Lima Central Catholic’s Carson Parker finds room to run during Saturday’s game Fort Loramie at Spartan Stadium.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Let the postseason begin.
A number of area teams made the playoffs and are looking to make a big run in hopes of winning the state championship.
Division II
Xenia (5-5) at Lima Senior (8-2)
Lima Senior capped off a banner regular with a win against Toledo Start to clinch its first Toledo City League and a home playoff game and now the seventh-seeded Spartans are looking to maintain that momentum when they face 10th-seeded Xenia in the opening round of the tournament.
With the hard-fought 26-14 win against Toledo Start, Lima Senior enters the postseason riding a seven-game winning streak.
In the game against Start, the Spartans showed poise in a close game as they scored early and then the defense stood tall to fend off the visiting Spartans.
Xenia limps into the playoffs after losing five of its last six games.
The Buccaneers average 300 yards a game and 21.9 points a contest. On defense, they give up an average of 241.3 total yards a game and an average of 18.5 points a contest.
In the common opponent category, Xenia lost to Piqua 17-7 in week eight and the Spartans opened the season with a 36-31 victory against Piqua.
The Buccaneers are led by quarterback Gavin McManus who has passed for 1,506 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Xenia’s leading rusher is Elijah Johnson who has rushed for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ayersville (8-2) vs. Lima Central Catholic (6-3)
LCC seems to be heading its stride again going into the postseason as the seventh-seeded T-Birds prepare for 10th-seeded Ayersville in the opening round at Shawnee.
The T-Birds have reeled off four straight wins and picked up a convincing 45-21 victory against future Northwest Conference foe Fort Loramie in the regular season finale.
In that contest, LCC quarterback Carson Parker appears to be ready for the playoffs after rushing for 190 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. The T-Bird signal caller also tossed two touchdowns.
Ayersville comes into the contest with a three-game win streak with wins against Antwerp, Wayne Trace and Fairview last week which the Pilots defeated 36-28 in overtime. The win gave the Pilots a share of the Green Meadow Conference championship, the 15th in school history.
Ayersville is averaging 27.4 points a contest and giving up an average of 21.4 points a game.
A running team, the Pilots lost 1,000 yard rusher Tauren Knueven, however, against Fairview Garrett McConnell rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Leipsic (8-2) at Pandora-Gilboa (7-3)
A rematch of week three that saw ninth-seeded Leipsic defeat eighth-seeded Pandora-Gilboa 21-14 opens the postseason for these familiar rivals. Soon to be Blanchard Valley Conference opponents again, these teams have a long storied history of exciting clashes throughout the years.
In the last five meetings between these two teams, the Rockets own a 3-2 advantage.
Pandora-Gilboa comes into the postseason winning its last two regular season contests and the Rockets are averaging 37.2 points and contest and giving up an average of 15.1 points a game.
On offense, the Rockets are averaging 361.7 yards a contest and on defense are limiting teams to 218.6 yards a game.
Pandora-Gilboa quarterback Cory Gerten is hitting 61 percent of his passes while tossing for 2,267 yards and 27 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
Rocket running back Andrew Miller is the team’s leading ground gainer with 880 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Leipsic also comes into the game with a two-game winning streak with wins against Delphos Jefferson and a season-ending victory against playoff-bound Crestview 49-28.
The Vikings are averaging 30.6 points a contest and are giving up 15.3 points a game.
Leipsic is averaging 338.4 total yards a game and are allowing 272 total yards a contest.
Viking quarterback Ty Lammers finished the regular season with 680 yards and seven touchdowns and the duo of Quin Schroeder and Estevan Carillo combined for 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Bath (4-6) at Cleveland Glenville (7-2)
The end of the season was not pretty for Bath as the 15th-seeded Wildcats lost their last four regular-season games but that should not deter from the fact that the Wildcats were coming off a winless year and made the playoffs for the second time in three years.
After falling to Wapakoneta and St. Marys in the final two weeks, the Wildcats will have their hand’s full when they trek to Cleveland to take on defending state champions Glenville, coached by Ted Ginn, Sr.
Credit Wildcat first-year head coach Frank Russell and his coaching staff for putting together a competitive squad that is five points away from a winning season after losing a one-point decision to Defiance and a four-point defeat to Kenton.
Bath had big wins against New Bremen, Elida and an overtime win against Shawnee.
Bath quarterback Zach Welsch completed more than 60 percent of his passes and finished the year with 1,762 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Mickey Hall led the Wildcats in rushing with 989 yards and five touchdowns.
The second-seeded Tarblooders, who won the always competitive Senate League with a 5-0 mark, come into the game riding a two-game winning streak after they downed John F. Kennedy 41-0 followed by a 42-7 win over John Marshall.
