Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Springfield’s Dante Gentile runs for a gain earlier this season as Lowellville’s Braylen Dabney looks to tackle him.

NEW MIDDLETOWN — After losing a talented senior class that led the Springfield Tigers to a great amount of success over the past few years, head coach Sean Guerriero knew that there would be growing pains this season.

Through the first four weeks of the season, the Tigers went through those growing pains, losing all four games and starting off the season with an overall record of 0-4, a complete turnaround from recent years.

But, since their Week 4 conference loss to Lowellville, the Tigers have put together a five-game winning streak as they prepare for their regular season finale against Sebring and another trip to the playoffs.

“I knew coming into this season, with the team that we lost and the seniors that we lost, we definitely had some inexperience coming,” Guerriero said about his team that is currently ranked 7th in the most recent Division VII, Region 25 computer rankings. “I felt that if we could get through those first couple games and still be positive, and we talked about that with our kids a lot, that we could end up still being in a good situation to make some noise.”

The Tigers are indeed ready to make some noise, but to get to this point wasn’t easy as they played through a gauntlet at the beginning of the season.

After nine weeks of play, the Tigers’ four opponents in the first four weeks, which included South Range, Brookfield, Geneva and Lowellville, currently have a combined record of 32-4. Both Lowellville and South Range are undefeated heading into the final week of the regular season, Brookfield’s only loss came against Ursuline in the first week of the season and Geneva has suffered losses to Madison, Kirtland and Perry.

In hindsight though, those tough matchups prepared the Tigers for this point of the season.

“I feel like that those games opened our eyes a little bit,” Guerriero said. “I think we thought we were a little bit better than what we were but I think with that, with the inexperience we had coming in, we’re making less mistakes now, we’re not having as many missed assignments, and I think it’s paying off. Hopefully in the first round it does pay off when our kids are challenged.”

Springfield’s winning streak started with a 20-12 victory over Mineral Ridge, a team that has only lost twice this season, and the Tigers have never looked back.

As games have carried on they’ve started to improve in key parts of their game all over the field and a big piece of their success has been the running game.

The combination of senior Ryan Carcelli and sophomore Dante Gentile have provided the Tigers with a solid one-two punch in the backfield after the loss of sophomore Kasen Kosek in the third week of the season. Carcelli has been carrying the load this season, recording 145 carries for 806 yards and five touchdowns, but he’s gotten hot during Springfield’s winning streak.

Since the Tigers’ win over Mineral Ridge, Carcelli has registered three 100-yard games and has also rushed for 631 of his 806 yards. He tallied a season-high 220 yards and three touchdowns in a 21-0 shutout victory over Western Reserve on Oct. 7.

Gentile has rushed for 256 yards on 33 carries but has been a good short-yardage option near the goal line with four touchdowns.

“He’s (Carcelli) has done a good job for us and he’s getting better but you have to throw Dante in there as well,” Guerriero said. “They are a bit of a one-two punch with Ryan being more of a smaller guy where Dante is more of a pounding guy.

“Kasen’s injury gave more opportunity for Ryan and Dante to carry the ball and they’ve done a great job with that.”

While the running game has been a strength for the Tigers, the passing game and the development of quarterback Kolten Ruark has been crucial as well.

Filling in for star quarterback Beau Brungard, who is currently playing at Youngstown State, comes with high expectations after the success Springfield has had recently and the junior signal-caller has handled it. He’s thrown for 1,075 yards and 16 touchdowns while completing 60-percent of his pass attempts.

“He’s done a good job of taking that pressure on and trying to make good decisions. I think our running game has gotten better which will be a benefit for us when we don’t have to rely on throwing the ball all the time. But he’s stepped up at times and made plays for us and he’s done a good job.”

Two of Ruark’s best targets have come in the form of Dylan Sheely and Seandelle Gardner, who have combined for 723 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns.

Coming into the season, Gardner was set to be Springfield’s top weapon and the Tigers’ opponents have treated him as such, but Sheely has stepped up to become another go-to option for Ruark.

“People try to stop Seandelle and there are times where people are double-covering him, playing a guy underneath and over top of him, so we try to use him as a decoy sometimes,” Guerriero said. “He’s done a great job at that and again Dylan has taken advantage of the opportunities that he has gotten. Those two both have to touch the ball because they are two big playmakers for us. We just try to get them the ball in space and let them work.”

The Tigers have been a complete team as well. During their first four games of the year, they allowed 133 points but over the past five have only given up 54, including 21 of those against McDonald. Guerriero said that it all starts up front for his guys on that side of the ball, which allows his linebackers and defensive backs to fly around.

“I think our linebackers have gotten better and then the secondary has done a great job but that all starts out up front so you can just let those guys run and make plays,” Guerriero said. “Overall, I think our kids are just believing in what we’re doing and they are running to the ball and we’ve been able to make some plays.”

All of that hard work and improvement will come to fruition in the next two weeks when the Tigers return to the playoffs and plan to make another deep postseason run. Although this year, they’ll look to work their way through the Division VII playoffs after dropping down this season.