Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Springfield quarterback Beau Brungard runs for a gain during the Tigers’ playoff run last season.

BROOKFIELD — One of the most intriguing matchups on the schedule this week is between two Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference teams.

While the two teams may not be in the same tier, therefore it won’t count towards conference standings, tonight’s inter-MVAC matchup between Springfield and Brookfield has the potential to be an exciting matchup.

Springfield (0-1), fresh off two state finals appearances, is coming off a 41-21 defeat to South Range last week, which was their first regular season loss since the 2018 season when they fell to McDonald 20-17. The Tigers finished 9-1 and ended up missing the playoffs.

After that, Springfield won 21 consecutive regular season games and made two deep postseason appearances.

Now, with Brookfield on the opposite side of the field, Tigers coach Sean Guerriero is hoping for a similar response this time around, but knows it’s not an easy test. The key is getting back to basics.

“I got a lot of respect for what (Warriors coach) Randy (Clark) does,” Guerriero said. “Brookfield is a very good football team. He does a great job with his kids. They’re well-coached. I think it’s going to be a great challenge for us on Friday. If our kids go back to the basics of what we’re doing, hopefully we’ll be able to get a victory this week.”

After losing their first regular season loss in a few years, some coaches may look to over correct but Guerriero talked about not rocking the boat too much. The Springfield coach wants to stay the course.

“We’ve just got to be able to make sure for our kids that we stay the course,” Guerriero said. “For us offensively, our steps are just basic stuff that we work on everyday, that’s the stuff that’s going to have to show for us to be successful.”

Quarterback Beau Brungard, who threw for 193 yards and ran for 57 yards in Springfield’s loss to South Range, will be a major piece of making sure that happens. As a senior, his veteran presence should be crucial for the Tigers in keeping them steady.

The Warriors on the other hand, have a new face under center. After the graduation of Haden Gibson, who did everything the Warriors asked of him, junior Donovan Pawlowski has taken the reins.

The ace in the hole for Brookfield for this season is going to be in the trenches.

Brookfield’s offensive line has garnered heaps of praise from Clark, mentioning how much they’ve worked in the offseason and saying they were “dominant” in the Warriors’ 35-6 season-opening win over McDonald.

“They block well, they’re fundamentally sound and they’re very, very aggressive,” he said. “They just don’t block somebody to block, they’re trying them into the fence if they can. They worked hard in the offseason together, those five guys are very close-knit, do pretty much everything together and take a lot of pride in what they do.”

When preparing for the Tigers, Clark knows that one of the major X-Factors is Brungard.

“They got a quarterback who is the best in the area,” Clark said. “The kid runs hard and throws the ball very well. They’ve got a couple good receivers, and they’ll be very well-coached. It’s going to be a four quarter game, 48 minutes and the kids are going to have to be fundamentally sound.”

Springfield is debatably the toughest matchup on the Warriors’ non-league schedule, as they open up their schedule with three Scarlet Tier teams, facing Western Reserve in Week 3.

“Our kids had a good week of practice, they’re excited after the McDonald victory, but that’s behind us,” Clark said. “They’re all excited to be able to play off Springfield since last year we couldn’t and we’re excited to see where we’re at. This will be a good judge of where we are at.”

Kickoff for tonight’s showdown is set for 7 p.m.