High school football: Springfield ousts Springboro in second round of playoffs

Neither team scored in the second half in the fog. Springfield rode three touchdown passes from Christopher Wallace to Sherrod Lay Jr. to a 21-3 victory at CareFlight Field in the second round of the Division I, Region 2 playoffs.

What was it like playing in the fog?

“It was hard,” Lay said, “but we still came out and competed and fought, and our defense got stops.”

This was the seventh time in the last nine games Springfield has allowed seven or fewer points.

“I’m happy with our performance defensively,” Douglass said. “We did another great job. Coach (Conley) Smoot does a great job with our defense. They’ve been playing lights out all season. Tonight was just another indicator. They made plays when they had opportunities. They did a good job of stopping a really good offense. They’re always tough for us to handle.”

No. 5 seed Springfield (8-4) advanced to a regional semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Middletown (9-2), which beat No. 8 Lebanon 31-0, on Nov. 14.

Springfield and Middletown have not played since 2013. Middletown will play in the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Springfield has won at least two playoff games six times in the last seven seasons. It lost 34-30 to Hilliard Bradley in the first round last season but now will seek its first regional final berth since 2023 when it played in the state championship game for the third straight season.

“It’s personal,” Lay said. “Everything is personal to us this year. We’re trying to get a ring. But we’ve got to take it step by step this year.”

No. 4 seed Springboro finished the season 7-4. Two of its losses were to Springfield, which won 14-7 at Springboro on Sept. 26.

Jay Greenberg kicked a 42-yard field goal to give Springboro a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Panthers didn’t score again. Max Miller completed 26 of 38 passes for 230 yards for Springboro.

Lay increased his touchdown catch total to 10. He caught touchdown passes of 62, 30 and 45 yards. He finished with five catches for 156 yards.

Douglass called Lay the most competitive player he’s had since Danny Davis, the wide receiver who played at Wisconsin and now is a member of the Springfield coaching staff.

“If we had 22 players like (Lay), we’d be undefeated,” Douglass said.