DaytonDailyNews.com

GERMANTOWN — Valley View High School has had a winning football tradition for almost as long as coach Jay Niswonger has been its coach. Now, the Spartans are finding the winning attitude that comes with it.

"Don't let your past affect your future," Niswonger told his team after a recent practice. "Forget what's already happened. You can't change that."

As the Spartans head into tonight's Division III, Region 12 playoff game with second-seeded Canal Winchester, they do so with the worst regular-season record of all 192 teams in the postseason. Valley View (5-5) is the only Ohio playoff team without a winning record this year.

But they do have plenty of experience in the postseason. Since Canal Winchester last qualified for the postseason 19 years ago (1988), Valley View has won three state titles (1994, 1996, 1997), seven regional titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2002) and lost two other regional championship games (2003 and 2005).

"I think a big thing that helps us is that we know what to do when we get to this level," Niswonger said. "And I've got people like Tom Misenko, who is a former athletic director here. He has helped me with all the things that go on off-the-field. That's made this easy for the rest of us."

The knowledge of how to handle all the behind-the-scenes duties that come with postseason play, combined with the return of several healthy cogs to the lineup and last week's dramatic 38-13 win over playoff-bound Brookville, has Valley View's football team flying high.

Canal Winchester (9-1) may be the region's No. 2 seed, but to the Spartans they're simply the next opponent.

"That Davis kid (No. 21 Antonio Davis) is the kind of kid that every time he touches the ball he can take it to the house," Niswonger said. "They have skill players who are very similar to those of Indian Hill (the region's top seed), and they're very physical up front. But we have to take care of ourselves first. We have to play well in all three phases of the game. And we have improved in each of them in the past few weeks."

The Warriors run a spread offense, but they run out of it more than they throw. They show a basic 4-4 defense.

CW coach Phil Mauro knows not to look past the Spartans. "We know they're a good program. Any team that's won three state titles and had numerous playoff appearances is not somebody we can take lightly," he said. "We know we're in for a dogfight."

And the Spartans know everybody's record is 0-0 again.

"A lot of people had us written off this year, but we're not dead by any means," Niswonger said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.