“It’s the Final Four,” King said. “Every team we play is going to be good. Something probably isn’t going to go right at some point, but our guys’ ability to be able to play consistently and handle their emotions consistently is going to be big.
“Hopefully that’s something we’ve taken from our (state) semifinal appearance last year.”
Valley View will play in its second consecutive Division V state semifinal when its squares off against Liberty Center on Friday at 7 p.m. at Sidney’s Memorial Stadium.
Valley View (13-1) lost to Ironton 35-21 after leading at halftime in the 2022 state semifinals.
Valley View beat Waynesville last week, 42-24, avenging a 49-40 Week 10 loss to its SWBL rival.
“I think that was a good wake-up call for us,” King said. “Obviously, they’re a really good team. But that first time around, they took it to us. That was good for us. Yeah, it wasn’t great at the moment, but I think it might have been good for us in the big picture and for the playoffs. That made us take a hard look at ourselves and fix some things.
“The four weeks in the playoffs have put us in a nice place, defensively especially. Anytime you give up 49 points, you can’t feel good about that. In all, it was good for us.”
Liberty Center (14-0), the Northwest Ohio Athletic League champion, lost 35-0 to eventual state champion — Canfield South Range — in last year’s state semis.
“We’ve had a really successful year this year, and that’s sort of piggybacked off our run a year ago,” Tigers coach Casey Mohler said. “We had a really good group of seniors last year, and this year’s seniors took over where they left off. They worked really hard in the offseason.
“We’ve had some underclassmen who have really stepped it up and play some big roles for us that we had some question marks about. They’ve passed all the tests so far and have made plays when we’ve needed them — which is why we’re fortunate to be here.”
Spartans senior quarterback Caden Henson is responsible for 57 touchdowns — 36 passing and 21 rushing — this season. He was named the SWBL’s Offensive Player of the Year, helping Valley View score an average of 46 points a game.
Henson connected on touchdown passes with Jed Lynch, Micah Valenti and Anthony Valenti in the win against Waynesville.
Valley View senior linebacker Bryce Reed, the SWBL Defensive Player of the Year, has 121 total tackles on the season.
“It will start with the run this week,” King said. “It will be a huge challenge with Liberty Center. ... I think our guys are playing with confidence. I’m proud of them for how they understand football, study the game and study the scouting reports. Hopefully that allows us to play fast. But then again, with defense, it’s about getting to the ball and making tackles.”
The Tigers operate a run-heavy offense and are led by senior running backs Colton Kruse and Trenton Kruse. They’ve rushed for a combined 1,798 yards and 38 touchdowns.
“We have a bunch of hard-nosed, physical kids,” Mohler said. “They pride themselves on playing as physical as they can. They’re just tough blue-collar kids.”
Liberty Center’s defense centers around senior lineman Landon Bockelman, the NWOAL Defensive Player of the Year.
Liberty Center beat Coldwater 17-7 to reach Friday’s state semifinal game.
The Valley View-Liberty Center winner will face the winner of Perry (14-0) and Canal Winchester Harvest Prep (12-1) in the state final on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 3 p.m. at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
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