---- — Brookfield is on the brink of building a bridge to the past.

Perhaps not the 1978 state championship season — that will be played out come early December — but the Warriors’ football program is enjoying its best season in a generation.

The undefeated and state-ranked Warriors welcome Youngstown Christian School to Addison Field tonight at 7 p.m. in an Ohio HIgh School Athletic Association Week-9 showdown.

YCS Leavittsburg-LaBrae are Brookfield’s last roadblocks to the program’s 1st undefeated regular season since coach John Delserone’s Warriors went 9-0 en route to the Class AA Buckeye State crown 3èdecades ago.

And while it may be premature to predict a repeat of ’78, the days of Delserone resonate again.

Tonight’s Games

(All games begin 7 p.m.)

Youngstown Christian (6-1) at Brookfield (8-0)

Brookfield is rated 1st in the OHSAA Division IV Region 13 poll (5th in the state). Coach Randy Clark’s club is coming off a 9-2 campaign in which the Warriors were ousted in the playoffs opening round by eventual titlist Norwayne (42-7) in Lodi. Now Brookfield is bent on hosting an opening-round tournament tilt.

“I knew we had something special,” Clark confided. “Eight or nine of these guys started as freshmen, so we’ve been waiting on this class and the class behind them to come all the way thorugh.”

Additionally, Clark is a link to Delserone’s legacy.

“My senior year (1981, 6-2-1) was (Delserone’s) last year of coaching, so a lot of ‘Coach Del’s’ philosophy are things we do on a daily basis,” Clark continued.

The historic, halcyon days are a reminder of what once were wonderful Warriors’ grid annals, and this could be Brookfield’s bounce-back era. According to available archives at The Herald, the decades since ’78 have been met with mixed results, including eight break-even 5-5 seasons — most recently in 2010.

During the decades of the 2000’s and 1990’s the Warriors went 31-69 and 46-56, respectively, with only 2 winning seasons. In ’94 the Warriors went 10-2 before bowing to Benedictine (26-6) in the regional finals, while the ’90 club ended 9-1.

The 1980’s were substantially more successful (54-42-2), including 9-1 slates in ’87 and ’85 (ironically, both clubs lost to Cortland-Lakeview). The ‘’87 squad shared the Trumbull County Class AA crown.

A triumph tonight could trend toward a return to those times.

YCS — 6th in D-VI, Region 21, according to Vindy.com — routed Sandy Valley (46-21) last week. The Eagles enter averaging 38.4 points per game, having humiliated Vienna-Mathews for 84. Youngstown Christian’s lone loss occurred to Sugarcreek-Garaway.

Ryan Grier (979 yards rushing, 13 TDs) and quarterback Emmet Underwood (931 yards passing, 13 TDs) are the YCS yeomen.

“Those two are scary, because either one can turn nothing into a huge play every time they touch the ball,” Clark told Vindy.com. “Defensively, KaeVon Green (who started as a freshman for Ursuline) is one of the better defensive ends we’ve seen in a long time.”

Clark compared YCS to Warren-John F. Kennedy, which his Warriors whipped (35-0) earlier this season. Clark, commenting to The Herald said, “They’re fast — like a good Farrell team, with four, five good athletes.”

In remarks to Vindy.com, Clark compared YCS to JFK, in that, “both teams are very athletic. They can strike quickly, and you can’t defend just one aspect of their offense ... but their defense might be a little better than JFK’s,” he told The Herald.

Brookfield has battered opponents, averaging 48 points and 419 total yards/game, led by running back Ryan Mosora (area-best 121 carries for 1,388 yards, 11.4 yards/carry, 16 TDs), quarterback Jeremy Quinlan (57 completions in 90 attempts, 63.4 percent, 715 yards, 10 TDs, 5 interceptions), and Collin Harkulich (16 catches, 263 yards, 16.4    yards/catch, 5 TDs).

The Warriors average 318 yards rushing/game, and Clark confided to The Herald, “another key is, we’ve been healthy.”

“These type of games are what high school football is all about,” Clark continued in remarks to Vindy.com. “We’re having a very good season, and so is Youngstown Christian. A lot of area fans will be focused in to see how this plays out, and that makes it fun for the players on both teams.”

It will be Senior Night for the Warriors, obviously none of whom can recall ’78, unless vicariously through their elders.

“A lot of reporters like to compare (2012 to 1978),” Clark commented to The Herald. “But it would take us fifteen games (to win an OSHAA championship); it took (the ’78 Warriors) eleven.

“It comes down to us taking care of the ball, executing, and making tackles,” concluded Clark, perhaps echoing his mentor, Delserone.

