Division VII state football playoffs, St. Henry has another rematch game this week, and it will be a chance to avenge their last loss of the regular season.
The Redskins travel to Memorial Field in Minster to face a Wildcats squad that won a nailbiter between the teams at the Wally Post Athletic Complex on a rainy Sept. 27.
The matchup headlines the four games for local teams in the postseason. Defending Division VII state champion Marion Local faces Tri-Village for the first time in program history when the Patriots come to Booster Stadium.
In Division VI, Coldwater, fresh off a big win over Covington to stay unbeaten in four meetings with the Buccs, hosts Springfield Northeastern.
St. Marys, coming off a big comeback win over Miami Trace in the Division III playoffs, travels to Tipp City to face Tippecanoe.
The first meeting, in the rainy, windy conditions in St. Henry, came down to the wire. Minster led 6-0 at halftime on a Brogan Stephey touchdown run, only to have St. Henry take a 7-6 lead on Jared Nietfeld's 22-yard touchdown reception via a Landon Schwartz pass after Schwartz came on when Charlie Werling and Jack Huelsman went down with injuries. Minster rallied and won on Stephey's 25-yard scoring pass to Dylan Heitkamp with 18 seconds remaining in regulation to get the 12-7 win.
That was the last loss for St. Henry as the Redskins beat Parkway and St. John's by large margins before facing New Bremen and winning 21-14 as Werling broke a 14-all tie with a five-yard scoring run with 2:42 remaining in regulation. St. Henry then finished the regular season with a 17-10 win over Versailles to head to the postseason with not only a 6-4 record, but earning a home game in the opening round. Against New Bremen in the rematch at St. Henry, the Redskins scored 13 points in the second quarter to lead 13-10 at the half and then played solid defense to get the win.
Werling has been one the MAC's top rushers with 926 yards and 17 touchdowns, but since picking up more of the passing chores, he has been solid, throwing for 872 yards with nine touchdowns to just one interception. Huelsman adds 745 yards and six scores.
Carter LaGuire leads the team in receiving with 739 on 43 catches and eight scores. Nietfeld has 345 yards with three scores.
For Minster, the Wildcats were 8-2 in the regular season, losing via a field goal to Coldwater, then holding Marion Local to its lowest point total of the season in a 21-0 loss.
In the playoff opener against Manchester, Minster scored 62 points in the first half, a school record, then set a game record in beating the Greyhounds 75-14.
Seth Whiting's squad has been solid all season, and having a healthy Stephey at quarterback is a key reason. The senior earned MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors by throwing for 2,137 yards with 20 touchdowns and rushing for 901 yards and 14 scores. Connor Schmiesing adds 653 yards and 12 touchdowns and Dominick Meyer has stepped up through the season with 445 yards and four scores.
The receiving corps got a boost with the return of James Niemeyer after being out most of the season with injury. Niemeyer had a touchdown catch last week against Manchester.
Dylan Heitkamp stepped up with Niemeyer and Noah Schwieterman out, leading the team with 679 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Tyler Bergman adds 381 yards with Schmiesing recording 317 yards.
Will Knapke leads the defense with 113 tackles. Gabe Bornhorst has 4 1/2 sacks with Schmiesing and Frimel adding four each. Caleb Couse and Kole Richard each have four interceptions.
Lineman Will Frimel became the career leader in starts for Minster after starting his 47th game last Friday. Kicker Beckhem Stephey had a record nine extra points against Manchester.
It's been 22 years since Coldwater and Northeastern played in the 2002 postseason, a 54-12 win for the Cavaliers. Current head coach Chip Otten was in his first year as an assistant coach at his alma mater and current Cavalier assistant coaches Dan Kanney and Joe Huwer played in the contest.
The Jets enter at 7-4 after shutting out Miami Valley Christian Academy 41-0. Northeastern went 2-3 in Ohio Heritage Conference North Division play.
Diezel Taylor runs the offense, passing for 1,518 yards with 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Taylor also can run the ball, rushing for 497 yards and six scores.
Garrett Chadwell is the favorite receiver, recording 45 catches for 665 yards and 12 touchdowns. Jake Newman adds 385 yards and seven touchdowns with Seth Rose recording 320 yards.
When the Jets run, Cody Houseman and Jackson Jones have been the workhorses. Houseman leads the team with 768 yards on 88 carries and eight touchdowns with Jones rushing for 648 yards on 100 carries and five scores. Chadwell adds 350 yards rushing with five touchdowns.
Houseman is also the main defensive player for the Jets at outside linebacker, leading the team with 140 tackles and six sacks. Kaleb Moore has six interceptions.
