Half of local unbeatens make state playoffs

Four football teams from The Press coverage area went 10-0 this season, but only two qualified for the state playoffs, which kicked off Friday.
        Oak Harbor (10-0), which defended its Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title, earned a No. 1 seed in Division V, Region 18 and hosted eighth-seeded Beachwood (8-2), a member of the Chagrin Valley Conference, on Saturday. This is the Rockets’ 10th appearance in the playoffs and they have a 10-9 record.
        Northern Buckeye Conference champion Eastwood (10-0) finished fourth in the same region and hosted No. 5 seed Liberty-Benton (9-1), a member of the Blanchard Valley Conference, on Saturday. The Eagles have now qualified for the playoffs 12 times and have an 11-11 record, including a state runner-up finish in D-V in 2017.
        Toledo Area Athletic Conference champion Northwood and SBC River Division champion Gibsonburg also finished 10-0, but neither team earned enough computer points to make the playoffs. The top eight teams in each region qualifies for the postseason; the Rangers and Golden Bears are the only 10-0 teams in Ohio to not make the playoffs this season.
        Northwood finished ninth in the same region as Oak Harbor and Eastwood. Gibsonburg finished ninth in D-VI, Region 23. Sherwood Fairview (9-1) earned the eighth and last playoff spot in Region 23.
        Northwood and Gibsonburg did everything they could to qualify for the playoffs, but their opponents didn’t do them any favors when it came to accumulating valuable computer points. Both teams beat Woodmore, which went 0-10, and two of Gibsonburg’s other wins came against Antwerp (0-10) and Danbury (0-9).
        Northwood coach Ken James said the Rangers’ win over Stryker proved to be the deciding factor in not making the playoffs. Stryker, which competes in the state’s smallest division (VII), finished 0-8 and had to forfeit its week 6 game against Cardinal Stritch because of a lack of players.
        Northwood and Stryker actually played on a Sunday, with the Rangers cruising to a 65-2 victory.
        “It would have helped us if we did not play the Stryker game,” said James, whose 2008 team went 9-1 and didn’t make the playoffs. “We would have been in that sixth slot (in Region 18). Our starters only played five or six plays in that game and it was 47-0 with two minutes to go in the first quarter. We had a running clock in the second quarter. We were fair-catching punts or not fielding them at all. It was not a good game to play.
        “For doing the right thing (and not taking a forfeit), we got penalized. There’s nothing we can do about it now. Knowing what I know now, we wouldn’t have played the Stryker game.”
        Northwood has finished 10-0 four times in its history, with the last 10-0 season coming in 2012. This year’s team outscored opponents by a 523-152 margin, but only two of its opponents, Edon (7-3) and Ottawa Hills (6-4), finished with winning records. The Rangers played four D-VII teams, three D-VI teams and one D-II team (Columbus Whetstone, which finished 3-7).
        Northwood beat two D-V teams in Lake (46-14) and Elmwood (52-40), while rival Cardinal Stritch (D-VII) finished with five losses after a 61-24 loss to the Rangers to end the regular season.
        “We were pretty confident we were gonna get in,” James said. “(Last) Thursday night (Cleveland Heights) Lutheran East beat a 5-4 team, and then they had a no-contest game against Vienna Mathews in week 9, which improved their computer average.”
        James said that had Lutheran East (7-2) played the game against Vienna Mathews, Northwood would have gotten the No. 6 position in Region 18 instead of the Falcons. Northwood has been in the playoffs 10 times, including last season, and has a 1-10 record.
        James said Northwood’s players “figured it out” last Friday morning that making the playoffs was no longer a possibility.
        “They knew going into the (Stritch) game on Friday that we were cooked,” James said. “One thing we wanted to accomplish was getting in. For the seniors, as the game wore on and we’re pulling them out of the game, you could tell they were pretty distraught that their careers were coming to an end.”
        James added that winning the TAAC championship was “a huge deal.”
        “Winning a league title is in our control,” he said. “That was a huge. Keeping that Big Apple Deli trophy (by beating Stritch) here was a big deal.”
        Northwood’s schedule next season is “still a little bit up in the air,” James said, adding that the Rangers will still play Woodmore, Lake and Elmwood prior to TAAC play and will travel to Columbus to play Whetstone.
        “Stryker has now left the league and is going to eight-man,” James said. “Danbury is going to decide whether or not to go to eight-man in the next couple weeks. If they go to eight-man, we’re going to match up against Gibsonburg.”
        Gibsonburg has been a playoff participant eight times, including the past four years. The Bears are 2-8 all-time in the postseason. Coach Mike Lee’s squad outscored opponents 425-133 this season and beat four teams - Ottawa Hills, Mohawk (6-4), Tiffin Calvert (5-4) and Margaretta (5-4) – that finished with winning records. Four of the Golden Bears’ wins came against smaller (D-VII) schools.