Football quick hits: facts, figures and more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Friday night will mark the end of the 2017 high school football regular season, and it’s certainly been an interesting one. It’s hard to believe because it seems like the season kicked off last week. As we prepare to close out the regular season, enjoy these facts and figures.

Many happy returns

Crestview’s Charles Stefanek has returned four kickoffs for touchdowns this season, including two in Week No. 9 against Delphos Jefferson. For the season, Stefanak has returned 11 kickoffs for 458 yards, or 41.6 yards per return. He’s also averaging 15 yards per punt return, and has taken one back for a touchdown. He would’ve had two, but an 88-yarder against Jefferson was called back on a penalty.

Title race update

Western Buckeye League: St. Marys (8-1, 8-0 WBL) has wrapped up an outright league championship. After a season-opening loss to Sidney, the Roughriders have rattled off eight consecutive wins. Celina, Elida and Wapakoneta are each 6-2 in WBL play.

Northwest Conference: Spencerville (7-2, 6-0 NWC) has clinched a share of the conference title, and can win it outright with a victory over Delphos Jefferson. However, if the Wildcats win and Crestview defeats Paulding, the Knights and Bearcats would share the championship.

Green Meadows Conference: Hicksville (7-2, 6-0 GMC) sealed an outright conference championship with last Friday’s 42-20 win over Wayne Trace.

Midwest Athletic Conference: Marion Local (9-0, 7-0 MAC) has a one game lead over Coldwater. If the Flyers defeat 1-8 Parkway, they’ll win the conference title outright.

Delphos Jefferson-Spencerville

As mentioned above, Spencerville can wrap up an outright NWC title with a win. But you can bet Crestview fans are rooting for a win over Paulding, and a Delphos Jefferson upset victory over the Bearcats.
This game has an interesting twist, given the fact that Chris Sommers was Jefferson’s head coach for three seasons (28-7), before resigning early this year to pursue the head coaching job at Spencerville. Sommers got the job, and now he’ll face his former assistant, Brandon Behnfeldt, who was hired to take over at Jefferson.

By the way, Delphos Jefferson-Spencerville could be the fastest game in the state this weekend, simply because both teams love to run the ball and keep the clock moving.

Who will play in Week No. 11?

The Ohio High School Athletic Association will announce official regional quarterfinal playoff pairings this Sunday, and it appears the area will be well represented. In Division VII, Region 28, Crestview has clinched a home game, while Delphos St. John’s and Minster have secured playoff berths.

Marion Local and Lima Central Catholic have clinched home playoff games in Division VI, Region 24, and Coldwater and Spencerville are assured of playing in Week 11.

Hicksville has qualified for the playoffs in Division VI, Region 22, and St. Marys will host a Division IV, Region 14 quarterfinal game.

Three other WBL schools still have playoff hopes in Division III, Region 12 – Celina, Elida and Wapakoneta, while GMC member Wayne Trace has an excellent chance of playing in Week 11 in Division VII, Region 26.

Van Wert and Delphos Jefferson were knocked out of playoff contention after losing on Friday.

Fast start, slow start

The Van Wert Cougars are 4-5 (3-5 WBL). One could say it’s been an up and down season, but regardless, the Cougars have shown vast improvement from last year (0-10). One thing has held true for Van Wert this season: When the Cougars have been able to get off to a fast start they’ve won (vs. Bryan, Wapakoneta, Ottawa-Glandorf, Bath), but when they’ve fallen behind early they’ve lost (vs. St. Marys, Shawnee, Kenton, Elida, Celina). It’s more than fair to note that the Cougars did rally in the second half of four of those five games, but came up short. Here’s hoping the Cougars get off to a fast start Friday, and finish the season with a win at Defiance.

One team scored 90 points

While not around here, this is worth mentioning. Columbus West defeated Columbus Africentric 90-42 last Friday. The Cowboys led 48-8 after the first quarter, and 78-22 at halftime. West finished the game with 682 yards of total offense, including 580 on the ground. Those are some pretty amazing numbers, especially when you factor in the second half rolling clock rule.  One more note – West was shut out in Week No. 8.