PHOTO BY ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY

Mogadore running back Jake McAvinew found some running room on this play, but the Wildcats were overwhelmed by undefeated Norwalk St. Paul 48-7 on Friday night in a regional semifinal at Medina.

MEDINA -- Norwalk St. Paul's football team didn't play a close game in the regular season, beating all 10 of its opponents by at least three touchdowns.

Two weeks into the OHSAA Tournament, the Flyers' streak remains intact.

Undefeated St. Paul scored touchdowns on its first six possessions and forced three turnovers on Friday night, eliminating Mogadore from the Division VI playoffs by a 48-7 score at Kenneth Dukes Stadium.

"I will be surprised if they aren't playing on December 5 because they don't have a weakness," Wildcats coach Matt Adorni said, referring to the date of the state championship game. "It wasn't so much how bad we played tonight, but how good they were. They're a fantastic football team."

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.

"I hate to say it, but if you look at their defense, they probably have 11 guys that are faster than anyone we have out there," Adorni said. "That's one of the fastest teams I've seen. Warren JFK (who the Wildcats beat 28-7 last week) looked fast to us, but these guys were much quicker."

St. Paul's speed made it a very long evening for Mogadore quarterback Drew Babbitt (4-of-14, 79 yards, 2 interceptions), and running backs Jake McAvinew (7 carries, 38 yards) and Kodey Chance (5 carries, minus-5 yards). The usually potent trio was held to just two first downs in the first half as the Flyers outgained their foe 295-37.

While the Wildcats were struggling to gain ground, Schwieterman was doing his best Peyton Manning impression by going 11-of-12 for 210 yards, four touchdowns and a 146.5 NFL passer rating. He did not play in the second half.

"They did a nice job stopping our running game, so we felt like we need to throw the ball a little bit to open things up," St. Paul coach John Livengood said. "Eric made some nice reads and Dan (Tracht) made some nice plays."

Tracht scored three touchdowns in all, ringing up receiving scores of 7 and 55 yards in addition to his pick-six. The senior wideout/cornerback also stole the football from Mogadore's Matt Traugh while making a downfield tackle and finished with a game-high six receptions for 139 yards.

"Practice makes perfect and we practiced pretty well all week, which I think showed," said Tracht, whose interception was his first of the year. "It definitely builds more confidence to beat a very good football team like Mogadore. We just keep moving on."

Indeed, the Flyers do. And based on what Adorni has seen, their final destination will be the D-VI title game against Delphos St. John's.

"We were trying everything on defense to stop them," Adorni said, shaking his head. "We went zone, man, it didn't matter. They did what they wanted to and we couldn't stop them. That's a great football team we lost to tonight."

Norwalk St. Paul 48, Mogadore 7

First quarter

N - Justin Wilde 3 pass from Eric Schwieterman (Jim Roth kick), 4:29.

N - Brian Roberts 37 pass from Eric Schwieterman (Jim Roth kick), 1:32.

N - Dan Tracht 7 pass from Eric Schwieterman (Jim Roth kick), :11.

Second quarter

N - Brian Griffin 3 run (Jim Roth kick), 7:41.

N - Dan Tracht 55 pass from Eric Schwieterman (Jim Roth kick blocked), 6:10.

N - Brian Griffin 4 run (Jim Roth kick), :40.

Third quarter

N - Dan Tracht 20 interception return (Jim Roth kick), :53.

Fourth quarter

M - Ryan Harmon 1 run (Alex Roebken kick), 4:41.

Passing

St. Paul: Eric Schwieterman 11-12-210-0, Dan Tracht 0-1-0-0. Mogadore: Drew Babbitt 4-14-79-2, Ryan Harmon 1-1-14-0.

Rushing

St. Paul: Brian Griffin 17-56, Eric Bradt 5-27, Justin Wilde 2-16, Kyle Brake 6-16, Eric Schwieterman 5-12, Alaric Newcomer 1-3, Zach Service 3-2, Adam Smith 2-1. Mogadore: Jake McAvinew 7-38, Zach Heigelmann 4-19, Mike Leymon 6-17, Ryan Harmon 4-5, Kyle Cramer 1-3, Mike Simonetti 2-0, Kodey Chance 5-(-5), Drew Babbitt 2-(-10).

Receiving

St. Paul: Dan Tracht 6-139, Justin Wilde 2-13, Brian Roberts 1-37, Brian Griffin 1-12, Alex Foster 1-9. Mogadore: Matt Traugh 3-73, Dylan Natko 1-14, Dustin Owens 1-6.

Interceptions

St. Paul: Dan Tracht 1-20, Eric Schwieterman 1-2. Mogadore: none.

Penalties: St. Paul: 2-10, Mogadore 3-25.

First downs: St. Paul 19, Mogadore 8.

Fumbles: St. Paul 0-0, Mogadore 1-1.