Perkins, Monroeville only area teams left in playoffs

Perkins and Monroeville are the only two area teams standings in the OHSAA football playoffs. The Pirates, the No. 6 seed in Division IV Region 14, will travel to second-seeded Galion in the regional semifinal round at 7 p.m. Friday. Monroeville, the No. 4 seed in Division VII Region 25, will travel to top-seeded McDonald. Perkins has won eight straight games to improve to 9-3. The Pirates shut out Napoleon 31-0 in the second round. A win Friday would give the Pirates four straight seasons with 10 or more wins. "We're on some rare ground as a program," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "We've got a lot of people who work really hard to do what we do. I don't think it's by coincidence to be where we are. You've gotta have some good players, good support and a really good staff." The Pirates will play a rare game on natural grass at Fred Unkrich Stadium in Galion. "Not once in my high school career have I played on a grass field," Perkins wide receiver Blake Parker said. "We played one JV game (on grass) at Edison a couple years ago." Perkins practiced on grass at Vermilion's stadium Tuesday and plans to bring in portable lights in order to practice on its grass field behind Firelands Health Stadium. "It's more of a mental thing — just getting used to it," Santoro said. "If you're playing on it, you might as well practice on it." Perkins is in the state playoffs for the 16th time and has a 21-14 postseason record, buoyed by last year's state runner-up finish. Monroeville is in the playoffs for the 20th time and picked up postseason victory No. 20 last week with a 34-14 win over Malvern in a second round game at Marsh Field. Monroeville and McDonald have never met. The Eagles face a two-hour trip for Friday's game. The higher-seeded teams will host the regional semifinals Friday. The regional playoffs follow bracket formatting. Rebracketing will occur for the state semifinals. The other Division IV Region 14 semifinal field features No. 4 Lima Bath (9-2) at No. 1 Shelby (11-0). Bath defeated Bellevue 21-0 in the second round while high-scoring Shelby blanked Orrville 42-0. The winner between Monroeville (9-2) and McDonald (11-0) will face either seventh-seeded East Canton (9-2) or third-seeded Mogadore (10-1) in the regional finals. Neutral sites will be used beginning in the regional championship games Nov. 21. The state semifinals will be Nov. 28, with the state championship games then hosted at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton on Dec. 4-6. Tickets for all playoff games are available ohsaa.org/tickets. REGIONAL SEMIFINALS All games at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 DIVISION IRegion 1No. 4 Toledo Whitmer (9-2) at No. 1 Lakewood St. Edward (9-2)No. 3 Canton McKinley (9-2) at No. 2 Mentor (11-0)Region 2No. 5 Springfield (8-4) at No. 1 Middletown (9-2)No. 6 Huber Heights Wayne (8-4) at No. 2 Troy (9-2)Region 3No. 5 Powell Olentangy Liberty (8-4) at No. 1 Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (11-0)No. 6 Upper Arlington (10-2) at No. 2 Pickerington Central (10-1)Region 4No. 4 Cincinnati Princeton (9-2) at No. 1 Cincinnati Elder (11-0)No. 3 Cincinnati St. Xavier (8-2) at No. 2 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (8-3) DIVISION IIRegion 5No. 5 Hudson (10-2) at No. 1 Akron Archbishop Hoban (9-1)No. 3 Austintown Fitch (9-1) at No. 2 Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (9-1)Region 6No. 4 North Ridgeville (10-1) at No. 1 Medina Highland (11-0)No. 3 Avon (10-1) at No. 2 Wadsworth (11-0)Region 7No. 4 Canal Winchester (10-1) at No. 1 Sunbury Big Walnut (10-1)No. 3 Massillon Washington (8-3) at No. 2 Columbus St. Francis DeSales (9-2)Region 8No. 5 Cincinnati La Salle (9-3) at No. 1 Cincinnati Anderson (11-0)No. 7 Harrison (9-3) at No. 3 Trotwood-Madison (7-3) DIVISION IIIRegion 9No. 4 Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (9-1) at No. 1 Canfield (10-1)No. 6 Akron East (10-2) at No. 2 Cuyahoga Falls CVCA (10-0)Region 10No. 5 Rocky River (10-2) at No. 1 Medina Buckeye (11-0)No. 6 Toledo Central Catholic (8-4) at No. 2 Wapakoneta (11-0)Region 11No. 4 Dresden Tri-Valley (9-2) at No. 1 Columbus Bishop Watterson (10-0)No. 3 Steubenville (8-2) at No. 2 Newark Licking Valley (11-0)Region 12No. 4 Jackson (9-2) at No. 1 London (11-0)No. 3 Hamilton Badin (10-1) at No. 2 Tipp City Tippecanoe (11-0) DIVISION IVRegion 13No. 4 Beloit West Branch (10-1) at No. 1 Perry (9-2)No. 3 Mentor Lake Catholic (9-2) at No. 2 Clevland Glenville (8-3)Region 14No. 4 Lima Bath (9-2) at No. 1 Shelby (11-0)No. 6 Perkins (9-3) at No. 2 Galion (10-1)Region 15No. 4 Chillicothe Unioto (11-0) at No. 1 New Lexington (10-1)No. 3 Plain City Jonathan Alder (10-1) at No. 2 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (10-0)Region 16No. 4 Cincinnati Taft (11-0) at No. 1 Cincinnati Indian Hill (11-0)No. 3 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (10-1) at No. 2 Germantown Valley View (10-1) DIVISION VRegion 17No. 4 Garrettsville Garfield (9-2) at No. 1 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (8-2)No. 3 Poland Seminary (9-2) at No. 2 Girard (11-0)Region 18No. 5 Findlay Liberty-Benton (12-0) at No. 1 Liberty Center (11-0)No. 3 Genoa Area (10-1) at No. 2 Wooster Triway (10-1)Region 19No. 4 Barnesville (9-2) at No. 1 Wheelersburg (11-0)No. 3 Nelsonville-York (11-0) at No. 2 Gahanna Columbus Academy (9-2)Region 20No. 8 Richwood North Union (8-4) at No. 5 Carlisle (10-2) No. 11 Cincinnati Mariemont (8-4) at No. 2 Lewistown Indian Lake (9-2) DIVISION VIRegion 21No. 5 Smithville (10-2) at No. 1 Kirtland (11-0)No. 7 Sugarcreek Garaway (9-2) at No. 6 Dalton (9-3)Region 22No. 9 Carey (8-4) at No. 4 Paulding (11-0)No. 3 Archbold (9-2)at No. 2 Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (10-1)Region 23No. 5 North Robinson Colonel Crawford (11-1) at No. 1 Centerburg (10-1)No. 3 West Jefferson (10-1) at No. 2 Beverly Fort Frye (9-1)Region 24No. 5 Coldwater (8-4) at No. 1 New Madison Tri-Village (11-0)No. 6 Anna (9-3) at No. 2 Springfield Northeastern (10-1) DIVISION VIIRegion 25No. 4 Monroeville (9-2) at No. 1 McDonald (11-0)No. 7 East Canton (10-2) at No. 3 Mogadore (10-1)Region 26No. 4 Columbus Grove (8-3) at No. 1 Lima Central Catholic (10-1)No. 7 Pandora-Gilboa (9-3) at No. 3 Leipsic (10-1)Region 27No. 4 Willow Wood Symmes Valley (9-2) at No. 1 Jeromesville Hillsdale (10-1)No. 11 Danville (7-5) at No. 2 Waterford (9-2)Region 28No. 12 Fort Recovery (7-5) at No. 1 Maria Stein Marion Local (11-0)No. 11 Cedarville (7-5) at No. 2 St. Henry (10-1)