The Versailles Tigers will start their postseason run at Indian Lake.
Photo by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
DARKE COUNTY — After three tries to get Marion Local an opponent, the OHSAA Football Tournament fields are set. Four local teams finished in the top 16 in their respective regions to qualify for the postseason. Here is a preview of each game. All games will be played on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
Division V Region 20: 15. Arcanum at 2. West Liberty-Salem
The Trojans will head to West Liberty-Salem for their first round postseason game. Arcanum got into the postseason with a 30-0 win over Bradford last week. Sophomore MJ Macy had 143 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Senior Luke Midlam had a kickoff return touchdown and fumble return touchdown. The team had eight sacks in the game.
West Liberty-Salem only lost this season was to the one seed Greeneview on Sept. 6. Senior quarterback Nick Shfflet had 1,515 yards throwing with 16 passing touchdowns and only three interceptions. Senior Josh Wilcoxon led the team in rushing with 726 yards and 17 touchdowns. Shfflet rushed for 493 yards and three touchdowns, third best on the team. The Tigers defense has only allowed 15.8 points a game. In their last game of the regular season, they gave up 278 rushing yards to Fairbanks.
Division V Region 20: 12. Versailles at 5. Indian Lake
Versailles end the regular season on a five-game losing streak with a 17-10 loss at St. Henry. Four of the losses came against teams who are a top three in their region. Indian Lake ended the season on a five game winning streak. The Lakers did start the season with a 37-0 loss to Anna while Versailles only lost 13-7 to Anna. Both defenses are strong with Indian Lake allowing 16.1 points a game and Versailles allowing 20 points a game. Senior Madden Lillard has 15 passing touchdowns but 10 interceptions. Both teams had their struggles moving the ball offensively. Versailles average 224.4 yards a game and Indian Lake average 290 yards a game.
Division VII Region 28: 4. Ansonia vs 13. Twin Valley South
The Tigers ended the season with a 70-6 win over Mississinawa Valley to secure their third straight WOAC title and their second straight outright title. Head coach Adam Hall said he is happy to see his team have this experience after starting the season off on the wrong foot.
“The guys played well tonight; they’ve played well all year. I’ve been happy with – you know, we’ve talked about it. This season could have gone either way at times. I’m happy with our seniors and our guys have put in the work and I’m glad they get to experience this this year,” said Coach Adam Hall.
The team rushed for 386 yards in the win. Twin Valley South ended their season with a 34-27 win over Tri-County North. They rushed for 211 yards in the win with senior Conner Mowell leading the way with 104 yards. Senior Griff Roell had two receiving touchdowns. The two teams met on Sept. 27 in a monsoon. Ansonia won 32-0 and rushed for 353 yards. Senior Zane Henderson and sophomore Jacob Schmitmeyer each had over 100 yards on the ground. They held the Panthers to 7 total rushing yards.
A full game recap of Ansonia vs Mississinawa Valley can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.
Division VII Region 28: 9. Tri-Village at 8. Waynesfield-Goshen
The Patriots ended the season with a 45-0 win over National Trail to secure the ninth seed in the playoffs. Junior Trey Sagester had 375 yards passing and five touchdowns. Sophomore Griffin Richards had 143 yards receiving with four touchdowns. The Tigers ended their season with an 18-12 loss to Ridgemont in overtime, the second best team in their conference. Both teams have a common opponent in Mississinawa Valley. Waynesfield-Goshen started the season with a 36-12 win at home over the Blackhawks. Tri-Village won 41-6 at Mississinawa Valley on Sept. 13.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].
