🏈 Region VII - Region 25 OHSAA Football Playoffs
🗺️ Friday- 7:00 PM- Malvern, Ohio
🏈 No. 14 Lucas (5-5) at No. 3 Malvern (9-1)
What to watch: Malvern makes its sixth straight trip to the playoffs and boasts a 40-6 record across the last five regular seasons. … The Hornets earned a third-place finish in Division VII Region 25. Their reward is a fairly frightening No. 14 seed. The Lucas Cubs are in their first season under head coach Jim Sweat, who was a long-time defensive coordinator for Scott Spitler, who retired after an 8-4 finish in 2023. In his final 10 seasons, Spitler piloted Lucas to a 17-10 postseason record, including a trip to the 2019 Division VII state finals. ... This year’s Cubs have been up and down, recording their five wins against teams with a combined 9-40 record. One notable loss came by a 30-25 score to a Smithville team that finished 7-3. The most recent win was 46-9 in Sandusky County over Lakota (2-8). The Cubs fell 22-6 last Friday to a Michigan small-schools power, Whiteford, a state runner-up in 2023. The best player, a force at running back and linebacker, is Dan Hockensmith. The run-oriented Cubs produced 390 rushing yards at Lakota. … Six-foot-5 QB Jared Witherow’s ability to spread the ball among WRs Rodney Smith, Roy Simmons, Josh Untch and Jordin Detchon is Malvern’s big ticket. … In last year’s first round, Malvern beat Salineville Southern 35-20, while Lucas beat Hillsdale 28-14. … The Hornets have won their first-round game three times in the last five postseasons but have not won a second-round game in that span.