Announcement
From The GAZETTE, by Brad Bournival, Staff Writer
COLUMBUS — Selection Sunday came and went and to no one's surprise the two winningest teams in Medina County football this decade found themselves with a Week 11 matchup.
Buckeye (10-0) has a Division III, Region 11 quarterfinal tilt with New Concord John Glenn (8-2), while Brunswick (9-1) will go at it in a D-I, Region 2 contest with Canton McKinley (10-0).
"What happens in a place like ours and Buckeye is we expect to make the playoffs," said Brunswick coach Rich Nowak, whose Blue Devils are making their fifth straight postseason appearance and sixth in the last seven seasons. "We don't hope to make it.
"I'm not trying to sing our praises. That's just what the kids at Brunswick and Buckeye think. It's certainly special to Buckeye. They had to climb mountains just to be here. It would have been a shame to have them not play with all that went on."
All that went at Buckeye came from a well-publicized levy failure that momentarily canceled sports altogether.
With their season back in tow, the Bucks ran the table to win the inaugural Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division and finished as the third seed in Region 11.
Being the third seed means Buckeye will host its first playoff game in school history as the sixth-seeded Little Muskies come to town on Friday night at 7:30.
"It does have a special flavor to it for the kids," said Chris Medaglia, whose Bucks have made the playoffs three of the last four years. "We've really enjoyed and appreciated every moment.
"To have it almost taken away and then to go undefeated and make the playoffs is a special accomplishment. It should be great for the kids and to the people who stepped up and made this possible."
The Bucks' prize is a John Glenn team that finished tied for second in the Muskingum Valley League behind conference champion West Muskingum.
Thornville Sheridan and New Lexington, who also made the postseason, were in the three-way runner-up deadlock in the MVL as well.
While Buckeye clinched a playoff spot in Week 9, the Blue Devils had to play the waiting game after beating Strongsville on Friday. Wins by Macedonia Nordonia over Hudson and Avon Lake over Amherst Steele paved the way for Brunswick.
Now, despite missing an undefeated season by one game, the eighth-seeded Blue Devils travel to top-seeded Canton McKinley for a 7 p.m. tilt at Fawcett Stadium on Saturday.
"Sometimes that just happens," Nowak said. "Last year we were 7-3 and we backed in and we weren't as good a football team as we are now.
"This year we came eight points away from an undefeated season and we're the eighth seed. That's the great thing about the playoffs. It's a mathematical thing. You wait until it all plays out. You can only worry about what you can control."
The county's most storied team – Brunswick has made the playoffs nine times – will play one of the most storied schools in Ohio.
The Federal League champion Bulldogs have won 10 state championships and have finished runner-up three times.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 against Brunswick, eliminating the Blue Devils from postseason play every time the two matched up. En route to last year's second-place finish, Canton McKinley knocked out Brunswick in the regional finals.
"I'm just happy to be here," Nowak said. "I don't care who we play. We'll go to Fawcett Stadium and they'll boo us. I love to get booed. We won't be scared or intimidated. We're going to come out and play like we have all year."
Tallmadge (10-0), Copley (8-2), Normandy (8-2), Lutheran West (8-2) and Revere (6-4) round out teams from area conferences that made the postseason.
Bournival may be reached at Bournival929@sbcglobal.net or 330-721-4045.
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