PHOTO BY ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
Woodridge and senior running back Anthony Kelly are the last survivors from Summit County in the OHSAA football playoffs.
Only one Summit County team survived through Week 12 of the OHSAA football tournament.
The Woodridge Bulldogs are making the most of their first trip to the football playoffs. Woodridge is one step away from region championship, after upsetting heavily favored and previously undefeated Girard 34-20 on Saturday night at Lake High School in Hartville.
The No. 6 seed in Division IV, Region 13, Woodridge registered five quarterback sacks and took advantage of three Girard turnovers.
Woodridge's fine senior running back Anthony Kelly rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns, accounting for almost all of the Bulldogs' 159 yards rushing. Quarterback Anthony Westren passed for 162 yards and a touchdown.
Woodridge junior linebacker Marcus Thompson had a career game with 3 1/2 quarterback sacks.
The Bulldogs now move on to play in the regional championship game Saturday night at 7 against top seed Chagrin Falls at Twinsburg Stadium. Woodridge is looking to avenge a 32-26 loss to Chagrin Falls during the regular season.
On Friday night it was the end of the road for the Hoban Knights. Poland Seminary scored 10 fourth-quarter points and came from behind to knock out Hoban 10-7 in a Division III, Region 9 semifinal football game at Lake High School.
The key play occurred in the fourth quarter when Poland Seminary blocked a Hoban punt with the score tied at 7-7. Bulldogs junior Anthony Machi came through and got a piece of Zach Christensen's punt. The ball traveled 10 yards and the Bulldogs took possession at the Hoban 47 with 1:30 on the clock. Poland drove the ball to the Knight’s five yard line. When the drive stalled, kicker, Ryan Filicky, kicked a 22-yard field goal attempt with 19.6 seconds left, and the Knights saw their playoff run and season come to an end. Hoban senior running back Lawrence Wynn rushed for 75 yards in the losing effort.
Mogadore’s season also came to an abrupt end Friday night in Medina as the Wildcats were routed by undefeated Norwalk St. Paul 48-7 in a Division VI regio semifinal.
The Flyers (12-0) took a 41-0 halftime lead on four Eric Schwieterman touchdown passes and a pair of TD runs by Brian Griffin. The advantage then reached 48 points when Dan Tracht ran back an interception 20 yards for a score in the final minute of the third period. Mogadore (10-2) avoided the shutout with 4:41 left in the fourth when Ryan Harmon plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out. Obviously, though, it was way too little, way too late for the 23-time playoff qualifiers.
Twinsburg’s high powered offense was held in check and the Tigers lost in a defensive battle 10-7 to Massillon in a Division I, Region 2 semifinal game Saturday night at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.
In a game that featured 720 yards of combined offense, neither team could consistently execute in the red zone as Massillon turned the ball over on a fumble and two interceptions and Twinsburg tossed two interceptions.
Jeremy Geier finally kicked a 40-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in regulation to give Massillon the victory and a Regional Final re-match with arch-rival Canton McKinley for a trip to the finals. McKinley beat Massillon in the regular season finale to qualify for the post season.