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

It’s not a clear photo. It’s a very foggy photo, in fact.

Douglass, then in his third season with the Chicago Bears, sealed a 20-12 playoff victory against the Philadelphia Eagles by intercepting Randall Cunningham in the final minutes at Soldier Field in a game that will forever be known as the Fog Bowl.

Dense fog prevented fans in the stands from having any idea of what was happening.

“It will be remembered as the best game you never saw,” Fred Mitchell wrote in the Chicago Tribune.

Thirty seven years later, Douglass, now in his 12th season as head coach at Springfield High School, experienced something similar. Fog rose in the second half Friday at Springboro High School’s CareFlight Field and played a part in neither team scoring after halftime.

Springfield rode three touchdown passes from Christopher Wallace to Sherrod Lay Jr. to a 21-3 victory in the second round of the Division I, Region 2 playoffs.

The fog on Friday didn’t compare to the fog at Soldier Field in 1988 — fans in the stands could follow the action better than people watching from field level — but it still made things difficult for the players.

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

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Douglass remembers his interception in the Fog Bowl well and saw one of his players equal his feat and then surpass it. Charles Cunningham picked off three passes in the second half in the fog.

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 at No. 1 seed Middletown (9-2) on Nov. 14. Springfield and Middletown have not played since 2013.

The Middies beat No. 8 Lebanon 31-0 to reach the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Springfield or Middletown will play No. 2 seed Troy (9-2) or No. 6 Wayne (8-4) in the regional final at a neutral site on Nov. 21.

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. Noah Bilinski caught 12 passes for 86 yards. Brady Gutmann caught 12 passes for 133 yards.

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.