Reynolds (3-2, 5-2) at Greenville (3-2, 3-4)

Both teams need a win to maintain their postseason aspiriations behind the Hickory/Grove City/Wilmington logjam.

This once was northern Mercer County’s most intense rivalry. However Greenville has dominated the series that began almost a half-century ago, particularly since ’96, having won 13 of the last 14 meetings. But the Raiders are enjoying the program’s best season since a PIAA Final Four berth in ’05 — the last time Reynolds recorded a win in the series.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN 96.7 (WLLF FM), with Ryan Briggs and Chris Burtch calling the action.

Lakeview (3-1, 5-2) at Sharpsville (4-1, 6-1)

The Black-’n-Blue Devils defeated Wilmington last week for area bragging rights. However since his squad’s lone setback at West Middlesex, Sharpsville skipper Paul Piccirilli pointed to this as a showdown for 2nd-place seeding for the upcoming playoffs.

Sailors’ speedster Blake Reddick roared past the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 17-carry, 146-yard, 2-TD performance as Lakeview coasted past Cochranton (22-16) by scoring 22 unanswered points.

Lakeview’s last visit to The Pines — last year — resulted in a 52-6 setback, extending a losing skein to Sharpsville to 5 by a composite 188-52 differential. Lakeview last defeated the Blue Devils in ’06 (41-6) in Stoneboro.

The game will be broadcast on NewsTalk 790 (WPIC AM), with Mark Slezak and Bob Greenburg calling the action.

Conneaut (1-3, 4-3) at Farrell (2-2, 4-3)

Last week the Steelers suffered the program’s most-lopsided setback since being clobbered by Clairton (48-8) in the 2010 western regional championship game. The Steelers were shut out by Kennedy Catholic (41-0) in the ’06 regular-season finale.

The Eagles eased past Eisenhower (41-21) in a regional crossover contest last week, as Elijah Anderton (17-180, including a 76-yard TD) and Hunter Merritt (14-145) both surpassed the century mark on the ground, according to The (Meadville) Tribune.

 Hickory (4-1, 6-1) at Saegertown (0-5, 1-6)

Saegertown was outscored 248-52 through the season’s first 6 weeks, before the Panthers pounced on Maplewood last week (26-7).

According to The (Meadville) Tribune, Saegertown scoring drives included 74, 99 and 80 yards. The Panthers produced 351 rushing yards, led by Kyle Wise (17-105, 20-yard TD) and Lance Neuscheler (9-95).

 Hickory has won 4 consecutive contests (Grove City, Titusville, Sharon, Farrell) by a composite 178-19 margin.

Sharon (1-4, 1-6) at Wilmington (4-1, 5-2)

This side of Cathedral Prep and Strong Vincent, the Tigers have taken on the one of District 10’s tougher schedules. Of Sharon’s setbacks, 4 occurred to Farrell, Reynolds, Hickory and West Middlesex, teams with an aggregate 21-7 won-lost ledger. And beginning tonight, the Tigers take on a trio of 6-triumph teams to conclude the campaign.

Wilmington was approximately a yard shy at Sharpsville last week, losing a crossover contest (20-14), though the Greyhounds were without starting signal-caller Cody Llewellyn.

Kennedy Catholic (1-3, 1-6) at West Middlesex (4-0, 6-1)

The Big Reds are seeking their 7th straight success, and a West Middlesex win could earn at least a share of the Region 1-A crown.

Coach Jason McElhaney’s Middlesex minions are Mercer County’s only top-10 team — in either Class A or AA — according to Pennsylvania Football News.

Kennedy Catholic has not conquered Middlesex since the programs met in the ’05 D-10 tournament semifinals.

Titusville (1-4, 2-5) at Grove City (4-1, 6-1)

During last week’s rout of state-ranked Slippery Rock, Grove City’s ground game was so grueling (359 yards) the Eagles ended a 34-14 win without the need to attempt a pass — or punt.

That would not bode well for the Rockets, who permitted 237 (Reynolds), 171 (Sharon), 289 (Wilmington), 191 (Hickory), and 256 (Greenville) rushing yards to a handful of Mercer County clubs earlier this season.

Mercer (1-6) at Keystone (2-5)

The Mustangs are in the midst of the program’s worst skid since ’05 when those ’Steeds suffered a 5-game skein en route to a 2-7 season in mentor Pat McClearn’s initial season at the helm.

Keystone was KO’d by Allegheny-Clarion Valley (21-7) last week in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference Small School Division contest. According to d9sports.com, Zack Stiglitz scored on a 40-yard sprint for Keystone’s lone TD.



Herald sports writer Rob Malsom contributed research for this preview.