Coldwater bounced back from the Week 10 loss to Marion Local with a 44-point first quarter against Covington, including 23 points in a span of less than two minutes, en route to a 58-0 win. The Cavaliers outgained the Buccs 394-64 in the contest and forced two turnovers as Otten got plenty of players playing time in the contest. Sophomore reserve quarterback Karsyn Homan had two second-half touchdowns.
While Marion Local has played several teams from the old Cross County Conference and its succcessor the West Ohio Athletic Conference, notabally Covington, Arcanum, Mississiniawa Valley and MAC charter members Ansonia and Bradford, this will be the first meeting with Tri-Village when the Patriots head north to Maria Stein.
Tri-Village finished third in a competitive WOAC, finishing 8-2 overall and 7-2 in league play behind champ Ansonia (9-0) and Preble Shawnee (8-1). T-V comes to Maria Stein having won six straight, including a playoff-opening 43-7 victory at Waynesfield-Goshen.
Quarterback Trey Sagester has been potent this season for the Patriots. The junior threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers and has passed for 3,012 yards and 36 touchdowns this season to earn first team All-WOAC status. Griffin Richards, who had 158 receiving yards in the win over Waynesfield, has 79 receptions this season for 1,144 yards and 15 touchdowns. Lane Bierly adds 587 yards and eight scores.
Hayden Hunt provides a dual threat, leading the team with 470 rushing yards and seven scores to go with 304 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Hunt also has 8 1/2 sacks to lead the Patriots.
Kaeden Lipps leads the team in tackles with 136 with 17 1/2 tackles for loss at middle linebacker.
The Flyers, who finally found a Week 11 opponent after three teams opted out and Fort Recovery stepped in, won its 59th straight game with a 68-0 win over the Indians. Fort Recovery played hard in not allowing the Flyers to score until two minutes remained in the first quarter, but once the first score happened, Marion's offense soared to 42 second-quarter points. Justin Knouff connected with Victor Hoelscher with two of his three touchdown catches in the second quarter as the Flyers outgained the Indians 434-39.
St. Marys and Tippecanoe have met three times, with the last two times coming at Tipp City Park Stadium. The 2006 and 2008 playoff meetings had the Roughriders winning by matching 21-14 margins. The other meeting came in 1923.
The Red Devils are having an amazing season, going 10-0 in the regular season and 9-0 in the Miami Valley League Miami Division. Tipp opened the postseason with a 49-7 win over Oxford Talawanda behind a 319-yard, five-touchdown passing performance from Larkin Thomas, a first team MVL selection. Thomas has thrown for 2,482 yards with 36 touchdowns and six interceptions and adds 333 yards rushing.
Jackson Davis leads the Red Devils with 1,038 receiving yards on 64 catches and 20 touchdowns. Will Strong (511 yards) and Dylan Herndon (440 yards) are also solid targets for Thomas. Xavier Melton leads the team in rushing with 859 yards and 11 scores.
Linebacker Collin Isaac leads the Devils with 127 tackles and five interceptions. Max Deckard has three interceptions, one going back for a touchdown.
St. Marys needed a last-minute comeback to beat Miami Trace 28-24 in Week 11 on Parker Beam's 41-yard touchdown catch with 31 seconds remaining. It was Beam's first reception of the season.
Colton Mabry needs just 89 yards to join Dominik Osborne with 1,000 rushing yards on the season. Osborne leads the team with 1,269 with 20 touchdowns.
Owen Ott has 10 sacks on the season with Taylor Compton having nine to go with his team-high 110 tackles.
In addition to the area games, several other MAC and WBL teams will look to keep their seasons going on Friday.
In Division VI, Anna (8-3), a 61-14 winner over Perry last week, hosts Purcell Marian (6-5) at Booster Field in Shelby County. The Rockets have won three straight games after a tough loss to Marion Local in Week Eight. The Cavaliers have won two straight after beating Paint Valley 34-21 in the first round of the playoffs.
Delphos St. John's pulled the upset with a 28-22 win over second-seeded Upper Scioto Valley in Division VII play last week. The 4-7 Blue Jays face Tiffin Calvert (7-4), a 55-25 winner over Hardin Northern last Friday at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.
WBL champion Wapakoneta (11-0), a 48-7 winner over Franklin in the Division III opener, hosts Wilmington (7-4). Defiance (7-4), will look to build on last week's 38-0 win over Bowling Green against always-tough Benedictine out of Cleveland (9-2).
In Division IV, Ottawa-Glandorf (8-3), which defeated Galion 13-7 last Friday, faces undefeated Shelby (11-0). In Division V, Bath (6-5), which picked up its first non-COVID playoff victory since 2003 with a 51-22 win at Carlisle, travels to face 11-0 Greenview.