🏈 OHSAA region 25 Championship Quarterfinal-
10-1 Malvern Hornets Vs 7-4 Norwalk St. Paul Flyers
What to watch: Malvern head coach Matt Chiurco senses "a lot of confidence" coming off a strange 35-20 win over Salineville Southern. It was 14-14 in the third quarter when an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty helped the Hornets out of a third-and-long. They scored on the next play, then recovered what looked like an onside kick but wasn't planned that way, then took a 28-14 lead on the next play. Receiver Dylan Phillips came around on a jet sweep, pulled up, and sailed a 39-yard TD pass to Rodney Smith. … Three Southern players got thrown out of the game during that sequence. "It was absolute chaos over on their sideline, and their stands," Chiurco said. "We'd never seen anything like it. I told our kids they did a good job keeping at it." … Jared Witherow's passing helped Phillips and Smith both produce 100-plus receiving yards. … Southern averaged 46 points across its previous four games before getting held to 20 by Malvern's defense. … John Livengood has been St. Paul's head coach since 1991, the year the Browns hired Bill Belichick. He won his 300th game last year. His best recent run, 57-8 from 2013-17, included a 2014 trip to the Division VII state finals. Since then, the Flyers are 49-19. … Livengood exploits defensive weaknesses. After a game-day adjustment against Edon late last season, his Flyers rushed for more than 600 yards in a 62-50 win. ... Livengood likes a crisp pace: Break the huddle and make it quick taking the snap. … Last Friday, in a first-round game at 9-1 Toronto, St. Paul rolled 56-20. A week earlier against 7-2 Monroeville, the Flyers won 41-14. … Since losing 35-28 at Fort Loramie on Sept. 29, they have won four straight by a combined 184-47 score. … Last year, St. Paul took an 8-3 record into a second-round playoff game at Salineville Southern and lost 42-22. … RB Ben Burger and QB Drew Kuhnle lead a St. Paul offense that wants to run but can be balanced as needed. … The Hornets aim to win a second playoff game for the first time since 2009.