By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — The first round of the high school football playoffs is this Friday. Here is a look at each of the matchups including the Darke County teams.

2 Ansonia (10-0) vs 15 Lockland (5-5)

The Tigers are coming off a big win over Mississinawa Valley that clinched them the outright WOAC title and gave them a 10-0 record for the second time in school history. Senior Keegen Weiss finished the regular season leading the WOAC in rushing with 1,814 yards. He also had 32 rushing touchdowns in the regular season. The defense has been stout during the regular season. They allowed 9.5 points a game with three shutouts. Ansonia finished second in the final AP poll in Division VII.

They will go up against Lockland, who’s best win was against a 4-5 Clark Montessori team to end the regular season. In that win, junior quarterback Damien Dawson ran for 284 yards and a touchdown. Dawson also threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Dawson has accounted for 24 touchdowns in the regular season and is third in their conference with 1,466 rushing yards. Junior Johnny Minton leads the Miami Valley Conference in sacks with 14 on the season.

12 Bradford (5-4) at 5 Minster (8-2)

The Railroaders went from no varsity football team last season to making the playoffs. The win over Arcanum helped them get to the 12th seed. Junior quarterback Owen Canan was third in the WOAC in passing with 1,513 yards and senior Hudson Hill was third in receiving yards with 634. Hill is tied for second in receiving touchdowns with eight and tied for first in interceptions with three.

Bradford will face a big test going up against Minster. The Wildcats are coming off a close loss to Versailles, 21-14. Minster’s two losses are to Versailles and Marion Local. The team averages 27.5 points a game while allowing 16.3 points a game on defense. Minster was voted as the seventh best team in Division VII in the AP poll.

5 Tri-Village (9-1) vs 12 National Trail (4-6)

It will be a rematch of the Patriots’ week 10 game. They defeated National Trail, 20-7, last week on the road. This time around, they will be at home against the Blazers. Senior Reed Wehr accounted for all of the Patriots touchdowns with three rushing touchdowns. Wehr finished third in the WOAC in rushing with 1,262 yards and second in rushing touchdowns with 20. He also led the WOAC in receiving touchdowns with nine. Senior Braden Keating finished the regular season leading the WOAC in passing with 1,722 yards.

The Patriots held the Blazers below their rushing average with 167 yards rushing. Senior Chase Ruebush had 34 yards rushing. He finished fifth in the WOAC with 965 yards rushing during the season. While National Trail gave up 243 yards rushing to Tri-Village last week, they held Keating to 7 for 16 passing with 46 yards.

2 Versailles (8-2) vs 15 Troy Christian (3-7)

The Tigers ended the season with a 21-14 win over Minster. Senior quarterback Michael Osborne had three passing touchdowns in the win. In the regular season, the Versailles defense hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in a game. In the final AP poll, Versailles was voted third in Division VI. Both of the Tigers losses came against Marion Local, voted the best team in Division VII, and Coldwater, voted fifth in Division V.

Troy Christian ended the season with a 22-21 win over Bethel. Senior Paul McDonald leads the Eagles with 1,021 yards passing and 385 yards rushing. McDonald has 10 total touchdowns on the season. McDonald and junior Lin Current were first and second in the Three Rivers Conference in tackles with 114 and 108 respectively. McDonald also has six sacks on the season.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]