GALION (Crawford County Now) — A rivalry that dates back to the Grover Cleveland presidency gets renewed once again.

This time the stakes are higher as Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rivals Shelby and Galion meet at Mansfield’s Arlin Field in a Division IV Region 14 championship game.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. on Friday.

That first outing in 1894 ended in a scoreless tie. The most recent contest, held Sept. 12, was won by the Whippets, 45-34.

The two schools separated by 15 miles, have had some classic battles, going back to the storied Northern Ohio League. Shelby holds an 81-33-8 advantage in what is one of the oldest rivalry in Ohio.

Shelby brings a 12-0 mark and Galion an 11-1 record. The Whippets drilled Lima Bath 49-7, while the Tigers nudged Sandusky Perkins, 17-14, in regional semifinals.

That regional semifinal victory gave Shelby head coach Rob Mahaney career victory No. 100.

This marks the Tigers first trip to a regional semifinal game since 1985, the year they won the Division II state title.

Ohio Mr. Football candidate Brayden DeVito leads Shelby’s offense — and it’s a prolific one.

DeVito has accounted for 60 total touchdowns and 3,792 total yards. He eclipsed the 1,000-rushing yard mark for the third time in his career last week.

Gavin Baker has 371 yards rushing and five touchdowns. As a team Shelby averages 46.2 points per game.

Defensively, the Whippets have held five opponents without a point and given up just 23 total points over the past five weeks.

Galion, meanwhile, relies on its senior signal caller Ayden Schmidt.

Schmidt has completed 125-of-212 passes for 2,111 yards and 20 TDs with seven picks. He’s rushed for an additional 403 yards and seven touchdowns.

The ground game is led by Braxton Stuckman with 416 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Spearheading the Galion defense is linebacker Cameron Kuehlman. He has recorded 156 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Tigers head coach Matt Dick recently became the winningest coach in Tiger football history and has 63 victories.

“We have been playing great defense for a while here at Galion,” Dick said after the win over Perkins.

His team will need another strong effort this Friday to slow down the powerful Shelby offense.

Likewise, the Whippets relied on a stingy defense to beat Bath, holding the high-scoring Wildcats to 158 total yards and one score.

“Our defense played lights out tonight,” Mahaney told the Lima News. “To go against an offense that averaged almost 40 points a game and hold them to a shutout until the last drive, it’s pretty special.”

DIVISION IV REGIONAL FINAL PAIRINGS:

Region 13

No. 1 Perry (10-2) vs. No. 2 Cleveland Glenville (9-3) at Ravenna High School Portage Community Bank Stadium/Harry Gilchrist Field.

Region 14

No. 1 Shelby (12-0) vs. No. 2 Galion (11-1) at Mansfield Arlin Field.

Region 15

No. 1 New Lexington (11-1) vs. No. 2 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (11-0) at Coshocton High School Stewart Field.

Region 16

No. 1 Cincinnati Indian Hill (12-0) vs. No. 2 Germantown Valley View (11-1) at Fairfield High School Alumni Stadium.

The regional playoffs follow bracket format. Rebracketing will occur for the state semifinals on Nov. 28. The state championship games will be hosted at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton Dec. 4-6.

The schedule is as follows: Division II on Thursday at 7 p.m., Division IV and III on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively, and Division I on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday will feature Division VII at 10:30 a.m., Division VI at 3 p.m., and Division V at 7:30 p.m..

OHSAA football home: https://ohsaa.org/sports/football