The air is a bit crisp, and the holidays are upcoming. That means it’s Week 13, and two county schools with strong football traditions look to extend their seasons on Friday night.

Colonel Crawford travels to Centerburg and Galion hosts Sandusky Perkins with berths in their respective regional championship games at stake.

Division VI Region 23 semifinal

No. 5 Colonel Crawford (11-1) at No. 1 Centerburg (10-1)

Eagles head coach Jake Bruner is more than happy to make the 42-mile trek to southwest Knox County to face the top-seeded Trojans.

And why not, given that he’s taken much longer bus rides in the past when matched against Southeast Ohio teams.

“I’m thankful. We’ve been on the road three or four hours. This is a nice trip for us.

“For a lot of our seniors, they’ve been playing a long time and are excited to take the next step,” Bruner said following a 42-8 win over Mount Gilead last Friday night.

Centerburg has just one loss, that a 42-14 setback to Johnstown back in Week Two.

“They run to the ball well and are very athletic. They’ve had a great season,” Bruner said.

QUOTABLE: “We’ll find out real quick how good we are.”

Crawford’s lone loss came at Carey 24-14 in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Those two shared the league title and the Blue Devils visit Paulding in a D-VI Region 22 matchup.

THE TROJANS: They beat Ridgewood 28-14 to set up the battle against Colonel Crawford.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Figure out how to get to the next week. Our guys did a great job of that,” head coach Andy Colella told Your Ohio News.

Blane Ball leads the Centerburg squad. The senior quarterback has thrown for more than 1160 yards with 14 TDs and just three picks.

A dual-threat, Ball has rushed for another 1,023 yards and 11 scores. Ball also handles punting duties and averages 39.3 yards per kick.

Junior Marshall Miles is RB1 with 1,355 yards on the ground and 21 touchdowns. As a team they average nearly 300 yards rushing per game and 10 yards per carry.

Defensively, the Trojans have not given up more than 14 points since a Week Four win over Knox Morrow Athletic Conference rival Northmor, 44-27.

Included in that resumé are four shutouts. For comparison’s sake, Centerburg blanked Mount Gilead 46-0 in a league game on Oct. 3.

EAGLES LEADERS: Senior running back Connor McMichael has run for 1,334 yards and 21 touchdowns. As a linebacker he has recorded 51 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss.

Roen Thew has 482 yards on the ground, plus 194 receiving and 44 total tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Leading receiver Parker Weithman had a career night against the Indians grabbing four passes for 187 yards and three scores of 53, 55 and 70 yards. On the season the junior has 1,171 yards on 55 receptions.

Quarterbacks Peyton Baker and Brayden Holt have combined forces for 24 TD passes, giving the Eagles a balanced offensive attack.

All-Ohio defensive end Payne DeGray anchors a tough defense, with 63 tackles and an amazing 30 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks.

As a team CC yields an average of just 220 yards per game.

Sophomore linebacker Gabe Stratton leads the team in total tackles with 78. LB Dom Dean has 47 tackles, 4.5 TFL, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Luke Christman has 39 stops and 9.5 TFL. Kayden Carpenter has 33 tackles, 6.5 TFL and is an anchor on both lines.

Carson Rader has made 46 tackles, two picks and a fumble recovery. Avery Powers has 30 tackles and 6.5 TFL.

Other top players include wide receiver/defensive back John DeGray (373 yards receiving and 39 tackles), lineman Walker Cramer (46 tackles, three fumble recoveries and a blocked punt last week) and Jacob Cochran (30 tackles, 18 solo and a fumble recovery).

As a team CC has registered 89 tackles for loss and 44 sacks.

Kicker Joseph Zizzo has made 55 points after touchdown, along with two field goals.

The winner takes on either West Jefferson (10-1) or Fort Frye (9-1) on a neutral field next Friday.

Division IV Region 14 semifinal

No. 6 Sandusky Perkins (9-3) at No. 2 Galion (10-1)

Defensive back Kane Hay was still feeling the effects of a tough Week 10 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Clear Fork.

But the Tiger sophomore couldn’t help but look ahead a bit, declaring: “We need rest. We should get a bye and two home games, then hopefully we’ll get a rematch with Shelby.”

Galion fell 45-34 after leading in that Week Four game.

One more win over Sandusky Perkins this Friday night and a rematch with the Whippets could be in the making. Shelby takes on Lima Bath in its regional semifinal game.

THE PIRATES: But first up is Perkins, fresh off a 31-0 triumph over Napoleon.

“We played a good game,” Perkins coach Jalen Santoro told The Sandusky Register. “Got off to a fast start and did exactly what we wanted to do. I thought we executed at a high level.”

Napoleon had just eight possessions in the game and four ended via turnovers.

QB Sam Schweinfurth completed 9-of-12 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown. Seven of those completions went to leading receiver Blake Parker, who finished with 158 yards and a score.

To date Schweinfurth has thrown for 2,340 yards with 26 touchdowns and one interception. Parker is his top target with 1,174 receiving yards and 10 TDs.

The Pirates have limited seven opponents to single digits this season. Bryce Davie had his fifth interception of the season, which tied Perkins’ career record of 11.

QUOTABLE: “We’re playing good football at the right time, and this is when you want to be playing your best,” Santoro said. “We’ve been trending that way for a couple weeks.”

TIGERS LEADERS: They will go against a Galion defense that has been stingy all season, pitching four shutouts and not allowing more than 20 points other than the Shelby game.

Kane Hay has five interceptions and linebacker Cameron Kuehlman (130 tackles) lead the way, along with Jamesen Glew, Kurt Hay, Sam Evans and a host of others.

“It’s a fun crew to watch. The whole defense is fun to watch,” Galion head coach Matt Dick said.

Dick recently became the winningest coach in Tiger football history and has amassed 62 victories.

Zach Sallee has a team-high 13 sacks, while Kale Early and Dominic Capretta have eight apiece. Sallee had a blocked punt in the 41-10 win over Lodi Cloverleaf last Friday night.

Running back Braxton Stuckman scored three touchdowns and ran for 79 yards. Ayden Schmidt added 97 yards on the ground and 60 more passing.

Schmidt has passed for 1,792 with 20 TDS and seven interceptions, according to the most recent MOAC statistics.

PLAYOFF NOTES:

  • The victory marked Galion’s first advancement to the third round of the playoffs since their 1985 state championship season.
  • All games kick off at 7 p.m. Friday.
  • Galion’s game will air on WQEL, 92.7-FM, and Colonel Crawford’s contest will stream on all North Central Ohio Media Group’s Facebook platforms..
  • Neutral sites will be used beginning in the regional finals on Friday, Nov. 21.
  • The state semifinals will be on Friday, Nov. 28, with the state championship games hosted at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton Dec. 4-6.
  • More information at https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports-Tournaments/Football/Football-2025/2025-OHSAA-Football-Tournament-Coverage