“Anyone can win any night,” Centerville coach Brent Ullery said. “Love this league, love what these coaches are doing and what the players are doing in this league. It’s a lot of fun and gets you playoff ready really fast.”
The final act of the season is here. Win or lose, six of the eight GWOC teams – Springfield, Centerville, Springboro, Fairmont, Wayne, Northmont – have clinched Division I playoff berths. Miamisburg (4-5, 2-4) has an outside shot at squeezing into the 16-team field in Region II if it can beat Springboro. But the Vikings need other teams to lose.
The top five teams in the league can attest to how difficult it is to win in the GWOC. Springfield is 5-1 while Centerville, Wayne and Springboro are 4-2. Fairmont is 3-3. They’ve traded wins and losses and lots of games have been decided in the fourth quarter.
In other leagues, the game of the week is usually obvious. In the GWOC, two or three make that claim every week. Friday is no different with Wayne at Centerville, Springboro at Miamisburg and Springfield at Northmont. Wayne-Centerville is a rivalry game, but that doesn’t diminish the others.
Springboro (6-3, 4-2) could get the No. 5 seed in Division I Region 4 with a victory. The Panthers are an obvious favorite, but in the GWOC taking a victory for granted can be costly. Past performances do not guarantee future results.
Springfield is playing for an outright league title and a chance to move up and be the top seed in Region II. Centerville could move up to No. 2. If Wayne wins, it could stay in the top eight and get a home playoff game.
The top eight teams in each region will host first-round games. The top four are in line to host twice.
Unbeaten goal: Five teams have a chance for an unbeaten regular season, but at most four can do it. That’s because Marion Local and Coldwater meet in Coldwater in a battle of unbeatens for supremacy in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
Xenia will finish 10-0 for the first time if it can go on the road and beat Sidney (4-5). The Buccaneers are No. 2 in Division II, Region 8 and likely to stay in that spot.
Milton-Union (8-0) hosts Riverside and can finish unbeaten and untied for the ninth time. The Bulldogs did it first in 1908 and most recently in 1982. The only thing keeping them from 10-0 is a cancellation with Covington.
Northeastern (9-0) last went unbeaten in the 1992 regular season. The Jets would be the first unbeaten Clark County team since Shawnee in 2011.
Twelve-time state champion Marion Local and seven-time champion Coldwater have been on this collision course all season. The Cavaliers lost quarterback Marcel Blasingame to injury last week but rallied to beat Versailles in overtime. Coldwater, ranked No. 1 in Division V, went 12-0 in the shortened 2020 season and won the Division VI title. Marion Local went 16-0 last year and won the Division VII title. This year the Flyers are in Division VI, ranked No. 1 in the state and own a 25-game winning streak.
Going for 2,000: Greenville senior running back Brock Short needs 97 yards to reach 2,000 rushing yards. Friday is likely his only chance. Even if the Green Wave (2-7) upsets Tippecanoe, they are a longshot to make the Division III, Region 12 playoffs.
Short, 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, is coming off a 74-yard game against Troy. He rushed for over 300 yards in wins over West Carrollton and Butler and 200 yards two other times,
Records at Xenia: Running back Trei’Shaun Sanders and receiver-safety Tremmell Wright have rewritten the school record book with at least two more chances to add to their numbers.
Sanders has set single-season records for rushing touchdowns (21), total touchdowns (22) and rushing yards (1,481). Wright has set single-season records for receiving yards (987) and receiving touchdowns (17) and career records for receiving yards (1,633) and interceptions (12).
The Buccs also set records for points in a 64-20 win over West Carrollton, points in a season (388) and total offense in a season (4,058 yards).
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