MANSFIELD — Shelby played for a regional championship last fall.
It’s been a while since Hillsdale has traveled this path.
Fresh off resounding wins in the second round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs, the Whippets and Falcons found out the next stop on their postseason journeys. Shelby will meet Bellevue at Ashland’s Community Stadium, while Hillsdale will take on Findlay Liberty-Benton at Tiffin’s Frost Kalnow Stadium.
The Whippets (12-0) are the No. 2 seed in Division IV, Region 14 while the Redmen (9-3) are the No. 5 seed. Shelby beat Bellevue 46-0 in Week 4 and are coming off a 47-7 win over St. Marys Memorial.
“We were here last year,” said Shelby’s Brady Hill, who caught a touchdown pass and had a pair of interceptions against St. Marys Memorial. “We came up short that time. A lot of guys on this team played in that game. They’re ready to get after it again.”
The Whippets fell to eventual state runner-up Steubenville in last year’s regional final. Hillsdale, meanwhile, hasn’t played for a regional title since 2010.
“We had a lead going into halftime of that game,” Hillsdale coach Tom Williams said of the 28-19 loss to Lima Central Catholic at Findlay’s Donnell Stadium. “We gave ourselves a shot to try to win a regional championship that year and that’s all we can ask for our guys this year.”
Liberty-Benton hammered Hicksville 60-7 on Friday to improve to 11-1.
“When you get this far, the team you are going to play is going to be really good,” Williams said after the Falcons roughed up Carey 41-0 in the regional semifinals. “If you make mistakes, they are going to make you pay for them, so it’s important that our guys know their assignments and they are carrying them out.”
