By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — It’s the final week of the regular season. Ansonia is playing for the outright WOAC title and like most of the teams around the county, are also playing for playoff seeding. Versailles, Tri-Village and Versailles all locked up a playoff spot and are playing for seeding. Arcanum is in a win and get in position this week. Here is a preview of the last week of regular season play. All playoff scenarios are based on standings from joeeitel.com.

Oct. 25: Missisisnawa Valley (2-7, 2-6) vs Ansonia (8-1, 8-0) 7 p.m.

Ansonia clinched a share of the WOAC title with a 24-13 win at home over Preble Shawnee. Head coach Adam Hall said Preble Shawnee is a great team and knew they would have their hands full with them. But, the Tigers came out strong and played one of their best games this season.

“They deserve a lot of credit for how they play and how they prepare. But, our guys made plays tonight. Our defense played as good as we could ask them tonight. Offensively, holding onto the ball and doing what we do. It worked out for us,” Hall said.

Mississinawa Valley suffered a tough 39-28 loss at Tri-County North last week. Head coach Steven Trobridge said the experience on the offensive and defensive line from the Panthers was the difference in the game.

“The first half we were coming out strong. Going into the game, the one thing I was concerned about was the unit Tri-County North has experience at. The offensive and defensive line has all seniors. They played all four years,” Trobridge said. “First half came, we made some adjustments. Once North figured out our adjustments, it was evident that experience came into play big time.”

The Tigers are playing for an outright title. Win or lose, they will be around a two to five seed in the postseason. Mississinawa Valley does have a chance to make the playoffs with a win, but would need help. A lose and the Blackhawks will be out. The Blackhawks will have to make the most of their possessions. Ansonia will play their brand of football and go on long drives to eat up the clock. If the Blackhawks steal a possession or two from the Tigers, they will have a shot. If the Tigers wear down the Blackhawks, they will come away with a win and an outright WOAC title.

Full game recaps of the Ansonia vs Preble Shawnee and the Mississinawa Valley vs Tri-County North games are on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Oct. 25: Arcanum (5-4, 5-3) vs Bradford (1-8, 1-7) 7 p.m.

The Trojans won 32-0 at Dixie last week. The team rushed for 292 yards with sophomore MJ Macy rushing for 183 yards. Junior Marcus Rayburn rushed for two touchdowns. The Arcanum defense held Dixie to 59 total yards of offense. Freshman Avery Bowser recovered a fumble for a touchdown and had 1.5 sacks.

Bradford lost 56-7 to Tri-Village at home. Senior Owen Canan had a passing touchdown to freshman Isaiah Purpus. They did all 428 yards of total offense. Bradford is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Arcanum is win and in but do have a chance to still make it with a loss. The Trojans will need to rely on their running game again to come out with a win. For Bradford, if they can win the turnover battle they can come away with the win.

Oct. 25: Greenville (0-9, 0-8) at West Carrollton (0-9, 0-8)

The Green Wave lost 48-6 to an undefeated Xenia team last week. Junior Lukas Thorp had a rushing touchdown in the game. Greenville did allow six passing touchdowns in the game to senior Gavin McManus. Juniors Lucas Williams and Shawn Fishwick both had over 100 yards receiving. West Carrollton lost 37-14 at Butler last week. The Pirates passed and rushed for a touchdown. Both teams had trouble with turnovers in their losses. Greenville will have to lean on the running game and win the turnover battle to win this game. Both teams are out of playoff contention.

Oct. 25: Tri-Village (7-2, 6-2) vs National Trail (4-5, 4-4)

The Patriots won 56-7 at Bradford last week. Junior Trey Sagester had 249 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. The team also rushed for three touchdowns. The defense allowed 99 total yards of offense.

National Trail lost 40-22 at home to Twin Valley South. They allowed 27 points in the first half. They led 16-15 after the first quarter. The Panthers rushed for 228 yards and senior quarterback Caden Bishop had a season high 178 passing yards. The Blazers did have 374 rushing yards with senior Zack Creager and junior Jody Wintrow both reaching over 100 yards rushing. National Trail did have four turnovers. The Patriots have a playoff spot clinched. With a win, they have a good chance of hosting a first round playoff game. A loss will put them between an 8-13 seed. The Patriots can grab the win if they stop the Blazers rushing attack and the passing game continues to roll.

Oct. 25: Versailles (5-4, 3-4) at St. Henry (5-4, 4-3)

The Tigers lost their fourth straight game with a 52-14 home loss to Coldwater, the number one team in Division VI. Coldwater jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and didn’t let up. St. Henry won 21-14 over New Bremen last week. A fourth quarter touchdown by St. Henry gave them the win. Both teams clinched a playoff spot already and are fighting to host a first round playoff game. St. Henry has the edge offensively as they average 28 points a game while Versailles averages about 19 points a game. Versailles are in the positive in their turnover ratio. The Tigers will need to win the field position battle to win this game.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].