Those familiar with international soccer may have heard the term “Group of Death.”
It’s a term used to describe a group within a tournament bracket that’s filled with tougher competition than the rest of the bracket.
Sometimes the way seeding works, very good teams all wind up facing each other a little too early. Looking at the OHSAA football tournament bracket this season, Division V, Region 17 is a gauntlet. More aptly, Region 17 is this year’s “Region of Doom”.
The top four seeds in Region 17 are all in the top 10 in the latest AP state poll. The top two seeds in Region 17, Kirtland and South Range, hold those same ranks in the state as well. The third and fourth seeds, Sugarcreek Garaway and Garrettsville Garfield, are ranked sixth and seventh respectively.
With four teams remaining in the regional bracket, it’s come down to the top four.
South Range is the area’s local leader in the region, boasting a 12-0 record. The second-seeded Raiders, no matter who they wound up with, were going to have their hands full.
“It’s an honor,” Raiders coach Dan Yeagley said. “It’s a fun region. There’s a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players and it’s loaded. It really is and it’s been fun getting to this point. We got to meet some new coaches and play some teams that we haven’t played before. We’re looking forward to seeing what happens Saturday night, winds down and see who’s still left standing.”
South Range will be lining up against Garaway who is in the midst of its best season in the modern playoff era (since 1999). The 12-0 Pirates have bulldozed their first two opponents, winning by a combined score of 88-17.
Yeagley’s description of the team sounds oddly familiar. Like South Range will be playing a team just like them.
“They’re very well-coached,” Yeagley said. “Their coach has been there for 20-plus years and does a good job. His son plays and is an awesome lineman, they have a great quarterback, wide receivers, good linebackers and their offensive and defensive lines are outstanding
“They’ve been in the regional semifinals the last three or four years, but we just haven’t met up. They’re pretty good. Very, very well coached.”
The school that puts the “doom” in the “region of doom” and is the No. 1 seed in the district is a school most are familiar with. Calling Kirtland a “state power” amongst the small schools might be a disservice to the program. The Hornets’ Class of 2022 have yet to lose a game in their high school careers. In fact, Kirtland has only lost seven games since 2010.
The school frequently shifts between Division V and VI and has seen success in both.
They match up with 12-0 Garfield, who most recently ended Bellaire’s season 44-14. The G-Men have a powerful offense, scoring at least 28 points in every game and have quality wins over Kennedy and LaBrae, the latter of which is the top seed in Division VI, Region 21.
As they entered the playoffs, the ever-reserved Garfield coach Mike Moser mentioned how the team’s approach was never to have an undefeated season. As long as they kept having undefeated weeks, they’d be in good shape,
“The key has just been our guys showing up and taking everything one week at a time and not looking down the road at anything else,” Moser said. “We always try to have the same expectations but we felt like we brought back some pretty valuable pieces. If everything fell into place and we worked hard, we felt like we could have some success.
“Now you don’t dream of 10-0 back in August. But our kids have done a good job of going 1-0 every week.”
That mentality puts them up against a tall task in Kirtland, the giants of the region.
The team’s leading rusher, Anthony Demma, is 30 yards shy of 2,000 on the season on 187 carries. The senior is averaging an astounding 10.5 yards per carry and has 29 touchdowns on the season.
Both games are set for Saturday as Demma looks to surpass the 2,000-yard mark as Garfield faces Kirtland at Alumni Stadium in Perry and South Range takes on Garaway at Leopard Stadium in Louisville.
Both games are set to start at 7 p.m.
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