By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
OHSAA grid playoffs commence this weekend, and in a sense, so do the Buckeye State’s commonwealth counterparts.
Though the PIAA playoffs do not officially begin just yet, a handful of Mercer County clubs will play pivotal postseason preludes — particularly those hoping to be invited to the District 10’s parity, er, party.
Hickory and Greenville are contending for the 4th spot in Region 3-AA, while in 1-A, Mercer meets Lakeview in a similar scenario. For Hickory, Mercer and Lakeview, it’s win and in; for Greenville, it’s win then hope Hickory loses to Shenango Valley rival Sharon.
Tonight’s Games
Sharon (5-1, 7-2) at Hickory (4-2, 5-3), 7 p.m.
Two weeks ago and 2 wins removed from a region co-championship or possibly and outright crown, the Hornets have to win or risk being hurdled by Greenville.
Sandwiching a whitewashing of Reynolds, the Hornets have suffered shutout setbacks to Greenville and Oil City, the latter despite the absence of Oilers’ standout tight end Ben Koyack.
Now for a 2nd straight week Hickory has an opportunity against an opponent missing a key component. Two weeks ago Sharon signal-caller Ronnie Howard tossed a trio of TDs in a triumph over Greenville’s Trojans, then sustained a post-game lower-leg fracture before exiting Tiger Stadium.
Sharon already has secured its 4th consecutive playoff appearance in 6th-year Tigers’ taskmaster Bob Fromm’s tenure. And last week’s Seneca forfeit afforded Fromm time to groom green sophomore signal-caller Jason Ondic, who will orchestrate the offense in Howard’s stead.
Conversely, though Hickory has won as many games this year as the past 2 seasons combined, it is in search of the 1st playoff berth in 3rd-year Hornets’ headmaster Frank Antuono’s helm. Hickory has not had a playoff appearance since ’05 when it blanked North East in the quarterfinals, but bowed to Wilmington in the semis. Perhaps not coincidentally, that also was the last season the Hornets had a win at Sharon’s expense.
Mercer (5-2, 6-3) at Lakeview (4-3, 6-3), 7 p.m.
Time was, Lakeview vs. Mercer meant a regular-season finale involving schools separated by mere miles.
But this season, with a 6th straight win, it means mentor Pat McClearn’s Mustangs make a 3rd consecutive postseason appearance. During its 5-game surge from a 1-3 start, Mercer has outscored Harborcreek Youth Services, Sharpsville, Conneaut Valley, Conneaut Lake and West Middlesex by an aggregate 199-41 margin.
During this decade’s meetings Mercer has managed a 4-3 margin over the Sailors (the teams did not meet in 2004-05), including back-to-back wins in ’08 (33-8) and ’07 (28-12).
Lakeview’s last win over the Mustangs occurred in ’06 (16-14) — also the last time yeoman coach Dan York skippered the Sailors into the D-10 playoffs.
This season, both clubs lost to Linesville and Farrell. The Sailors also suffered a setback to Sharpsville, while Mercyhurst Prep outmuscled Mercer in the season-opener. Farrell, Prep, Sharpsville are an aggregate 32-4.
Slippery Rock (2-4, 2-7) at Greenville (3-3, 6-3), 7 p.m.
Third-year Trojans’ taskmaster Brian Herrick is seeking a 3rd straight playoff berth, but will need some help. Also, Herrick has to keep his club focused on the task at hand at Stewart Field — securing success against Slippery Rock, which has dropped 3 consecutive contests including last week in New Wilmington — while not scoreboard watching on what takes place at Hornet Stadium.
Moniteau (6-3) at Grove City (6-3), 7 p.m.
After dropping 2 of its 1st 3 games this season, Moniteau mustered 5 wins in its last 6, including last week’s 49-21 rout of Redbank Valley in New Bethlehem.
Moniteau, the defending KSAC champion, outgained Redbank Valley 411-159, including a 320-44 rushing differential led by KSAC leading rusher James Shope (21-117, 3 TDs) and Kyle Armagost (9-78). Also, Armagost gained 91 yards passing on a 4-for-10 effort and tossed 2 TDs and Shope shared in that, hauling in a 27-yard scoring strike, D9sports.com reported.
Reynolds (1-5, 1-8) at Oil City (4-2, 7-2), 7 p.m.
Oil City owns a 2-2 season slate against Mercer County-area opponents, with wins over Greenville and Hickory and suffering setbacks to Wilmington and Sharon. The Oilers’ offense, orchestrated by Mark Kulinski, also may be one of the district’s best, regardless of classification.
Clarion (7-2) at Sharpsville (7-2), 7 p.m.
Clarion’s Bobcats blanked Brookville (19-0) last week for their 2nd straight shutout, according to D9sports.com.
According to the Web site, Clarion claimed a 342-83 edge in total offense and a 29:22 to 18:38 advantage in time of possession.
Clarion was led by the rushing of Kris Burkhart (9 carries, 102 yards) and Bubba Rue (27-84) and Brandon Heeter, who passed for a TD and rushed for another. Cody Renninger (5 catches, 69 yards) reeled in scoring strikes from Heeter (12 yards) and Dan Walters (27 yards). Heeter had a 6-for-10, 75-yard outing and Walters was 3-for-5 for 47 yards, D9sports.com reported.
Wilmington (8-1) at Karns City (8-1), 7 p.m.
Last year the Gremlins garnered a 22-21 regular season-ending upset in New Wilmington. But rather than a hex hanging over the Hounds. Wilmington went on a 6-game win skein en route to the program’s 1st commonwealth crown.
KC is coming off a 55-0 vanquishing of winless Allegheny-Clarion Valley (its 40th consecutive loss), clinching a share of the Keystone Shortway Conference crown, according to D9sports.com.
Aaron Markle mustered a 7-carry, 120-yard rushing performance (3-yard TD run), Brandon Collier collected an 8-yard TD toss from Dylan Hipple, and Hipple had 72 yards rushing, returned a punt 58 yards for another score, and tossed a 2nd TD, according to D9sports.com.
According to the Web site, Karns City secured no worse than a share of its 4th KSAC crown in 5 seasons, contingent upon tonight’s Brookville-Punxsutawney tilt. A Punxsy win would coerce KC into sharing the championship, despite a win over the Chucks earlier this season.
A victory for veteran Terry Verrelli of Wilmington would extend the Hounds’ headmaster’s 31-year career ledger to 242-103-3.
Conneaut Valley (2-5, 2-7) at
West Middlesex (2-5, 3-6), 7:30 p.m.
Neither team has notched a win over an opponent with a winning ledger.
A West Middlesex win would snap a skid of 3 losses in its last 4 outings. Even at that, however, that would be the program’s 14th victory from 2007-09. During the Big Reds’ run to the ’06 PIAA title tilt, they went 15-1.
Valley went winless for 2-plus seasons before ending a 25-loss skein earlier this season.
Saturday’s Game
Farrell (7-0, 9-0) at Kennedy Catholic (1-6, 1-7), 1 p.m.
While Kennedy concludes a 2nd straight 1-win campaign — with losses in 25 of the program’s last 27 games dating back to a 2006 playoff appearance — Farrell fine-tunes for a foray into the “second season.”
Herald sports writer Rob Malsom contributed research for this preview.
