With the regular season in the books, Akron area teams look to make a playoff splash. Archbishop Hoban (7-3) hosts Parma Padua (7-3) in a rematch from Week 9 (a 10-6 Knights' win). St Vincent-St. Mary (6-4) travels east to take on Poland Seminary (8-2). Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (7-3) tries to dent the armor of the Girard Indians (10-0). Also from the PAC-7, Manchester (9-1) entertains the Lakeview Bulldogs (7-3). 

 

Faced with elimination, the Knights finished with a pair of victories to seal a postseason berth and managed to capture home game in Week 11. In three regular season losses, Hoban's problem has never been lack of effort. On the contrary, overly enthusiastic play has led to uncharacteristic mistakes.

 

Coach Ralph Orsini feels there are three keys to victory for his Knights.

 

“First the defense will have to prevent the big plays. Second, on offense, we just can’t make the mistakes that take us out of potential scoring drives. Finally, we have to win field position with our special teams,” Orsini said.

 

Padua has a defensive stalwart in Ball State recruit Anthony Stryffeler, the preseason North Coast League defensive MVP. The Bruins' defense has given up just 121 points on the year, while the offense is led by quarterback James Flowers and leading rusher Mark Spehar.

 

Defensively both teams have the ability to stop the run. Therefore, if the Knights can generate a representative passing game, they'll have a much better chance to come away with a win. 

 

St. Vincent-St. Mary has limped into the playoffs with a 6-4 record. However don’t underestimate the fight in the Irish. Coach Dan Boarman knows his team faced one of the toughest schedules in the state and is capable of putting together a solid post season run.

 

Offensively the Irish have both power and speed in bulldozing running back Mark Murphy and speedy wideouts in Dominique Mitchell and Doran Grant. Junior quarterback Oliver Hildebrandt has shown improvement each week, throwing for 1,402 yards and 13 touchdowns.

 

Poland has some fire power of its own, outscoring opponents 282-112. Running back Luke Wollett leads a ground attack amassing 1,517 yards in 2009. Quarterback Colin Reardon has thrown for 1,192 yards and completed 66 percent of his tosses. Darius Patten and Ed Kosec are his favorite targets.

 

With an offensive line that averages 272 pounds, St. V-M must dominate the trenches if they expect to leave Poland with a victory.

 

CVCA is facing the undefeated Girard Indians (10-0) and may have, relatively speaking, the biggest challenge of all area teams. Offensively, the Royals have relied on running back Alex Utley and his 1,096 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. Coach Ray Carroscia knows that for his team to advance its defense will have to play a stellar game.

 

The Indians of coach Bud McSuley are loaded in every phase of the game. They have outscored their opponents 446-91. Girard’s spread offense is led by quarterback Adam Charles who completed over 50 percent of his passes for 1,945 yards. Dominic Morgan and Landon Smith are two in  a stable of talented wide outs. Tallen Birminghan leads the team in rushing.

 

Carroscia’s young defense has been a key to success this season. They will be tested by the most explosive offense they have faced this year. The Royals have to be able to get off the field defensively or it will be a long night.

 

Coach Jim France's Manchester Panthers have snapped a three-year playoff drought and expect to do some damage. The PAC-7 champs have an impact player in two-way tackle Kyle Kelly (6-foot-2, 235). Quarterback Steve King, a four-year letter winner, threw for 1,022 yards and 13 touchdowns. Senior tailback Craig Dougherty led the ground attack with 1,221 yards and 21 touchdowns.

 

The numbers for Lakeview will not overwhelm you. They outscored their opponents 260 to 212. They churned out 2,380 total yards offensively while giving up 2,126. However, the only numbers that really mattered to coach Tom Pavlansky were seven wins against three losses. QB Anthony Franco threw for 763 yards and Te Elias led the way on the ground with over 1,000 yards.

 

The playoffs begin with 192 teams in six divisions. Six teams will win their last game of 2009, 186 will not. One and done, sudden death, win or go home, call it what you want, the second season starts Friday.